No Ocean Deep

by Cate Swannell

  “Ewwwwwwwww, gross Jo-Jo,” Cadie yelped. She wiped the hand on her shorts and then leaned in for a kiss. “You gonna give me a hand with this?”

  “You bet.” Together they hefted the bag into the dinghy, ready for the short trip to the Cheswick Marine jetty and office. “Any more down there?” Jo asked.

  “Nope,” Cadie replied. “Just our bags and the boycat.”

  Jo raised an eyebrow.

  “How’d you go getting him in the cage?”

  Cadie put her hands on her hips and grinned up at Jo.

  “Funnily enough he just let me pick him up and put him in. Purring like a fool.” She laughed at the look of astonishment on the tall skipper’s face. Jo had suffered many a wound trying to get the boycat to do what he didn’t want to do. “Face it, Jo-Jo, he prefers blondes.”

  Her dark-haired lover snorted.

  “Can’t blame him for that. God knows, I can’t say no to you either.”

  “Oh hush.”

  They smiled happily at each other for long seconds, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Their self-absorption was broken by a shout from the jetty.

  “Hey skipper!”

  They turned towards the sound and the sight of a familiar tall man waving at them from just outside the Cheswick office.

  “They’re back!” Cadie said with delight, recognizing the man as Seawolf’s regular crewman, Paul. A moment later Paul’s new wife, Jenny stepped out of the office and waved at them.

  Jo grinned and waved back.

  “Come on, let’s go say hello,” she said. They both scooted down the companionway into the main cabin, making a beeline for the double berth where their bags were waiting for them.

  “Does Paul know yet?” Cadie asked, as she stuffed clothes into her bag. Paul had taken the exam for his Master’s ticket a couple of days after the wedding and before he and Jenny had disappeared on their honeymoon. He’d passed with flying colors and Jo had the official piece of paper sitting on her desk just waiting to give him the good news.

  “Nope,” the skipper smirked. “I can’t wait to tell him. It’s gonna make it much easier for us to get away too, knowing I can leave him with the Seawolf.”

  Cadie nodded.

  “Little does he know he’s gonna be skippering that bunch of Japanese around from tomorrow morning.” She chuckled. “Are you going to go out with them for a couple of days?”

  “Probably,” Jo answered. She double-checked the cabin, making sure they’d picked up all their personal belongings. “Just until Josh is settled in and Paul’s ready to go it alone.” Josh was Jo’s young next-door neighbor who had just come on board as an employee of Cheswick Marine. She was hoping the teenager would bond with Paul and Jenny to form a good, working crew.

  “I’m glad he’s part of the family now,” Cadie said. Josh had been caught up in the drama last month when Jo’s criminal past had come back to haunt them all. He had been held hostage by an old acquaintance of the skipper’s and had needed rescuing by the former assassin. It had been scary for them all, but the young man seemed to have recovered well.

  “Me too,” Jo muttered. “We ready to go?”

  Cadie zipped up the sports bag and patted it.

  “You bet.”

  Jo picked up the cat cage, trying to ignore the plaintive meowing from the big black cat inside. She was stopped by a hand on her elbow and turned to face her smiling partner.

  “Thank you for a lovely few days, Jo-Jo,” Cadie said quietly, letting her eyes convey the depth of her feeling for the tall skipper.

  Jo felt herself melting from the inside.

  “We needed it, huh?” she answered, brushing Cadie’s cheek with tender fingertips. Cadie nodded. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  “Riaaaaaaowwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”

  They both laughed.

  “Come on, gorgeous,” Jo chuckled. “Let’s get the monster home.”

  Half an hour later the four reunited friends were sprawled on the deck of Jo’s house, high above Shute Harbor. Mephisto was roaming about rediscovering his home territory. Cadie and Jen were engrossed in a discussion about the merits of Fiji as a honeymoon destination while Jo and Paul were going over the plans for the tourist group they would take out on Seawolf the next day. Every now and then the tall blond man would stare dazedly at the Master’s ticket Jo had presented him with down at the Cheswick Marine office.

