Blue Moon Read Online Free PDF Page A

the table. “A joke,” he said at last. “Or perhaps not. Call it a reflection of myself.”
    â€œIt’s getting late.” Remy tapped his watch.
    Jeanne dug out a business card from her purse and handed it to Gabe. “My cell phone is on all the time, in case you need to get in touch with us.”
    â€œThanks. And you know where I am,” he teased, wishing Primston would take a long walk off the short Marina Garza pier.
    â€œWho knows?” She closed her handbag. “We might find more than a ship. All things are possible.”
    Gabe fell into the dancing pool of her gaze, searching for the possibilities. Just then, the cantina awning began to fold.
    â€œThe awning!” Remy shouted in alarm.
    The map! Realizing that the awning was about to dump its accumulation of the afternoon’s rain, Gabe threw himself over the table—and the young woman who already had the map covered with her body.
    â€œFor heaven’s sake, Jeanne, we have copies,” Remy derided, flipping his arms and jacket like a mad sea lion.
    â€œI know. I forgot,” a muffled voice replied from under Gabe’s upper torso.
    Feeling the fool himself, Gabe pulled away so that the equally water-soaked Jeanne could get her breath. Facing off nose to nose over the smeared ink that had been a map, he took in the stained front of the clingy blouse and jacket that she wore over it. What hair wasn’t plastered to her scalp dangled limp and dripping from the tortoiseshell clasp.
    But it was once again her eyes that cornered Gabe’s attention. Amusement gathered there and began to escape her lips, a snicker at first, then outright laughter.
    â€œWell, I see that we have at least one thing in common.”
    Gabe lifted his brow. “That we’re both daft?”
    â€œMaybe that too,” Jeanne admitted with a grin that made Gabe’s shivering pulse leap. “But I was going to say that we both are passionate.”
    â€œI believe the word is enthusiastic ,” Remy interjected.
    Jeanne glanced at her companion. “Well, of course, Remy. What else . . .” She broke off, her bewildered expression giving way to an awkward embarrassment. Lips thinning with impatience, she went on. “Remy, I am certain the captain knows that I speak strictly in reference to the Blue Moon.”
    â€œLike the lady said, Primston,” Gabe chimed in, a tad disappointed. “What else?”

CHAPTER THREE
    â€œYou can’t be serious,” Remy declared the following morning at the marina as they stared at the large rusted fishing vessel with the name Fallen Angel across its transom.
    Jeanne checked the plunge of her heart at the sight.
    The paint job looked more like a battleground of brush versus rust, with patches of white paint making a stand against mounting forces of corrosion. The windows were opaque with salt accumulation. Some were cracked and patched with duct tape.
    On the bright side, there was a nice flying bridge and the stern deck had ample room for the installation of a deployment arm. In fact, it looked as though one had been mounted there at one time. And the pilothouse would easily accommodate their equipment.
    â€œLook at it this way,” she said. “Aside from cosmetics, she’s perfect.”
    Remy cocked his head, staring at the ship’s stern. “Isn’t she listing?”
    â€œRemy,” Jeanne chided, taking a second look just in case. To her eye, the ship simply rocked with the lap of the tide. “Stop being such a nitpick.”
    â€œI will remind you of that undeserved aspersion when we are suspended by our life preservers on the Caribbean,” he shot back.
    Jeanne walked out on the ramp that separated the Angel’s slip from the empty one on her starboard side. Okay, the Fallen Angel looked like a last chance, but the truth be told, it really was their last chance. She’d tried every reputable captain on the Yucatán.