What the…?
Garbage?
Nick mouthed the word back to Jo. “Garbage?”
Jo nodded, and relief flooded her face. Then the Sunset Voyager went around the bend in the river and disappeared from view.
Okay, so it was ‘garbage’. What did that mean?
Nick had been emptying the garbage the night before when he’d run across them in Savannah. Was that what she meant?
Nick thought back, trying to remember the exact sequence of events.
He’d heard Jo throwing up, and then Pete had come, and Jo said she had to get off the boat. And then they took the garbage to the dumpster and went to dinner where she did that ‘Help me’ thing.
Oh shit, were they back to that?
Nick picked up the empty water bottles and took them below to the recycling bin. He sighed. Another freakin’ mystery.
Mystery Girl.
Was that it? he wondered. Jo was trying to be a mystery girl?
Nick went back on deck and grabbed the used paper plates and napkins. He took them below and put them in the trash under the sink.
Mystery Girl.
Completely Fucked-up Mystery Girl was more like it, thought Nick. He grabbed another bottle of water and went topside. He looked around at the scenery. It really was a beautiful spot here. Nick had enjoyed Pete’s commentary on the wildlife. And the sandwich was good too.
Nick laughed. It must have been a hell of a good sandwich because Jo actually ate one. A whole one. And carrots to boot!
Not just a stupid protein milkshake.
Something scratched at the back of Nick’s mind. Protein shakes.
She has to have this milkshake in the morning and at lunch.
That’s what Pete had said. And yet, when Nick referred to the shakes the day before, Jo thought he meant ‘trembling’.
And she said she’d been living on herbal tea. She never mentioned the shakes.
And…and…
Nick’s head was spinning as he tried to put his thoughts together. And…Pete said, “We haven’t had breakfast and decided to go straight to lunch.”
Where were the shakes?
And what does it have to do with garbage?
Aw fuck it, thought Nick. Tonight at St. Simon’s Island, he was just going to ask her. In front of Pete. Nick was sick of playing games. And then he was going to bust out into the Atlantic and go like hell for the Keys. This trip had seemed like such a good idea, and now it was turning out to be a big pain in the butt.
Nick climbed the ladder to the top deck. He checked his charts and got ready to move out. He looked around for his coastal guidebook but didn’t see it. Then he remembered. He’d taken it below to look for the number for the marina. That’s right. He’d been making notes in it while Pete and Jo had…
Nick froze. He closed his eyes and brought the picture back before him. Pete was putting the bag of leftover vegetables on the sandwich platter, and Jo was…
Nick flew down the stairs to the main deck. Then he dropped below to the kitchen. He pulled the trash bin out from under the sink.
…Jo was picking up the garbage.
Nick pulled the paper plates and napkins out of the bag. He looked at each plate, turning it over. There was nothing written on any of them.
Of course, there isn’t, you dummy! How could she write anything on it? She didn’t have a pencil with her. And what was she going to do, write a secret message right in front of Pete? He’d been there the whole time.
No, wait, that wasn’t right. Well, yeah, it was right that Pete had been there the whole time but Jo hadn’t. She’d gone back across to the Sunset Voyager to go to the bathroom.
Think! Nick ordered himself. When Jo came back, did she have anything with her?
Nick closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his forehead. Was she carrying anything?
No, he decided, she wasn’t. She had her hands in her pockets.
Nick picked up the first napkin. He turned it over carefully. There was nothing on it. The second one was scrunched up in a ball, and there was nothing written on it either.
But there was something written on the little piece of paper that fell out of the napkin.
He’s trying to kill me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Nick stared at the words.
He’s trying to kill me.
What the fuck?
Now Nick was really confused. If Jo thought Pete was trying to kill her, why was she still on the boat? Nick wouldn’t stay on a boat for five seconds with someone he thought was trying to kill him. And why all this stupid mystery message crap? Why not just come right out and say it?
Either way, Nick decided, he wasn’t going to solve anything sitting here. He grabbed the guidebook and went to the upper deck. He started the boat and pulled up the anchor. He steered the boat around and left the channel. He moved slowly and steadily, wanting to catch up to the Sunset Voyagerbut not overtake it…just keep it in his sight until he figured out what he was going to do.
