What was DeSalliers expecting? He was expecting her to run scared, back off, wait for him to make all the moves. All right. Dar took the basket back to the couch, then sat down cross-legged and retrieved the laptop. She opened her mail and started typing.

KERRY EASED OUT of the cabin and spotted Charlie sitting on the stern bench they used for gearing up. She walked over and took a seat next to him, resting her arm on the back of the boat and gazing out across the marina.

"Y'know," Charlie spoke first, "that's why Bud never could stand Andy, I'm guessing."

"What do you mean?" Kerry asked.

"He had everything. Everybody liked him; he was real good at what he done; he had a good marriage, had a kid he was proud of...

He made it seem like everybody should be just like him." He glanced at the door. "She's just like him."

Kerry thought about that. "I wish more people were like him,"

she remarked. "I wish my father had been."

Charlie shifted and looked at her.

"When I first met Dar and we were getting to know each other, every time she talked about her father, deep down in my heart, I found it hard to believe what she was saying." Kerry spoke softly.

"Because my own experience had been so different."

"Dar got off lucky," Charlie said. "Most of us don't."

"True," Kerry agreed. "But then I met Andy." She turned her head and met Charlie's eyes. "He gave me something my family never had, and I cherish that, and him, more than I can tell you."

The ex-sailor leaned back and rested his arm on the stern 264*

railing. "I'm not gonna apologize for us doing what we had to do to keep our heads up," he said. "I got a kid to take care of."

Kerry regarded him. "I'm not into judging people. I've been on the receiving end of that too many times myself," she said. "I think the important thing right now is just to get Bud out of that nutball's clutches and resolve this."

One of Charlie's eyebrows twitched. "Thought you weren't inta judging," he drawled. "Calling that sonofab.i.t.c.h a nutball like that."

Kerry produced a faint grin.

"Anyhoo..." Charlie shook his head. "Dar's just like Andy, got that same att.i.tude. Reminded me of him real strong there for a minute. I know she's right, a little, but sometimes you just ain't got no choices in life except the bad ones."

Kerry tipped her head back and looked up at the sky. "I know," she said. "I've made some of them."

Charlie studied her. "You ain't old enough to make that case, lady," he told her bluntly. "Come back here in twenty years and we'll talk."

Kerry merely smiled. "Dar has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and you're right- she got that from her father." She propped her foot up against the railing. "I, on the other hand, only got a sense of wrong from mine. But no matter who was needing what, those guys were pointing guns at us, and let me tell you something, they're lucky I wasn't pointing one back."

Charlie sat up. "Huh?'

"Mm." Kerry looked steadily at him. "I would have shot them."

"They never hurt no one," the ex-sailor said. "No one. Them guns were just for show."

"I don't care." Sea green eyes took on a cool tint. "They were threatening the only thing in the world that matters to me." She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "So that's the way that is."

Charlie scratched his jaw thoughtfully. He studied Kerry's profile for a few minutes in silence as the boat rocked gently under both of them, the rigging clanking softly in the warm air. Finally, he half smiled. "Feisty thang, huh?"

Kerry glanced up at him with a wry grin, acknowledging the unlikeliness of it all. "Don't look it, huh?"

Charlie managed a chuckle. "Get your point, Kerry," he added, suddenly turning serious. "Think those guys maybe got into something we don't know about. Wasn't that serious before."

Kerry pondered that. Could it possibly tie in to what was going on with them? Was it coincidence the pirates had come after them right after they'd gotten away from DeSalliers? "Could be."

Hearing footsteps approaching down the dock, Kerry c.o.c.ked*265 her head. She got up and leaned over the side of the stern, spotting a familiar figure moving toward them. "Ah." She exhaled. "Bob."

Charlie got up and joined her. "That little a.s.shole."

"Mm." Kerry climbed up onto the side deck and jumped to the dock just as Bob trotted up to the boat. "Hi."

"Oh! Hey!" Bob seemed a little out of breath. "Glad I found you. Listen, the cops are after me. Can I hide out in there for a while?" He glanced behind Kerry and spotted Charlie's glare. "Oh.

