As they began to move toward their cabins at bedtime, Stone stood to say good night to Dino and Viv. Viv took him aside and whispered, “I haven’t had a chance to tell you, but when we were ashore shopping, I saw Betty Baker through a side window, and she and Vanessa saw each other.”
“How do you know they did?”
“Because Betty winked at her, and Vanessa winked back. Good night, Stone.”
Vanessa walked across the room from her chair. “I’m going to turn in,” she said to Stone. “Don’t be long.”
Perce and Christina were still there, and Perce asked for the head. Stone directed him, then sat on the sofa, a cushion away from Christina.
“Would you like another cognac?” he asked.
“I think I’d better not,” she replied. “I might become too bold.”
“You may be as bold as you like,” Stone said, pouring her another.
“I find you attractive,” she said, placing a hand on his.
“What a nice coincidence,” he said. “I find you attractive, too. Do you ever come to New York?”
“I live in New York,” she said, “on Park Avenue, in the sixties.”
“How convenient. I’m in Turtle Bay.” He gave her his card. “Will you let me know when you’re back?”
“Of course,” she said, tucking the card into her bra, and offering her own card from the other side of the bra.
There was the distant noise of a vacuum toilet flushing; she withdrew her hand, and Stone put her card into his jacket’s ticket pocket.
Perce came out and walked over. “Shall we?” he asked, extending his hand to help her from the sofa.
Stone stood up with her. “Good night, Perce. Good night, Christina,” he said.
She rewarded him with a little smile. “Good night, Stone,” she said, then followed Perce to the boarding stairs.
Stone stood at the top, watching them descend to the dock and, in so doing, caught an inviting glimpse of breasts, causing a stir in his loins.
He went below and found Vanessa naked in bed. He undressed and joined her.
She took him in her hand. “My, you’ve anticipated me,” she said.
“You could say that,” he replied, then moved into her.
The following morning they joined the Bacchettis at breakfast. They served themselves from the buffet, then sat down.
“What does the day hold?” Viv asked.
“What would you like to do? More shopping?”
“We’d like to take a closer look at that giant yacht outside the harbor,” Dino said, clearly trying to deflect her interest.
“Why not?” Viv asked.
“Vanessa, would you like to see the giant yacht?”
“I’m a little tired this morning,” she replied. “I think I’ll have a nap after breakfast, then join you for lunch.”
After breakfast Stone asked Captain Brett to put a tender from the upper deck into the water.
“Would you like a driver?” Brett asked.
“No, I’ll do it myself.”
A beautifully varnished runabout was winched down from the upper deck, and they boarded. Stone started the engine, and they moved away from the marina. They dodged the Chappaquiddick ferry, then followed the channel out of the inner harbor. Once outside, Stone applied more throttle, then headed toward Tsarina in the distance at a moderate speed. As they moved along, they were overtaken by a larger runabout with a half dozen people aboard. Stone accelerated and followed. “Dino,” he said, “please take out your phone and get me a couple of pictures of the boat ahead. I’ll pass them closely. I especially want faces.”
“Sure,” Dino said, producing his iPhone.
Stone increased their speed, and Dino did his work, then Stone peeled away from the other boat and headed for open water. Dino got a couple of shots of the big yacht as the people from the other tender climbed the boarding stairs.
Dino came and sat by Stone. “What do you want me to do with these pictures?” he asked.
“Send them to Lance’s cell number,” Stone replied, “and to mine.”
They drove along the shore for a few minutes, then turned back toward the harbor. They were climbing aboard Breeze when Stone’s phone rang. He answered it and scrambled, then found a chair.
“Good morning, Lance.”
“Good morning, Stone. I trust you’re enjoying yourself.”
“We are, and we met a cousin of yours last evening.”
“Ah, Christina. She’s something, isn’t she?”
“Quite something. Have you looked at Dino’s photography?”
“The pictures are being fondled by some of our photographic experts. I’ll have them shortly. That’s some yacht, isn’t it?”
“It is. Our captain tells us it’s three hundred forty feet.”
“Three hundred forty-five feet,” Lance said. “We’ve researched her. She was launched last year at Abeking & Rasmussen, in Germany, a very fine yard. I’ll e-mail you her layout, if you have a printer onboard.”
“I do,” Stone said.
“It might come in useful. Ah, here are the enlargements of Dino’s photographs.” Stone could hear a shuffling of papers and other voices in the room. “I don’t have any names for you yet, but of the five people in the group, at least one of the men is GRU, and so is one of the women.” The GRU was Russian military intelligence. “There was some luggage, so they must have just gotten off the ferry or an airplane.”
“I wonder why they’re here,” Stone said.
“I may have something on that later in the day,” Lance replied. “Oh, I’ve sent you a gift package, a tool kit, you might say. Be careful where you open it and don’t leave the contents lying about.” He hung up.
“Does Lance find my photography interesting?” Dino asked.
“He finds it fascinating,” Stone said. “He’s already spotted two GRU people among the visitors. He says he’ll get back to us with more later in the day.”
“I’ll be interested to hear what he learns,” Dino said.
Stone’s phone rang; an e-mail from Lance. “Excuse me, I want to print some pages.” He went to the little study on the yacht, where there lived a computer, and printed out several pages. Then he returned to Dino and Viv. Vanessa was just coming up from below, freshly dressed in a summery frock. He gave her a kiss. “Welcome back to the world,” he said.
He and Dino spread the pages on a table. “Where did you get these shots of the interior and the drawings?” Dino asked.
“Lance produced them all,” Stone said, poring over the pages. “It’s as spectacular down below as it is on the upper decks,” he said.
“Where’d Lance get these?”
“Probably hacked the builders’ computer,” Stone said.
They were interrupted by a call to lunch.