Death of a Hot Chick (14 page)

A half hour later, as I stepped on the dock,
I heard, “Ah, you are a timely lady. May I escort you to
class?”

Damn
. It was
Brandon from class, carrying his aggressive act a little too
far.

“
I don’t need an escort.”

“
Of course you don’t. But may I be
excused if I want to accompany you to class?”

“
Why?”
was the
first thought that came to me. Another was,
“Just get out of my way.”
However, I only shook
my head, ignored the hand he offered to help me off the boat, and
brushed past him on the narrow finger pier.

He caught up to me and carried on a
one-sided conversation. Would I run
Snapdragon
commercially? How long had it been
since I’d piloted commercial craft? Were the classes helpful? Had I
always lived in Smith Harbor. Wasn’t the weather
delightful?

I finally had to smile. “Oh, the weather is
nearly perfect,” I said. “If only....”

“
If only what?”

“
If only it didn’t have that
‘closed-in’ feeling. You know—crowded.”

Brandon laughed, and smacked his leg, and
laughed some more. Finally, he said, “Now I know how to get an
answer. Give you an opening for a put-down.” He winked, then
continued. “But am I hurt? Hey, I can take slams with the best of
them. Shall we try another?”

“
You are absolutely
incorrigible.”

“
That’s me,” he said.

He kept joking and I kept ignoring him.
Finally we reached the classroom.

Ike, the instructor, took roll-call,
then started writing lesson notes on the white board in front of
the room. My classmates chatted noisily to each other. Brandon sat
next to me while I wondered if I was
ready for the
banter of single life. Not, I decided and reread the first page of
tonight’s chapter. Somehow, it didn’t make sense. “Concentrate,” I
told myself.

“
Cyd Denlinger,” I heard. No, that
wasn’t what I heard. With my head down, I twisted my pencil between
my fingers. Stared at my book.

But I heard it again. “Cyd, are you with
us?” I looked up. By then, the entire class stared at me, including
Ike.

“
Sorry,” I muttered.

“
Since you had a commercial captain’s
license in the past, perhaps you can enlighten the other students,
if it isn’t too much of a bother. How have the rules changed since
then. You have been listening to the discussion, have you
not?”

A titter ran around the class. Mentally, I
whacked my head. “Of course,” I said. “So far, it would seem that
the regulations have continued the strict practices instituted
after nine-eleven.” I hesitated, then continued. “But, since I’ve
been away from the field, I didn’t wish to trust my memory. And, I
wanted to be up on everything before I took the test for
certification. One can’t be too careful.” Good save, I figured.

“
I’ll see you for a moment after
class.” Ike attacked his next victim. “Brandon Bates, I see you
have a boat lined up to captain. Tell me, with the many captains
already licensed, why were you chosen for the position?”

I could almost feel Brandon’s anger. His
shoulders stiffened as he snarled, “Personal.”

“
Personal?” the inquisitor asked. “In
what way, exactly?”

“
A friend with a new boat, if you must
know.”

He had a friend with a new boat? So
why was he.... Could he possibly mean Nicole? She was alive when
the classes started.
Was my boat the real
attraction?
I glanced over at Brandon, who’d leaned
back. The instructor was through with him and had turned to someone
else. “Walter Armond, as a water skier do you see
any....”

Had Ike searched every application for his
quiz? Some weird way to teach. Or, maybe he just had a bad day.

While he turned to yet another
student, I assigned half my brain to the class and the other half
to my life. I would complete this course. I would pass the test and
become a licensed captain again. Maybe I’d work for Gregory, maybe
not. I would save for a boat of my own. If I could handle all the
taxes, fees, and repairs, I had one now. Impossible to keep her.
Even though she wasn’t a sailboat,
Snapdragon
was beginning to feel like home. I’d
miss her.

After class, I went up to Ike. “Sorry, I was
thinking of something else,” I said in preparation for his
scolding.

