Page 44 of Sailor's Delight
When the cab stopped outside the empty warehouse 35 minutes later, a wave of relief surged over Trey’s body, and he slowly unclenched his ass, which had been tightly clenched since the car had first taken off. The driver must have been enrolled in an advanced satellite Formula 1 racing course; not only had she gotten him there 5 minutes faster than his GPS thought possible, she’d also never once so much as scraped a curb or another vehicle in the traffic.
“Are there ever any cabs out here?” he asked breathlessly, undoing his seatbelt.
The cabbie shook her head, her curly black hair bouncing. “Never, senor. You want me to wait?”
Trey pursed his lips. “How much is that going to cost me?”
The cabbie shrugged. “Depends.”
Trey narrowed his eyes, then smiled and reached into his wallet. “How long will this buy me?” He slid a $100 over the top of the seat.
“Amigo, I’d blow you for $100. I’ll wait as long as you want.”
Trey blinked in surprise, shoving his wallet back into his pants pocket. “Uh… rain check?” He opened the car door and stood up unsteadily on his one good ankle. He reached back onto the seat and picked up the black velvet bag, hefting it in his hand.
If I’d known that it would have led to all this…
Trey blew a noisy raspberry through his lips and limped toward the warehouse entrance.
***
Jenn stood up from where she’d sat on the warehouse floor when she heard the car door shut.Trey! It has to be.
Casey stood up as well, but Jenn waved him back into the shadows. “Let me handle this, okay? The last thing we need is for things to turn ugly here. I just want to get back to the ship, back to my vacation, and move past this whole damn thing.”
Casey nodded in understanding, stepping back and pressing up against the wall.
The hinges of the big metal door screeched open, and Trey blocked out the light from outside, blinking in the sudden darkness of the warehouse interior. Jenn blew out a soft sigh of relief. As furious as she still was at him, it was good to see him. He at least had the decency to look supremely worried, if his face and anxious shoulders were anything to go by.
“Trey, I’m here!” she called out, realizing he probably couldn’t see her.
“Jenn?” No denying it, his voice was thick with worry. “Where are you? Are you alright?”
She nodded, then called out, “I’m fine. Everything’s fine; it was all just a misunderstanding!”
Trey took another couple of steps inside, allowing the door to close behind him, then stopped as his eyes adjusted to the dark.
“Jenn!” he called out as soon as he could make her out. His eyes widened as he took her in, head to toe, her backside, feet, and calves covered in mud. “Are you hurt?”
Jenn held her hands out, nodding. “I’m fine.” She hesitated. “I wasn’t sure you’d come, honestly.”
Trey's mouth fell open. “Are you kidding? Of course I came! Why wouldn’t I come for you?”
Jenn twisted a little inside as she thought,Chloe, that’s why.“We can talk about that later. Did you bring the bracelet?”
Trey frowned, his brows furrowing as he looked around. “How do you– Who did this?”
Jenn heard a scrape behind her as Casey shrank further back into the shadows, perhaps seeing the anger in Trey’s eyes.Wise choice.
“That’s not important right now.” She held out her hand for the bag. “Hand me the bracelet.”
Trey stared at her, his frown deepening. “What’s going on?”
Jenn sighed again, this time deeply and audibly. “Believe me, it’s more complicated than it needed to be, and could have been solved with nothing more than an email and a payment request.”
Trey’s face puckered in confusion to the side. “What?”
“Just trust me. Give me the bracelet.” Jenn held out her hand and beckoned sharply with her fingers, impatience gnawing at her insides.