  “Feels pretty good, hey mate?” Jo said as she swigged another mouthful of cold beer. The dazed and happy look on her friend’s face had been worth the wait. He deserves this, she thought. They both do.

  “It feel sensational, skipper,” Paul said, grinning at her. “Can’t believe I nailed it on the first attempt.” He shook his head. “How good am I?” They both laughed.

  “Oh you’re good. They’ll be calling you skipper tomorrow.”

  “Holy shit,” he murmured, all the implications of his promotion starting to hit home.

  Jo laughed again.

  “Drink your beer mate,” she said. “You’re going to be too busy to worry.”

  He drained his stubby.

  “So what’s the plan, Jo-Jo? Three skippers, two boats. You just going to rotate us for a while?”

  Jen and Cadie looked up at the turn in the conversation and Jo caught the blonde’s eye.

  “Maybe for a while, sure,” she replied. “Cadie and I are going to go visit my parents for a couple of weeks, maybe three. So until we get back from there things will run pretty much as normal. After that …” She shrugged. “If things are going well I’m thinking of getting a third boat.”

  “Wow, skip,” said Jen. “That’s a lot of outlay.” The brunette kicked off her shoes and placed her feet up on the top rail of the balcony.

  “Yeah, it is, but ABC Charters are looking to lease out a couple of their yachts. So that might be a cheaper option.”

  Paul looked puzzled.

  “Okay, so they’re biggest company around and they’re trying to get rid of some boats. But we’re flat out booked for the winter, aren’t we?” Jo nodded, smiling slightly behind her beer. “So what are they doing wrong?”

  “I think it’s more what you guys are doing right,” Cadie said as she got up to refresh her and Jen’s drinks. She still hesitated to talk as if she was a part of the company, even though everyone connected with Cheswick had accepted her presence wholeheartedly. She casually brushed Jo’s shoulder as she passed, and the dark-haired woman snagged her hand. Cadie bent down and placed a kiss on the top of Jo’s head before moving on into the house.

  “She’s right,” Jo said. “The big ones are being too impersonal, I think. They’re booking big groups, sending them out after a few hours instruction and leaving the loopies to their own devices. And I’m not convinced that’s the way to give them the most fun for their dollars. We’ve been much more hands-on lately. Like we were with Cadie’s group.”

  “Boy that was fun,” Paul muttered, remembering the antics of Senator Silverberg and her cronies. “No offence, Cades,” he said apologetically as the blonde came back out with fresh drinks for everyone.

  “None taken, Paulie,” Cadie laughed. “You don’t need to apologize for being honest. We were pains in the ass.”

  “Well, some of you were,” Jenny said, patting Cadie’s thigh sympathetically. “Anyway, it seems to be working, Jo-Jo,” Jenny said. “Now all Paul and I need is somewhere to live, and all will be right with my world.”

  “I take it Paul’s bachelor pad is just not cutting it,” Cadie laughed.

  “Not even close,” the brunette replied.

  “Hey,” objected her husband. “It’s not that bad.” The three women looked at him like he’d suddenly grown an extra head. “Okay, okay so it is that bad.” They all grinned at him. “And anyway, the lease runs out this weekend.”

  Jo and Cadie exchanged another look and the skipper nodded, giving her partner the go-ahead.

  “Stay here,” Cadie said simply. Paul and Jenny looked at her and
she shrugged. “You’d be doing us a favor. We need someone to feed the boycat while we’re away and you guys need somewhere to live till you find your own place.”

  The newlyweds beamed from ear to ear.

  “Thanks guys,” said Paul, slapping Jo’s knee with the back of his hand lightly.

  “No worries, mate,” she replied. “Like my friend here said, you’ll be doing us a good turn.”

  “Sounds like a plan, skip,” said Jenny.

  They fell into a companionable silence as they gazed out over the islands. The sun began to set behind them and the gathering dusk turned the greens to purples.

  Pretty damn good ending to a fine day, Jo thought to herself, watching the gold-tinged light touch Cadie’s face. As she watched, the blonde turned towards her and broke into the most beautiful smile Jo had ever seen. I take it back, the skipper thought. It’s the perfect ending.

