It was close to an hour before the sounds of an engine reached them.Dot glanced up.“Can you see who that is?It might be Sam back, but it also might be Rodney.I need another thirty minutes.”She tossed him the keys to the boat.“If the gear lever isn’t in neutral, it won’t start.”
No wonder she hadn’t let him look at the engine.He grinned at the trust she perhaps unknowingly showed him by telling him the truth.“I’ll make a great damsel in distress.”
Their eyes met and Dot’s smile made him feel as if he was ten feet tall.He would get her the thirty minutes she needed.Oliver brushed the bushes aside and strode along the beach, raising his hand to his eyes to shade them from the sun.
TheOceanidwas lowering its anchor offshore, Sam behind the helm and Sherlock on the bow.Several other people were on deck.Oliver checked for a signal and found he had one bar.This island was closer to town than Retribution Island.He tried calling Sam, but the call failed, so he sent a quick text.
Take as much time as you can launching the tender.
He reached the police boat and waved.Up on the top deck, Sam glanced at his phone and then gave him the OK signal divers used to communicate with the boat when they surfaced.
Good.He got the message.
Oliver sat in the captain’s seat and watched as people scurried over the deck.The person gesticulating wildly had to be Rodney, and Oliver could only imagine what excuse Sam and Sherlock had come up with as to why it was taking so long.He kind of wished he was a fly on the wall.
Finally, after about ten minutes, the tender launched with Sam at the tiller and Rodney on board.Sam took a slow, circuitous route to make it to the shore and by the time they arrived, about fifteen minutes had passed.Oliver leapt over the side and helped pull the tender up on the shore.“I’m so glad to see you,” he said.“We’re low on water and it’s getting pretty hot out here.”
“Where’s Dot?”Rodney barked, his gaze going straight to the hideout.That was interesting.
Oliver gestured behind him.“I think she’s gone to the bathroom.”He grimaced.“Neither of us could wait.”
Sam handed him a cold bottle of water.“What’s up with the engine?”
Oliver shrugged.“Maybe the battery.It doesn’t even turn over.”
Rodney started down the beach and Oliver jogged in front of him.“Hey mate, where are you off to?We need your help.”
“Sam can help you.I have to speak with Dot.”
“Didn’t you hear me?She’s gone to the bathroom.It’s going to be awkward if you find her.”He turned to Sam.“Is it considered sexual harassment if you knowingly enter a room where a person could be naked?”
Sam shrugged, hiding a grin.“Rodney would know the answer.”
Rodney’s face went red.
“I’m sure she won’t be long,” Oliver said.“And I’d appreciate help with the boat.Hopefully, by the time she arrives, it will be fixed.”
Rodney pressed his lips together and then spun on his heels.“Let me look.”
Oliver grinned behind his back, and Sam winked as they returned to the police boat.Oliver had made sure the gear lever was just out of neutral before the tender had arrived.
“Where’s the key?”Rodney demanded.
“Oh, here.”Oliver fumbled in his pocket as long as he could, dropping the key on the deck of the boat before finally picking it up and handing it to the man.
Rodney turned the key and nothing happened.He checked around the engine as if looking for switches and it was clear he had no idea what he was looking for.The man was too arrogant to admit to it though.
The radio on the boat crackled.“Rodney, can I get a hand over here?”Dot.
She stood by the entrance of the hideout and waved them towards her.
“You said she’d gone to the bathroom,” Rodney yelled.
“I thought she had,” Oliver replied.“I can help her.”
“Stay here.”Rodney included Sam in his glare.“See if you can fix the boat.”He jogged across the sand towards Dot.
“Is she going to be all right with him?”Oliver said.
