The morning had been in steady decline since they'd left the house up on Shute Harbor hill. The hour we spent with Josh and his parents was awkward, but we all survived, Cadie reflected. It was the meeting with Harding that put Jo's mood into a spiral.
"So, he said you wouldn't have to testify for a while?" Cadie asked, turning to Jo, who had been very quiet behind her sunglasses.
"Yeah, at least six weeks or so, he thinks," the tall skipper replied shortly. "Apparently Marco was still in surgery well after midnight and it's going to be quite a while before he's fit to sit up, let alone go through a trial." Her tone was grim and she kept looking out to sea, unwilling to look at Cadie.
"Stop it, Jo," the blonde said quietly.
"Stop what?" she replied absently, steadfastly watching a yacht away to their starboard side.
"Whatever it is that you're doing to yourself inside your head," Cadie said, reaching for Jo's arm and pulling her around to face her. "Stop it. You did what you had to do."
Jo snorted. "Right. And that included neutering the guy just for the sheer hell of it? I don't think so." Jo jerked away from Cadie, stalking out of the cabin to the stern of the boat and leaning on the rail.
The blonde sighed and walked after her. She came up alongside Che taller woman and leaned back against the rail, focusing her eyes on the boat's only crewman who was up in the cockpit above the cabin. "Jo, you told me this morning that Marco once tried to rape you. You couldn't have been much more than...what? Seventeen or 18?" She turned to see Jo nodding. "Do you really think you're the only young girl he's ever tried that with? Or that every other one he tried it with was as lucky as you were that day?"
Jo looked down into the water being churned by the boat's propellers, her thoughts swirling along with the wash. "So you're saying that he deserved what I did to him?" she asked quietly. "That's kind of Old Testament don't you think?"
Cadie turned, looping her arm around Jo's and sliding her fingers into the dark-haired woman's hand. "Maybe so. But think about this. Even if he wants to ever try that again he's not going to be able to do much about it."
Jo looked down at Cadie. There's so much about that world she'll never understand. And I'm glad for that. I don't want her to know any more than she has to. "Rape isn't about sex, Cadie," she said out loud. "It's about power. What he can't do with his penis, he'll do with his fists, or his gun, or... or whatever he wants to use to beat up the next young girl he wants to break."
Cadie shook her head. "Not for the foreseeable future, Jo-Jo. You're about to put him in jail for a very long time." She leaned in and kissed the skipper softly. "Let it go, honey. It's over with, at least until you have to testify. Marco's an asshole. And yes, I think he got what he deserved." She planted another resounding kiss on Jo's lips. "So there."
Jo couldn't help but smile at the blonde's efforts to cheer her up.
"That was nice of Bill to offer to stay at the house," Cadie continued, determined to get Jo's mind away from self-recriminations.
Jo accepted the change of subject graciously, pulling Cadie down on to the bench across the stern next to her and draping an arm across the blonde's shoulders.
"Mhmm. Can't really blame Josh's parents for not wanting him to go back there," she replied. "At least they seem to have accepted the burglary thing."
Cadie nodded. "Well it helped that Josh didn't go into too many details about just who rescued him."
"I think Harding might have had something to do with that. I'll have a good long talk with Josh when this trip is over," said Jo. That thought sobered them both and they fell silent. The only sounds were the rushing wind, the muffled sound of the enninc and the slapping of the boat's hull against the chop.
Jo looked around to get her bearings, realizing they were only a few minutes from rendezvousing with the Seawolf. "We don't have much time left, sweetheart," she said, turning to face Cadie and taking the blonde's hands in hers. "You ready?"
"No," Cadie said honestly. She sighed. "But I guess I will be if you kiss me one more time before reality hits."
Jo smiled and leaned closer. "I think I can manage that," she whispered, capturing the blonde's lips with her own and surrendering all her concentration to the kiss.
Cadie melted into the contact, trying to forget that it could be the last she shared with this remarkable woman. Instead she focused on the intense sensations.
