Terrors of the High Seas - DK6 (56 page)

“Hang on!” Charlie bellowed. “Going head in!”

Ahead of the boat, a monster wave rose, higher than the bridge as they plowed into it. Andy and Bud both dove for the deck, covering Dar and Kerry with their bodies and wrapping hands, arms, and legs around anything that might possibly hold.

“Holy Mother,” Bud grunted, as the wave crashed over the boat, drenching them in a freight-train carload of cold seawater. He looked up to see the cabin door slamming behind Bob’s retreating form. “Piss head.”

The back drains swirled, and then they were out of it, and the
Dixie
was plunging into the next wave, engines howling.

Kerry could feel the motion, but with Dar wrapped around her and the two ex-sailors covering them, she couldn’t see anything.

Maybe that was for the best. She pressed her cheek against Dar’s shoulder, breathing air full of salt and tasting it on the back of her tongue. Every inch of her hurt on the outside, but on the inside, all she felt was gratitude and a sense of relief as profound as death would have been. Another wave of seawater drenched her and she held her breath as it swirled around her body and Dar’s, before it drained out the back openings.

“Ker?”

Her throat hurt too much to talk, so she gave Dar a kiss on the neck to show she was listening.

“You okay?”

Kerry nodded, knowing Dar could feel the motion.

“Uuuggghhhhh!” Dar exhaled raggedly.

Kerry felt the boat shifting again, and she hugged Dar all the more tightly as cold water blasted over them and they pitched up so high in the front she felt herself being pressed against the rear wall of the deck.

“Shit!” Bud rasped, loudly enough for them to hear over the storm. “We’re goin’ over!”

Oh God
. Kerry started to panic, trapped as she was under all of them and thinking of the tons of water about to roll over her as well as the huge yacht.

“No, we ain’t!” Andrew hollered back. “Git your hand back down on there and watch your mouth!”

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“Dar!” Kerry rasped, trying to squirm around and get a better grip on the boat’s hardware.

“Shh.” Dar got an arm around her just as the ship heeled over to the left and they all almost went flying to the other side of the deck. “Just hang on.”

The
Dixie
’s horn sounded, loud and brassy to counter the howl of the wind, and they felt the engines go to full power, the boat bucking the waves as it headed into the wind. Dar lifted her head and shook the hair from her eyes, squinting into the driving rain as lightning cracked overhead and etched a picture of what was happening deep into her awareness: high seas; the
Dixie
crawling up the front side of a wave easily fifty feet high; screams; DeSalliers’ boat cracking in half as the sea twisted it; darkness.

“Hang on!” Her father grabbed her by the back of the shirt and wrapped the fabric into his fist, tightening it across her chest.

“Jesus!”

Dar locked her legs around one of the deck supports and grabbed a cleat with one hand, wrapping her other arm around Kerry. The
Dixie
almost went to vertical, and she knew a stark moment of terror as she thought the boat was going to flip and bury them under it. They seemed to hang in the air for an eternity, before the bow turned slightly to one side and the engines gunned, and then they were cresting the wave instead, topping it and plummeting down the other side at a frightening speed.

“Son of a
bitch
,” Dar managed to croak.

Kerry spat a mouthful of water out and coughed. “Tell ya what,” she gasped right into Dar’s ear. “Next time, we go to PetsMart for our vacation.”

They rose up on another wave but it wasn’t as high, and the
Dixie
now was making reasonable headway against the seas. Still, water kept surging over the bow and sides, shoving them painfully against the fiberglass.

“Dad!” Dar turned her head. “We’re getting pounded!”

The weight lifted up off her and Dar was able to half sit up and look around. The roar of the engines was overtopping the sound of the storm, and she could see the angry white froth behind them as the boat rocked side to side in the wind. She looked over the stern, back the way they’d come, and saw nothing but churning sea, the darkness limiting her view. There was no sign of DeSalliers’ boat or any of its occupants. Her conscience poked her. Should they go back and look?

Kerry hauled herself up next to Dar and shoved her hair back off her forehead, her face tense. She licked her lips and grimaced, and then rested her head against one faintly shaking hand. “Wow.”

Dar transferred her attention instantly, unapologetically. “You okay?” She shifted around and got behind Kerry, giving her 324
Melissa Good
something to lean against. “Ker?” She felt chilled and knew Kerry must be as well, since she could feel her shivering.

