Chapter Nine
Bubbles came waving and smiling toward their table at the Harborview, dodging busy waitstaff at the popular restaurant. As she approached, Frank asked Maji, “You want me to take the door?”
“Nope. Stay with us.”
Rose stood and hugged Bubbles, who whispered, “She’s the boss of him?”
Rose inclined her head as she stepped back. “Frank, meet my friend Bubbles. From the dojo.”
“Right.” He extended a hand and they shook briefly. “Rose says all kind of good things about you.”
“You always fool the nice people,” Maji said to Bubbles. “Even the smart ones.”
Bubbles bumped Maji with her shoulder. “You could too if you practiced. You know, fake it till you make it.”
Seeing the concern on Frank’s face, Rose reassured him, “This is how they show affection, Frank. Like you and Pants Sarcone.”
Maji and Bubbles stopped pushing against one another, stunned into a momentary halt.
“Oh. Sure.” Frank nodded at them. “You two come up together?”
“No,” Maji answered. “But we go back a ways.”
“Maji scraped me off the sidewalk, back in Brooklyn,” Bubbles added. “And pushed me out into the ’burbs.”
A smiled quirked at Maji’s mouth. “You were bringing down the neighborhood.”
They ordered, Maji keeping one ear on the conversation and her eyes on the Glen Cove Marina’s docks. Right on schedule, Uncle Lupo DiVincenzi, Gino’s consigliere, arrived and opened up his motor yacht, the Lucky Lady. Angelo arrived next, followed a moment later by Gino. This section of the marina was private, accessible only to members with a key code for the gates at the top of each dock ramp.
Maji watched Angelo confer a moment with his elders in the Grand Bank’s spacious cockpit. When he hopped back down onto the dock and started heading back to the gate, she picked the binoculars up off the tabletop.
“What are you looking at?” Bubbles asked.
“Shh,” Maji replied. She watched Angelo greet Yuri and Sander Khodorov, and argue politely about the three men with them. The one she recognized as Sergei, the FBI’s informant, followed them to the boat. The other two turned and walked away. She recognized one from Mona’s, and worried for a moment they might decide to come into the Harborview to keep an eye on the Lucky Lady, too. Maji sighed as they turned and headed for the parking lot.
“Are you working?” Bubbles asked as Maji laid the binoculars back down. She didn’t try to keep the disapproval from her tone.
“Just a little surveillance,” Maji replied.
“And you brought her with you?”
“Nothing’s going down in here.”
“Great.” The mimosas arrived for Bubbles and Rose, along with coffee for Frank and Maji. Bubbles lifted her glass, eyeing Maji. “You sure?”
“Yes. Go ahead. You driving?”
“I know my limits. Unlike some people.”
“Watch it,” Maji said with a hint of a smile quirking the corner of her mouth. “Rose still thinks you’re the nice one.”
The server set a lovely omelet in front of Rose and moved back to the tray of entrees for the others. Before her plate had touched the table, Maji pushed back, swearing under her breath. “Excuse me,” she said to the table at large.
Frank looked out the window. “Crap.” He fiddled with something inside his jacket, while Maji simply pressed her watch once.
“Everyone stays here,” Maji said, then wove her way rapidly through the tables and disappeared out the front door.
Rose saw the Grand Banks puttering away from its slip and picked up the binoculars. She saw Maji punching buttons on the gate’s keypad and shoving through. After a quick scan of the finger docks, she jogged down one and crouched by a small sailboat.
“What’s she doing?” Bubbles asked.
“I think she’s stealing a sailboat,” Rose replied. She handed Bubbles the binoculars. “See?”
As Bubbles scanned the marina for her friend, Frank said, “Maji says no worries, please enjoy brunch. It’s all good.”
Bubbles turned toward the sound of his voice, caught sight of him magnified, and startled backward. She lowered the binoculars and looked from Frank to Rose. “What?”
“They have ear things,” Rose said. “Comms.”
“She’s really okay out there?” Bubbles asked Frank.
Frank gave her an earnest look that Rose didn’t entirely trust. “She’s just keeping Ang in sight. Nothing to worry about.” His expression faltered. “She can sail, right?”
Bubbles relaxed and almost smiled. “Yeah. And of course she picked a nimble little boat to steal. She can dodge and weave with the best of them.”
