Slater stood at the prow, huddled in a red rain jacket, the collar turned up and the hood pulled low over her eyes. It made her sultry and attractive. She talked animatedly into her cell phone.
As Aston approached, he overheard her say, “There’ll be more, of course. And yes, I know the value. Just let me do my work.” She flicked her gaze to him, nodded shortly. “Listen, I gotta go. Yep. Bye.” She hung up and pocketed the phone, threw a weak smile at Aston.
“Who was that?” he asked.
She flapped one hand, then jammed it back into her jacket pocket. “Just business.”
“Sounded a bit… I don’t know, stressful?”
“TV is stressful.” She seemed reluctant to say more. When Aston raised an eyebrow, she said, “I’m busy with a series, specials, other offers. There’s a lot going on for me. Yes, it’s stressful.”
Aston raised his hands. “Okay, sorry! Didn’t mean to pry.”
Slater turned to look out over the water. “Dave still isn’t back.”
Maybe that was part of the reason she was so on edge. Aston nodded out into the squall. “I wouldn’t fancy rowing through this myself.”
“But this has only just started, Sam. Dave’s been gone all day, and yesterday. I’m actually a bit concerned for his safety.”
“Not so mad at him any more?”
Slater snorted. “Oh, I’m still mad as hell at the bastard. But I’m worried too. It’s one thing for him to skip out on us for the evening. Even to be too hungover to come back early. But Dave is used to a few beers. I can’t see how it would lay him low enough to stay away. So either he’s really sick or…”
“Or what?”
“I don’t know. Or something else has happened, I guess. Either way, I’m worried. He has a cell phone and I’ve been calling and messaging all day, but no response.”
Aston nodded, gazing out across the turgid lake. “I don’t know Dave well, but what you say makes sense. We talked before he left about getting some more beer and sneaking it back to the boat. He gave no indication that he intended to desert us.”
“I’m a bit concerned about that policeman, too,” Slater said. “The one who hassled us right before we left?”
“You paid him off, right?”
“Holloway did, yeah. And we sold him on the story that we’re making a nature documentary. But what if he spotted Dave in town and put the hard word on him? Dave’s a pussycat, he wouldn’t cope well with being pressured. He might have let slip something of our real mission.”
Aston frowned. “And why would that stop him coming back?” he asked.
“Maybe that king-shit cop arrested him.”
“I would expect him to motor straight out to us in that case,” Aston mused. “We’re easy enough to find out here, and not that far from town.”
Slater pursed her lips. “I suppose so. But I still don’t like it. Gazsi deserted us, Dave has gone missing. There aren’t that many of us here, Sam! We need to know what’s happening.”
“Go and talk to them?” Aston suggested. “Gazsi, I mean, and the copper.”
Slater shook her head. “I don’t want to talk to the police just yet. If they get wind that we’ve got two men MIA, they’ll shut us down for sure. It’s all the excuse they’ll need. What about we do that trip to the pub for some R and R like you suggested. We can ask casually in the bar about Dave, sniff around a bit.”
“Yeah,” Aston said. “Good idea. I agree with you about keeping a low profile. And if the law found out about that bloody foot we’ve got on ice…”
Slater hissed between her teeth. “I don’t think even Dave would be dumb enough to mention that, but if he’s getting interrogated he might crack.” She paused, turned a slightly haunted gaze on him. “Or maybe something happened on his way back here.”
“Right, you’ve got me concerned now too.” Aston straightened his back. “I want to keep Holloway and Laine out of it though, keep it simple.”
Slater nodded. “Most definitely. Honestly, the less time I have to spend with Holloway the better. The man grates on my nerves.”
“He does that to everyone, I think. Except maybe Joaquin. That guy seems to worship his boss.”
“He’s a sycophant, getting very well-paid. Who knows what all services he really provides?”
Aston laughed and cocked an eyebrow.
Slater grinned back. “Well, I didn’t actually mean that, but you never know!”
“What about Laine?” Aston asked. “He was acting pretty strange when we got that big sonar hit.”
“Alvar Laine is pretty strange in every way.”
“I guess.”
Slater looked up into the heavy clouds, and then scanned the tree line along the shore. “Can you imagine being born and raised here? I think he’s just a little spun out by the expensive gear, the loud Americans, the weird Australian.” She smirked at him.
“Yeah. Okay, I’ll pay that. Maybe you’re right. He’s just a country boy. But I’d still prefer to keep him away. Just you and me, go and snoop around.”
“Are you trying to get me all to yourself, Aston?”
He flushed slightly, hoped it didn’t show. She had hidden depths, this TV personality. She was growing on him. “Just a pleasant by-product of the situation.”
“So you say. But yeah, I don’t want anyone else coming with us.”
Aston nodded, let out a long breath. “Cool. So we’ll tell Holloway we’re taking the tinny back late this afternoon, we’ll have a meal on dry land, couple of drinks, because we need a little space and a change of scene. But mainly, we plan to find Dave and drag him back by his ear. Under that pretense, it’ll be easy enough to pry around a bit.”
Chapter 14
The rain blew through after an hour or so, leaving behind a cold breeze that whipped across the lake, making the surface choppy as Aston piloted the small boat back toward town. It had taken some time to convince Holloway to let him and Slater go back alone. With so many people eager for a change of scenery, the billionaire was all for turning the Merenneito around and taking everyone in to port for the night, where he could keep them together and under his thumb.
“I’m glad you talked that rich moron out of coming with us,” Slater said, shouting to be heard over the wind.
“You could tell Makkonen had no great desire to go back and Laine has only just been home,” Aston said. “They helped more than anything I said. I get the impression they both like to stay as far away from society as they can.”
Slater laughed. “Can you imagine the conversation back there tonight?”
Aston joined in with her mirth. “I reckon Holloway would get more conversation from a brick wall! He might as well talk to the harpoon.”
They fell into a companionable silence for the ten minutes or so longer it took to get back to town. As they rounded a cove and the roofs came into view, Aston realized how much he had missed civilization’s small comforts. It had only been a day or two and he was more than used to roughing it on various excursions, but simple things like a pub nearby would always remain close to his heart.
He nosed the tinny in between boats and yachts of various size in the small harbor and Slater hopped out to hook up their mooring rope to a wooden stanchion silvered with weather and age.
As they tramped along the wooden jetty, Slater said, “I told Holloway we might be back before it starts to get dark, but that only gives us about three hours.”
“I think he knew we had no intention of coming back until morning.”
“I hope we can get rooms. Unless you want to bunk together.” Slater flicked Aston a sidelong glance.