  Cadie was beginning to think this was the longest week in history. Though perhaps it’s running a close second to the week after Naomi got arrested on Hamilton Island, she thought grimly as she tossed a sheaf of papers on to the desk. It was Friday afternoon, and she and Jo were supposed to be leaving for Jo’s parents’ place the next morning. But so far the week had been one crisis after another and they were struggling to get through them.

  One of Cadie’s stable of authors was having problems with her publisher. Normally Cadie would be acting as a buffer zone for the writer, but being half a world away was proving to be a little problematic. Not that she would have been doing face-to-face meetings anyway, but the time difference was proving to be a little mind-boggling for all concerned. Especially for the author, who had been sending plaintive emails all week.

  The blonde sighed and pulled her reading glasses off, rubbing the bridge of her nose tiredly. She had a headache she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy and her neck and shoulders were stiff from a day spent hunched over her laptop. She kept meaning to transfer all her stuff over to Jo’s desktop, but so far she just hadn’t had a chance.

  Cadie’s week had started out just fine after three peaceful days off with Jo, but it had been all downhill since then. Jo had gone out with Paul and Jenny on the Seawolf as planned. But she’d ended up skippering the Beowulf for the last few days of its tour when Frank, Cheswick’s third skipper, had gone down with appendicitis. Cadie hadn’t seen her partner since Tuesday morning, though they had talked every night by phone. They were both beyond grumpy thanks to the enforced separation.

  How the hell are we gonna survive when I have to go back to Madison, Cadie wondered glumly. It’s not just that, though. It feels like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

  She tossed her glasses onto the contact book she had open on the desk and uncurled herself, twisting and stretching in her chair. From where she sat she had a panoramic view of Whitsunday Passage.

  She’s out there somewhere. Probably having a bunch more fun than me.

  Cadie started when Mephisto leapt up onto the desk in front of her. The big black cat settled his haunches between her and the laptop’s keyboard, his head at eye level. Looking like a sleepy-eyed sphinx, he gazed at her implacably, purring gently. She smiled at him wanly.

  “Hello boycat,” she murmured, reaching up to scratch under his chin. He stretched his neck, giving her more access, and closed his eyes blissfully, the purr intensifying. Cadie chuckled. “You like that don’t you, huh? When do you think your mom is gonna be home?” She leaned in to the cat and he reciprocated, bumping her nose with his forehead gently.

  Jo had thought she’d be home about lunch time, but obviously something had slowed the Beowulf down. Cadie glanced down at her watch. Just after five.

  “You want some food, Mephy?” she asked. In reply, the cat meeped at her, stood up then stepped forward, placing his front paws on the blonde’s chest. “Oh I see. You want a cuddle and then some food, huh?” She pulled him forward and he settled on her shoulder, curling and uncurling his claws into the fabric of her shirt. For a few minutes Cadie just enjoyed the contact, burying her face in the soft fur at his neck while the feline purred on.

  God, what is up with me? she wondered. “What do you think Mephy, am I going nuts?” she said aloud. The boycat nudged her with his nose. “Maybe it’s just because this is the longest we’ve been apart since I came back here.” She shuffled the papers on the desk with her left hand. “Or maybe it’s just that everything I’ve touched this week has turned to horse poop.” She frowned, turning her mind back to the logistical nightmare the agency was in danger of becoming.

  Troublesome authors weren’t the only problem Cadie was having as she tried to operate her business from a distance. Cash flow was a huge obstacle.

  Basically there isn’t any, she mused. She had managed to let all her contacts – both publishers and authors – know that from now on they should send their payments to her parents’ address in Madison. Her mother was doing a good job of getting that money into the business’ account, but getting it out again in Australia was proving to be a little more difficult. For the time being Jo was supporting them both, and although the skipper had absolutely no problem with that, Cadie most certainly did.

  “That’s it, Mephy,” she muttered. “That’s what’s been bugging me.” She sighed, glad in one way to have identified the nagging grumpiness that had been gnawing away at her.

