“You’re shitting me.” Dorian gawked.
Vaughn stood on the docks of the marina. He’d just spilled the truth about his client. The former high school outspoken crusader, turned con-artist. “Wish I was.” He climbed into the ski boat they’d rented for the morning. The lake glimmered in the late morning sun.
“Wait, the formal job?” Riggs asked, untying the line. “Gray Dress is a thief?”
“Her term was recovery specialist.”
“A repo woman.” Dorian laughed, and tossed his bag into the onboard cabinet.
“High-end, specifically things stolen from Holocaust families.”
“Damn. I didn’t know that was a thing.” Riggs slowly accelerated the boat out of the dock, the breeze fluttering through his hay-blond hair. “Like that movie, with the soldiers finding lost art.”
“Yeah, except she’s not with the military or the government. More like a professional thief.” Vaughn adjusted his sunglasses and turned his baseball hat around, so the wind wouldn’t rip it off.
“Shit. I actually like this woman. If she weren’t all kinds of bad news, I’d say go for it.” Dorian’s tattoo looked darker in the sun, with his already tan skin.
Despite the former Marine days, he was a softie. On his shoulder, shaded rose petals and tiny thorns surrounded the scripted name, Evelyn, his mother.
Riggs pushed the ski boat up to full speed once they were clear of the no wake zone, standing at the wheel like a pirate against a storm. “Why not?” he called over the engine. “Sounds like a good time to me.”
“For one, she’s too hot.” Their buddy grinned at Vaughn. “I mean, with the law.”
“No one’s too hot for me.” He stretched his arms across the back of the bench. “Except maybe her.”
“In that way too, huh?”
“You have no idea. My Latin fantasy come to life.”
“Fantasy enough to be your elusive North Star woman?” Dorian asked, skepticism dripping off his face like the water spray.
Riggs laughed. “They’re called unicorns.”
“Not to me,” Vaughn snapped. These guys always made fun of his term for the ideal woman. “North Star exists. But there’s only one. Unicorns are mythical, fairytales for kids.”
“Hey, didn’t you say she’s Puerto Rican?” Riggs asked, slowing the boat as they drew closer to the middle of the lake. “Why is she recovering work for Jewish families?”
“Her mom is Puerto Rican. Her dad wasn’t. Lobbyist of some kind. I don’t remember him very well, so he has to be the connection there.”
When they reached the spot they’d wanted, Riggs stopped the boat and turned in his seat. “Who’s going first? Fair warning, I’ll throw you off like a bull.”
Vaughn yanked his tank top over his head, and reached for the ski line.
“Wait a second.” Dorian pulled out the life jacket from the stern box, and gave him a serious look. “Are you seeing her again?”
“Going out Friday.”
“You sure about that?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“First off, your job as a Knight,” D counted the reasons off on his hand. “She’d blow the discretion rule out the water. Then the other rule about control at all times. That other night at the event, you had absolutely none, and ended up detained overnight. When Duane finds out, he’s going to shit a brick. More importantly, aren’t the cops are looking for her?”
“She took back an item from a woman who held stolen property from Holocaust victims. For years. Funded by some government foundation. Not the same thing.”
“Look, I’m all for the mysterious woman with an intimidating career. I live above one who’s been dodging my dates for months. This Cora woman certainly sounds more than legitimate. But, Vaughn, the connection still got you arrested.” He tossed over a life jacket.
Vaughn caught it, and slipped it on. “How are you one to throw stones at her, when we’re hardly angels ourselves? We know all about questionable behavior to get the job done. When all the dust settles, she’ll probably be forgiven for her tactics with all the good that comes out of it.”
“We were never arrested.”
The trio became very quiet, even the waves stilled, and the breeze died off.
“Enough of this,” Riggs interrupted. “Take it out on the waves. Vaughn, you go first.”
“No.” He shook his head. “D can have first run.”
Dorian shrugged, put on his life jacket, and jumped in the water. When he came back up, Riggs tossed him the line.
Vaughn slapped him on the shoulder. “Let me drive. Killjoy needs a workout.”