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.I kicked him in the butt.“Once more, nice and polite.Where the fuck is Kit?”Dale shook his hand free, rolled over, and rubbed his head.“He locked himself in the safe room right after you left.We haven’t been able to get him out.”The relief washing over me was painful.It stung my eyes and burned my throat.“I’ll go get him.” I said to Roger.“You stay here with Mr.Gestapo and Jaxbee.”Throwing the blanket aside, I ran down three decks to the safe room built into the side of the hull near the stern.The impenetrable room sported an intercom.I pressed the green button on the doorframe and heard the dearest voice in the world.“Who’s calling?”“It’s me, you silly goose.Open up.”The door eased a few inches and there he was, my best friend, his mouth full of caviar.“I thought you’d never get here,” he said.“Want some? It’s Beluga.” He passed me a plate of salmon, with a scoop of black fish eggs and a box of Wisconsin Cheese Crackers.We hugged and cried until I realized he was tipsy.“Have you been drinking?”He stepped aside with a sweeping arm motion to show me the contents of the room.“Here hold this,” he slurred passing me a bottle of Moët & Chandon 1949 vintage champagne.It was Dom Pérignon.I knew it cost over a thousand dollars a bottle.A collection of empties was in a basket by the door.“This is the nuttiest pantry,” he said, waving a Gourmet Beef Jerky under my nose.A person could get seriously ill on this survival food.Who eats this kaka?”“That’s Hook’s country soul food you’re mocking.”Tinkerbelle took half a dozen steps from a blanket on the floor, stood directly over my shoes and peed.Ick.I shook my feet and picked her up gingerly.“It wasn’t my fault, you silly dog.I didn’t lock you in here.” She scrambled out of my arms and ran through the doorway.“I thought this was supposed to be a safe room – a place where a guy could hide and not be afraid.Here’s the worst part…” Pulling back a lid from a large carton, he revealed a case of porno.“This is straight stuff.I feel sick.”I laughed until I cried.Clinging to each other, we staggered back to the salon.Roger was sitting beside Jaxbee.He passed an ammonia capsule under her nose.She moaned as she moved her head to escape the smell.“Where’s Dale?” I asked.“At the helm,” he answered without taking his eyes from Jaxbee.“You let him go?”“I’ll explain later.Everybody has a price,” he said.Roger had made some sort of deal with Dale, and he was back to piloting the Predator.It had been six hours since we left land, and night was falling like a punch-drunk boxer.The yacht was in motion.Kit passed me the champagne.I drank from the bottle as I sat next to him on the sofa.I caught a glimpse of myself in the infinity mirrors.I was a mess.There wasn’t a spa in the world that could reconstruct me.“What happened to Joseph, Mary, Chick, Annie, and Granddaddy Earl? Can they get the Mermaid back to shore?”“I’ll see what I can find out.You stay here with Jaxbee,” Roger said.He shot me a bossy look as he said, “Don’t follow me.”So of course, I did.Chapter Forty-TwoStaying in the shadows and walking barefooted, I followed Roger to the Predator’s cargo hold.He leaned over and fixed his eyes on the van.What are you doing? I whispered.“I thought you were going to check on the Mermaid.”“Get out of here.” He moved his hand as if to brush me away.“I have a right to know.What’s going on?”He pulled me back and shooed me into the corridor.“I’m trying to find Hook.He’s got to have made it to the yacht by now.”I came at him in a burst of angry energy.“Let’s just take over the ship.We can grab the controls and use what I learned to get this thing into port and turn over the treasure to the feds.You’ll have done your job.You might even get a reward.”“Wendy, use your head.If we try to mutiny we’ll lose to the crew.They outnumber us.I imagine they’d make us walk the plank with a bullet through our heads.I’m trying to figure out what Hook promised these kid sailors.Maybe we can outbid him.They’re not the brightest bulbs.We need to lie low and watch and wait for our opportunity.”“You and your ‘wait and watch.’ One of these guys is a multi-murderer.”He patted me on the head.“There’s nothing we can do until we get to land.Besides, piloting the Mermaid for a few minutes does not qualify you to skipper a super-yacht.Don’t go getting too cocky.”“Okay.You stare at the van.I’m going to find Marni’s killer.”***I was back in the main salon scoping out the action when Hook stomped in.He was a sweaty sea-soaked mess.“That old biddy, Mary, laid a curse on me.Where’s my doctor?”“Roger can’t remove curses.He’s not a witch doctor.”Hook glared at me.“I need another elastic bandage.” His UpUGo was still perky.“What happened to the Mermaid crew?” I asked.“Crew? That was no crew.That was a joke [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]