He had had too much training to let surprise show and when he turned and said hello to a tall, lovely brunette, he knew what Billy was grinning about and wanted to kick that cat-eared Carib right in the britches. She was wearing topsiders that made walking silent to him, but Billy had not only picked up the sound, he knew who was making it.
Billy said, “This be Missy Durant, sar. She the lady from the other side of the island.” He still hadn’t turned around to verify his words.
“Judy,” the brunette said.
“Mako,” he told her. “Mako Hooker.”
“Ah, yes, the Mr. Shark man. Billy has told me.” She caught the sudden consternation on his face. “Billy brings me fish to eat.”
The beer can in his fingers suddenly felt out of place and he didn’t know what to do with it. You don’t sit on a transom and toss beer empties around with a gorgeous woman in khaki shorts and a beautifully filled out short-sleeved shirt watching you.
He laughed and said, “Care for a cold one?”
She stepped from the dock to the deck like an old pro and laughed right back at him. “I’d love one. I’ve been pedaling a bike for two hours to get over here.”
He popped the top on a pair of iced Miller Lite beers and handed her one. “You made my day, Judy. I didn’t expect company.”
She took the beer, chugged down half of it gratefully and let out a ladylike burp without excusing herself. “Ah, that was good. Am I interfering with anything?”
“Are you kidding?”
“Well... I really came to see Billy.”
He heard Billy chuckle and said, “I think I’ll kill him. He’s already got a girl.”
“Sar, I think Missy Durant wants the fish.”
Judy’s teeth flashed under the smile and she pushed her hair back with a deeply tanned, short-nailed hand. “For a cookout,” she explained. “I’ll be feeding about thirty people. Think you can handle that, Billy?”
“Oh yes, missy. Mr. Hooker and I get you all you need. Conchs too and the crabs. We take good care of you.”
“Where are the thirty people coming from, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Hollywood, Mr. Hooker. That motion picture production company will be landing here tomorrow to shoot a few segments and I want to treat them to some island hospitality.”
“Well, you certainly look better than any Hollywood actress I’ve ever seen,” Hooker told her. “You really in the business?”
Another low laugh trickled from her chest. “Not quite,” she explained. “I own half the corporation.” She saw the question in his expression and added, “I inherited it from my father. That was one of his toys.”
“Toys?”
“He was really a banker. He could afford toys like that.”
“What happened to him?”
It was a casually innocent question, but it caught her off guard momentarily. She finished the beer in the can and handed the empty back to him. “He was shot, Mr. Hooker. A lousy street robbery. They took his wallet and his watch and killed him.” Her eyes suddenly filled with tears.
“Sorry,” Hooker told her. “That was a pretty dumb question.”
Judy blinked the tears away and smiled. “No... I understand. Usually I don’t get bothered by someone asking, but all morning long I’ve been thinking about him.” She paused, then explained, “I never really saw much of him. But we had an entire week together before... it happened.”
“Time will take care of that, ma’am,” Hooker said, shifting uncomfortably.
“Please... Judy.” She held out her hand.
“I’m getting as bad as Billy. He’s ‘sar’d’ me so long I almost forgot my front name. It’s Mako.”
“Well, I won’t. And I like Mako. Will you and Billy join us at the cookout?”
Before Billy could voice an objection Hooker said, “You can bet on it. Black tie?”
“Sneakers, shorts and T-shirt.”
“Ah, really dress up. Limousine ordered?”
“Since you’re bringing the fish early, boat is the best bet. The others are coming in Willie Pender’s launch.”
“Who’s doing the cooking?”
“I wouldn’t have anybody else but your friend Billy there. And his lady, of course.”
“Naturally.”
Judy Durant stepped on the rail, then jumped to the dock. Her motion was gracefully fluid, like that of a trained athlete. She waved goodbye, then half ran up the planked walkway, mounted a man’s three-speed bicycle and pedaled toward the packed coquina path that traversed the island.
“You like she?”
“Billy, you are a sneaky slob, if ever I saw one.”
“I did not invite she, sar.”
“You made sure she’d have to come here to get you to fish for her.”
“But I did not invite she.” He wiped the rag over the face of the console again and grinned. “So... you like?”
“Beautiful, Billy.”
“Indeed yes, sar. But do you like?”
“Kiddo, she’s an anatomical dream with the most kissable mouth I ever saw.”
“The last part I understand, sar.”
“Someday I’ll explain the rest to you.” Hooker laughed.
Billy smiled back. “I think I know, sar.” He turned his back and began to tighten down the cap on the gas tank.
Grinning to himself, Hooker said, “How’d you know when that movie bunch would be here, Billy?”
“Sar?”
“You heard me.”
“I think it, sar.”
“You’re thinking of how not to tell me anything. Now don’t give me any Carib jive, old buddy.”
Billy made a gesture of defeat with a jerk of his head. He wouldn’t lie and deviousness wasn’t part of his makeup. “Sar, the radio.”
“It’s been on the weather station?”
With a bob of his head, Billy said, “To a ship outside it tells good sky for movie shooting. The ship can come in.”
“That broadcast was in French, pal.”
“Yes, sar.”
“You understand French, Billy?”
“Yes, sar.”
“How come?”
“Me one smart Carib like you say, sar.”
“You’re a real smart-ass, all right. How long have you known Judy?”
Moving his shoulders with an inscrutable shrug, Billy said, “Long time, sar.”
“Uh-huh.” Hooker waited, knowing he was annoying Billy by not prodding for a more explicit answer.
“Her father, I knew him too. Very nice man.”
Hooker still waited.
“She come every year since a little girl. Most times her father not here. Much business in faraway countries.”
“Banking,” Hooker acknowledged. “He handled your finances too?”
Billy finished with the gas cap and wiped his hands on a rag. He caught Hooker’s eyes and grinned a little. “I take him fishing. He was very good on boat. His friends”he wrinkled his mouth“bad city people. They do not know the fishing at all and get very sick.” A small smile touched his lips.
“But they all pay very well,” he added. “Big tips.”
“Didn’t you take her out too?”
“No. For the missy it was to look at. Sometimes I would take her for the crabs. Sometimes for the conchs.” He paused, a look of reflection on his dark face. “She did not like to see any of those great fish killed.”
“I can understand that,” Hooker told him.
“But she would fish with me. For the eating. We catch just enough for the table. Everything goes. Nothing left. Guts and cleanups from the plates go into chopper, then into big pile that goes to garden when it is rotten.”
“That’s a compost pile, Billy”
“Smells funny.”
“She is taking care of the environment, pal.”
He looked at Mako, not understanding what he meant. Hooker waved his hands at the ground and the sky and then Billy knew what he meant. He nodded with a very positive movement and said, “Good girl, she.”