Kerry swallowed, glad enough to lean back against Dar’s body.

“I’d be a lying idiot if I said yes,” she replied. “Who in the hell could be okay after that?” She looked over at Andrew, who was now crouching nearby, both arms spread out across the back railing to keep steady. “Thanks, Dad.”

Andrew gave her a half grin, his gaze shifting as Bud rolled over and grabbed the back rail near him. “We ain’t done yet.”

“No shit,” Bud rasped, splaying his legs out over the deck. “I’m gonna move back to fucking Arizona. I goddamn swear it.”

Andy frowned at him. “Would you watch yer mouth?”

“Dad,” Dar interjected. “We both know what fucking is.”

Andrew turned and shot her a look. Bud snorted softly, but managed a lopsided grin anyway.

“Honest,” Dar assured him, as the boat rose up on another wave and crashed down, dousing them all again. She waited for the deck to steady, then turned to Kerry. “Let’s get inside.”

Amazing idea.
Kerry felt motion around her, and hoped she had the strength to actually get up and walk. She reluctantly released Dar and they staggered to their feet, hanging on to the railing as Andy got the door to the cabin open.

“I’m going up with Charlie,” Bud yelled, grabbing the ladder.

“Be up in a minute,” Andy replied, grabbing Dar as she got across the back deck and steering her inside. “Let’s move it!”

“I’m moving.” Dar blinked against the light in the cabin, its glare painful. Things were tossed around, but the couch was there, and she fell onto it, Kerry collapsing next to her with their legs in a tangle.

Across the deck, in one of the bucket chairs, Bob was huddled, watching them nervously. His face was definitely green, and there was a plastic bag clutched in one hand. “I…is it over?” he croaked.

Dar glared at him “No.”

The boat pitched again. Bob clamped his jaw shut rather than continuing the discussion. After a brief moment, he got up and scrambled for the steps, crashing into the wall on his way to the head.

“Jerk.” Dar glanced up as the door opened and her father entered, his figure outlined in lightning from behind.

Andy knelt down next to the couch. “You kids all right?” he asked gently. “All that piss ass aside.”

“Ugh.” Kerry rubbed her eyes, stinging with salt water.

Dar looked at him. “Glad I went into computers, after all,” she said with a faint, wry quirk of her lips. “Thanks for coming after us.”

Her father put a hand on her knee and patted it. Then he got
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up, fishing in one of his pouches with his other hand. “Ah’m glad, too, Dar, but you all did a fine job over in that there boat” He removed something and reached down, casually pinning it to Dar’s shirt. “You all sit tight. We got some rolling to do ’fore we get through this.” He ruffled Dar’s hair, then turned and made his way out the door and back into the chaos outside.

The door slammed behind him and latched, and above the storm, Dar could hear the sound of her father climbing up the ladder to the bridge. But inside, it was almost peaceful, and she blinked a little at the water dripping off her legs onto the teak floor and the creaking of the fiberglass hull around them.

She turned to look at Kerry, who was looking back at her with wide, utterly stunned eyes. A piece of seaweed was draped over her nose, and almost hypnotically, Dar reached over and removed it, her hand shaking so badly the bit of weed almost smacked Kerry in the face again. “Boy,” she whispered, “what a fucking night.”

Kerry blinked, nodding a little. “But we made it,” she rasped.

“For a while there I didn’t…” Her eyes filled and she stopped speaking, a blink sending a scattering of tears to mingle with the seawater still dampening her skin. “We made it,” she sniffled.

Dar exhaled slowly and let her head drop back against the cushion, exhaustion overtaking her. “We did,” she uttered in wonder, seeing again DeSalliers’ face as they hit the water. “Damn right we did.” She pulled Kerry closer and hugged her. “Damn right.” As an afterthought, she looked down at her shirt to where a glitter attracted her eye. She stared at the gold in numb bewilderment. Pinned to the sodden fabric was her father’s SEAL

insignia, winking calmly back at her in the cabin’s light.

Why?
Dar found herself too tired to think about it. She put her hand over the pin, draped her other arm around Kerry’s shoulders, and just went blank for a while, hoping the sea woudn’t toss her any more surprises before they got to safety.