They began tenderly, almost tentatively exploring each other, but soon they were lost in passion, using their lips and tongues instead of words to convey the depth of their emotions. To Cadie it felt as if the world contracted around them, nothing else existing but the woman who held her close. Jo's lips were soft but insistent, her tongue gentle but sexy, and her arms safe and strong.
Several minutes passed as the kiss waxed and waned, moist and warm and filled with aching tenderness. When they finally broke off they both had tears in their eyes.
Cadie looked up into eyes so blue they rivaled the cloudless sky above them. She caught her breath raggedly. "I don't know how I'm going to survive the next 10 days, Jossandra," she said softly, trying to control the wobble she felt in her chin. "I don't know how—"
"Sshhh..." Jo took the blonde's face in her hands, green eyes blinking at her wetly. "We can do this, darling. We can." She felt a tear sliding down her own cheek, but didn't want to let go of Cadie to wipe it away. Instead the blonde reached up and brushed at it with a gentle fingertip. "Stay strong, my love. Things will work out."
Cadie couldn't speak, so she just nodded, holding Jo's gaze for as long as she could.
"Jo-Jo, we're coming up on the Seawolf" the water taxi's skipper yelled over his shoulder.
The look continued between the two women despite the interruption, but slowly they moved apart on the bench until their fingers were barely touching, invisible to anyone on the fast-approaching yacht.
"I love you, Cadie, never forget that," Jo said as the water taxi maneuvered to come alongside the Seawolf.
Finally their eyes unlocked and their fingertips brushed each other one last time as they turned to face the passengers waving at them from the deck of the yacht.
"I'll never forget it, Jo," Cadie murmured under her breath to the skipper, even as she waved back and smiled at the others.
Chapter Ten
Of all the welcomes Cadie had imagined, being swept up into an all-encompassing senatorial bear hug was the most unexpected. She felt herself lifted off her feet as Naomi squeezed her.
"Welcome back, darling," effused the senator, putting Cadie down and planting a resounding kiss on her shorter partner's lips. "It's good to have you back. I missed you."
Cadie cringed, painfully aware of Jo turning away from the scene and making a show of greeting Jenny and Paul.
"Hello, Naomi," Cadie replied, fighting the urge to struggle out of the senator's grip. What is with this? Yesterday she was screaming at me on the telephone and today she's all over me. What gives?
"I was worried about you," Naomi continued, guiding Cadie to a seat in the cockpit. "When Paul told us how Jo had disturbed a burglar at her house, I was concerned. Are you all right?" She looked the blonde up and down, her expression all concern and care as she sat down next to Cadie.
"Yes, Naomi, I'm fine," she replied. "And it wasn't Jo who disturbed the burglar, it was Josh, the young man who was looking after Jo's house for her." She decided to stick with the same story they'd come up with for Josh's parents. "We got there at the same time as the police and they handled it."
"Well, that's grand," Naomi said, patting Cadie's thigh and casually leaving her hand there. "Look, I'm very sorry about my attitude on the phone last night. But, as you can understand, I was scared out of my wits for you." She smiled winningly and looked Cadie in the eye. The blonde felt herself squirming inside.
"It's okay," she mumbled. "Forget about it."
"In fact," the senator continued, "while I'm in the mood to apologize, I'm going to go and tell Jo the same thing, while you
settle back in." Before Cadie could object, Naomi bustled off in search of the skipper.
"Look out, Jo," Cadie muttered to herself. "Here comes Hurricane Silverberg." She watched anxiously as Naomi accosted the tall skipper. She could see Jo's face over the senator's shoulder and at one point caught her eye, trying to smile in reassurance. Jo's expression clouded over as the senator shook her hand.
Jo watched the senator hurrying towards her with a large degree of trepidation. Like Cadie, she had been surprised by the friendliness of Naomi's welcome, and had stuffed the unexpected pang of jealousy deep down. But now there was no avoiding the senator's approach.
Welcome back to real life, Jo-Jo, she thought as Naomi closed in.
"Skipper, I want to thank you personally for looking after my partner so well," gushed the senator, placing one hand on Jo's shoulder and pulling her away from Paul and Jenny. "I know you were in a difficult situation but she tells me you did everything possible to keep her safe and happy."
