Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 02 - A Deadly Bargain, Plan C Read Online Free PDF

the lock out of the latch and searched for a place to set it down. 
    Clancy held out his hand and offered to take it from me.  I opened my purse and dropped it inside.  “This is mine.  I bought and paid for it,” I reminded him.
    “Just the one key.   I’ll want the others back.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    I t took two trips to transfer the bright-red sea anchor, a pair of binoculars, a large ring of miscellaneous keys with a tag that read “spares,” and an aluminum scuba tank to my dinghy.  Clancy offered to carry the binoculars and the keys for me.  I thanked him for his generous offer, but insisted on carrying everything myself.  I wouldn’t want him to hurt his back.  He was as ornery and cantankerous as they come, but I couldn’t help but like him.
    I waved good-bye to Clancy, Olive, and Tex as I motored my dinghy back to the Plan C .  The harbor traffic had subsided considerably since my arrival this morning, and I managed to make my way, unscathed, out of Long Beach Harbor.  I turned up the stereo, turned on the auto-pilot, and stretched out in a deck chair with a bottle of water and my new binoculars.  I secured my big floppy sun hat with a stampede string, rubbed some moisturizer on my bare legs and arms, and breathed in the tropical scent of coconut.  The smell reminded me of my journey through the Virgin Islands last year.  I closed my eyes and recalled the warm, clear blue waters of the Caribbean.
    What a change my life had taken since I ’d left my job at San Tel.  A brief memory flashed through my mind— a nightmare, actually.  I remember ed putting on my navy-blue skirt and blazer that morning.  I fussed with my make-up and hair and hurried out of the house, forgetting my lunch on the counter.  When I walked through the front doors, I sensed an eerie doom.  Maggie announced my arrival to a group of managers who were standing outside my office.  Their eyes gazed upon me like a room full of starving men, and me with only a pack of breath mints.  My heart sank as I studied their faces.  The database had gone down.  It was costing the telecommunication company millions.  I worked around the clock for days to get the thing back up.  I had every tech-support person in the country on the phone trying to figure out what was wrong.  Every thirty minutes, someone from upper management called to remind me every hour we were down cost the company a figure slightly more than I paid for my house. 
    I blinked my eyes and forced the memory out of my head.  Everything was different now.  I’d changed my life.  I’d left that world behind.  Now, the only things I had to worry about were whether to head north, south, o r west, when I raised my sails—and those darn roses— how could I forget the roses.  I put that out of my mind, too.
    I changed my tune about Clancy knowing the contents of the trunk before he sold it to me.  The sea anchor alone was worth at least seven or eight hundred dollars.  The binoculars were also very expensive.  I wasn’t sure of the value of the scuba tank, but I’d wanted to pick one up for myself anyway , so I figured I’d keep it.  All in all, I’d made a good deal.
     
    The sun just kissed the surface of the Pacific as I glided into my slip in the San Diego marina I call home.  I tied off my lines, hooked up my umbilical cord to Mother Electricity and settled in for the night.
    I picked up my cell phone and dialed Jason’s number.  “Hey, it’s me.  What’re you doin ’?”
    “Fixing snacks for tonight’s poker game,” he replied, his mouth full of something I probably didn’t want a description of.
    “I’m afraid to as k.  W hat are you making?” I inquired.
    “Let’s see.  I’ve got nachos with extra hot ja lapeño cheese, corn dogs, Cheeto s , and potato chips.  Oh, and I’ve got a pork rind and pepperoni pizza in the oven —my own creation.”
    I cringed.  “You have any idea what that