Kerry tilted her chin up and looked at her newly awakened partner. "Trying to figure out what's going on."

"Ahhh." Dar nodded solemnly. "How about we figure out breakfast first?" She arched her back and stretched. "For one thing, thinking requires my brain to boot up, and for another, I'm not sure I want to waste the synapse firing on them."

"Even after what happened the other night?" Kerry asked.

Dar shrugged. "They ended up grounding their boat," she reminded Kerry. "We won. Why push it?"

Kerry eased up onto an elbow and studied Dar. "You're not curious as to why they did it?" Her voice rose in surprise. "Or what they're after?"

Another shrug indicated Dar's ambivalence. "Yes, I'm curious, but I don't know that I'm curious enough to waste part of our vacation on tracking it all down and sorting it out," Dar answered honestly. "If I really wanna know, I can find out when we get home and make their lives miserable retroactively."

Kerry ran her fingers through her hair as she considered that.

"Well, yeah," she said. "I can see your point, but what if they do something else?"

Dar half turned on her side to face Kerry, and perched on an elbow, mimicking her posture. "I'd say they'd be stupider than I thought they were, but if they do, then we'll have to deal with whatever happens," she said. "But I'd rather forget about them until then."

Kerry's brow puckered. "I don't like it," she admitted, thinking about the angles as Dar waited for her with commendable patience.

"I want to know what they were up to, and why they were chasing us, and what's so important about that patch of water."

Dar relaxed onto her back and put her hands behind her head.

"Okay," she said. "How?"

"Hm?"

"Aside from chasing them down and demanding they tell us what they're up to, how do you figure on finding out what's going on?"

Kerry sat up cross-legged and rested her elbows on her bare knees. "Well..." she began, then stopped.

"We planning on following them around?" Dar inquired, with the barest hint of a twinkle in her eyes.

"No." Kerry shook her head. "I guess you're right. Unless they*111 approach us again, there's really no way to do this." She looked up at Dar, who was gazing back at her. "You already figured all that out, didn't you?"

Dar pointed a finger at herself. "Me?"

Kerry poked her in the ribs. "Yes, you, little Ms. Ice-Cream- won't-melt-in-my-mouth." She sprawled across Dar's middle, pinning her to the bed. "It just bites my shorts to let those scurvies mess with us and walk away."

"They didn't," Dar reminded her. "They're probably laying out ten grand for patched fibergla.s.s right now, remember?"

"Mm," Kerry grunted. "But won't that make them want to get back at us?"

"Maybe," Dar conceded. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Kerry gracefully bowed to the logic of it. Dar's points were good ones. Unless they were willing to get the local authorities involved and press charges-of what nature she didn't know-there really was no investigating they could do outside of direct confrontation or some back alley skulking. She didn't feel like skulking, and while she had every confidence that they could present a very effective direct confrontation, she understood Dar's reluctance to engage in conflict. "Okay," she agreed. "Now, weren't we discussing breakfast?"

Dar grinned.

"How about we toss on some clothes and go foraging?" Kerry suggested. "I think I saw a little place out by the beach we could try," she said. "Right next to the windsurfing area."

"Ah ha." Dar chuckled good-naturedly. "I sense an ulterior motive." She took hold of Kerry's hand and held it, for no particular reason other than wanting the contact. "I don't want to hear you complaining tonight about getting bounced off the ocean the whole day."

Kerry smiled. "Yeah, but if I whine enough, you'll give me a ma.s.sage," she countered. "Besides, maybe I'll have better luck than I did last time. I've been doing some upper body work at the gym."

Dar's eyes wandered over Kerry's upper body and a cheeky grin appeared. "I've never had a problem with that part of you,"

she drawled. "To h.e.l.l with windsurfing."

"Wench." Kerry laughed. "You know that's not what I meant."

She sat up and flexed both arms, showing off her biceps. "See?"

An even bigger grin creased Dar's face at the view. Kerry's arms and shoulders had gotten more defined, but the expression of uninhibited pride on her face was what really made Dar smile. "I surely do see," she agreed, giving Kerry's leg a pat. "Maybe you'll be pulling my b.u.t.t out of the water this time. C'mon."