Kerry closed her eyes and let her head rest against Dar’s shoulder. It was enough for her, right now, to simply live the moment and forget about everything else, even the storm outside.

God had given her this much; it was enough.

DAR DIDN’T KNOW how long they sat there, feeling the boat surge and twist under them and the storm outside thunder against the hull. She just knew it was long enough for all her joints to stiffen up, and for the sore throat she’d barely felt as she came out of the water to turn into a fire that made even swallowing difficult.

She needed a drink. Dar glanced at Kerry, who was slumped against her with almost closed, bloodshot eyes, and grimaced.

“Ker?”

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Melissa Good

“Uhng?”

“I gotta go get something to drink.”

Kerry produced a sound somewhere between a whine and a groan.

“You too?”

Kerry lifted her head and observed the pitching deck. She nodded, and eased back so Dar could get up from the couch, waiting until her partner had pulled herself up before she attempted to follow.

“No, stay here. I’ll bring you one,” Dar objected.

“Unh uh.” Kerry determinedly crawled after her. “Y’ need both hands.” She held on to the couch and pulled herself along, following Dar into the galley.

It was easier there, because there was so little room they could wedge themselves between the wall and the counter. Dar raked her fingers through her hair and opened the small refrigerator, grabbing hold of the counter as the boat pitched sideways. “Damn it.”

Kerry bumped her impatiently. “Moo.”

Dar handed over the milk jug and took a bottle of Yoohoo for herself. She closed the door and braced her foot up against the counter, freeing both hands to open the can and hold it.

Kerry did the same, and they drank in silence together for several moments. Then Kerry wiped the back of her hand across her lips and cleared her throat. “Paladar?”

Dar was caught in mid-gulp. “Mmph?”

“Next time, we call the police.”

“Mm?”

“Or the Coast Guard, or the Army, or the Navy, or the Secret Service, or whoever, whatever it takes,” Kerry rasped. “Because we’re not going to do that ever again.”

Dar put her Yoohoo down in the sink and leaned over, kissing Kerry on the lips for a long, sweet moment. Then she backed off a few inches and looked Kerry in the eye. “Deal.”

Kerry licked her lips. Then for good measure, she licked Dar’s, but her face grew serious. “I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered.

“I was going insane.”

From somewhere inside her, some echo, some inner core rarely tapped, Dar smiled. “Take more than that asshole and his entire crew put together to make me leave you,” she replied, resting her head against Kerry’s, the image of the gun, and the click, and the horror already fading. “Way more.”

Kerry studied Dar’s face. “Were you scared?’ she asked. “I was.”

Was I?
“I think I was too freaked out to be scared,” Dar admitted, then fell silent, her brow creasing.

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Kerry took another swallow of milk, washing the taste of salt from her mouth with a sense of relief. “We should get dry,” she said. “I feel like warmed over puppy poo.” She held on as the boat rolled again. “But hey…you know we did it.”

“We did it,” Dar confirmed softly. “Bud’s okay. We’re all okay.” Slowly, she slid one arm around Kerry and hugged her carefully.

Kerry put down the milk jug and returned the hug, pressing her body up against Dar’s despite their mutual dampness. Then she pulled back a little and looked at Dar’s chest. “Oh.”

Dar looked down, at the pin. “Yeah. Don’t know why he did that.”

The blonde woman looked at it for a long moment, then tipped her head up to look at Dar. “Honey, you saved his life,” she said with a little frown. “Don’t you remember?” From the expression on Dar’s face, Kerry knew she didn’t. “You did. When we were in the little boat before you…before that bastard hit you.”

The pale blue eyes shifted and lost focus, then Dar gave her head a little shake. “I don’t remember. I remember getting out of the cabin…those guys were running around…”

“Dad was in the boat. They focused a light on us,” Kerry told her. “The guy on the yacht had a gun and he was going to shoot Dad. You tackled him.”

“I did?” Dar vaguely remembered being angry, and a lot of yelling, and... “Oh. Yeah.” The smell of hot blood came back to her.

“Now I remember,” she murmured. “Wow.”

Kerry put her arms around her partner and hugged her again, tightly.

“Let’s go change.” Dar rocked her back and forth. “Then see if they need any help up there.”

Kerry felt a faint laugh shake her body. “With three sailors driving?”