Final Sail (34 page)

Sam gently left a rose on the edge of the warm surf. Captain Swingle set the remaining flowers next to it. The tide carried the roses away as a squadron of pelicans glided above.

“Yay, Louise!” Sam shouted, waving his beer.

The crew lifted their champagne glasses in a final salute to her.

Helen watched the crew drift away after the service. She walked alone on the beach to the site where Margery had married her and Phil, and where her husband had pledged his love a second time. She had a pledge of her own to keep. Her sister, Kathy, had received the phone jack and the digital recorder that Helen sent her, and practiced daily, determined to catch the blackmailer. Kathy told Helen that she could slap the jack on the recorder in two seconds, even if Tommy Junior was teasing his little sister, and his father was asking if dinner was ready. Kathy felt prepared to record Rob, or whoever the blackmailer was.

Helen stood alone in the surf, watching the sun slip into the soft silken sea and the stars come out.

Then she said out loud, “I swear that I will trust my husband and tell him what happened to Rob. We will catch the blackmailer together. And then I hope that he will still love me.”

.   .   .

Phil was waiting for Helen in their office when she came home, her hair tossed by the sea breeze. “I’ve been going over the books,” he said. “Coronado Investigations is safely in the black. We could use Violet’s bonus as the down payment on a bigger place.”

“Do you want a house?” Helen asked.

“No, I like it here,” Phil said. “But you used to own a big house in St. Louis.”

“That was another life,” Helen said. “A bigger house means more work. It would mean more cleaning. I did enough on that yacht. I can’t see you pushing a lawn mower, Phil.

“We have enough room at the Coronado. If I need to be alone, I go to my apartment and shut the door. Same with you. Margery is our estate manager. If we moved, I’d miss our friends here.”

“Me, too,” he said. “What would we do without the Coronado sunset salutes?”

“I like our life,” Helen said. “And I love you.” She kissed his ear.

“I already have everything. Why would I want more?”