Death Echo

transit captain,” he said, waving her toward the steps leading up to the deck. “I’m being paid to deliver this boat to the commissioning yard in Rosario.”
    She walked onto the deck and looked around. “What’s a commissioning yard?”
    â€œThe hull and most of the interior of the boat is built in Shanghai. The navigation electronics, water maker, satellite linked chart plotter, TVs, radar, computer uplink, speakers, dishwasher, washer-dryer, stove, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, CD, DVD, and all the other expensive toys are added in the commissioning yard.”
    She glanced at him. “So what kind of navigation system are you using to get to Rosario?”
    â€œPaper charts and experience.”
    He gestured her into the main salon.
    â€œHow long will the final work take?” she asked, looking around at the covered furniture—and the open panel on the breakers.
    He shrugged. “Depends on how jammed up the commissioning yard is. Why?”
    Emma stuck to the role she had developed over the last year on her St. Kilda assignment. “Have you ever worked for someone really, really, really rich?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThat kind of money makes people impatient,” she said. “My client wants a yacht like Blackbird and he doesn’t want to wait a year or more for it. That’s how long the list is. A year, minimum, no matter what kind of money you have.”
    â€œSo he’s going to make the owner an offer he can’t refuse?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Nothing that physical. Just a lot of green. Bales of it.”
    Mac decided it was barely possible that her story was true. “Nice finder’s fee for you?”
    â€œYou bet.” She wandered toward the open panel. “The boats I’ve handled have been from one to eight million.”
    â€œRelatively modest, for the kind of wealth you say your employer has.”
    â€œHe has five other boats,” Emma said, running her hand overthe beautiful teak wheel. The cover story came easily to her lips. All those years of lying for a living, people dying, everybody lying, and no one gave a damn. “His wife saw a picture of a boat like Blackbird in a yachting magazine and decided that she had to have it. Yesterday.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBlackbird is small enough for the two of them to handle alone. Roomy enough for a captain if she changes her mind. And luxurious to the last full stop. You can get bigger boats for the money, but you can’t get better.”
    Emma crouched down, rubbed her hand over the glorious teak, and glanced casually at the electronics panel.
    The scratch was right where it should be, which meant Blackbird ’s twin was still missing.
    Good news or bad?
    Both, probably. Luck seems to go that way.
    Mac said nothing while Emma straightened and moved on to the galley. He decided he could get used to watching her.
    â€œI doubt that Blackbird would go for much more than two, maybe three million after she’s commissioned,” he said. “Depends on the electronic toys and the demand in the marketplace.”
    â€œAnd on how stubborn the present owner is about selling.” She shrugged, then faced Mac. Nice wasn’t getting the job done. Time for something else. “Price isn’t my problem. Getting the boat is. So just who owns Blackbird and how do I get hold of him? Make my life easy and I’ll see that you get paid for your time. That’s what you do, isn’t it? Sell your time?”
    Her eyes were clear, green, patient, cool.
    Stubborn.
    Mac’s smile was thin. He knew all about stubborn. He saw it in his mirror every morning. The razor edge of her tongue didn’t bother him. He’d been insulted a lot worse for a lot less reason.
    But it meant that he didn’t have to play the amiable and easy game any longer.
    â€œYeah, that’s what I do,” he said, smiling. “Sell my time.”
    This smile was different. It had Emma wishing the gun in her backpack was in her hand.
    â€œHow much time do you have on your clock?” she asked.
    Blackbird moved restlessly, responding to a gust of wind. Mac didn’t have to look away from Emma to know that the afternoon westerlies had strengthened. The overcast was now a faint diamond haze.
    Time to get going.
    â€œI’m delivering the boat to Blue Water Marine Group,” Mac said. “Today.”
    â€œIn