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"WHAT DO I wear for a gondola sight-seeing trip?" Tash asked Judith.
"Well, it's a boat, so no skirt. Casual clothing should be fine."
That evening the four of them waited in line with six other couples on the gondola rental dock. The boats were different sizes, some only held one or two benches for passengers. Others were clearly meant for large groups. The boats themselves were narrow flat-bottomed craft whose low sides were barely high enough to prevent waves from coming in the boat. A colorfully dressed robot gondolier stood in the back of the boat manning the sculling oar. Folded behind the passenger seating was a roof the Gondolier could raise in inclement weather. As they waited, another robot, also colorfully dressed, acting as concierge came along the line asking each group what type of ride they were interested in, and how many people in each party.
The group ahead of them was a large one—about six people, They were all laughing and talking, handing around a beverage of some sort. One of the men, apparently a little worse for the liquor he had been drinking, nearly fell into the water trying to board the craft. If one of the others hadn't caught the back of his doublet as he careened towards the other side of the boat, he would have tripped and gone overboard.
When the concierge reached their group, Randal and Devon stepped aside with him.
When it was their turn to step into the boat, Tash noticed it only had seating for two. "We need four seats, don't we?" she whispered to Devon.
"Not this time," he said, stepping into the craft. "Randal decided he needs some couple-time with Judith."
"Is he planning to grovel?" Tash whispered, keeping her voice low so Judith and Randal who were boarding the Gondola behind them couldn't hear what she said.
"Probably," Devon agreed. "Do you think he needs to?"
"Oh, yeah, big time," Tash said with a grin, as the concierge helped her into the boat and handed her a tiny life vest. "For your Catamount," he said. "Would you like me to show you how to put it on her?"
"It looks simple enough, I think I can manage it," Tash said, inserting Fidget's front legs through the arm holes and fastening the Velcro closure strips over her back.
As soon as they were seated on the wide padded bench, their Gondolier poled away from the dock.
"The buildings on this part of the ride were designed to resemble those in the City of Venice on earth," The Gondolier announced.
Devon leaned back on the bench, putting an arm around Tash.
"Would you like some traditional music?" the Gondolier asked.
"Yes," Devon said. Immediately the soft sounds of a string harp accompanied their Gondolier's voice as he sang.
Back on the dock, Judith hesitated when she realized Tash and Devon were boarding a two-person boat. "Aren't they riding with us?" she asked.
"No, Devon and I both decided we need to spend some couple-time with our ladies."
She frowned at him but allowed him to assist her in stepping into the Craft. "Thank you," she said to the concierge when he handed her Licorice's life vest.
Randal had already told the concierge he wanted a romantic atmosphere, so as soon as they left the dock, their Gondolier began to sing, accompanied by the soft strings of a harp,
When Randal reached for her hand, she let him take it, but didn't return the clasp.
"I think I need to apologize to you," he said.
"Oh? For what exactly?"
"For yelling at you after you and Tash were nearly kidnapped. It wasn't your fault, I know that, but it scared the life out of me for you to be in such danger and I over-reacted."
"Okay," she said after a moment. "Apology accepted."
"Dad said he thought you were getting ready to break our engagement. Are you?"
"I'm thinking about it," she admitted.
"Is there someone else?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's just—we don't seem to have the kind of feeling for each other engaged couples should have. I’ve thought for some time that our engagement was out of sight, out of mind for you while you were on earth, and it doesn’t seem to have changed since you came back."
"That's probably my fault," Randal said. "Mom says I have absent-minded-professor syndrome. When I'm working on a problem, I tend to focus only on it, and ignore everything else. I'm sorry. If you're willing to give me another chance, I'll try to do better."
Judith absently stroked Licorice's head while she thought about it. "I don't want to break off the engagement," she said at last. "But I don't want to go on the way we have been either."
Randal slid an arm around her back. "Does that mean you forgive me?"
"I suppose so," she said wryly.
When he tilted her chin up to kiss her, she allowed it, expecting the usual sisterly peck he always gave her. Instead, the arm around her shoulders tightened and his mouth became demanding. Startled, Judith gripped his shoulders, allowing the invasion of his tongue.
Having that intense focus turned on her was different—and exciting. Judith slid her arms around his neck and gave herself over to the feelings swamping her senses.
The narrow canals were barely wide enough for two boats to pass each other. Ahead of them the party boat, as Tash was coming to think of it, resounded with several voices singing. It came to a halt where another canal crossed the one they were traveling on while the group argued as to which was the best way to go.
