And why did it need to be stronger?
Again, I fought the urge to question Morgan—to doubt him. You’d think after all this time I would know better. But unlike Morgan, I had flaws.
“Even if we get a bigger boat? They make some pretty stout yachts we could rent.” The amenities some had could make a hotel seem like a cardboard box.
“No, too big. It has to be the Starry Night, Grant. Our boat.”
Dog thumped his tail against the back seat, his worried gaze on Morgan.
Bill still stood by the truck, now with his cell to his ear.
“Let me go talk to Bill. He might know of someone.”
“We have to get the Starry Night in the water.”
“I know, and I’ll find a way.” Even if it meant going around the rules. The last thing I needed was getting arrested and giving the FBI a shiny new reason to take a crack at my life.
I popped the handle on the door. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
Morgan didn’t say no, so I got out.
Bill ended his call as I walked up. “I called in and told the office to take me off the schedule. So I’m free for the booking for as long as you need.”
“Thanks. Now I have a favor to ask, and I’ll pay you for your time.”
“Shoot.” Bill stood straighter.
“Morgan and I are going to City Hall Monday, and hopefully someone there can verify all our paperwork and the inspection we already had done on the boat. But if for some reason they can’t, or won’t, then I need another way to get this boat into the water.”
He furrowed his brow. “Are you asking me to do something illegal?”
“I’m asking if you know of an alternative that won’t get you in trouble.”
“That still sounds like you’re asking me to do something a law-abiding individual wouldn’t do.”
“I’m just asking if you can point me in the right direction. I’ll try the City Hall first. But…” I shrugged.
Bill leaned to the right and flicked his gaze to the van. “My niece Racheal, she’s the one who took his phone call. She said he was really insistent about the date and time we came to pick up the boat.”
“I’m sure he was.”
“Like it was a life or death situation.” He chuckled but then it dried up fast. “Is it?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.”
He pressed his lips together. “I get people all the time telling me how to do my job, loading and unloading boats. Never had one that could name every piece of equipment, tell me where it needed to go, and how to operate it.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s Morgan.”
“You wouldn’t think he was that smart see’n how he is.”
Most people questioned Morgan’s intelligence based on his mannerisms. I had at one time. And I was still pissed at myself for it.
That anger must have shown through because Bill raised his hands like he expected me to tackle him. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.”
“Yep. It was.”
“It’s just…anyhow, yeah, I know of a few people who have private docks that will put your boat in the water. Just so you know, it won’t be cheap.”
“It never is.”
“And I ain’t brokering no deals. I just drive the truck, load and unload. Whatever you work out is between you and whoever. I don’t want to know nothing.”
“Understood.”
He shoved his hands into his coveralls. “So, if you’re gonna talk to them folks at City Hall, I guess you’ll be need’n keep the boat on the truck till Monday.”
“I am.”
“If I have to stick around till Monday, I’m going to need somewhere to stay.”
“I’ll put you and Joey up at the hotel of your choice and cover your meals.”
The man grinned. “Okay, that sounds like a plan.”
“I’ll call you if we need directions to that boat ramp. If you don’t hear from me within the hour, find the hotel you want, call me, and I’ll cover the bill.”
“Thanks.” He climbed back into his truck, and I went back to the van.
Dog still had his head in Morgan’s lap.
“Bill said he can find us a boat ramp to put it into the water.”
“Where will we dock?”
“Depends on whether or not the private boat ramp also has a private dock we can tie off at. If not, we’ll just stay out on the water.”
“Will it be legal? I don’t want them to confiscate the Starry Night. I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want to go to jail. Where would Dog go?”
Lying to him would only set off his five-alarm-bullshit-ometer, so I didn’t even try. “If we get caught, I’ll call Harriet Price. She’s a fierce attorney, she’ll handle it. I’ll also take full responsibility and I won’t let them pin anything on you. You can stay at a hotel till I make bail or worst case, call Aunt Jenny to take you home.”
“And the Starry Night?”
“You won’t lose your boat Morgan, I swear.”
He nodded. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“If you go to jail?”
“Like I said, I’ll make bail.”
“What if they won’t let you? What if the FBI starts bothering you again?”
“How important is it you get the boat into the water by Monday?”
“Very important.”
I sighed. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Chapter Five
Apparently, the accommodations in downtown came in two flavors; Ritz and Shinola.
Needless to say, I went with the Ritz. If it had been just me, I wouldn’t have cared, but I wanted Morgan to enjoy staying at a hotel as much as a person could enjoy it. Hot tubs, saunas, a gourmet menu, and fine wine can dramatically affect a person’s comfort level.
And yeah, maybe I wanted to show off a little.
We left the outlying areas and filtered into the city. Buildings clustered together, shops packed the spaces between them, and people shuffled from sidewalk to sidewalk. Horns honked, and even with only two miles between us and the coast, exhaust replaced the flavor of the ocean.
And with every block, the muscles in Morgan’s arms tightened.
Two stop lights later, we were at the hotel.
The main entrance offered marble pillars and pretentious chrome accents. A trio of large stone lions held sentinel over the sidewalk. Signs pointed us around the corner to the valet drop-off. In places like this, they never let you park your own car.
I pulled the little minivan in line behind a Porsche and waited for the valet to make his way down the line. A man in an Italian-cut suit traded tickets for keys and sent the eighty-thousand-dollar luxury car off with young men I wouldn’t trust with a carton of eggs.
We entered the drop-off area, sliding under the concrete overhang and into the shadows of concrete butchered by the glare of manmade lights. Men, women, single, married, with and without children, exited their vehicles.
Morgan rocked in his seat, one hand against his temple, the other wadded up in his shirt.
“How you doing over there?”