Ah...okay, maybe not."

Kerry sighed. "C'mon. We need all the help we can get." She paused. "Even yours."

"Huh?"

Kerry took hold of his shirt and pulled him after her as she jumped back onto the boat. Left with a choice of following or losing his clothing, Bob joined her. "Our friend DeSalliers has been busier than you think," Kerry told him.

Bob hid behind Kerry as they moved onto the stern. "Listen, Kerry did explain to you what happened the other night, didn't she?" he asked Charlie hopefully.

"I know what happened the other night, you p.i.s.sant," Charlie told him. "You ran out and left us. C'mon over here and let me pop your d.a.m.n little..." Charlie limped toward them.

"Uh... uh..." Bob started moving backward.

"Hold it!" Kerry stepped between the two of them and held up her hand. "C'mon, guys, we don't have time for this." She raised her voice when Charlie kept coming. "Stop it!"

One, two, three, four... Kerry counted silently, feeling the boat shift a little under her as something started moving.

The door to the cabin slammed open and Dar bounded out onto the deck, her eyes immediately taking in the situation. She pounced on Charlie, grabbed his shirt, and unceremoniously hauled him backward. "Hey!" she barked. "Cool it!"

"Let go of me!" Charlie yanked against her grip. "I owe that b.a.s.t.a.r.d a big right one."

Dar got in front of him and blocked his way. "I said, cool it."

She bristled. "We don't have time for this c.r.a.p. Like you said at the hospital-you made the choice to trust him. No one forced you."

Charlie tried to brush by her. "Dar, get out of my way."

"No." Dar didn't budge. "Don't even think about trying to move me."

He stopped and stared at her. "You think you're Andrew? Get your a.s.s out of my way, girl." He put his hand against Dar's shoulder and pushed.

Dar didn't budge. She lifted her hand and closed her fingers around Charlie's wrist, tightening her grip with sudden explosiveness. "Charlie," she gazed steadily at him, "this is my 266*

boat, and you're on it," she said. "Stop it." Their eyes locked. "I'm not my father," Dar warned him softly.

Charlie examined the glittering blue eyes, cold as ice, that were fastened on him, then he stepped back. Dar released his arm and he resumed his seat on the stern bench. "When we get off this boat," he told Dar, "you ain't stopping me."

Satisfied with the answer, Dar turned. "All right." She looked at Bob. "This has gotten a lot more serious. You can stick around, but keep your mouth shut, and if we need you to do something, don't make me have to explain it in words of less than one syllable."

Bob took a step backward. "Maybe I should just go hang out somewhere else."

Kerry turned. "DeSalliers kidnapped our friend Bud and he's threatening to kill him," she said. "Sure you want to go out wandering around?"

Bob looked honestly shocked. "No kidding? I didn't think he...

I mean, yeah, he's famous for all this salvage c.r.a.p, but I never thought he'd get as serious as that."

"Let's go inside." Dar opened the door. "Hopefully, he'll call soon and we'll know where we stand."

Kerry led Bob inside, taking a moment to give Dar a wry look and a pat on the side as she pa.s.sed her. "Would you like some coffee?"

Dar gave a tiny moan in response. She turned and waited for Charlie to get up and limp over, standing back to let him enter. He paused as he came even with her and their eyes met again. After a minute, Charlie shook his head and walked past.

Dar turned and briefly surveyed their surroundings. She scanned the nearby boats, a.s.sessing their occupants. Nothing jumped out at her, and of course, DeSalliers' yacht was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes spotted two policemen, however. One was standing near the beginning of the wooden dock, and the other was walking up and down near the beach.

She heard the sound of engines behind her, and she walked to the other side of the boat and looked out over the water. A racing boat was idling into the marina, big, throaty engines rumbling as it moved past them. There was a man behind the controls, with what Dar could only describe to herself as a babe next to him.

The man looked around and caught Dar's eye, producing a smile and a wave in her direction. "Nice boat!" he yelled.

