‘If you break it, you buy it.’
‘How much?’ he asked.
She held onto him as the boat lunged forward. ‘You probably can’t afford it,’ she said.
The bow lifted above the waves.
‘You’re forgetting, I’m a wealthy man.’
‘Right. Your dad owns a bait shop.’
‘There are different kinds of wealth,’ he said, grinning.
‘You’re wealthy in worms.’
‘How about ten bucks? Is that enough?’
‘Plenty.’ She smiled up at him. ‘You get a discount ’cause I love you so much.’
Brad put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Have I wished you happy birthday yet?’ he asked.
‘No. What’re you waiting for?’
‘Happy birthday. The big seventeen.’
‘Yeah. I’m ancient.’
Brad throttled down. The roar of the motors diminished to a sputtering whisper and the boat slowed, its bow slowly lowering into the waves. ‘Time for your party,’ he said, and killed the motors.
‘We’ll let her drift for a while.’ He lifted Tina onto the pilot’s seat. ‘Just sit tight on your priceless fanny.’
‘Ten bucks isn’t priceless.’
‘Right back,’ he said, and went below. In the galley, he opened his ice chest. Two glasses were tucked into the crushed ice along with two bottles of champagne. He left one bottle behind and hurried topside. Tina grinned. ‘Hey! Champagne?’
‘Happy birthday.’
‘Shouldn’t you have a towel to wrap round the bottle? They always have towels.’
‘A towel, a towel. Good idea. Hold these.’ He gave the bottle and glasses to Tina, then rushed below and found a beach towel. It was still damp and smelled of sun tan oil. He tucked it under his arm and picked up a flat, gift-wrapped box. As he reached the top of the steps, he heard a pop. A cork shot past his ear. It thumped the window. ‘Almost gotcha!’ Tina blurted.
‘Good thing you missed.’
‘Yeah?’
‘How far can you swim?’
‘Far. Very far.’ She scanned the shores. The nearest was at least a quarter mile away. ‘I could make it,’ she said.
‘This wouldn’t.’ He tossed the gift sideways. Tina gasped, but he snatched it out of the air with his other hand.
‘What if you’d missed?' Tina asked.
‘I never miss.’
‘But what if?’
‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously.’
‘I would’ve dived in after it. There’s no way I’d let this get away. No way in the world.’
‘It’s something pretty good, huh?’
‘It’s something wonderful.’
‘Gonna give it to me?’
‘Later. First, we’ve got to toast the birthday girl.’
4
‘Why would he want to follow you?’ Dan asked without looking away from the dark, twisting road.
‘I don’t know,’ Marty said.
‘You’d better tell me. I’ve got to figure out how to handle this.’
‘Can you lose him?’
‘Maybe. For tonight. But he can always go after you tomorrow. He can wait around till he finds you alone. Do you want that?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Then tell me what he wants.’
‘I don’t know what he wants. I testified against him once. He went to prison.’
‘What did he do?’
‘Never mind.’
‘Thanks for all the information. At least we know one thing; if it is your friend back there, he probably doesn’t plan to shake your hand.’
‘That’s for sure.’ She looked out of the rear window and gazed down the road, searching the shadows.
‘I’ll take you to my place,’ Dan said.
‘No, not your place.’
‘I’ve got a gun.’
‘No!’
‘Why the hell not?’
‘You want to shoot him? That’d be great.’
Dan glanced at her, smiled with one side of his head. ‘It might not come to shooting.’
‘But it might.’
‘In that case, may the better aim win.’
A few minutes later, he slowed down in front of his house. ‘Keep driving,’ Marty said. If you get your gun, someone might end up getting killed.’
‘Damn right.’
‘Keep driving, or you can just let me out and I’ll take my chances walking home.’
He made a snorty sound, then muttered, ‘I just hope your friend isn’t armed.’
Two hundred yards farther, he swung the car sharply onto the narrow road leading to Wilson Lake.
‘What are we going to do?’
‘I’ve got a little plan.’
‘Dan?’
‘Nothing to worry about.’ He looked at her and grinned. ‘Dan’s plans never fail. What does this guy look like?’
‘Let’s go to the police.’
‘I can take care of it He slowed down and peered into the rearview mirror until the other car turned. ‘He’s following us, okay.’
‘Dan!’
‘Don’t worry, everything’s fine. How about getting me a flashlight?’ He pointed to the glove compartment. Marty opened it, took out the flashlight and snapped the compartment shut.
The flashlight had a ribbed metal casing.
Near the shore, the road widened into a parking lot. Dan steered onto its hard dirt. As he cruised past several dark cars with couples inside, he kicked off his sneakers, reached down and pulled off his socks.
‘Going for a swim?’ Marty asked.
‘You never know.’ He stopped beside a pickup truck and cut the engine. ‘Place is sure crowded tonight.’ He slipped his bare feet back into his sneakers and stuffed one of his socks into his pants pocket. ‘Okay, lets go.’
‘Go where?’
‘Out there. For a walk. Too many people around here, even if they are too busy to see anything. Hand me the light, honey.’
She gave it to him, shouldered open her door, and stepped onto the dirt of the lot. The ground felt nice and cool under her feet. But she put her sandals on, anyway, feeling too vulnerable without them. For a moment, she even considered putting her sweater back on, though the night was balmy and her clothes were sticking to her back and buttocks.
‘Shall we take a stroll along the shore?’ Dan asked.
‘Are you kidding?’
‘No.’ He looked over his shoulder. Following his glance, Marty saw the dark car turn slowly onto the parking lot. ‘Let’s go,’ Dan whispered, and pulled her hand. ‘Don’t look back. We don’t want your friend to know we’re onto him.’
At the edge of the lake, Dan turned on the flashlight.
‘What’s that for?’
‘To see where we’re going.’
‘There’s plenty of moonlight.’
‘Your friend has to see where we’re going, too.’
‘Could you stop calling him that. My friend? He isn’t my friend.’
‘If you say so.’
She pulled her hand away. It was wet. She wiped it on her skirt. ‘What if he’s got a knife?’ she asked.