"Hm." Dar drummed her fingertips on the laptop keyboard.

"What do you think?"

"Well," Kerry exhaled, "at least it wasn't just some bs story Bob made up on his own," she said. "Which does not excuse him from skunkhood for leaving Bud and Charlie behind."

"Mm. Think you can find him? Where do you figure he went- back to St. Richard?"

Kerry rolled over and squiggled across the bed, reaching for the island directory. The squiggling intrigued Dar, who enjoyed it as Kerry squiggled on back and opened the book.

"I'm betting he's here in St. Thomas," she said. "It's bigger and busier than St. Richard." Her finger traced a column of hotels.

"Let's see if we can find the little stinker."

Dar watched in bemus.e.m.e.nt as Kerry selected a number and dialed it on the room phone. "He's probably not registered under his real name," she commented.*209 "Last name, no," Kerry agreed, waiting for an answer. "h.e.l.lo...

Hi, um..." Her voice shifted to a slightly different tone. "This is kind of crazy, but I met this guy today... Yeah... I'm trying to find him again, and I only know his first name. Can anyone help me?"

She paused to listen. "Oh, thanks. You're wonderful."

Dar folded her arms over her chest.

"Hi, yeah. No, his name's Bob, and he's really cute... Oh, right, um...he's got red, curly hair, and he's really well built... Yeah, about that age. Yeah...okay, I'll hold." Kerry hummed under her breath. "No? Oh, what? Oh, I see... You did? Wow... Thanks!" She hung up. "They're full. They sent their overflow to a different hotel, and she thinks Bob was one of them."

"A different hotel?" Dar laughed.

"This one." Kerry found the name on her list and proceeded to call it. "Want me to try Southern belle, next?"

"Is that how you conned those circuits out of Southern Bell last month?" Dar was still laughing.

Kerry grinned. "No, but...I'll have to remember that." She cleared her throat. "Howdy there... Ahm lookin' for a real cutie I met down on the beach t'day... Kin you help me?"

Dar covered her mouth and continued her scrolling, keeping one ear on Kerry's best efforts to sound like Dolly Parton. The information she'd recovered was straightforward enough, but the problem was, it was hard to tell if there was any truth to any of it.

What to do? She really felt in need of an expert to at least look at the case and give an opinion as to who was more likely to be telling the truth, if any of them were. The uncle had answered through a lawyer, in a tone almost insulting in its dismissal of the insinuation, and she instinctively favored the grandmother, but... Grandmothers can be sneaky, too, and maybe she was trying to hold on to her husband's money. Dar sighed. She checked her address book and looked up a number, then dialed it on her cell phone.

It rang twice, then was answered. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Merry Christmas, Richard," Dar said. "It's Dar."

"Dar!" Her family lawyer sounded pleased, if a bit puzzled, to be hearing from her. "Merry Christmas and happy birthday, lady!"

"Thanks," Dar replied. "Listen, I need a favor." She paused.

"More or less a professional one."

Richard Edgerton's gears switched. "Well, sure, Dar," he answered briskly. "You're not in any trouble, are you? Hard to believe."

"No," Dar answered without thinking, then considered. "Well, not me personally, that is."

He hazarded a guess. "Kerry?"

"No. We're on vacation," Dar explained.

"Uh huh."

210*

Dar could hear rustling, and she guessed Richard was getting a pad to write on. He was a very good lawyer, and he knew estate law like the back of his hand. "Don't ask me how I got involved in this, but I am," she began.

"Uh oh." Richard chuckled. "Let me hold onto something. This should be a doozy."

Dar sighed. "You don't know the half of it."

"He's here," Kerry's voice interrupted her. "He's staying in this hotel."

"Hang on, Richard." Dar looked at her. "Invite him over for a drink," she said. "Tell him we'd like to chat."

Kerry nibbled her lip. "I won't let him know we know about Charlie and Bud."

"Not yet, no." Dar smiled grimly. "Wait until he gets here."

Kerry nodded and went back to the phone. Dar did the same.

"Okay, Richard, here's the deal. We're out on St. Thomas-"

"Nice place to spend Christmas," Richard replied amiably.

"Right. We ran into a guy who told us a horse's tale about trying to prove his uncle murdered his grandfather to inherit the family fortune."

