I nodded.
"It sounds good."
"There's only one problem," added Li Chin. "The caretaker. When he comes back, and finds the boat gone, he's bound to go for the police."
"He won't find the boat gone," I said. "We'll have the courtesy to wait for him. When he arrives, we'll treat him to a little trip. Locked in a cabin, of course."
"Adding another person we can't trust," Michelle said, annoyed. Her eyes swept over Li Chin.
"It can't be helped," I said. "And we're wasting time sitting here. Let's take a look at the Lady Day."
I stood up. Michelle pushed back her chair, stood, and stalked out of the bar without looking at Li Chin. We followed. After the foul atmosphere of the bar, the warm Caribbean night air smelled extraordinarily good. Across the yacht basin, boats rode in the gentle waves, their lights blinking. It was a peaceful, pleasant scene. I hoped it would remain like that while we «borrowed» the Lady Day.
"Look," said Li Chin, pulling small binoculars out from under her sweater. "There."
I took the binoculars and pointed them in the direction she was indicating. After a moment of blurryness and some adjusting, the Lady Day jumped into view. I whistled softly in admiration. It was just as much of a beauty as Li Chin had said. Its long, sleek lines were unmistakably those of an ocean-going boat, and the tall mast midships meant plenty of power under sail. From the way it rode I could tell it could easily take a shallow anchorage. I studied it a moment more, than took the binoculars from my eyes.
"There's only one thing I don't like about it," I said.
"What's that?" asked Li Chin, looking puzzled. I could tell she'd fallen in love with the boat on first sight. "It's got a dinghy roped to it's stern," I said.
"What?" said Li Chin, and grabbed the binoculars. She knew very well what I was getting at: If the dinghy was at the boat, the watchman must have already returned. Li Chin studied the Lady Day for a moment, then lowered the binoculars, shaking her head.
"My cousin Hong Fat is going to lose a couple of chopsticks over this," she said. "He was supposed to keep an eye on that watchman and tell me when he returned. He's never failed me before."
"It might not be the watchman," I reminded her. "It might be another member of the crew, come to ready her for a voyage. Or even somebody with a little larceny in mind. Someone who's studied the habits of the watchman just as you have. In any case, the Lady Day is too good for our purposes to give up. We'll just have to be prepared for another guest on the trip."
Li Chin nodded in agreement. Our eyes met. We must have both been thinking the same thing — if there was someone on the Lady Day we couldn't afford to let him see us approaching in a dinghy — because the next thing she said was simply:
"Scuba gear?"
"Right," I said, then turned to Michelle. "Have you ever done any scuba diving?"
Michelle glanced at Li Chin.
"What about you?" she said.
"I'm okay," Li Chin answered.
"Well, I'm not too bad myself," said Michelle.
I was dubious. If Li Chin had said she was an expert mountain climber, I suspect Michelle would have claimed to have conquered Mount Everest. But I went along with it.
"All right," I told Li Chin. "Scuba gear for three. And a watertight bag for weapons."
"Of course," she said. "Twenty minutes."
And she was gone, fading into the darkness like a moving shadow.
"She has a cousin who can watch the watchman. She can get scuba gear on demand," Michelle said irritably. "Where does she find all these things?"
"The Chin clan," I said, straight-faced, "is a very big clan."
And our particular branch of the Chin clan was back in less than twenty minutes. She was accompanied by a rather stout Chinese boy of about nineteen, who puffed with effort as he set down the gear.
"The tanks are full," said Li Chin. "I could only get one depth gauge, but we can all follow the one who's wearing it. This is my cousin, Hong Fat."
"Call me Jim," said Hong Fat. "Listen, I never left that watchman's side. I'm half clobbered myself, just from smelling his breath from ten feet away. And he's conked out with his head on a table sleeping like a drunken baby right this minute."
"We'll just have to take our chances on whoever's on the Lady Day," I said. "Come on. We'll suit up down there on the quay, behind that pile of cinderblocks."
We lugged the gear down onto the quay, stripped, and started struggling into wet-suits. They were new, and smelled of rubber. I put on my fins, then tested my mask and oxygen as the others did the same. Hugo and Wilhelmina went into the watertight bag, along with a deadly-looking little derringer which Li Chin produced. Pierre continued to nestle comfortably along my inner thigh, under the wet suit.
"Wow," said Hong Fat. "The creatures from the black lagoon strike again."
"Listen, cousin," said Li Chin, "you get back to that bar and keep eyeballing that watchman, or I'll take away your Honda. If he starts to head back to the Lady Day, give me a buzz."
Hong Fat nodded respectfully, and trundled off into the darkness.
"A buzz?" I said.
"My earring," Li Chin said tersely. "Electronic receiver. Handy, sometimes."
"No doubt," I said drily. T checked to see that all three of us were ready, then motioned Li Chin and Michelle forward to the edge of the quay. It was a night of bright moonlight, but I could see no one watching us.
"Follow behind me," I said. "V formation. Stay at my depth."
They both nodded. I slipped the mask over my face, turned on the oxygen, and lowered myself into the water. A moment later the three of us were gliding smoothly, fin-propelled, through the greenish-black depths of the harbor, toward the Lady Day.
Nine
Most of the Caribbean is shark-infested, and the area around San Juan harbor is no exception, so I kept the spear gun Li Chin had provided at the ready. An occasional glance over my shoulder reassured me about Michelle. She was moving through the water effortlessly, with a smooth strength that showed years of familiarity with diving. If anything, she was a match for Li Chin, and through the glass of her mask I thought I could detect a smile of satisfaction at this. I didn't glance back often, though. The harbor was crowded with boats, and we had to thread our way among, and sometimes under them, keeping careful watch for lines, anchors, even an occasional overnight fishing line. And, of course, sharks. The water was greenish black, and murky with night, but I glimpsed an occasional school of tiny fish fluttering away from us, the spiky balls of black sea urchins on the sea's bottom, and once, the bulky, surprisingly graceful and fast retreat of a squid. I surfaced once, briefly, for direction, then dove again and moved along close to the bottom. The next time I surfaced, it was to cling to the anchor line of the Lady Day. Seconds later, and inches away, Michelle's head popped up, then Li Chin's. We all turned off oxygen and slipped our masks from faces, then clung there in a huddled group, listening.
There was no sound from the Lady Day.
I put my finger to my lips for silence, then pantomimed that I would go up first, and they were to wait until I signaled. Both nodded in agreement. I pulled off my flippers, handed them to Li Chin, and started hand over hand up the anchorage rope, the watertight bag gripped between my teeth, swaying as the boat swayed in the swells.