usually is though. He was here the day before.”
“Anybody with him?”
“No, but he got a phone call that went on for a while. His eggs got cold, and he had to reorder.”
“What time was he here?”
“Oh, eight to eight-thirty, I guess. He’s usually here most of the morning when he’s not working.”
“You know a girl, maybe a nurse. Tall, slender, shortish dark hair—oh, and nice tits?”
Danny grinned. “I wish. We don’t seem to get many of that type in here. Especially not nurses. They’re picky about germs.”
“Has Dixie been meeting the same person more often than others?”
Danny thought about it. “Nah, he just sits down with whoever’s here, or them with him. Nobody I don’t know.”
Max took a swig of her water and hopped off her stool. “Well, thanks for the free water,” she said.
“Who said it’s free?” Danny protested.
Tommy put a five on the bar. “Calm yourself,” he said, then followed Max outside.
She started the car. “So, Tommy, what did your instincts tell you about Danny?”
“That he had a shot of Irish before opening up, and that he was telling the truth.”
“You’re right about your instincts,” she said. “I missed the Irish. Is there a germ-free zone around here where we can get some lunch?”
He directed her to a small Cuban place off Duval Street, where they ordered Cuban sandwiches.
“So,” Tommy said, “did you really spend some time on a fancy yacht at Fort Jefferson?”
“You bet your sweet ass I did, and it was the most gorgeous thing you ever saw, called Breeze.”
“I know the boat. It was around last year this time. Guy named Barrington, from New York, owns it. He took the secretary of state, what’s her name, to Cuba for a secret meeting with somebody or other.”
“Holly Barker,” Max said. “Running for president now. Expects to get the nomination next week at the convention in Miami. I remember the story last year, now. I just never saw the yacht.”
“Most gorgeous thing you ever saw,” Tommy said.
“Well, the Coast Guard put me aboard to get Mr. Dix hauled up, and then they blew the winch and couldn’t get me up without chopping up a couple of tenders on the top deck.”
“So, you made yourself at home?”
“Let’s just say that, dealt a poor hand, I made the best of things.”
“Where’d you sleep? If I’m not being too nosy.”
“Too nosy is your nature, Tommy. I slept alone in a cabin nearly as big as my house.” She didn’t mention the second night.
“That doesn’t sound like you, Max.”
“Tommy, are you saying I’m a slut and a bed-jumper?”
“Naw, I don’t think you’re a bed-jumper, but my wife thinks you’re a slut.”
“What’s with her?”
“She’s a good Italian Catholic girl, who thinks that a sidelong glance at a man is a ticket to hell.”
“Then I’m afraid I’ll never meet her standards,” Max said, laughing.
“That’s okay, nobody does.”
“How about you?”
“Especially not me,” Tommy replied.
They finished their lunch. “Well,” Max said, “I guess we’d better go let the captain know what’s up.”
“It’s the only way he’ll ever find out,” Tommy said, “since his leg is grafted to his desk.”
7
Stone was on deck when they docked near the old submarine base and saw the RIB tied there. The crew hoisted it to the top deck and into its chocks. Then he saw Max and an older man get out of a car.
“Hey, there!” Max yelled.
“You made it back?”
“In good time, too. Permission to come aboard?”
“Permission granted.” He met them on the fantail and Max introduced Tommy Scully. “This is all the department can scare up for a partner,” she said.
“Same here,” Tommy said, shaking Stone’s hand.
“Coffee?”
“Why not?”
Stone ordered it from the galley and sat them down to wait. “Did you interview your pilot friend?”
“Yep, and he went all blank on everything that happened between breakfast two days ago and being loaded onto the helicopter.”
“I wonder why?”
“Well, either he’s an honest amnesiac or a lying dog.”
“If he’s an amnesiac, he’ll come around in a day or two. If he’s a lying dog, well . . .”
“I haven’t formed an opinion on that, yet,” Max said. “I’m trying to keep an open mind.”
“Well, what he may have forgotten has put his life in danger. What sort of attempt was made?”
“Somebody dressed like a nurse jimmied the door from the fire escape and injected propofol into his IV bag. He twigged to what was going on and yanked his IV while his ‘nurse’ departed down the fire escape.”
“You got a tox screen pretty fast,” Stone said.
“I had to lean