A long silence preceded the lawyer's response. "Dar, have you been at the rum?"

Dar sighed. "Yes, but not today," she said. "Listen, if I shoot something over to you in email, will you just look at it and tell me what you think? It's a pile of legal c.r.a.p I don't have time to figure out."

Richard chuckled. "Sure, Dar, send it over. I was stuck watching my second cousin's vacation video from Mexico. It's a great rescue."

Dar packed the files into an archive and sent it. "Thanks. You can call me on the cell once you see what you think."

"What's your percentage in this, Dar?"

Hm. Good question. "Like I said, I got dragged into it," Dar replied. "Now some friends of mine got dragged in too, and they got hurt. I need to know what side the angels are on, so I can figure out what to do."

"Ah, I see," Richard murmured. "It's your crusader side coming out, eh?"

"Why does everyone keep calling it that?" Dar whined. "It's not crusading. This stupid a.s.shole just won't leave me alone!"

"Uh huh," her lawyer replied. "Lemme take a look, Dar. It sounds like some typical sordid, family in-fighting over money, but I'll give you my best opinion on it."

"Thanks, Richard." Dar smiled. "I owe you one."

"How about letting me handle your investments?" Richard shot back with cheerful mercenary humor. "You know, I hate to admit*211 this, but you made me a bundle investing in ILS last quarter."

Dar chuckled. "We'll talk."

"How are your mom and dad doing?" Richard asked. "I heard some scandal that they were living out on a boat?"

"A sixty-foot Bertram, yes," Dar replied dryly. "Having the time of their lives."

Richard laughed heartily. "Good for them! I love it!" he chortled. "I'll have to come down and see it sometime. Listen, let me get to this and I'll be back to you, okay?"

"Thanks, Rich." Dar hung up the phone and turned to Kerry.

"Are we set?"

"Hook, line, sinker, and a tin can off the bottom." Kerry nodded. "He'll be on his way over in a little while. He's just finishing dinner." She scratched her nose. "He sounded really happy to hear my voice for some reason."

Dar gave her a very wry look. "With the Southern Comfort, or without?"

Kerry stuck out her tongue. Dar obligingly leaned over and caught it between her teeth. She slowly released it, then fastened her attention on Kerry's lips instead. "Mm," she drawled softly as they parted. "Much as I want to get this nailed, I'd be lying if I said I wanted it to be tonight." She tilted her head and kissed Kerry again, then moved her nibbles down Kerry's throat to feel her pulse thrumming against her lips as she suckled the soft skin.

"Guess you see my point then," Kerry murmured, her hand slowly gliding beneath Dar's shirt to explore the warm surface underneath. "About feeling selfish."

Dar set her laptop on the floor and then rolled over, shoving the island guide and phone aside and wrapping her arms and legs around Kerry's body. "Oh, yeah," Dar growled, continuing her a.s.sault. "Call me selfish. I want you all to myself."

"Ooh." Kerry felt her heart rate speed up and a warm flush tingle her skin. There was a faint pressure at her waistband, then Dar's touch slid beneath her shirt and traced up her ribcage. She laced her fingers through Dar's hair and nuzzled her ear, nibbling lightly on her earlobe. She could feel Dar's breath against her neck, then the soft, insistent tug as Dar's teeth undid the top b.u.t.ton to her shirt. Kerry cupped her hand along Dar's cheek, stroking it as her thumb traced Dar's lip.

Dar unb.u.t.toned her shirt slowly, and Kerry felt the cool air from the room brush against her, raising goose b.u.mps along her belly. Dar's lips intensified the sensation, and Kerry rapidly lost any thought of their problems. All that mattered now were the teasing touches on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, the warm, sun-filled scent of Dar's skin, and the need for Dar's body that made her hands push aside the soft cotton separating them with bold impatience.

212*

"Grrrrrowlll..." The low rumble tickled her skin. Kerry felt Dar's teeth close gently, teasingly, on the skin around her belly b.u.t.ton. "Mine."

Definitely. Kerry's back arched and she wrapped her arms around Dar, feeling the powerful muscles along her spine bunch and move. They pressed together briefly, a jolt of heat before Dar shifted lower and her hand dropped to stroke Kerry's thigh. Oh, definitely.

