Molokai Reef Read Online Free PDF Page A

sure of that. We need your
help. Will you help?” She leaned forward, breasts ajiggle,
and laid a hand on his thigh.
    Gybe’s
feral reaction didn’t relate to her question. Breathe, ignore
this creature, write, sail away were the thoughts he sought.
    Detective
Kane had told him that the victims were research scientists working
in the field of genetic engineering. Could there be a tie-in with
his article? Could there be a hot novel just waiting for
publication? Could I get laid in the next five minutes? Oops,
thinking had migrated south.
    “ OK,
I’ll do what I can. But, remember I’m not a PI and I
make no promises. I don’t know if a PI needs a license here,
so you’re hiring me as a writer. I’ll write the story;
let’s see, I know, I’ll call it Wayward Wench Whacks for
Whales.”
    “ That’s
not funny asshole. Susan is my friend.”
    “ You
hire me; you get the package – no extra charge for humor or
satire.”
    “ How
much?”
    Gybe
didn’t answer immediately. This was yet another opportunity to
get away from this mess. Could he? He decided to quote a high
figure for his help.
    “ Two
hundred.”
    He
watched panic flit across Kara’s eyes as she calculated the
daily cost.
    “ Two
hundred per hour?”
    Could
he be a real bastard? Could he walk away? He could say that his
rates were two hundred per day; surely, she could afford that. Then,
the thinking shifted to the big head as he told ole one-eyed winky to
settle down. “Two hundred per half day.”
    “ Two
hundred per half-day? That’s the weirdest rate I’ve ever
heard.”
    “ That’s
my rate. Any half-day or part thereof is two hundred. Plus out of
pocket expenses and exclusive rights to Susan’s story or any
related story that I develop.”
    “ That’s
reasonable.”
    “ You
haven’t seen my bar tabs. Do we have a deal?”
    7
    While
Kara dressed, Gybe performed his daily check of the dinghy. Kara had
accepted his rates, so he suggested the first step should be a visit
to Susan at the jail.
    The
dinghy was a four-chamber inflatable built by Zodiac. He had painted Aweigh on each bow. Two sixteen-inch inflatable tubes
connected at the bow to form the hull. A high-pressure inflatable
bladder created a semi-solid floor. The fourth air chamber was an
inflatable keel, mostly worthless, under the high-pressure floor.
When sailing, Gybe deflated the dinghy, rolled it into a cylinder,
and stowed it in the port sail locker. A 9.9 horsepower Nissan
outboard motor sat on the transom. Just below the motor on the
inside of the wooden transom, Gybe had stenciled ‘T/T Ferrity ’
– Tender To Ferrity . Sailors referred to the small
boats as dinghies, dinks, inflatables, or tenders.
    Dinghies
had a way of disappearing, but the resale value decreased as the
amount of personalization increased. To deter the theft of the
outboard, Gybe had stripped the manufacturer’s paint and logo
then repainted it a bright John Deere yellow. Onto the yellow, he
stenciled Aweigh on each side.
    He
topped off the fuel tank and re-stowed the jerry can aboard Ferrity just as Kara emerged from below. “Ready?”
    The
outboard started on the first pull. Kara climbed over Ferrity ’s
lifelines and stepped into the boat.
    “ Cast
off the painter.” Gybe directed. “It’s the line
holding the dinghy. Unwrap it from the cleat.”
    “ Got
it. Painter. That makes sense. More cliquish male jargon, I
suppose.”
    “ Every
line, sail, direction, and function has a specific name on a boat.
The syntax is clear so that the sailors know what to do and when.
When sailing, there is no time to waste explaining unclear
terminology. If they know the jargon, as you call it, they know what
to do.”
    “ Aye,
aye mon capitan.” Kara smirked and smart-assed a salute.
    Before
departing Ferrity , Gybe maneuvered the dink to the anchor
chain where he checked the snubber lines for chafe. They were fine.
Then he guided the boat over the anchor where he looked down through
the clear