Read Online Death of a Hot Chick by Norma Huss - Free Book Online Page B

stop
for more waiting as they wrote a month’s binder for the boat. Kaye
paid. She’d lined up the notary as well. I knew to the penny the
remaining coins in my pocket. My slim bank account barely covered
the checks for the notarized copies and the first month’s rental of
a safe-deposit box.
    “ I’ll pay you back,” I murmured. I
should have said, “Don’t you get tired of bailing me out?” Instead,
I said, “Thank you.”
    Kaye dropped me off at the marina,
with a cheery, “Be back later.” Just as well she left. I wasn’t up
to entertaining anyone, not even my sister. How would I pay for
everything? When I polished Snapdragon ‘til she was in Bristol condition, I
had to sell her.
    Once inside I sat, rested my elbows on the
table and flexed my fingers. Spread them apart. Clasped them under
my chin.
    “ Nicole,” I said hesitatingly. “Are
you here?”
    There was no answer.
    Okay, she chose me because I was her only
available conduit. The first time, she came while I talked to
Gregory. No, that wasn’t the first time. She’d been there, right
after her death, even before I knew she was dead, telling me to
take the title. Then, she actually appeared when I showed
him...when I showed him the title.
    I grabbed a copy of the title. Wasn’t the
real thing, but it might work.
    “ Nicole? We need to talk.”
    No answer. I stroked the copy with my
finger.
    “ Nicole, where are you?”
    Still no answer. But, the actual title, the
piece of paper that Nicole had touched might work. Was that the
secret?
    Or, was she around, even if I didn’t
hear her? “Nicole, how can I find out who killed you if you don’t
tell me anything?” Silly, talking to the air, to nothing. “Nicole,
I got new insurance on Snapdragon . I have the title in a safe-deposit
box. Should I do more? Is there anything to find if I search the
boat? Do you know someone broke in?”
    If she heard, she didn’t answer.
    The best part of the working day was gone.
Everyone at the marina took off Saturday, except for someone at the
fuel dock. I needed a paying job, but there’d be no one at Bayside
to hire me.
    I had to try. I loaded my rags and teak oil
and took the short cut between the marinas. I walked between boats
up on the hard, past work buildings closed, and around an overload
of parked cars that had brought sailing families to their boats for
the weekend. However, the manager’s office door was open.
    I poked my head inside and rapped on the
door frame. “Anybody here?”
    “ Barely.” The voice came from the back
room. “Just leaving. What’s up?” Monty, the Bayside manager, came
lumbering through the door. “Oh, it’s you.”
    “ That job still available I worked on
yesterday?”
    “ Slim’s on it. And I’m not going to
dig out anything else right now. It’s too damn hot to
work.”
    “ I thought he took the weekend
off.”
    “ Didn’t work out, I guess. He’s a
sucker for punishment. You and Slim are two peas in a pod. Work all
the time. He didn’t even take the weekend off like he said. He’d
likely cotton to a helper.”
    “ I know the way.”
    I found Slim, a broad-brimmed hat protecting
his head, his bony shoulders moving in time to his humming as he
rubbed oil into the teak.
    “ Hot work,” I said. “Want some
help?”
    He tried to look stern. “Sure you ain’t out
to take over all my jobs?”
    I shook my head, then lifted my right hand,
fingers flat out. “Cross my heart.”
    “ Okay.” The grin broke out. “Same deal
as before.”
    I nodded. He’d explained it once, years ago.
The deal involved halves and quarters, and piles of change, and him
being the boss, all with absolutely no calculator to arrive at, as
far as I could see, an eminently fair division.
    After we started work, I said, “I looked for
you yesterday, but Monty said you have a lady friend.”
    Slim’s eyes crinkled as he chuckled. “Yeah,
that’s what he thinks. I ain’t telling him any different.”
    “ You don’t have a