  Starting her own business hadn’t been about financial independence in the beginning. It had been a way to establish and maintain her own identity separate from the public persona of her ex-partner. But as the business had grown and become successful, Cadie had come to appreciate being able to have complete control of her own money. It gave her the chance to crawl out from under Naomi’s imposing shadow once in a while. And now…

  Now, I don’t like the feeling of being dependent on anyone. Even Jo. She scratched Mephisto’s back absentmindedly. I know she can more than afford to support me, and she keeps saying what’s hers is mine but … But that’s easy to say from her position. She sighed again. On the other hand there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it right now. It’s just one of the many things I need to sort out when I go back to the States.

  “I hate not being able to pay my share, and it’s as simple as that,” she told the cat. She felt a twinge of cramp low in her belly and grimaced. “Yeah and that’s not helping either,” she griped. Mephisto stuck a wet nose in her ear and snuffled, almost provoking a smile from the blonde. “Thank you. Come on, let’s get you fed.”

  The cat picked up on the magic word and pushed himself up and off Cadie’s shoulder, making her wince as his back claws dug in a little. She stood and followed him into the kitchen where she found him circling his empty dish, meowing.

  “Okay, okay.” She plucked the bag of kibble from the top of the fridge and poured a good-sized handful into the bowl, watching as the feline began eating with relish. “Go slow, boycat. You’re gonna give yourself indigestion.”

  Cadie lifted the bag back into its spot and wandered back to the desk. She knew there was no point trying to contact her clients by phone at this hour, with most of the continental US well into its night time. Instead she sat down and started composing an email to the publisher. “Time to get nasty,” she murmured, focusing on her task.

  Anyone looking for Jo Madison at that moment would have been greeted by a pair of long legs, a toned backside and a string of curse words that would have done a submariner proud. The Cheswick Marine boss was head down in the engine compartment of the Beowulf, trying to fix the knocking that had been grinding on her last nerve as the big yacht had plowed its way towards Shute Harbor. Jo had wanted to be home hours ago, but the weather had let her down, becalming them halfway home from Hayman Island.

  It had been a long, irritating journey back to port. The boatload of German tourists hadn’t shown much enthusiasm during the whole trip as far as Jo could see and had been grudging in their thanks at journey’s end.

  Of course their seasickness probably did
n’t help, Jo realized as she grappled with a stubborn bolt. You can’t help bad luck. She’d found the source of the rattling and was pleased it would be a relatively easy thing to fix. If I can just get this wrench to grip onto this goddamn bolt. No such luck though, as the tool slipped yet again.

  “Goddamn it,” she fumed. Hanging upside down in the cramped compartment wasn’t doing much for her headache either. With a grimy hand she flicked her loose ponytail out of the way for the millionth time. She squirmed around to get a better angle and finally succeeded in slotting the wrench into place. “Okay,” she muttered. “Now as long as it grips, we might actually get somewhere.”

  Jo gritted her teeth and applied pressure. The wrench bit into the worn facets of the bolt head and she twisted harder, straining against the stubborn metal. When it finally gave it was sudden and violent, catapulting Jo’s hand against the surrounding engine components. Her knuckles barked on a sharp edge, gouging out hunks of skin and drawing blood.

  “Fuck!” she yelped, only just managing to hang on to the wrench. “Fuck, fuck, bollocks and fuck!” Quickly she replaced the offending bolt and tightened the new component. She continued to curse under her breath as sweat and grease combined to add even further sting to the wounds on the backs of her knuckles.

  Finally she was done. Jo didn’t waste any time squirming back into an upright position and she slammed the lid of the engine compartment down angrily.

  “Fucking goddamn piece of crap,” she growled, trying to ignore the fact that she was bleeding on the deck.

  “You right, boss?” said Roy, one of the crewmen on Beowulf.

  She sighed as she reached to her back pocket and pulled out the piece of rag she’d been using to try and keep her hands clean.

  “I’ll live,” she muttered. “Do me a favor and tie this for me will ya?” The man approached and grabbed the corners of the rag, tying it around her injured hand.

  “You need to get something clean on that soon, skipper,” he said as he tightened the knot. Jo winced.