Nick moved the boat through the water, wondering again why Jo didn’t just jump overboard and swim to Nick’s boat if she thought her life was in danger.
And what would you have done then? Nick asked himself.
Nick thought about it as he negotiated a tricky channel with a lot of shoal markers. What would he have done if Jo had suddenly leapt into the water and swum to the Lenore, crying out “He’s trying to kill me.”
Nick knew what he would have done. He would have fished her out of the water and waited for Pete to bring the Sunset Voyager around and explain.
And what explanation would Pete have given him?
Nick thought about that one too. And he figured he knew the answer. Pete would have said that Jo was out of her fucking mind, that she was now paranoid and crazy to go along with anorexic and suicidal.
And Nick was sure that he would have believed Pete. So far, he had seen a lot of evidence that Jordana Miles was not right in the head and had a host of problems. All he’d seen of Pete was good humor and a caring personality.
But that didn’t matter, really. It didn’t matter what the truth of the situation was, it only mattered what Jo thought. If she believed that she was in danger, that had to be dealt with.
“It might not be safe.”
Nick suddenly remembered what Pete had said when Nick offered to let Jo ride with him for a while.
Not safe for whom? Jo? Nick?
Was Pete afraid that she’d harm herself? He’d alluded to that in their conversation about Jo’s illness. They had discussed whether or not the actual disease was a suicide attempt. And Pete had made a reference to ‘another bad time’. Nick had assumed at the time that Pete meant a suicide attempt, but he didn’t question him on it. It was more detail than Nick really wanted to have.
Poor Pete! Here he was saddled with a girl he didn’t want and couldn’t be with the one he did want…and now the first one was accusing him of trying to kill her.
Except, of course, Pete didn’t know that, thought Nick.
Or maybe he did. Maybe Jo had thrown these crazy accusations in his face. Maybe that’s why Pete missed Nick at Beaufort. Nick remembered that Pete had said they’d anchored offshore for the night. Maybe that was why. Maybe Pete didn’t want Jo hurling this craziness around where people could hear.
And maybe…
And maybe…
Nick’s mind kicked into high gear. Maybe it was…like a…what did they call it?...a vicious circle…yeah, that was it…a vicious circle. Jo thinks Pete’s trying to harm her so he keeps her isolated so she can’t cause trouble for him…and that makes her think that he’s keeping her out of the way so he can kill her.
But why didn’t Pete just put her on a plane back to where she came from?
That would solve everybody’s problems, wouldn’t it?
Pete could send Jo home to Mickey and deliver the Sunset Voyager by himself. He certainly didn’t need Jo’s help to do that.
Because of the time factor, maybe? Nick thought about that. Pete had mentioned several times that he had to get to Fort Lauderdale on time, or he’d lose out on some money. Probably a bonus for an early delivery.
Maybe that was the problem. Pete didn’t have time right now to deal with Jo’s craziness. Maybe he just wanted to keep her from doing any serious damage and keep motoring on through.
But how much time would it take to stick her on a plane?
Nick pondered that for a moment.
And he came down on Pete’s side again.
Maybe it would take quite a lot of time if Jo started yelling in public that Pete was trying to kill her. Pete might spend a whole lot of time explaining that!
But what if Nick did it? What if he put her on the plane? Jo wouldn’t scream that Nick was trying to kill her…and she would be away from Pete, so she should be happy about that and she would be going home to Mickey. So that was win/win. In fact, it was win/win/win because then Nick could get rid of the whole scene and get out on the ocean by himself.
Yeah, he decided, that’s what he’d do. Tonight, at the marina, he’d speak to Pete about it, explain what Jo was doing, in case Pete didn’t know. Then he’d offer to take Jo off Pete’s hands and get her on a plane back to wherever she came from.
Nick to the rescue.
To the Rescue.
Maybe that’s what he should name the boat. How could the fans and media misinterpret that? Nick didn’t know, but he was sure they’d find a way. They always did.
Thoughts of fans and the media and boats disappeared from Nick’s head abruptly.
He had caught up to the Sunset Voyager.
