A DANGEROUS HARBOR

by RP Dahlke

  "Is the pope Catholic?"

  "I will get season tickets for us, then."

  "Good luck with that," she said, nibbling on his chin.

  He chuckled at the tickling. "It shouldn't be impossible."

  "Oh yeah? What else you going to do for me?"

  "I will love you. And in time, if you see that my love and devotion for you is what you want to live with, then we will marry."

  "Oh boy. That's… that's a lot for a girl to think about."

  "I am not a frivolous man, Katrina. You've brought fun and humor into my life and when I think of my future, I see us together, for many years to come."

  "Then, Raul Vignaroli, you definitely should come live in San Francisco. My mother is going to love you as much as I do."

  Raul smiled, kissed her, threw back the sheets and, naked, pulled her up onto her feet. "Shower with me and we'll go back to the marina."

  The shower was delightfully big enough for two, not that they managed to do anything but soap each other up before Raul hoisted her up to wrap her legs around his waist. They took the lusty minutes joyfully and then finally dried off and dressed.

  "Breakfast in town?" he asked as they approached the fork in the road.

  "I should get back to my sister. After everything she's been through, I owe her a nice breakfast at the hotel. Then she'll help me move the boat to Baja Naval."

  Outside her gate, he said, "I'll walk with you, say goodbye to your sister and then go to see Gabe."

  Gabe. She hadn't given him a moment's thought since last night. As they walked through the gate, Katy thought how different the marina looked now with many of the sport fishermen gone. Soon Fred would leave with his girls, Wally's wreck would be taken out into the bay and sunk, as it could only bring bad luck to anyone who thought to buy it.

  And her boat… where was her boat?

  Katy counted slips, the empty one next to where her thirty-two-foot Westsail was supposed to be berthed. Slip thirty-two D. Printed in black on the dock box, wasn't it? Empty. She gaped at Raul, unable to come up with a good reason why her boat wouldn't be there.

  As Raul opened his mouth to speculate, a guard trotted up, saluted and handed Raul a note and an envelope to her. "The man said to give you this letter as soon as you came back this morning, señorita."

  Raul scanned the writing on the single page then looked up at Katy. "The parrot, my parrot was saved. Someone found him alive, completely unharmed, sitting by the road outside the gate to my property." His eyes searched hers. A link to his past was back to haunt him. Would he be able to let go and start anew as he'd promised? "My sergeant brought him here to your boat because he thought…. Then where is…?"

  Katy looked up at him and waved her two-page handwritten letter in front of his face, laughing. "Your parrot has been shanghaied."

  "Shanghaied?"

  "It's only fitting, you know. Pirates and parrots go together." She scanned the second page and snorted. "Listen. She writes, 'She only speaks Spanish but it's such a pathetic little thing we thought we'd take her with us, teach her some English. The kitten seems to like her so when our adventure gets us to Puerto Vallarta, I'll take the bird home with me. This girl needs some new feathers and I'm the one to give them to her.'" Katy shook her head. "My sister thinks your bird is a she. Oh. That's why… Raul, I told Leila about your parrot, the house, your family. This is Leila's gift to us."

  He smiled, the long dimples giving his face a simple joy. "Then she has my blessing."

  "I can't believe I didn't see it coming."

  "That she would take your boat and my bird?"

  "Not that. This has Gabe written all over it and Leila just happened to be ripe for the picking."

  "You're not making any sense."

  "The sailboat, as my sister Leila likes to remind me, was left to both of us, and Leila is on vacation and Gabe has talked her into taking him south. I only hope he doesn't push her out on some lonely dock and sail away."

  "Would he do that?"

  "Oh, yes, my darling, he would," she said, reaching out to grab his hand and lead him away. "Let's go have that breakfast you promised me and I'll tell you the whole story."

  The End

  For more about RP Dahlke

  www.rpdahlke.com

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  Praise for RP Dahlke's Books:

  A DEAD RED CADILLAC:

  "Ex model and motorhead, Lalla Bains, pilots us through a murder investigation with more twists and turns than the coast highway and with an ending more satisfying than the purr of a perfectly tuned '58 Cadillac." Lesley Diehl, author of A Deadly Draught, Mainly Murder Press; Dumpster Dying, Oak Tree Press www.lesleydiehl.com http://anotherdraught.blogspot.com/

  "Fresh and fun! With its engaging, down-on-her-luck sleuth, homicidal Caddy and a decades-old mystery, R.P. Dahlke's promising debut, A DEAD RED CADILLAC, will keep you turning those pages and guessing wrong right up to its surprising conclusion."

  Kris Neri, Lefty Award-nominated author of REVENGE FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE

  "Fast paced and fun with an outwardly tough but inwardly vulnerable lady-pilot, drug smuggling and plenty of eccentric characters."

  Rhys Bowen, award-winning author of the Molly Murphy and Royal Spyness mysteries. Bless the Bride, March 2011

  A DEAD RED HEART:

  "Author R P Dahlke has combined suspenseful murder and even humor in the creation of A Dead Red Heart. I found myself changing my opinion about each character at least once as I turned the pages. And I have to admit, I didn't come up with the real murderer until the end. This author really kept me guessing and changing my mind." Martha Cheves, Reviewer, Stir, Laugh, Repeat

  "I'm a sucker for places I've never been and I'm overjoyed when I come across a setting/location that puts me there as R. P. Dahlke does with Modesto, Calif.

  Also I love a kick-butt heroine with a sense of humor and a good heart. Lalla Bains is all that and more. A former model turned crop-duster pilot (sounds weird, but good writing and plotting makes it plausible) Sheriff Caleb Stone is her long-time boyfriend. Their interactions are funny, aggravating or heart-rending. Lalla's family owns the crop dusting business. Another memorable character is her dad who fights against odds to keep the company going when there are those who'd like to see it go under. If it kills her, Lalla, a woman addicted to danger, won't let them have their way." Gerrie Ferris Finger, Award Winning Author of End Game

  More of Lalla Bains can be found at Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/6hdg3bf