Sabrina decided to check her messages before she lost reception.
“Meet me in the rear parking lot at St. John Car Rental. Do NOT come to Bar None. N.P.”
Just what she needed. The number of places she couldn’t go on St. John was growing at an alarming rate. Her world couldn’t afford to shrink much smaller. She was already living on an island that was less than three-by-nine miles.
She drove up the near perpendicular hill that led to the parking lot where Neil was waiting. She grabbed her tote and Girlfriend’s overnight bag from the backseat while Girlfriend peed over by the bushes. She walked over to Neil’s jeep, whistling for Girlfriend as she opened the back passenger door. The dog dove in, rushing toward Neil in the front seat, showering him with kisses on his neck and ears.
“Geez, Salty, I wish you’d take a page from your dog and learn how to properly greet a man,” Neil said, laughing as Sabrina pried the dog off him. He leaned over and gave her a peck on the check. They were still at that awkward stage where they weren’t quite sure how to act when they met each other.
“Why couldn’t I go to Bar None, Neil? What’s going on?” She had little patience for small talk with so much at stake.
“Relax, we just had that reporter I saw admiring your cargo container at the bar chatting with Sean’s brother. I didn’t think you’d want to run into them. Besides, I’m in the mood for a Skinny Legs cheeseburger. How about you?”
“Sure, that sounds great.” Sabrina realized how hungry she was, not having eaten a meal since the disassembled wedding feast the night before.
She took the twenty-minute ride from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay to tell Neil about the diamond necklace still in her pocket.
“Oh, now I get why you were asking me questions on the phone about searches. Why didn’t you just tell me what was going on?” Neil asked.
“Because Lisa was sitting in the car next to me.”
“So let me see if I’ve got this straight. You found the diamond necklace in Heather’s pocket in the laundry and put it in a baggie in your pocket for safekeeping. You forgot to return it to Heather when things got heated at Bella Vista. When you go to bring Lisa over to Villa Nirvana, she tells you that she found a diamond necklace in Gavin’s toiletry bag, which she believes is an anniversary gift that Gavin is planning to give her. But when Hodge lets everyone retrieve their belongings, Lisa doesn’t find the necklace in with Gavin’s stuff and it’s not on the list of items confiscated by the police. Have I got that right, Salty?”
“Yes, and then Heather comments that there’s no jewelry on the list, but doesn’t admit she’s missing anything.”
“And all that time, the necklace is in your pocket?”
“Yes.”
“How do these things keep happening to you?” Neil asked, pulling into a parking space in the rugged lot at Skinny Legs.
“Are you saying that I’m doing something to cause bad things to happen to me? All I did was wash the Keatings’ laundry so they would have clean clothes to wear. It’s not like I tried to insert myself into their situation. I was just trying to be considerate,” Sabrina said, while Girlfriend tried to climb into the front seat, hearing the plaintive tone in her owner’s voice.
“Salty, Salty, listen to me. Don’t bite my head off. I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just trying to help you, honey,” Neil said, placing a hand on each of Sabrina’s cheeks, looking directly at her.
“I just didn’t know what to do.”
“Let’s feed you and then we can decide.”
Sabrina felt like a new woman after two lemon vodkas and an almost-raw blue cheeseburger. With Girlfriend at her feet and Neil next to her on the wooden bench, she was ready to talk about the necklace.
“Let’s wait until we get over to my place to sort it out. There’s something about being on the water that makes everything seem easier,” Neil said.
They fetched Sabrina and Girlfriend’s bags and headed to the rickety dock where Neil’s inflatable sat. Girlfriend lost her reluctance to board once Sabrina was seated. And within five minutes, Sabrina was boarding the forty-two-foot trawler Neil called home.
Sabrina wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the painstakingly stained and polished woodwork throughout the boat, which Neil explained was called “bright work.” There was a small galley with a stove, microwave, and a refrigerator. In the salon, a built-in couch with lots of pillows sat below a bay of windows. A small, worn Oriental rug was placed before it. On the other side of the trawler was a built-in table with four seats. On top of the table, there was a coffee mug and a book titled Uniform Commercial Code.
“See, I told you I was a slob,” Neil said, grabbing the mug and book off the table. He put the mug in the sink and the book on a table upside down.
“Are you kidding me? This is gorgeous.”
Neil showed her the main cabin in the rear of the boat, where he had removed the berth and had converted it into a study of sorts with a minibar and two leather chairs, which looked like they may have come from his law office. The front stateroom had a typical v-berth where a couple of cotton quilts lay tousled on the beds.
He made her a lemon vodka on the rocks, taking two lemons from his backpack, which he must have brought from Bar None, giving her drink a generous squeeze. She was touched by his thoughtfulness. Neil grabbed a cold bottle of Guinness out of the refrigerator and led her over to the table.
“Okay, what do you want to do about the necklace?” he asked.
“I’d love to be honest and just hand it over to the police.”
“Next choice. That would be legal suicide, Salty. You’re not dealing with a cop like Lee Janquar here.”
“I want to live in a world where I don’t have to be afraid of telling the truth,” Sabrina said, knowing she was getting just a little drunk.
“We can philosophize about utopian societies when all of this is said and done. Going to Hodge and telling the truth isn’t an option. You could try going to Heather and telling her the truth. You could return the necklace and let her figure out what to do with it.”
Sabrina smiled. Neil was brilliant. She could be honest and unload the necklace on the person in whose clothes she had found it.
“Of course, that could pose another problem,” he said.
She didn’t want to hear it, but she knew he would tell her anyway, so she asked.
“What’s that?”
“Heather could be dangerous if she’s implicated in Elena’s death,” Neil said.
“But I wouldn’t confront her like that, Neil. I could just be honest and say I found it in the laundry. She can talk about it or just thank me. I won’t press her.”
“If you’re comfortable, go ahead and do it. Just make sure other people are around when you do.” Neil said, reaching over for her hand. “I’m getting used to hanging around with you, Salty, and I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”
Sabrina was sober enough to recognize this was as close to a declaration of affection from someone like Neil Perry she might ever get. She squeezed his hand, wanting him to know she also cared deeply for him, but also needing to take a little control over her life, which had been like a plane flying through endless turbulence lately.
“I’ll even take Girlfriend with me. I’ll go up to Bella Vista after I drop you and David at the plane in the morning.”
“Which is coming soon, so we’d better turn in.” He took her by the hand he was already holding and steered her into the front stateroom, where he handed her one of the quilts and a pillow, signaling that he understood this was a night when sleep was needed more than sex and that it was okay for them to each sleep on their own berth. Sabrina stretched out, surprised at how comfortable a bed on a boat was, hearing Girlfriend lower herself to the floor between Neil and her. The last thing she remembered was wondering whether Neil or the dog was snoring.