“Yeah, enough for now. But the ones in the future will probably be much more personal in nature.”

“I look forward to that,” I said. “And next time, I just may have a few for you, too.”

“I’d like that,” she replied in a husky voice.

I reached across to open her door. When I leaned over she lifted her face to mine. Our lips found each other as we enfolded in an embrace.

At length I sat back, and the smile on my face must have mirrored the one I saw on hers.

“It’s been a good day, Patricia Latham.”

“It’s been a really good day, Kennesaw Tanner.”

“Call you this week?” I asked.

“You’d better.”

I pushed her door open, then climbed out and came around as she got into her car. I handed her a small box.

“Miss Darcey’s crabs,” I said. “Put them in the freezer, and they’ll be perfect when you want them next.”

“You shouldn’t ...” she started to protest.

“Don’t worry, I kept plenty for myself. Those are for you,” I told her.

“Okay, Tanner,” she said. “See ya around.”

I closed her door. “You bet, Detective.”

She cranked the engine, gave me a last smile, and then pulled away. I waved when I saw her glance up in her mirror. She lifted a hand in return, then pulled onto the pavement and headed for Tybee.

I climbed into my truck, and as the light faded in the west, made my way back to Miss Rosalie.

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

THE NEXT DAY WAS SUNDAY, AND I made a perfectly lazy day of it. I slept late that morning and then went to the Waffle House where I treated myself to a cholesterol-laden, artery-hardening, double-barrel twelve-gauge Southern breakfast. Then, I parked myself on the aft deck of Miss Rosalie with a pot of English tea at hand and read every last word of both the Savannah Morning News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Afterward I burned a few hours puttering around the boat, tidying up a number of things and inventing some chores. It’s not hard to do, because there is always something that requires attention on a boat. And better to attend to things when they are still minuscule than to risk a failure when the seas are running thirty feet high and the situation is about to become critical.

Looking around the deck with the satisfaction that all was right on board, I locked up and went to see if I could find Danny Ray. There was a question that had occurred to me, and I needed to hear what he had to say.