The Hobie catamaran zipped out toward the basin, quickly catching up with the leisurely progress of the staid motorboat. On a beautiful Saturday morning in late May, there was plenty of small boat traffic to dodge. Fortunately, most of it was heading toward the marina’s breakwater.
The Grand Banks didn’t seem to have its mind made up, ambling first toward the open water outside of the marina’s protection, and then making a turn inside the basin. Maji tacked to keep from sailing toward it on a collision course. Without any bugs or comms inside the Lucky Lady, the best she could do was guess their intention. Obviously they had left the dock to avoid the possibility of electronic eavesdropping. But now they seemed to be compromising on how far from other boats and humans was far enough.
A little yellow ski boat zipped between her catamaran and the motor yacht without warning. The cat pitched and nearly changed course on its own. Holding the tiller lightly in one hand and the mainsheet in the other, Maji turned and yelled after the oblivious stinkpotters. Not that they could hear her over that motor. Idiots.
To keep a better eye on the Lucky Lady, Maji came about, jibing to set a new course that would look like she was just dinking about inside the harbor. No need to get too close to the motor yacht, which was slowing almost to the point of losing helm control as it neared the inside of the breakwater.
“Oh,” she said out loud, as Angelo and Sergei worked together to throw out light anchors from the bow and stern. “They found a spot for the meeting, Frank. I’m just going to sail around casually for a while. All good in there?”
“Yeah. They’re taking turns watching you through the binoculars.”
“Tell Bubbles I said, Dinner and a show.”
There was a brief pause, and then he said, almost apologetically, “She called you a brat.”
Maji started to laugh, enjoying being on the water again, even if she was missing a nice plate of eggs and hash. With a homemade biscuit. And coffee. Well, maybe the Benedetti-Khodorov alliance would be a quick deal.
The little yellow ski boat passed by again, slowly this time. The two men inside didn’t look relaxed, or dressed for a day in the sun. One had a suit jacket on, and the other a polo shirt but also a large white wrap around his left hand. The hand she had smashed in the car door behind Mona’s. Dammit.
They recognized her as well, and Maji thought about tacking again and making a run for the channel. No—if they raced after her, there could be a collision, harbor police, unwanted attention. And if they didn’t, she’d be too far away if the meeting went south and they decided to board the Lucky Lady.
So Maji gave the two men a polite wave, one boater to another, and pretended not to notice as they crept up on her. Just to buy time, she tacked a couple more times, forcing them to change course to stay as close as they clearly wanted to. “Frank,” she said, “I might be out here awhile, making friends. Keep everyone cool until I get back, okay?”
“Sure, hon.”
Maji led the ski boat toward the breakwater, close enough to the shallows to anchor it. They were such good followers, she was tempted to zip toward the shoals she knew were nearby and let them ground themselves in pursuit. Now that would be fun to watch. But again, likely to piss somebody off. And this was Play Nice with Others Day on the big white boat with all the important players onboard.
Maji sighed and pointed the Hobie at the ski boat, letting the main luff as she got close, to slow it down. The two Russians looked alarmed and reached for their pistols. “Friends,” she called to them in Russian, showing both her palms even while one held the tiller. With her empty hand, she grabbed the coiled docking line, held it up for them to see, and tossed it across the gap between the two boats.
“What the fuck?” Bubbles said.
Rose resisted the urge to grab the binoculars from her. “What?”
“She’s, um…rafting up with the yellow boat.”
“Let me see.” Rose put the binoculars to her eyes and scanned until she found Maji. Who appeared to be holding a friendly conversation with two strangers, perched on the edge of the ski boat’s small cockpit.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Frank said. “Hon…?”
Rose tore herself away from the far view long enough to glance at him. “What?”
“She’s fine out there. She wants us to just hang out here till she comes back in. Okay?”
Rose looked to Bubbles. She knew Maji better than anyone, even if she didn’t know what was going on out there, either. “Should we try to help? Somehow.”
Bubbles asked her in Spanish, without looking toward Frank, “How much do you trust this guy?”
“Completely,” Rose answered, also in Spanish.
Bubbles shrugged. “Then do what she says. ’Cause apparently she’s the boss of all of us today. Have another mimosa.”