I certainly did. But I'll bet you don't want to hear that. "It was no trouble, honestly," she said aloud. "I'm the one who should be thanking her for tagging along when my personal life was intruding on her vacation."
"Not at all, not at all," Naomi said, grinning from ear to ear. "It was good of you to keep doing your job in the face of such problems. And just to show my gratitude..." She reached forward and shook Jo's hand, pressing a $100 bill into the taller woman's palm.
Jo caught Cadie's eye over the senator's shoulder and tried to keep her expression light. But then Naomi leaned forward.
"You really went above and beyond the call of duty, Miss Madison," she said quietly, and this time Jo saw the glint of something entirely different in the senator's brown eyes.
And if I do it again I'll be at the bottom of the ocean wearing cement boots, is what she's really telling me, thought Jo, keeping a tight rein on her temper. "Really," she said, trying to keep her voice calm. "There's no need. And we don't accept cash gratuities." She tried to hand the money back.
Again the senator leaned in, this time her manner infinitely more menacing. "Consider it payment for services rendered," she growled, her fingers now biting into Jo's shoulder painfully. Suddenly she released her grip and smiled broadly again, before turning on her heel and heading back towards Cadie.
Jo grimly fought down the urge to throw something large and solid at the back of the senator's retreating head. Instead she looked down at the bill in her hand. Well, (hut's put me firmly back in my place, hasn't it? Angrily she stuffed the money into her shorts pocket and turned back to Paul and Jenny who had watched the conversation.
"What the hell was that all about, Skipper?" the tall man asked bemusedly. "She's been as mad as a cut snake from the minute she found out Cadie was with you. Now suddenly everything's sunshine and happiness."
Jo tried to brush it off. "Beats the hell out of me, Paulie," she replied with a wan smile.
"She hung on to my cell phone after she had a go at you last night," Paul admitted. "Said it was some kind of personal emergency. I didn't see it again for an hour." He saw the grim look on Jo's face and hastily apologized. "Sorry, Skip, but I figured the customer is always right, y'know?"
Jo patted the tall man's shoulder. "Forget it. You didn't have any choice." A slimy thought snaked its way around Jo's brain. "You got it with you now?"
He reached around and pulled the phone off his hip, handing it to her.
"Thanks." Jo flipped through the phone's menu items, searching for the option that stored the calls made. "God damn it," she muttered. "Whatever calls she made, she's wiped the memory." She handed the phone back to Paul, who had a puzzled look on his face.
Jo smiled at him, shaking her head. "Nothing, Paulie. I'm just getting paranoid in my old age." She looked around the deck and tried to clear her head of any negative thoughts. "Let's get her ready, eh? I want to motor back around to the beach."
"Okay, Jo-Jo."
Jo looked around, spotting Cadie still sitting in the cockpit, the senator sticking to her like glue. The skipper caught herself grinding her teeth. So, the good senator is going to play the saint. No doubt she'll use that winning smile any way she can. The beginnings of a vicious headache thumped at her temples. Fuck this. Just gotta get on with it and take it all as it comes. With a sigh she walked back to the cockpit, where most of the passengers were gathering for lunch.
"Okay people, let's make a move," Jo said as she jumped into the pit and reached for the engine cover. "I'm suggesting we motor back around to the beach. That should take about half an hour and then we can set up lunch on the sand. What do you think?"
She glanced around at the nodding heads, trying not to notice the senator's hand gripping Cadie's knee possessively. "Sounds like a wonderful idea, Jo," the senator said with a wide smile.
"Right then," Jo said and took a deep breath. "Let's go."
The cabin door clicked behind her and Cadie had the bad feeling she was trapped like a fly in a spider's web. She turned around to face her partner, who was looking decidedly green around the gills.
"Are you okay?" Cadie asked quietly, sitting down in the corner chair.
"No," Naomi grumbled, staggering a little against the rolling of the boat as she made her way to the bed. "This goddamn boat is a freaking bucket." She sat quickly and held her head in her hands.
"It's just because we're wallowing while we find an anchorage, Nay," Cadie muttered. "It'll be steady soon."