“
Oh, I knew that. So was almost
everyone else. Had to get some attention to the class. I must say
you think well on your feet. Quite a nice answer-any-question
reply.”

“
Have there been any new rules
lately?”

“
Guess you’ll have to complete the
course to find out, won’t you,” he said.

“
Oh, I will.” I left, wondering what
the answer would be. One more session and I’d be done with the
refresher course and take the test. Then I’d have to decide. Would
I take the job Gregory offered? Would it still be there?

“
Penny for your thoughts.” It was
Brandon, waiting in the hall when I left the class room.

Did anyone say that any more? I rubbed the
bridge of my nose. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“
Nothing better than walking a lovely
lady back to her boat.”

I shrugged as I reached to push the outside
door open. Brandon’s arm zoomed past my ear and pushed it out of my
reach. “Want to stop for a drink? Coffee or something
stronger?”

“
No. Thank you.”

“
Ah, I sense some hesitation. I’m
growing on you, right?”

“
Hesitation? You mean noticing I’m
somewhere between ‘no’ and ‘get lost?’ ”

“
It’s an improvement. I’ll take
anything I can get.”

Just like I’d told him, Brandon was
incorrigible. I smirked to myself and shook my head. One would
think I was seventeen, a ravishing beauty, and totally devoid of
intellect. “I’m curious. Why?”

“
Why, what?”

“
Why so attentive, pushy about it, and
keeping it up after all reason should tell you I’m not interested
in developing any kind of relationship with you?”

“
I’m really getting to you. Is that a
smile I see?” He leaned down, then added, “Yes, it is,” as I held
my knuckles over my grinning mouth.

Trying to look stern, I said, “Okay, you are
funny. But, clueless, right?”

Brandon said no more, just continued walking
beside me. After a block, I sneaked a peek. He turned to look at me
and winked. I didn’t look again, but I was acutely aware that he
walked beside me, measuring his pace to match mine. I was even more
aware of him beside me when I turned down my dock and saw Gregory
sitting on my deck box, for all the world like he belonged
there.

That’s when Brandon put his arm around my
shoulders. “Company,” he said. “Do I have a rival?”

I stepped aboard, shaking Brandon’s arm off.
“Hi. What’s up?” I asked.

Gregory sat, leaning back against the
bulkhead with his right ankle resting on his left knee. “Just
wondering how the class is going. I see you picked something up on
the way back.” He stood and nodded. “Brandon. What’s keeping you
legal these days?”

“
Still the same old charmer,” Brandon
said. “Cyd, I’ll see you Thursday.”

As Brandon left, I turned on Gregory. “Not
friends, I’d say at a guess.”

“
What’s this, ‘see you Thursday’
stuff?”

“
What difference does it make to you?
He’s in the class, if you must know.”

“
He’s putting the moves on you, and
you don’t like it. Glad to know you’re smart enough to recognize a
phony.”

“
Are you the arbiter of good taste? My
personal avenging angel looking after my every thought, maybe? I’ll
walk home with whomever I please, thank you very much!”

Gregory sat back on the deck box. Leaned
back and resumed his earlier position. Smiled that irritating
smirk. “Are you forgetting I know you, Cyd? I saw your expression
when you felt that rat put his arm around you. I saw you shrug it
off with a determination that I didn’t always admire.”

My face flamed as I dialed my combination
and yanked the door open. I felt the heat that radiated from
Gregory as he stepped behind me. He whispered, “Invite me in,
CeeCee?”

“
No!” I turned, pushed against his
chest as he stepped back, laughing. I slammed the door with that
unsatisfactory, dull thud, and clicked the inside latch. I leaned
against the door. No. I was a widow. A grieving widow. I. Didn’t.
Trust. Any. Man.

Damn him.

Tuesday, July 25

The sweat had completely saturated the
bandana I’d tied around my forehead. I sat back on my heels and
looked over at Slim, seemingly unaffected by the sun beating down
on us. Although we were twelve feet in the air atop the cutter
balanced on jack stands, the hot breeze drifting by was absolutely
no help. I poured a puddle of teak oil on the wood, started to rub,
and heard Teddy’s voice.

