Amy chuckled. “You’ll be happy to know David’s been drinking all night. The bartender commented on it. I slipped two Valium in his liquor. He can hardly stand up.” She added, “Carl’s here with his girlfriend.”

“Good,” he said without enthusiasm.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. How’s Carl?” Why did she call him by his first name?

“Loaded. Too bad you can’t meet his new babe. She’s two years younger than me and has tits out to the moon. I already told them I have to get back for a doctor’s appointment in the morning and they’re cool. We’ll leave in the next hour or two.”

“Did you actually set the doctor’s appointment?”

“I told you I did. What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I’m going out to the boat now.”

“Great. What are you going to do with the boat you use to get to David’s boat?”

“Set it adrift. Let me worry about it.”

“You don’t sound happy,” she said.

“I have a lot on my mind.”

She lowered her voice and spoke with love. “It’ll all be over tonight, Matt. Then we can be together forever.”

“That’s what I want.” His heart ached. “When you’re aboard and David’s asleep, come down to the storage room. I want to talk.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

She hesitated. “Okay,” she said.

They exchanged goodbyes. His boat was tied around the bend. He had already loaded his equipment: a Farallon propulsion device, two wet suits, a waterproof bag with a strap, a GPS device, a diver’s flashlight. He had rented the boat on Catalina earlier that day. Not being able to return it made him feel guilty, but he hoped to steer it back toward its rightful owners. He had leased the boat under the name Maxwell Adams.

The boat was equipped with a feeble twenty-five horsepower motor. He crept toward the Stardust at arthritic speed. The night was remarkably warm and still. Every sound was amplified. He could not have approached the ship with Gilbert aboard. Even a quarter of a mile from shore, he could distinguish the actual sentences of people talking in the restaurants. To be safe, he closed on the Stardust in a long arcing curve, coming at it from the seaside. It was almost as if his pounding heart echoed over the black water. He dismissed what he had felt minutes before. His torment was swiftly increasing.

Boarding proved easy. Gilbert had left down the ladder. Matt merely had to tie on for a moment, carry his stuff onto the deck, and then aim his own boat in the direction of the harbor. The small outboard spurted away as if personally rejected. It did not have the speed or bulk to damage whatever it hit. But it was a loose end, and those were not good when it came to a police investigation.