"It had better," the senator growled. "This vacation has been a fucking torture test. Never again, I swear."
Cadie said nothing, preferring to see where this conversation was going. Naomi could have come below decks alone when she started feeling ill, but instead had insisted on Cadie's company. That meant only one thing.
The rattling of the anchor chain sliding overboard could be heard forward. "So," Naomi said, sitting up as the boat finally ceased its rolling. "Did you enjoy your little adventure?" All semblance of good humor had deserted the senator's face. What was left was not pleasant.
"Nay, why don't you just say whatever is on your mind?" Cadie asked wearily. "Because I'm not really in the mood for playing these games."
The senator moved faster than Cadie could have believed possible. Within a blink of an eye, Naomi was almost on top of her, grabbing the blonde's chin in a cruel grip. Cadie gasped and pressed back in the chair, trying to get away from her partner's intense stare.
"Games, Cadie?" the senator spat, almost nose to nose with the smaller woman. Suddenly her gaze softened, as did her hand, the vice-like grip on Cadie's chin turning into a slow caress. She leaned closer, her lips just brushing the blonde's cheek. "I don't think I'm the one playing games, my love," Naomi whispered.
Cadie stayed silent, the hairs on the back of her neck rising as Naomi's fingers stroked along her jaw and into her hair.
"Did she get this close, Arcadia?"
The senator's hot breath brushed Cadie's earlobe. She swallowed hard and tried not to let her panic show.
"Your silence is telling me a lot, darling," Naomi continued as she dropped light kisses down the blonde's neck. "My guess is you've had yourself quite a night."
Cadie stiffened as she felt Naomi's hands roaming over her body, the stocky senator's leg forcing itself between her thighs. "Don't, Naomi," Cadie muttered.
"Oh come on now," the senator purred. "I know how much you love to be touched here." She kissed Cadie's neck again. "Nobody knows you like me, sweetheart."
This time a hand slid up the inside of Cadie's thigh and the smaller woman tried to pull away from the contact.
"Ah ah ah, Arcadia," Naomi growled, slipping her hand higher and wrapping fingers around the top of Cadie's leg. "Don't fight me darling. All I want to do is make sure you know the kind of person you spent the night with."
"You know nothing about her, Naomi," Cadie said through gritted teeth, turning her head away from the senator's baleful, close scrutiny.
"Oh but you see,
I do," Naomi replied.
Cadie steeled herself and turned back to stare Naomi in the eye. "What happened to you?" she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "I don't know who you are anymore. What happened to the woman I fell in love with?" She felt the tear slide down her cheek, and for a moment she thought she saw something lost and fearful flicker across Naomi's face as her eyes tracked the salty trail.
But then it was gone and the hard, cold stranger was back. A mean little smile touched Naomi's thin lips and she leaned even closer, catching Cadie's tear with the tip of her tongue, licking upwards until the blonde could stand it no longer and jerked her face away.
"I grew up, Arcadia," the senator murmured. "I learned that to get what you want you have to bite and scratch and claw. Good guys really do come last. And life is too short not to have some fun along the way."
"That is the saddest thing I've ever heard," Cadie said tearfully. "You used to care so much about people, Nay. Where did that go? Or have the drugs got that big a hold on you?"
She winced as Naomi's grip on her leg tightened sharply and Cadie bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself crying out.
"If you have any sense at all," the senator growled. "You will never mention that word in connection with my name again." Cadie blinked wordlessly at her.
Naomi chuckled low in her throat and suddenly backed away, wandering back to the bed where she sat with her back against the cabin wall. "You have no idea what you're flirting with, Arcadia. You weren't the only one who was busy last night. I was making phone calls and pulling the strings of the people who run this backward little country." The sneer on the senator's face sent a cold dagger of fear through the blonde.
"I know all I need to know about, Jo," Cadie said, grateful to be out of reach once again.
Again Naomi laughed. "You always did have a very naive view of the world, my love," she said. "Did you know, for example, that the good skipper has the blood of at least 15 people on her hands?"
Heart's Passage Page 25
