Death of a Hot Chick (29 page)

Everyone was gone but Slim. He sat down
beside me. “What you gonna do with your sunk boat?” he asked.

I shook my head. I was out of options.
No way I’d be able to shine
Snapdragon
up to sell. A diver had declared there
were no holes in her hull, but he’d refused to go inside to close
any seacocks. Everything I owned was inside and water-logged.
Everything but my cell phone, and the two plastic bags with my
conduits to Nicole.

“
If you need a job, I’m still working
at Bayside.” When I didn’t answer, Slim stood. “You gotta watch
out. I gotta get back.”

Watch out for what, I wondered. As he ambled
off, I called, “Thanks. Later maybe.” Everyone had deserted me,
even my sister who’d headed home to get Lizzie. She hadn’t
returned, but someone else was headed my way. Brandon Bates holding
a bunch of flowers.

And, sure enough, he headed straight for me,
bowed and handed me the bouquet of six huge daisies. “Cyd, how
unfortunate. Whatever happened to your lovely boat?”

“
I don’t know.” I couldn’t resist
adding, “Do you?”

“
Perhaps a maintenance problem? Leaks
do occur, I understand. So fortunate that you managed to get out in
time. Or were you on the boat when it began sinking?”

I thought that was obvious, but I firmly
said, “No.”

“
The tide must be out. If one must
find something fortunate about the whole thing, that would be it.
I’m sure the boat will be completely under water when the tide
rises. I’m concerned for your investment. I wonder what the law
says about a boat that is completely sunk.”

“
Thanks for the flowers,” I muttered,
but what was I supposed to do with them?

“
May I contact a salvage company for
you? I’m sure they would pay you something for any value they might
redeem.”

Those flowers—maybe four ninety-eight at
Safeway. One of them had a broken stem.

“
So, may I call them?”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
The salvage company. I’d hate to see
you lose everything when the tide rises.”

“
It’s already high tide,” I told
Brandon. At low tide, she’d have leaned, but not sunk below water
level. For one thing, the slip was barely deep enough to
float
Snapdragon
’s three foot
depth. For another, Brandon obviously didn’t know anything about
marine law, and especially the tide tables. Why didn’t he just
leave? I preferred to be alone with my misery. But someone else was
headed my way.

Gregory lugged something a lot heavier than
a few flowers. He stepped on the finger pier. “Guess you can use
this,” he said.

“
A pump! I sure can.” I jumped up, the
flowers falling off my lap. “What’s the capacity?”

Instead of answered me, he said, “So,
Brandon. You’re fast on your feet.”

Brandon smirked. “You won’t need that pump.
I’m contracting a salvage company for her. Just pumping out the
water will give her no value whatsoever.”

“
You’re what? Who says?”

“
How does she expect to get any value
from that boat now? She won’t unless she signs it over to a salvage
company.”

The pump was on the dock. Gregory charged,
fists ready but not flying. “This boat is not salvage,” he roared.
“And you are pushing your luck just standing here.”

“
Hey, guys,” I said. “Cool, okay?”
Brandon had a point, but flowers just didn’t do it for me. I wanted
to send them both packing, but I didn’t. “I accept the offer of a
pump to use. I reject any salvage company.”

Brandon stepped back. “Cyd, I’m giving you
good advice. Think about it. That little pump will never empty the
entire boat.”

“
Hit the road,” Gregory
said.

I nearly told Gregory to hit the road along
with Brandon, but I wanted to use that pump. True, it would take a
long time to empty all the water, but at some point, draining much
of the water would allow the boat to float. What was with those two
men? Out-piss each other, and over me? There had to be another
reason.

Brandon left, looking like he’d like to take
his flowers with him.

Gregory watched him leave until he was out
of sight, then he said, “Except—he’s right.”

“
You mean your pump won’t get rid of
the water?”

“
Not now, with the deck and the open
door under water.”

