Page 7 of Murder Island

“Ready?” she asked. She sat down, her legs dangling over the water.

“For what?”

She slid her ass off the pier and started swimming toward the schooner.

“Rejuvenation!” she called back.

Was shenuts? I looked around for a dinghy. Didn’t see one. I gave up and slipped in after her. The water was deep and cold. A shock to my system.

Kira was already power-stroking across the harbor. By the time I caught up, she was hauling herself aboard the sailboat. As I came around the stern, I could see the boat’s name. It was painted in classic gilt lettering, like the title on an old book cover.

Albatross.

I grabbed a rail and climbed up over the transom. The whole topside was covered in thick canvas. Kira was working her way around the boat, freeing the ties one by one. She rolled the canvas into a ragged pile and stowedit in front of the aft mast. Then she stood with her arms flung wide. “Beautiful, right?”

When the deck and cabin were uncovered, I realized that the schooner was all wood—maybe teak—with polished brass fittings. Andreallyold, 1930s, I guessed. It looked like it belonged in a sailing museum.

I watched Kira step into the cockpit and stick her head under the control console. A few seconds later, I heard the engine fire up. Maybe she found the key to the ignition. More likely, she just hot-wired it.

She looked at me and pointed toward the bow. “Release the mooring line.” When she saw my expression, she added, “Don’t argue.”

This was really happening. We’d traveled halfway across the country to steal somebody’s sailboat in the middle of the night. Was this Kira’s big plan? No wonder she didn’t tell me about it.

I walked forward and unfastened the line from the cleat on the deck. I pulled it through the loop attached to the mooring ball. TheAlbatrosswas floating free.

“Clear!” I called back, trying to keep my voice down. I was expecting the harbor patrol to show up at any minute.

When I worked my way back to the cockpit, I noticed that Kira’s swim had washed most of the makeup off her face and the powder out of her hair. She looked about fifty years younger. She looked like herself. She also looked happy. I stepped up alongside her as she nudged the throttle forward, steering us slowly out into the channel.

I stared at her. “So we’re boat thieves now?”

“Of course not,” said Kira. “I spotted this beauty at an estate sale five years ago.”

I pulled the last few fake whiskers off my face. “Does that mean…?”

“That’s right. She’s all mine.”

CHAPTER 7

Ten days later…

IT WAS SEVENTY-FIVE degrees on deck. We’d been at full sail for most of the time since we left Long Island, making about 115 nautical miles a day. A good pace, according to Kira. But since yesterday, we’d been in a bit of a lull. The sails were limp and theAlbatrosswas barely moving.

Kira still wouldn’t say where we were going, but I didn’t need a sextant to tell me we were headed due south. The sun and the stars showed me that much.

We hadn’t been in sight of land for several days, but I had plenty of distractions. Kira was teaching me how to read the wind and trim the sails, and I’d become an expert at hooking bluefish with a spinning rod. Between my daily catch and canned fruits and veggies from the galley, we’d been eating well.

That morning, I was sitting on the foredeck with anassortment of gadgets spread out in front of me on a thick canvas. I was fascinated.

Kira came forward from the cockpit. “Enjoying your toy collection?”

She was wearing shorts and a halter top, with her hair tied back with a blue bandana. She’d scavenged her new wardrobe from a bag in one of the deck hatches. For me, all she could dig up was a pair of old khaki pants and a white linen shirt, missing a few buttons at the top. She said it suited me.

The day before, I’d found a big hold belowdecks, right under the cabin floor. That’s where I’d discovered the artifacts in front of me. Kira told me she’d been storing them onboard for years.

“Where did you get this stuff?” I asked.

“It was all in the loft when I moved in,” she said. “And trust me, this is just a small sample.”