“You thought Julia did that?” He laughed. “Can you imagine Julia going to the dock and hiring thugs? In that voice of hers?”
“It made sense at the time,” Clio said weakly. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust her. I guess she’s nice. I’ll try to like her more.”
“Well, I could have introduced her to you under better circumstances,” he said. “Why have we had such a rough time? Is it me?”
“We’re just interesting people,” Clio said. “We’re both very difficult.”
“Is that it?”
She looked up at the screen of multicolored flight names and times. One of them meant home—not that she wanted to go there as much as she had before.
“You should go, kiddo,” he said. “You know what security is like.”
“Right,” she said with a sigh.
She gave him one final hug, then started on her way toward the throng of people at the gate being checked and frisked and metal-detected. Halfway there, she turned around and walked back to where he was standing, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his new white shorts, another tourist shop purchase. They were worse than the cutoffs she had first seen him in, but the effect was different now. And at least that little captain’s hat was gone.
She reached up and took the cameo of Marguerite that she still wore around her neck and placed it in his hand.
“Here,” she said. “She’ll keep you company while I’m gone. I mean, she was finishing her father’s work. And then we finished hers. We’re practically family.”
“Yes,” he said, looking down at the cameo and then up at Clio. “Yes we are.”
Acknowledgments
Many thanks are owed to:
Abby McAden, Lexa Hillyer, Josh Bank, John Crowther, and Kate Schafer, all of whom were instrumental in making this book happen.
All the divers who lent me their expertise and answered my many questions.
And Hamish Young, who supplied his life background, his seafaring family, and one memorable descent into the depths of Queen Elizabeth Lake.
About the Author
Maureen Johnson is the author of GIRL AT SEA, 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES, THE KEY TO THE GOLDEN FIREBIRD, THE BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE, DEVILISH, and SUITE SCARLETT. She lives in New York City. To hear Maureen’s podcasts and more, visit her online at www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com.
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Also by Maureen Johnson
Suite Scarlett
Devilish
13 Little Blue Envelopes
The Bermudez Triangle
The Key to the Golden Firebird
Credits
Cover photograph © 2007 by Hubie Frowein
Photograph of jeans © 2007 by Jose Luis Pelaez Inc / Getty Images
Cover design by Amy Ryan
Copyright
GIRL AT SEA. Copyright © 2007 by Maureen Johnson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition JANUARY 2009 ISBN: 9780061973932
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