“
Oh.” Before I could kick herself for
stupidity, I realized what Gregory wasn’t saying. “But when the
tide goes out, a lot of that water will go out with it. Then we
start pumping, right?”

“
Your keel is probably stuck in the
mud right now, which may be all that’s keeping the boat upright.
When the tide goes out, your boat is going to heel. Fortunately,
this slip is relatively narrow, so that might help.”

I listened intently, although I realized
Gregory was merely crystallizing his ideas.

“
Floatation,” he muttered.

“
The weight might squash any
floatation,” I said, although Gregory wasn’t listening to
me.

“
Tide turned....” Gregory checked his
watch. “High tide twenty minutes ago. Give it a couple of hours.”
His voice strengthened as he turned to me. “They said the seacocks
were open, right?”

“
Slim closed them. He might not have
gotten them all. The diver refused to go in to check.”

“
Got the rest of my gear in the car,”
he said. When he returned he had his SCUBA suit and an oxygen tank.
“Hoping I don’t need the oxygen, just a snorkel,” he
said.

~
~

Gregory had closed two more seacocks before
he left. I hoped that was all. Had I ever seen a schismatic of the
boat pinpointing all that stuff? Not that I remembered. All so much
papier-mâché now. But my clothes could be washed.

I didn’t have a mask, a snorkel, and
definitely not a wet suit, but what could happen inside a boat
filled with water? The electricity was disconnected. Things might
be floating, but I still had eyes. I took my shoes off, placed my
cell phone in one and my watch as well as the two plastic bags with
Nicole’s washed out note and a strand of her hair in the other. I
stepped down onto
Snapdragon
.

Carefully I worked my way inside, where the
floor was too far down for wading. The water had leveled off about
three feet below the salon ceiling. I floated on my back and looked
up. It all reminded me of a game I’d played as a child. Hold a big
mirror, look down into the reflected ceiling. How different it
looked from the usual scene: door openings were huge steps instead
of a flat, narrow gap, the only obstacles were hanging light
fixtures instead of furniture. And giggling sisters could only be
heard and not seen.

I kicked myself forward and grasped a grab
rail. I rolled over and ducked under the door opening to reach the
V-berth. That’s where I found three floating plastic dishes that
I’d left on the galley counter. One held the remaining banana.

Over-ripe, but breakfast. Or, was it now
lunch time? I stood on the berth while I peeled and devoured the
banana. I put the skin back in the floating bowl and gently pushed
it back into the salon and up on top of a cabinet. I went back to
my survey.

My clothes had been piled on the V-berth. I
ducked under and grabbed a pile of something, then back-pedaled
until I reached the stairs leading to the broken door. I stood at
the step leading down, checking the armful. Yes, all were mine. I
piled them on top the cabinet and returned for another armful. When
I’d cleaned off the berth, I ferried the lot out the door and
placed clothes and the dish with the banana peel on the cabin
roof.

Could the one pair of shoes on board be
dried out? I went below, dived to the bottom of the salon, looked
through murky water. Not there. Where had I left them? I couldn’t
find them, so I went into the head.

Wow, my bucket of toiletries was above
water! Toothbrush, blow drier, the works in a plastic bucket on top
of another shelf. And there was my wallet as well. I’d forgotten
where I’d left it. I snatched the bucket and held it above water
while I headed out the door.

Had the boat listed, just a bit? I
moved everything off
Snapdragon
’s roof and put it all on the finger
pier. Could the lines hold the boat if she started to
list?

Kaye and Lizzie arrived while I was retying
my last line from the under-water cleat to a piling.

“
You think that’s going to help?” Kaye
asked.

“
Maybe,” I answered.

Kaye eyed the small pile of my belongings
between them. “You’ve been inside. Do you think that was safe?”

“
I’m out, aren’t I?” I stepped off the
boat onto the finger pier. “And before you say anything else, two
others went in there first and came out alive, so it’s not like I
foolishly risked my life or anything.” I turned away from my
sister. “Hi, Lizzie. How was your night on land?”