They finished their plates off while watching Maji chat with her new boating pals. “She looks relaxed,” Rose said. “Can you tell what they’re talking about?”
“Nah. They’re talking Russian.” Frank motioned the server over. He gave her a charming smile and three hundred dollars. “We’ll give you the table back just as soon as we can. Don’t want to be any bother.”
“No bother at all, sir.” She offered more mimosas and graciously took their orders for coffee and tea instead.
Rose pushed back from the table. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
Frank looked worried. “Um, I should—”
“No, you really shouldn’t,” Bubbles said, nearly rolling her eyes. “I can escort the lady to the ladies’ room.”
As they washed their hands, alone for the moment, Rose asked, “You really aren’t worried about her, out there with those…men?”
“Mysterious are the ways of the Maji. If she needed help, she’d have sent a message by now.”
Rose toweled her hands off. “So we shouldn’t slip out, steal another boat, and go save her?”
Bubbles laughed, and gave Rose a squeeze. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Nearly an hour later, Frank succumbed to the bottomless cups of coffee in his system, promising to be back in a flash. Rose passed the binoculars to Bubbles, who scanned back and forth between the two boats quietly for a moment. Then she sat back with an “Ooh!”
Rose took the binoculars. Both boats were pulling anchor. She looked around for Frank and spied him working his way back between full tables of diners.
He gave her a wink and a smile. “They’ll be back in a minute. Says to meet her at the car.”
Rose didn’t wait for any more permission. She headed for the dock.
At the top of the ramp, Rose realized she didn’t know the code. What would she do if she reached Maji, anyway? She stepped back, torn between the desire to see for herself that Maji was safe and the instruction to meet at the car instead. A family of three with a dock cart arrived, punched in the code, and held the gate politely for her. I’ll beg forgiveness later.
Seconds later, Rose heard Frank on the dock behind her, calling for her to stop. She ignored him, her only thought to reach Angelo and Maji as quickly as possible. Ri, she corrected herself. Call her Ri.
She turned onto the connecting dock that led out to the yacht slips and caught sight of Angelo. Next to Gino and Uncle Lupo, he smiled and shook hands with three men Rose didn’t recognize. She slowed her walk, uncertain now. Angelo was clearly fine. But where was Maji?
Angelo spotted Rose, and waved cheerfully. “Hey, how was brunch?”
“Delicious.”
“Told you you’d like it. Can’t beat the view, huh?” He turned to the men cluttering the dock behind him. “Where are my manners? Rose, this is Yuri Khodorov. And Sander. And their guy, Sergei.”
Rose exchanged the required pleasantries, one eye behind them, on Maji and the two men who had captured her.
“We’re heading home,” Angelo said, with a gesture for her to clear the path. “I’ll meet you there, okay?”
Frank, at her elbow now, gave a little tug. “Will do.”
Rose had no choice but to back up and turn the corner, stepping back onto the larger dock again. She waited as the men made a single file, walking toward her. From behind them, she heard, “’Scuse me. ’Scuse me. ’Scuse me.”
Maji looked irate as she reached Angelo. She rattled off some angry-sounding Spanish, one finger pressed into his sternum.
“I’ll make this up to you, I promise,” Angelo replied, flicking a glance toward the men waiting behind him. “But right now, I gotta…”
“I don’t give a fuck what you gotta.” She flicked his chest and started off toward the parking lot.
Angelo took a few steps after her, then looked back at his business associates. He stopped by Rose and Frank. “Don’t let her take off alone,” he instructed, his voice pitched for all to hear. “Get her home and cooled down. I’ll be there in a bit.”
Angelo stopped Sander as they were about to split up into two groups to leave the marina. “Hey, I got that thing in my car for you. Can I borrow you a minute?”
Sander looked to his father, got a noncommittal look, and said, “Sure.”
Angelo opened the Mercedes’s door and reached inside, then turned back to Sander.
“What thing are you—” Sander started. “Oh. Having a moment, are we? Fine, go ahead.”
“You think it’s funny? Ri could’ve been hurt. What were you thinking?”
“Same as you, apparently. That we should have someone nearby, just in case. I have better someones, that’s all.”
If only you knew. “Well, it worked out. But still. You can’t pull something like that again. It’ll set Gino off.”
