Page 66 of Mail Order Splash

“Oh, my God, yes, that would be perfect. Do you have dolphins that could flip up in the air?” Murphy slid to the front of her seat. “Guests could pet them, but we might need gates to keep the drunks from drowning.”

“This is all amusing and, if we didn’t have the city breathing down our necks, we could entertain that, but we can’t give them more to use against us.” Aunt Victoria was the voice of reason. “However, why don’t we have one of our charity balls there when we finish rehabbing it? It would be a great way to get donations and interest in the place.”

“I agree. They would come in and shut us down almost immediately, if they haven’t already.” Kleine leaned forward. “Does anyone think it a bad idea to live on the yacht before the wedding?”

“Nah, not in this day and age. But, since it’s only a few days, why not stay somewhere else and keep it all clean to the press. You could stay at my place; I have security.” Murphy took out her cell. “Give me your number. I don’t know why I don’t have it already.”

“Sorry, I need to take this.” Josh walked away when his cell rang.

“I need to know Josh has a place to stay. He gave up his place to stay in the seaquarium with me,” Kleine said, watching Josh out of the corner of her eye.

“Sorry to interrupt, Tony is with a dolphin that’s pretty tangled.”

“We have to go. Does it have a tracker?”

“He doesn’t see a tracker, at least not the ones we use, but it’s almost dark.”

“Josh, that’s never stopped me before. Please excuse us.” She walked to the exit of the yacht. “I need a ride to my boat now that we’re back at the marina.”

“Is this a good idea to do a rescue at night?”

“Dalton, this is what I do. I told you I won’t change who I am or what I do.” She waved bye. “It’s not far, I can jog it.”

“Kleine, wait, I’m coming.” I grabbed my keys and ran after her.

Chapter Seventeen

KLEINE

We made it to the facility in minutes. Josh ran for the boat while I changed into my swimsuit. Dalton was on the boat with Josh when I climbed aboard.

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “This isn’t for you, Dalton.”

“I’m Triton right now and I’m going.” He stood his ground. “Come on, Kleine, you might need my help.”

“You have pants on.”

“They’re just pants. Let’s go, we’re wasting time disputing this.”

“I hate to tell you this, Kleine, but it could be Netty. Her tracker is going nuts like she’s fighting, or at least agitated.”

“I had a feeling. I could hear it when I was changing. We’ve lost time not being at the boat.”

“You can’t think that. What if you had gone to the store or dinner? it happens,” Josh argued. “Tony says it’s less than a half mile out.”

I stood on the front with the binoculars. We had the outside lights on and the beam shining ahead. Tony’s boat was easy to spot in the dark, especially with the blue lights on top.

“I don’t think it’s the one you took in. She may be the one zooming back and forth.” Tony pointed to the quickly moving fin. “The one caught is bigger than her.”

“It might be the matriarch. That would explain the anxiety of her partner.” I yelled up to Tony then fell in backward to assess and went back up.

“Definitely Netty freaking out. She bumped into me. We need all the light we can get.”

“I came up on it right when I called you. It’s been coming up for air so far.” Tony turned all his water level lights on. “You need me to come in?”

“I can go in.” Dalton stood- no shirt, pant legs rolled up. “Give me a knife.”

We worked together for, maybe, twenty minutes, slowly cutting the dolphin loose. I had to stop several times to give Netty go-away instructions but, like the time before, she was determined to be involved. Eventually, she stopped bumping us but stayed nearby watching. I pointed to Dalton to go up.

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