“
Hey, Cyd, are you up there working
with Slim?” she called. When I stuck my face over the safety lines,
she added, “You’re hard to find. Can we talk?”

“
Sure. Come on up.” When she finally
appeared, I asked, “What’s up?”

“
Hi, Slim,” she said, then turned to
me. “When somebody tells me not to bother, that’s the first thing I
go after.”

“
Um-hum.”

“
This time it’s ghosts.”

“
Something tells me you talked to
Kaye. Right?” At her nod, I glanced at Slim who’d started rubbing
with a lot more vigor. “Sure. Later, okay?”

“
How much later. I’ve got a job, you
know.”

“
How much longer do you want to work
today, Slim?”

“
I’m about done here,” he said. “If
you wanna quit now and talk, go ahead. You talking, ain’t doing me
no good here. So get yourself going.”

“
I’ll finish wiping this down first.
Five minutes, Teddy?”

She nodded at me and said, “Slim, what’s new
at Bayside Marina?”

“
Well, a couple boats run aground
trying to get in the channel. Like I see it, they’s gonna be moving
dirt. Or maybe just the markers.”

“
Which side of the channel? How far
out were they?” Teddy asked.

I listened long enough to hear that the two
sailboats had racing keels of five plus feet, finished rubbing down
my area, and stashed my supplies.

With a, “See you tomorrow,” Teddy left the
boat and waited for me at the bottom of the ladder. As soon as my
feet touched the gravel, I headed for the closest water faucet. I
turned it on, bent down, and poured water all over my head. Then I
splashed my face. “Want a drink?”

“
I’ll pass. Now, why did Kaye tell me
not to pay any attention to the ghost you told me about when you
never told me about a ghost in the first place? Anybody we
know?”

“
Nicole Joline. You understand, I
don’t believe in ghosts. Except, she keeps turning up.”

“
Have you ever had a ghost
before?”

“
Nope. First ghost.” I splashed more
water on my face. So Teddy still remembered my childhood stories of
talking animals. You never live anything down with long-time
friends.

“
And?”

While I pulled my hair up and sprinkled
water on my neck, I asked, “Did I tell you about the title to the
boat?”

“
Does that have anything to do with
ghosts?”

“
Nicole told me to take the title out
of her pocket before I even knew she was dead. I mean, we’d already
signed it, you know. I sort of....”

“
What are we missing here? Nicole said
what, and—before she was dead? Which doesn’t make a lot of
sense.”

“
Okay, Nicole’s ghost. She started
talking to me before I even knew she was dead.”

Teddy tipped her head, raised one eyebrow,
then shrugged. “Yep, I think I’ve got it. Continue.”

“
Which is when she told me to take the
title.”

“
You took it out of her pocket while
she was dead?”

“
I mean, what are the chances? I hear
her voice, then I find her body, and she’s telling me to take it. I
saw which pocket she’d put it into. It’s not like I was stealing
the title. I mean, even if she was a ghost, she wanted me to have
it. And Wes went back to his painted before she put it in her
pocket.”

“
Wes? Who? Maybe I should have
listened to Kaye.”

I picked up my bucket of supplies and headed
out with Teddy on my heels. She kept asking questions which I
ignored. I had to think it through. Finally, I said, “Nicole wants
to find out who killed her.”

“
Really? “

”
You’d think a ghost would know those
things, wouldn’t you?”

“
Hey, I have no idea what a ghost
might know. Although Zander might like a ghost story. Never can
tell with him.”

“
Okay, Wes is the marina manager who
witnessed us signing the title. Who is Zander?”

“
My editor. Maybe he will go for a
ghost story. Worth a shot.”

“
Teddy, do you really think
The Orbit
readers want ghost stories?
You’re just curious, right?”