Tash and Devon's Gondolier, who had told them to call him Phillipe, perforce stopped their craft to wait for the passage to clear.
Tash looked over her shoulder. The Gondola Randal and Judith were using had halted as well, but since the pair were locked in an embrace, she doubted they noticed.
"Looks like groveling worked," she remarked, nodding at the craft behind them.
"I guess so," Devon agreed. "Umm—I don't need to do any, do I?"
"Do any what?"
"Groveling?"
She looked at him in astonishment. "For what?"
"Well after the duel—"
"Stop right there, Devon Morton," she held out a hand. "No woman wants a man to apologize for wanting to kiss her. If you try it, I'll—I'll push you into the water!"
He grinned at her. "Okay, was it good enough to do it again?"
"We won't know until we try it, will we?"
It was a gentler kiss this time, but as passionate. Fidget, bored with the human's mating rituals, jumped from the seat into the bottom of the boat, snagging her collar on the carved edge of the bench. In her struggle to free herself, she managed to break the delicate fastening of her ID tag to her collar. The Gondolier's robot eyes and ears heard the small sound as the silver ID hit the bottom of the boat, and his eyes marked its location. He would retrieve it and return it to his passengers when he was less occupied.
The party boat finally decided on its route, allowing all the boats waiting behind it to finish their tours.
Arriving back at the dock an hour later, Tash and Devon's Gondolier stopped him as he climbed the steps onto the dock.
"Sir, I think your catamount lost this off her collar," the Gondolier said, handing the small silver disc to Devon.
Randal and Judith hadn't yet returned, so Devon and Tash sat on one of the benches to wait for them.
"What's that?" Tash asked, looking at the disc.
"The Gondolier said it came off Fidget's collar. Let me see it and I'll try to reattach it."
She unbuckled the collar and handed it to him, watching as he lifted it to examine the catch. "Is the catch broken?"
"Yes," he said, "but there seems to be something else behind it."
He pulled out the jeweler's loupe he used to examine small circuitry and looked at the catch through it. "I think it's a second disc. Simone must have hidden it behind the ID tag, thinking no one would look for it there."
He put Fidget's collar into his pocket. "We'll look at it when we get back to the house."
Judith and Randal emerged from the Gondola holding hands.
"Well," Tash said with a smile, "that's an improvement."
"What? Oh, yes, I guess the groveling worked," Devon said, his mind on what could be on the new disc.
"As soon as Randal and Judith reached them, he jumped to his feet. "We need to get back to the house. Tash and I've found something behind the ID disc on Fidget's collar."
Randal glanced at Judith. "Do you mind? It could be important. We can order dinner in."
"No," she said smiling. "Some things never change; I'm as anxious to find out what Simone thought she needed to hide as you are."
When they returned, Langeton senior frowned at them. "You're back early. I thought you planned to go out to dinner."
"We did, but Devon and Tash found something hidden in Fidget's collar," Randal said.
"I hope you don't mind, but we ordered dinner brought in," Judith added. "We ordered enough for you and Allison as well."
Timothy Langeton's keen eyes studied her face, relaxing when he realized the tension had gone out of it.
He asked anyway, "Are you alright with breaking your date?"
"Yes," she agreed. "What's on the hidden disc might clear you and Daddy, so I'm as anxious to examine it as Randal is."
"Don't bother about us for dinner. Your mother and I are enjoying the spa," Langeton Senior said turning to leave.
When the robot butler brought in their takeout order, the four of them were studying the information from the disc. Simone Gusset had collected a large amount of data on the Red Conclave's activities and personnel.
"No wonder they got rid of her," Devon said, eying the sizeable files. "If the Red Conclave learned she had collected all this information, her bosses must have been worried about how she intended to use it."
"This looks like a record of payments," Judith said, pointing at several lines of credits. "Jeannine thought her cousin was blackmailing a few people. Maybe this is a record of the payments she got."
Another spread sheet showed a list of names. Attached to each name was a record of what it was paying for. A third had a list of addresses.
When she read the information on the final spreadsheet, Judith said, "Oh, no, this is probably why she was killed."
Randal was frowning at the list of names. "Hold on, I want to check something," he said, pulling out the information his father had obtained from Mathieu Heroux. Besides a list of missing persons, it also had a list of suspected Red Conclave operatives attached.
"Everyone on this list is on one of Simone's spreadsheets," Tash said, reading over Devon's shoulder.
"All the address on here belong to the people on the lists, except the last one. What is Morthan Castle?" Judith asked.
"It's owned by the Lockton family," Randal said. "I think the present holder just inherited it. His name is Geoffrey Lockton."