They rolled off the bed together in a tangle, only barely getting 112*

their balance before they ended up crashing into the wall. Taking advantage of their positioning by the windows, they peered out.

"Gorgeous day," Kerry observed, seeing the bright sunlight and the breeze blowing the branches nearby. "But we're gonna need sunscreen."

"Waterproof," Dar agreed, picking up the bottle from the dresser. "I slather you, you slather me?"

"You're on," Kerry replied. "Then let's go find some biscuits.

I'm starving."

"With or without clothing?"

"Dar."

"Heh heh."

KERRY FOLLOWED DAR out onto the beach, feeling her stride change as they moved from the wooden boardwalk into the sand.

"Ah, nothing like coming out to the islands to get some really exotic cuisine," she commented.

Dar chuckled. "I thought the bagels were pretty good."

"They were," Kerry agreed. "I just never figured on coming to St. Johns, AVI for bagel and lox."

"Playing to the marketplace." Dar guided her down toward where the windsurfing boards were stacked. "You want to stretch out for a few minutes, or start the torture now?"

"Tch." Kerry b.u.mped her. "Hey, if you really don't want to do this, we don't have to."

Dar's lips quirked into a smile. "Nah," she said. "I just like spending time under the water more than skating on top of it. I'll live."

Kerry eased in front of her as they reached the kiosk, meeting the friendly grin of the man behind it with one of her own. "Two."

She indicated herself, then Dar, then handed him her credit card.

"We've done this before."

He took them through the safety drill anyway, Kerry noted.

Possibly because he'd heard tourists claim bogus experience before.

She listened attentively, checking out the rig to make sure there wasn't anything new or unusual on it. They'd windsurfed several times before-at the island, and the last time they'd gone to Key West. Kerry had really enjoyed it, though it had only been the last time that she'd been able to truly master the mast without getting pulled b.u.t.t over teakettle by the wind. "Thanks." She acknowledged the end of the instructions and took hold of the crossbar. "Ready?"

Dar finished inspecting her board, then nodded. "Ready." Side by side, they moved into the shallow, crystal clear water and headed for the deeper sections. "Not that much wind today," Dar*113 observed.

"Enough." Kerry felt the breeze flutter her hair. They were both dressed in shortie wetsuits, and she was looking forward to getting into deeper water because the neoprene was getting pretty warm in the sun. It had taken her time to get used to wearing the substance, and to the smell of it. The wetsuits fit snugly, zipped up the back, and after she'd taken the time to break hers in, it had gotten pretty comfortable. They did tend to squeak a bit when dry, though, and unless you were in the water, they were capable of sweating pounds off you if you weren't careful.

Their suits were mostly black, but Kerry's had purple shoulders and arms, and a flash of bright orange down each side.

Dar's, in addition to being older and more broken in, had a soberly gray yoke with dark blue piping around her neck.

They reached deeper water and Kerry took the opportunity to duck under the waves, letting the ocean's cool penetrate her suit and cool her off. She stayed like that for a moment, then emerged, shaking her hair out of her eyes and spraying water across the crystal green, shimmering surface.

"Be careful." Dar gave her a pat on the behind, as she moved away a little and prepared to get on her board.

"Yes, Mom." Kerry splashed her. "You be careful, too. Don't fall on a jellyfish like last time."

Dar stuck out her tongue, then boosted herself up onto her windboard and got her feet set into the pockets, before she reached down and raised the sail. The wind caught the nylon at once and filled it with a fluttering rustle. "Last one down the beach has to buy the beer," she yelled back.

"You skunk!" Kerry scrambled up onto her board, catching her balance carefully before she attempted to pull up the hinged sail.

That was the toughest part, really. Once it was up, you could use your weight to keep it up, but pulling it against the drag of the sea and the wind made Kerry really glad she'd spent the extra time in the gym recently. "When I catch you, you're sunk! Hear me!!"

Dar's laughter floated back.

"You laugh now, Dixiecup." Kerry felt the wind fill her sail, and the water started to slide by under her. "If I win, you're gonna owe me a lot more than beer!"

