Page 43 of Sailor's Delight

Casey grabbed her phone, holding it up and out of her reach. “No. It’s not about the money. Not exactly.”

“Then what the hell is it about, Casey? Because right now, it looks like I’m caught in the middle of some family historydrama with a shot-nosed kid who can’t afford a pair of collector’s kicks and a two-timing asshole who couldn’t be bothered to buy a quality piece of jewelry! Stop me when I get to the part I get wrong!”

Casey remained silent, the phone still held just out of reach.

“Fine. Then give me the phone, and I’ll text the money and an explanation to Trey.” Jenn held out her hand expectantly. “With any luck, we can all be back on the ship by departure and drunk by sundown with this whole stupid thing behind us.” She waved her fingers in request for the phone.

Casey hesitated for a moment, then lowered the phone slightly. “Do you think he’ll agree to it?”

Jenn snatched the phone from his hand. “He will if he knows what’s fucking good for him.”

She unlocked the phone, then immediately groaned. “Son of a bitch!” she yelled, fighting the urge to throw the phone into the jungle. She took several deep breaths through her nose. “No service. You?”

Casey looked down at his own phone, which he’d produced from his chest bag. “None.”

“Shit. So, what you’re saying is that we have no choice but to see this half-baked, ridiculous thing through to its epically awful conclusion?”

“It really is looking that way,” Casey said with a grimace. “I— I’m really sorry about this. My whole family has just been looking for that bracelet now for three generations, and I kindof… lost my mind for a bit when I found it, lost it, and couldn’t just buy it back.”

“So your mind went immediately to kidnapping?!” Jenn sat down in the mud on a particularly steep section, choosing the predictable mud soak over the unanticipated fall. “You’re STILL not the good guy here, you know that, right?”

She turned to stare at Casey. His lips were pursed, and his sunglasses pointed at the ground. She had a momentary lapse in her anger. He really did present like a kid who had just gotten a thorough tongue-lashing and was now sitting in his shame.

“Okay, don’t.”

He looked up, surprised. “What?”

“Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

Jenn pointed at him, up and down. “That. The whole ashamed kid thing. It’s not working for you. How old are you, again?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Fuck me.” Jenn paused in her chaotic descent. “I’m gonna give you some advice, Casey. You make mistakes; you own them. You don’t bemoan them you don’t make people pity you. You take accountability, you learn what went wrong, and then you don’t make the same mistake again.”

Casey nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Of course it makes sense. You think I got to be a woman with an executive suite in her company’s main office by saying things that don’t make sense?” She laughed, the first true laughthat day. It felt good. “You know what doesn’t make sense? Kidnapping a woman over a family heirloom!Thatdoesn’t make sense!” She whacked Casey on the arm, playful this time. “Now get me off this damn mountain, Casey.”

Chapter 12

Trey pushed between the overbearing vendors in the alleyway. It was already 2:30 in the afternoon. If he was going to reach Jenn in time to still make the boat’s departure time, he had to hurry. He limped past the entrance to the marina, where there was a large driveway filled with waiting taxicabs, hoping to pick up an American for premium fare.

Trey raised his hand, and one of the vehicles lurched forward, barely missing the curb as it swerved to meet him.

He opened the door and let himself in, carefully situating his ankle below the cracked leather seat of the cab.

“Hola, senor! Where you want to go? I get you there muy rapido!” The woman in the driver’s seat put an arm over the top of the seat, smiling eagerly at him.

Trey held out his phone, with the address for the location typed in. “I need to get to this place as quickly as possible.”

The driver whistled low between her teeth. “You sure, hombre? That’s a rough part of town.”

Trey sighed.Of course it is.“Unfortunately, yes. And I’m pretty pressed for time. Any chance you could step on it?” He held up a $5 bill for her to take.

The driver grinned. “Si, amigo! Muy rapido!” She took the bill and popped her blinker, then surged out into traffic as soon as there was an opening. Trey snatched at the handle above the door. “Shit!” he whispered. Maybe he should have offered another $5 for getting him there in one piece!

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