Page 39 of Too Far To Sea
“Mrs. Rice, so nice to see you again. Will you please step aside?” Officer Alvaro’s words were not a request.
One of the woman’s friends prodded her. “Just drop it before they kick you off.”
“No one is going to make me walk the plank. Do you know who I am?”
Dana bit her lip to keep from laughing.
“Mrs. Rice, you have two choices. Either move on or have us remove you from the ship.”
The friend tugged at Mrs. Rice’s arm. “Come on Jill. They are just doing their job.”
“They wouldn’t dare kick me off.”
Not a wise move on the woman’s part.
“Yes, they can. Look at his face Jill.” The friend tugged harder, and the angry woman followed her to the X-ray machine.
Dana tried to catch McKay’s eye, but he was focused on Officer Alvaro. One nice thing about working for Hastings is that her principals rarely yelled at her. And when they did, it was a child having a tantrum and she could pick him up and move him if necessary.
The crew member working the scanner stopped it and reversed the belt.
“Do you have a sandwich in your bag?”
“I didn’t finish my lunch,” responded Mrs. Rice.
“I’m afraid we need to dispose of it. It contains foods we can’t bring aboard. Will you please open your bag?”
“I will not. I paid good money for that. I am not letting it go to waste.”
Officer Alvaro moved to the scanner. “If you would like to finish it you may go back ashore and eat it.”
“What is wrong with you people?” asked Mrs. Rice.
McKay switched places with the crew member who’d come with Officer Alvaro and joined the tech behind the scanner. McKay held out his hand to the security tech running the scanner so he could get the woman’s bag.
“Don’t you touch that, you thief.”
“If you will please come with me.” McKay pointed to the section of the gangway that allowed people to leave the ship.
Mrs. Rice looked from McKay to Officer Alvaro, weighing her options.
Was it terrible to wish for a full self-destruct? Dana wanted to see how McKay would handle things. So far, he’d kept a professional demeanor.
The woman harrumphed and walked over to the exit. McKay returned her bag to her. She paused and looked down the line of those trying to board. She fished a mustard stained napkin bulging with various meats from her bag and thrust it at McKay. “Forget it. Just throw this thing away.”
He caught it too late and a blotch of yellow appeared on his pristine white uniform shirt. “If you will, please put your bag back on the scanner belt.”
The woman thumped it down. And marched on through.
Dana passed closer to McKay. Their eyes met briefly, and she felt a spark of something—admiration, attraction, or something more complex. “Well done.”
“Thank you.”
Dana returned to her room, determined to finish the book she’d started. She went out to the balcony catching the last of the evening sun. The book had to wait for the sunset, it was too glorious to miss. Her fingers traced the railing to the cadence of the waves. The cooling evening air carried a hint of salt and possibility. As the last rays bounced across the waves, the cooling wind, chased her back into her room. She checkedthe time. McKay got off around ten, didn’t he? What were the chances of running into him if she went top side?
There had to be more to what happened with Mrs. Rice. It was a flimsy excuse, and Dana knew it. She didn’t care about the details—she just wanted to talk to him.
Mrs. Rice was an excuse. But sometimes, the best conversations start with the flimsiest of pretexts. She left her room hoping to find the best-looking security officer on the ship.
