“Heh.” Dar relented and switched back to the forest. “You’re so cute.” She started the laptop into its dial-up routine. “Now,” she turned around and gathered Kerry into her arms, “before I was so rudely interrupted by logic, where was I?”
Kerry pressed her body against Dar’s. “Here, I think.” She wound a hand around Dar’s neck and was about to kiss her when a knock sounded at the door. Kerry paused, looked at her partner, then at the door in visible outrage. “What the heck?”
“Hotel better be on fire,” Dar muttered, then raised her voice.
“Yeah?”
There was a moment of silence, then a voice answered,
“H…hello? I’m looking for Kerry?”
Kerry fell forward against Dar’s chest and shook her head.
“Bob.”
“Bob,” Dar repeated. “You stay here. I’m gonna bob Bob.” Dar headed for the door with determined strides.
“Ah…bu…bu…Dar!” Kerry scuttled after her, grabbed hold of her loose shift, and pulled her to a halt. “Whoa!”
Dar turned, her eyebrows lifting in outraged question.
Kerry tied the shift closed. “Blind eunuchs have it tough in the job market, sweetie,” she whispered. “Let me handle him, okay?”
She adjusted her own dress and slipped ahead of Dar, grasped the door handle, and turned it. “Yes?” She leaned on the jamb, opening Terrors of the High Seas 107
the door just wide enough to make eye contact.
“Kerry! Great, I found you.” Bob beamed. “Can I come in?”
Kerry got her thoughts in order and assumed one of her more no-nonsense expressions. “Bob, it’s late. Is there something you need? We’re pretty tired.” She tried not to hear the low, vibrant growl that was buzzing the air behind her.
“I was hoping we could talk,” Bob explained shyly.
Okay, Ker, Dar’s right. Polite ain’t cutting it this time. “About what?” Kerry asked.
The hallway was empty, though Bob glanced to either side just to be certain. He put his hands in his pockets and managed an almost engaging expression. “Look, I know we barely know each other…”
“Grrooowwwwll!”
Kerry felt Dar move closer, and the heat of her body warmed Kerry’s back. “That’s right,” she answered Bob. “We don’t.”
“But I was thinking maybe we could see each other a few times, you know… I think you’re a really—”
“Bob.” Kerry opened the door a little wider and straightened, holding both hands out in a stopping motion. “Hold it.”
“No, I know you’re really modest, but I think—”
“Bob!” Kerry’s voice lifted.
He peered at her anxiously. “Yeah?”
“Thank you, but I have a significant other,” Kerry stated firmly. “One that I’m very attached to.”
“Rowwwrrrll.” Dar’s growl turned to a purr.
Bob took a breath and gave her a determined look. “I figured you had a boyfriend, but I really think we can get to know each other better, after all—”
“Bob.” Kerry sighed. “I don’t have a boyfriend.” She spoke slowly, enunciating carefully, “I told you before—I have a partner.”
His brows contracted in puzzlement. “A partner?”
Dar’s patience, never really extensive, snapped. She poked her head above Kerry’s as she raised a hand over Kerry’s shoulder.
“That would be me.”
Bob looked from one of them to the other, his head cocking to one side in patent confusion.
Kerry turned and looked at Dar. “See what happens when you eat too much Wonder Bread?” she asked, then turned back. “Bob, Dar and I are lovers,” she painstakingly clarified for him. “We’re gay. Am I making a connection here?”
Very slowly, comprehension dawned. “Oh,” Bob finally murmured, turning a deep, brick red. “Sorry. I didn’t…um…”
Kerry felt a little sorry for him. “It’s okay.”
“Okay, well then, have a good night. I’m sorry,” Bob babbled, backing away. “Sorry.” He escaped down the hallway, almost 108 Melissa Good crashing into the corner in his haste to get out of sight.
“Mmph.” Dar watched the last of him vanish and issued a satisfied grunt. “What an analog mindset.”
Kerry nudged her backwards and shut the door. “Aw, he’s not that bad. He meant well, Dar.”
“No he didn’t,” Dar objected. “Kerry, did you hear what he said after you told him you had an SO? He didn’t care! What a creep!”
Kerry chewed the inside of her lip. “Ew. Yeah,” she admitted.
“That was pretty scuzzy.”
Dar shook her head and ambled over to where the laptop had finished downloading. She picked it up and took it to the bed, then rid herself of her shift and settled on the covers, stretching her naked body out as she studied the screen. After a second, she glanced up over the LCD and crooked a finger at Kerry. “C’mere.”
Kerry put thoughts of Bob and his scuzziness out of her mind, removed her own clothing, and joined Dar in bed, snuggling up next to her lover. “What did he send?”
“Look.” Dar pointed. They read together in silence, tanned faces outlined in the light of the screen.
Chapter
Eleven
THE NEXT MORNING, Kerry woke up first for a change. She let her eyes drift open as the sunlight poured in the slatted windows and made stripes across the bed. For a few minutes, she just lay there in a lazy half doze, watching Dar’s chest move rhythmically. The sun made the soft, fine hairs on Dar’s torso glisten, and Kerry rubbed her thumb over a few of them as she pondered the information they’d obtained the night before.
She’d expected…well, to be honest, she hadn’t really had any idea what to expect. Maybe that the big black boat and the little white wiener following it were international jewel thieves, or something. Instead, what they’d discovered was that the boat was owned by a wealthy broker of art and collectables who was known for his aggressive acquisition and auction of just about anything he could get his hands on that was worth good money. Nothing illegal about that.
Kerry nuzzled Dar’s shoulder, and her nostrils picked up faint traces of coconut from the tanning oil she’d spread all over Dar the day before. But they’d read some clips about how the man had forced his way into excavations and bought up rights for salvage, often taking valuable goods out from under the eyes of the original, and sometimes rightful, owners.
John DeSalliers. Not a nice guy. But that wasn’t illegal, either.
What Kerry couldn’t figure out was why they’d been so set on chasing after her and Dar. After all, if they could get this information on who was registered to that boat, it was just as easy for the black boat to get the same information about Dar.
“I just don’t get it.” Kerry sighed. All they’d done was dive on a decrepit wreck. Surely they didn’t think there was anything valuable on an old fishing vessel, did they? Why bother? It didn’t make sense.
Their friends Christen and Juan turned out to be registered private detectives, apparently on a hefty retainer from DeSalliers.
They were both very well off, and Christen was purportedly quite the wild woman of the world, if you believed the society gossip clips Mark had pulled off of God-only-knew-where.
110 Melissa Good But… Kerry kept coming back to the same question: why bother her and Dar? If they were looking for something, why take the time out to tangle with a pair of IT execs out on vacation? It just didn’t make sense.
Dar’s voice interrupted her musing. “Whatcha frowning about?”
Kerry tilted her chin up and looked at her newly awakened partner. “Trying to figure out what’s going on.”