“Not to worry. We’re partners, now, right?”
“Right.” Angelo simmered himself down. “Actually, that went smoother than I expected.”
“Yes. When your uncle Gino listens to Uncle Lupo, things go well. We should keep Lupo dialed in.”
“Count on it.”
“Okay then,” Sander said. “I wish I could kiss you. Right now.”
“I wish you could, too.”
“Well, see you Tuesday.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Maji waited until Rose closed her door to speak. “Did Bubbles at least stay out of sight?”
“Went out the back, like you asked,” Frank replied. “Sorry I let Rose—”
“Skip it.” Maji looked at Rose, who appeared to be fuming quietly. “Just take us home. I’m starving.”
After giving her the silent treatment for several minutes, Rose looked ready to burst with some withheld thought.
“What?” Maji asked.
“Were those the same men who tried to kidnap me?”
“Just the one. With the…” Maji pointed to her hand. Where were her words? “Bandage. That’s Vlad. He hopes you don’t hold that against him, by the way.”
Rose laughed incredulously. “Now he’s my friend, too?”
“Yep. One big family now. That’s how these things work.”
“But you didn’t know that when you just…handed yourself over. What if the meeting didn’t go well?”
Ah. She’d frightened Rose. Got it. Maji sighed. “Then I’d have been where Angelo needed me—as close as possible.”
Rose blanched visibly. “Well, thank goodness it went well, then. And…I’m sorry for not staying out of sight, as ordered. I was worried about you.”
“I know. But if you can’t let me do what I’m here for, there’s always the safe house.”
Rose glared at her for the full length of the long driveway. Maji felt pinned in place, and she didn’t want to look away. As Frank pulled the car into its space, Rose leaned toward her. “Don’t you dare,” she said, and flung her door open.
Maji hung back while Frank let Rose into the house, then followed them inside. Rose angry was a force to be reckoned with. That was good. Better than frightened, and taking foolish chances. Or trying to protect her, and getting someone hurt, like… Lighten up, Rios. She’s not Iris.
Maji shook off the thought and headed for the kitchen to rustle up some food. She stopped short at the doorway. Rose was tossing ingredients out of the fridge and thwonking items on the counter with barely contained force. Still angry, then.
“You don’t need to cook for me,” Maji said.
Rose kept moving, not looking at her. “It’s the least I can do. You’re giving up your vacation, putting yourself in danger—”
“Hey,” Maji said, catching a head of lettuce before it bounced off the counter island. She stepped between Rose and the counter, careful not to touch her but close enough that Rose had to look at her or move away. “I’m sorry you were scared. But I need you to trust me, my decisions. I promised to keep you safe.”
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” Rose acknowledged. “You were out there so long, and I couldn’t do anything, and I just wanted to make sure…” She closed the little distance between them, leaning her forehead against Maji’s.
Maji felt Rose relax, with their heads touching, like they could figure this out together, if only they tried. She put her hands on Rose’s hips, intending to push her back a step, give herself room to think again. Instead, she pulled her forward, tipping her face up to meet Rose’s.
The second their lips met, everything that was not Rose—the feel of her against Maji, her scent, her taste—faded away. The time between their first night and this moment disappeared. Rose’s hands found her face, cupping her jaw gently as the kiss deepened. All thought stopped, Maji’s brain and senses taken over by feeling, until the front door slammed.
“Hey, Frank,” Angelo boomed. “You seen Ri?”
Maji jerked back to the kitchen, panting. She caught Rose’s eye, and they both took a step back. It hurt, like a bandage pulled off a healing wound.
“In the kitchen,” Frank answered. “But don’t go in—they’re making out.”
Maji swore under her breath and slipped around to the end of the counter island. How could she be so out of it she didn’t even know Frank had seen them? “I’m sorry,” she said.
Rose had responded to Frank’s words with a charming blush and a hand over her impish smile. Now she curled it into a fist under her chin, the fire in her eyes banked but not extinguished. “I broke a rule, you broke a rule. Let’s call it even.”
“Sounds fair to me,” Angelo said from the doorway. To Rose, he added, “Give us a minute?”
Rose nodded, and stepped toward the doorway. As she passed Maji, she paused and said quietly, “And if you expect either of us to follow your rules, don’t be in my room tonight.”