“I’ll buy you another,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ll buy you a whole fucking case. We need to dry this phone out.”
He shrugged. “I guess we better hope we don’t face any life-or-death situations before you get to the grocery store.” He found an orange plastic bowl and emptied the box into it. Tina handed him the phone, which he buried in the rice.
Jack was using his elbows and knees to pull himself along the deck toward them. He still looked green around the edges, but at least he had enough energy to crawl. She helped pull him the last little bit, until he was curled on the floor with his back propped on the bench.
“Need a blanket?” The Captain made no move to get him one.
“I’m good. I might need my stomach pumped at some point, but other than that…did the phone survive?”
“It’s better if it stays off for now. We don’t want them to track it. Let’s give it some time to dry before we test it.” Tina peered out the window at the yacht. “They’re taking their sweet time leaving the marina. What’s going on over there?”
“I don’t know. She could be looking for her phone. I think we should go.”
Tina weighed whether or not that would look suspicious. It probably would if they left too soon. On the other hand, why linger and give them a chance to make trouble?
The boat tied up behind them started its engine; it was a large sailboat that dwarfed the water taxi. If it was leaving the marina…
“Sparrow, can you maneuver this thing so that sailboat blocks us while we leave the marina?”
“Evasive maneuvers cost extra.”
“Fine, just do it.”
While he climbed off the boat to unwind the lines from the cleats, Jack gave her a quick rundown of everything that he’d overheard on the Swan Song, and everything Celine had said.
“I really don’t think she’s involved. She tried to warn him against whatever he’s doing now.”
“Shh.” She put a finger to her lips. One of the crew members of the Swan Song was shouting something to Sparrow.
“Who?” Sparrow, a rope in one hand, shouted back.
“Some TV star, she says. I don’t know who the fuck he is, but he just dove into the water. You seen him?”
“Naw, man. All I’ve seen is fish guts and bottle caps.”
“Who you got onboard there?”
Sparrow tossed the last line into the taxi and climbed back onboard himself. “Just me and my girlfriend. It’s my day off. Have a good one.”
Tina grabbed a baseball cap from a nearby hook and tugged it over her hair, then gave a cheerful wave in case anyone was looking her way. With these sea-salt coated cabin windows, she was probably just a dark-haired blur. But some of those crew members had seen her and she didn’t want to take a chance.
She ducked out of sight again as Captain Sparrow took the controls. “How much extra do I get paid for lying?” he grumbled. He steered the boat to the far side of the slowly cruising sailboat. If anyone from the big yacht tried to look closer at who exactly was onboard, hopefully their view would be blocked by the billowing sail now being hoisted up the main mast.
“I’m still open to negotiation. Thanks, Captain Sparrow. Don’t forget, we’re the good guys here. You’re helping a police investigation. Besides, you just got a girlfriend out of it.” She winked at him.
“My wife is not going to be happy about that.”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry, if you need me to?—”
“I’m kidding. No wife. I’m working on it. Need my own Salty Gal, if you know?—”
“How’s that phone looking?” Jack interrupted, his voice still rough from swallowing salt water. “I think her most recent call was to her brother. We need to get that number.”
Tina dug the phone out from under the rice. It was dry enough, but turning it on would run electricity through it, which would not react well with any water that had filtered under the case. It might also make them trackable.
Still, the opportunity to get a lead on Jessie’s location made those risks worthwhile.
She turned on the phone. It glitched, the screen flashing static, then the home page appeared. Asking for a password to continue—of course.