"Same to you," Dar responded with wry civility. She watched the boat move past, making note of the name and the Miami Beach home port under it. The racer pulled into a slip two past theirs and disgorged its occupants onto the dock. The man gave the woman a slap on the b.u.t.t and pointed up to a nearby restaurant. He turned*267 and walked the other way, toward Dar's boat.

"Figures." Dar stuck her head inside the door. "Got company.

Ker, watch my phone, will ya?"

Kerry had artfully positioned Bob and Charlie as far away from each other as she could in the living area and was preparing coffee behind the galley. "Aye aye, Cap'n Dar."

Dar shut the door and walked to the side of the boat to meet their visitor.

"ANYWAY, SINCE YOU'RE a neighbor, I thought I'd pa.s.s the word," the man said with a wry grin. "It was a h.e.l.l of a weather system, and since it's headed this way, you might want to check your float plan."

Dar exhaled. "We had a bad storm here the other day," she said. "I thought we'd finished with the tropical weather this year."

The other boater shook his head. He was a relatively good- looking man, of medium height and the type of build that indicated he guilted himself into a gym a few times a week. "Yeah. And you know, I just heard we're up for an El Nino again this year.

Weather's been real weird."

Dar glanced up. "Well, if what they say about global warming is true, better enjoy the islands now," she said. "We'll be diving them as reefs some day." Her hand extended over the water.

"Thanks for the warning, Roger. I appreciate it."

"No problem." The man clasped her hand. "Hey, you said your name is Roberts?"

Uh oh. Dar nodded warily. "Yeah."

His head tilted and he looked at her. "You're not any relation to Andrew and Cecilia Roberts, are you? They're my slip neighbors over at the South Beach Marina."

Oh. Dar managed a relieved smile. "Yeah. They're my parents."

"Had a feeling." Roger pointed at her. "You look like Andy.

He's a trip. Well, good to meet you, Dar. Have a safe trip back, and watch out for that storm." He lifted a hand and started back down the docks.

"Small world," Dar murmured in bemus.e.m.e.nt. "Small, small world."

"SO THAT'S WHAT happened." Kerry put the Thermos of coffee on the tray and added some cream and sugar. She picked it up and brought it over to the table. "Whatever it is you're looking for, Bob-it must really be there."

Bob exhaled. "Yeah, that's what I thought too, when the cops came after me. No smoke without cigarettes, right?"

268*

Kerry looked up with a dubious expression. "Right." She set down the tray, and then jumped as Dar's cell phone rang. With a quick glance toward the laptop, she picked it up and opened it.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Roberts?"

Kerry considered lying, but discarded the idea. "No," she answered.

"Put the b.i.t.c.h on the phone right now."

The door opened and Dar entered. Kerry held up the phone and then directed a rude gesture toward it. Dar's eyes narrowed as she crossed the deck and took the instrument. "Yeah?"

Kerry dropped to the couch and pulled the laptop over, clicking on the window Dar had running for the cell phone. The program had activated. She noticed Charlie had moved to the edge of his chair, listening intently to Dar's conversation.

"Write this down, Roberts. If you f.u.c.k it up, your little buddy's toast."

Dar took a deep breath, willing herself to patience. "Go ahead."

"I'll give you two coordinates. You be there at midnight tonight. Bring what you've got, plus twenty-five thousand dollars,"

DeSalliers said. "That's to cover the cost of fixing my boat."

Considering his demands, Dar pulled her new pocket watch from her shorts pocket and opened it. "Forget it," she told DeSalliers crisply. "Try again."

There was a momentary silence. "You're not really understanding the situation, are you? You don't tell me what to do, Roberts; you do what I tell you to do."

"Listen, moron, the bank's closed," Dar said. "If you want to recoup the cost of repairs to your hull breach, gimme the bill or rethink your plan."

"That's not my problem, Roberts. It's yours. Bring the cash and the relic, or I'll chop this piece of s.h.i.t up and use him for bait."