THE BEACH BAR was an open, tiki type structure, with a bar top made of a slice of wood taken right out of the heart of some native tree. Dar and Kerry entered from the beach side and settled on stools next to each other in the moderately busy place.

The bartender leaned on the other side of the bar from them.

"Can I get something for you?"

114*

Dar paused in the midst of unzipping her wetsuit. "Get the lady a nice, cold beer." She indicated her companion. "Pina colada for me," she added. "Since I'm buying."

"Heh." Kerry smirked. She pulled down the zipper on her wetsuit and peeled off the upper part, letting it drape down over her lower body. They were both wind and sunburned, and lightly dusted with sand collected on the walk up from the beach. Kerry rested her arms on the bar and reveled in the sensation of being a true beach rat, if only for a moment. "If you have anything amber on draft, that would be great," she told the bartender.

"Gotcha." The boy grinned at her and turned back to the taps.

Dar pulled down her wetsuit and adjusted the strap on the swimsuit she was wearing underneath. "I shoulda known I didn't have a chance if there was beer in the deal." She ran both hands through her damp hair and grinned. "What was that hopping about, anyway?"

Kerry stretched out her arms, feeling a pleasant ache in her shoulders. "I thought I saw a dolphin," she confessed with a chuckle. "I didn't want to hit it. Felt like I was on a bucking horse for a minute there, though."

"Ahh." Dar glanced up at the menu. "You up for a burger?"

Kerry heard her stomach growl at the mere suggestion. It was late afternoon, and breakfast seemed a very long time ago. "Sure."

She grinned at the frosty mug the bartender plunked down in front of her and tugged it closer, then took a sip. It was nutty and very cold, and she sighed happily as Dar ordered them both lunch.

"What a great day."

Dar was busy chewing the pineapple from her drink. She swallowed and turned toward Kerry. "That was a lot of fun," she admitted. "I can see why you want one of the motorized ones."

"Oh, yeah!" Kerry sat up and mimed holding the control rod.

"Vroom! Vroom!"

"Wild woman." Dar offered her the cherry from her drink.

"Here."

Kerry took the fruit neatly between her teeth and plucked it from its stem. "No fair." She sucked the cherry and rolled it around in her mouth. "I don't have one to give you."

Dar's eyes twinkled wickedly, and Kerry realized what she'd just said. She chewed and swallowed the cherry, then stuck her now reddish-colored tongue out at Dar. "Of course, you've always had mine anyway."

"Ahem." Dar cleared her throat slightly, glancing around as her skin turned a fraction of a shade darker.

Kerry lowered her voice, smothered a chuckle. "Oh, Lord.

Don't tell me I just made you blush."

"I'm not blushing." Dar rea.s.sembled her dignity. "It's*115 sunburn."

"Uh huh." Kerry snickered. "I see that blush."

"It's not a blush."

"Heh."

Dar rested her elbow on the bar and half turned on her stool, a.s.suming a seductive look as her eyes slowly, lazily made their way from the tips of Kerry's toes up to her top of her blonde head. By the time she hit Kerry's chest, it was bright pink.

"Now that," Dar met her eyes, lengthening the words out to a Southern drawl, "is a blush." She reached over and put her finger on Kerry's nose, which wrinkled as her lover couldn't prevent herself from smiling.

"You're such a troublemaker," Kerry sighed.

"You started it." Dar turned around and took another sip of her drink as they watched their pasteurized, processed milk product and half pound of chopped animal protein become a pair of nicely cooked cheeseburgers, accompanied by something called island fries. Dar inspected one and found it to be a French fry with a coating of spices and coconut. "Mm."

Kerry centered a slice of tomato on the top of her burger and placed lettuce over that, then dabbed some ketchup and mayonnaise on the bun before she replaced it. She was about to pick it up and take a bite when motion caught her attention from the corner of her eye. "Uh oh." She nudged Dar in the ribs.

Dar looked up, pausing in mid-munch as she spotted the small group of people walking across from the docks. Three women and two men, their clothing in some disarray, were being escorted by two policemen. They seemed very agitated, and one of the men had his arm around one of the women in a protective att.i.tude. "Huh.