And it was truly gorgeous. High up on the slope as they were, the harbor stretched out below her and curved to either side, cupping a crystal aqua circle of water with just the lightest visible chop on it. Around her, she could hear the rustle of trees, the cry of gulls, sounds from the harbor, but very little traffic or bustle. The air mostly bore the scent of foliage and salt air, and Kerry felt a sense of peaceful well-being as she relaxed in the warm sunlight.
With a smile, she returned her attention to the book balanced on her lap and the heavy, injected-ink writing pen Dar had given her. The pen was hardwood, and warm from her hand, and it balanced well in her grip as she flexed her fingers around it.
Thoughtfully, she regarded the page and then added two more lines to the several already there. A knock on the door, however, interrupted her.
With a resigned sigh, Kerry put down her book and went inside, going to the door and peeking through the eyehole. “Oh, crap.” Seeing the female half of DeSalliers’ gumshoe team outside, she considered not answering it. Then she figured she was likely to get more info from the woman than the woman was going to get from her, so she opened the door. “Yes?” Her tone made no pretense of being friendly, and the woman took a half step back.
“Oh, hello, Kerry,” the woman recovered. “I was hoping to talk to you.”
“Why?” Kerry asked bluntly.
“Just because I think we can help each other.”
Kerry had to wonder briefly if stupidity was contagious.
Perhaps Christen had spent a little too much time with Bob. “Help each other do what?” she inquired. “So far, all you people have Terrors of the High Seas 223
done is help me get a migraine.”
Christen sighed. “Look, can I just come in and talk?”
“No,” Kerry replied. “I’m not sure what it’s going to take to get across the fact that we don’t want anything to do with you, your boss, your stupid mission, or the people you represent. I’m out of options. Should I hire a flying banner plane?”
“The fact is, honey, you are involved.” Christen’s attitude changed, became harder. “So either you let me in and give me what I want, or—”
“Or what?” Kerry found it almost funny. “Are you going to pull a gun on me?”
“No.”
“Are you going to make like Jackie Chan and start yowling Japanese haiku while striking kung fu poses?”
Christen didn’t answer.
“Are you going to try to hit me?” Kerry’s nose crinkled up in amusement. “Threaten me with a lawsuit? What?”
“You think this is a game, don’t you?”
“Hey, you’re the one making the threats.” Kerry laughed, and then got serious herself, jabbing the air in Christen’s direction.
“You listen to me, you half-baked excuse for a high-priced, snoopy lackey. You’d better just back off and go back where you came from. Stop messing with us.”
“Or?” Christen threw the comment back at her.
“Or I’ll call the president of your agency and file a complaint of harassment without cause,” Kerry replied.
Christen laughed. “You think he’ll care?”
“When he gets a call from the executive VP of the company where he gets all his data? Yeah.” Kerry smiled. “He’ll care,” she assured the now not-smiling Christen. “And if he doesn’t listen to me, he’ll listen to Dar.” She watched Christen’s face. “Tch… didn’t do your homework, did you?”
“Your inquiry came back totally negative.”
“Not surprising.” Kerry smiled. “Try it with a last name of Stuart.” She started to close the door. “You, on the other hand, provided us with a lot of information. You and your little partner really should work a little harder, you know? That last job of yours was a real disaster.”
Christen had turned brick red.
“So don’t you mess with me, lady,” Kerry warned her seriously. “You’re an amateur. It offends me that you actually get paid to be an amateur. My Labrador Retriever would do better as a detective, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re just a flashy poser.
Scoot.”
She slammed the door with a sense of guilty satisfaction.
“Jerk.” She turned and started to walk away, then stopped as a 224 Melissa Good knock came at the door again. With a growl, she whirled and yanked open the door, a further stream of invective ready and waiting. Which she swallowed when she found herself facing a doe-eyed, uniformed, room service waitress. “Oh.” She stepped back.
“Hi. C’mon in.”
Christen was nowhere to be seen. Kerry allowed herself a moment of regret for her outburst, wondering belatedly if she shouldn’t have just let the woman in to have her say. Maybe she could have learned something from her.
Ah well. Kerry watched the waitress set the tray down. Too late now. She walked over and took the check, reviewing it and then signing. “Everything looks great. Thanks. ”
The woman smiled shyly. “You are welcome. You are good customers,” she said. “So many bring sandwiches with them, just make a mess.”
Kerry grinned, her good humor restored. “Well, we’ve got sandwiches on the boat, but one of the nice things about visiting other places is getting to sample their culture and foods. You can’t do that with peanut butter.”
The woman nodded agreement, then slipped to the door, backing in surprise when it opened inward to admit Dar. “Oh.”
Dar regarded the woman with a raised eyebrow, then moved aside to let her out. She closed the door after her then walked over to Kerry, setting a colorful, print bag on the chair. “Hi.” Her blue eyes went to the table. “Looks like I’m just in time.”
“Yes, you are,” Kerry agreed, lifting the covers and revealing some intriguing dishes involving eggs, fruit, native spices, and seafood. “You just missed our friend Christen.”
“No, I didn’t.” Dar sniffed appreciatively. “She crashed into me on her way storming out of the building.” She sampled a bit of papaya. “Mm.”
“I think I pissed her off.”
“Good. I made it worse. She fell on her ass,” Dar replied.
“What’d she want?”
Kerry sat down “Unfortunately, I have no idea. I was too busy insulting her to find out.” She gave Dar a mildly regretful look. “In hindsight, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. She wanted to talk to me, said she could help me out.”
“Out of what?” Dar asked, setting her napkin aside and pouring Kerry some passion fruit juice.
“Well, that’s what I don’t know,” Kerry said. “I told her she was a fraud and sent her packing, actually. I told her if she didn’t leave us alone, we’d call her boss.”
“Ah.” Dar investigated her fluffy shrimp and pepper egg cup.
“Well, I don’t really blame you,” she admitted. “I’m just waiting for it to be nine a.m. over in the States before I put in a call to Wharton.
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Maybe after that, they’ll just disappear.” She opened a crusty brown roll and put some butter on it. “Damn, these people are a pain in my ass.”
Kerry slowly chewed a piece of star fruit. “What do you think he’ll do?” she asked. “Wharton, I mean? From the background information we pulled on him, he seems pretty rough. Is there a chance this is going to backfire on us, Dar?”
“Eh.” Dar put a bit of her eggs on her roll. “I was thinking about that. Maybe I should keep it anonymous instead of telling him who I am.”