"THANKS." KERRY SIGNED the check and shooed the room service waiter out of the room before his eyeb.a.l.l.s could skitter out of his head and ramble across the floor. She shut the door behind him and turned, regarding the bed with a wry grin.

Dar was sprawled across it, the sheet just barely covering what was very obviously a naked body. She had the laptop propped on one thigh, but the other was outside the linen, extending its long, tanned length across the white surface.

Shaking her head, Kerry went over to the table and investigated the tray, peeking under one cover and grinning at what she saw. "Hungry, sweetie?"

"Not anymore," Dar drawled.

"Heh." Kerry hitched up the edge of Dar's red muscle T-shirt, which she'd stolen and donned after they'd finished their lovemaking. She perched on the edge of the table, arranging a few of the plates on it. "Well, okay-we'll start with this, then." Taking one of the plates, she walked over to the bed and knelt down.

"Happy birthday to you...happy birthday to you..."

Dar looked up in alarm to see a beautifully made chocolate- something with more chocolate inside and chocolate topping, with berries surrounding it on the plate. In the center was a single candle. "Awww."

"Happy birthday dear Dar...happy birthday to you," Kerry warbled.

Dar sniffed at the plate, licking her lips appreciatively. She blew out the candle with a single puff of air. "Share?"

Kerry sat down on the bed and picked up the fork, cutting off a gooey piece and feeding it to Dar.

"Ooo.. I like that," Dar mumbled. "I just got a data dump from Mark," she informed Kerry. "DeSalliers' stats-financial and otherwise. I figured out why he's so desperate."

"Why?" Kerry fed her another forkful of cake as she peered at the screen.

"He's broke." Dar munched. "He invested in two capital ventures that went belly up, and the banks called in some of his loans when they figured out he had paper that wasn't worth the*213 paper it was printed on in his accounts."

"Ahhh." Kerry nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. So old Uncle offers him a windfall to...to what, Dar?" she asked. "Not bring up something. That's the last thing he'd want to do."

Dar gazed at the screen. "No. He'd want him to scuttle the wreck," she realized. "Jesus...that's what it is. He's gonna cannibalize it."

Kerry had the fork in her mouth. She drew it out and swallowed the rich mouthful. "Are you saying he's going to wreck something that's already wrecked, to keep anyone from getting anything out of it?"

Dar nodded. "Yeah, but..." she flipped to another screen, "he's got a problem. It's in AVI territorial waters, and he can't just go in there and set off dynamite."

Kerry portioned off another forkful and handed it over. "How do you light dynamite underwater, Dar?"

Dar chewed and typed in silence, then swallowed. "Did you get any-"

"Milk? Yeah." Kerry set the plate down and went to retrieve it.

"I don't know." Dar answered the previous question. "You'd have to ask my father. His specialty used to be called UDX, underwater demolition."

As if by some supernatural invocation, Dar's cell phone rang, and when she checked the caller ID, it was familiar. With a tiny, surprised grunt, Dar flipped open the phone. "Hi, Dad."

Kerry, on her way back with the milk, goggled. "Wow," she murmured. "Spooky."

"Hey there, Dardar." Andrew Robert's cheerful voice came through the phone. "How's the vacation going?"

Truth? Dar had microseconds to decide. "Great," she finally said. "We ran into pirates, we're involved in a possible murder case, and Kerry got stung by a jellyfish, but other than that, it's been very cool."

It wasn't often that Andy Roberts was rendered speechless.

"Son of a biscuit," he finally spluttered. "d.a.m.n, Dar, what the h.e.l.l you two getting into out there?"

Dar sighed. It was such a long story at this point.

Kerry took the phone from her and put it to her ear. "Hey, Dad?"

"Howdy, k.u.mquat."

"I've got sort of a running diary of it. Want me to email it to you on Dar's computer?" Kerry offered. "I think that'll be easier than us trying to explain it. I'll set it to print out on the printer."

"Ah would appreciate that, k.u.mquat. Mah wife is rattling her eyebrows at me wondering what the h.e.l.l's going on."

Dar took the phone back. "It's not that bad, Dad," she 214*