“
I told her it’s still not safe on her
boat,” Kaye said before Lizzie could answer.

“
Yeah, and you told me I’d get killed
if I stayed aboard last night.”

But Kaye turned her attention to me. “Look
at you. Positively filthy and soaking wet. What kind of germs and
muck did you pick up?” Suddenly she picked up the plastic dish.
“You saved a banana peel?”

“
Nope, I ate a banana. And I don’t
throw garbage into Chesapeake Bay.” I stared at Kaye, waiting for
her to demand more, to know if the banana had been contaminated by
muddy water, where I’d found my clothes, and any of a number of
other questions.

However, after a range of emotions played
across her face, Kaye said, “Glad to know you’re a responsible
citizen. Now, will you please tell Lizzie she won’t be safe on the
boat?”

“
You think I need somebody to protect
me?” Lizzie asked.

“
Of course.”

Lizzie turned to me. “How about you, Cyd?”
When I did no more than glower at my sister, Lizzie continued. “How
about Cyd staying with me tonight. She’s got nowhere else to go.
Right?”

“
Right. Good idea,” I said, like that
hadn’t been my plan all along. “Now I’m taking a
shower.”

“
Where?” Kaye asked.

“
Hey, this marina is old, but it still
has all the usual facilities.”

“
But you have no dry clothes, not even
a towel,” Kaye said.

“
True. But I have a blow
drier.”

“
I’m real sorry about what happened to
your boat,” Lizzie said. “I better take a look-see at my
boat.”

As we watched her leave, Kaye said, “I got
an interesting call from Vivian this morning. You remember Vivian.
From the Joline Foundation meeting we attended. She tells me they
just got a fifty thousand dollar donation from Arthur Estep.”

“
As in the Arthur Estep also
known—”

“
As Pop,” Kaye finished. “I figure
he’s paying off Mr. Joline for Nicole’s boat.”

“
Oh.” Had the money changed hands
before or after the boat sank? Or, I might as well wonder, had the
money changed hands before or after Pop got out of jail? Did he get
out today? I’d heard today, July thirty-first, mentioned, but was
that his last day in or his first day out? Either way, not good.
“So, where does that leave me and
Snapdragon
?”

“
That is the question,” Kaye
said.

Chapter 24

Gregory’s pump was noisy, so when it
stopped, I looked up from the bow where I was trying to clean mud
away.

“
Damn,” Gregory said.

“
What happened?”

“
Sure hope it’s not broken.” He pushed
a button, which didn’t restart the pump. “Maybe the engine
overheated.”

“
That means it will start again?” I
asked. “But
Snapdragon
is
floating now.”

“
Barely.” He sat back. Shook his head,
then pulled the plug out of the socket. “Better to get more water
out to be safe. I’ll let this thing cool for a while, then try
again.”

“
Okay.”

“
I’ll go clean up a bit,” Gregory said
and headed for the marina shower room. I headed forward to my
bucket of formerly clean water.

I’d just reached the bow when I heard, “Are
you the owner of this boat?”

The man who stood on the finger pier was in
his fifties, maybe his late forties. Lots of dark hair, cut short.
Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and a tan bomber jacket, despite the
heat of the day. A pair of heavy-framed glasses, the big kind that
went out of style a few years ago.

“
Yes,” I said.

“
I’m Arthur Estep.”

Right. Pop. The crook just out of
jail. Could he hide a gun in that jacket pocket? Maybe under the
jacket, behind, tucked into his waistband. Despite a suddenly
pounding heart, I answered his question firmly. “Yes, I own
Snapdragon
. My title is registered
and in a safe-deposit box.” I bit my lip as I turned back to my
bucket of water and scrub brush. Would I hear a gunshot before the
bullet passed through my head? I didn’t look up when I heard
another voice, even though I recognized it. Slim.