Death Echo

them.”
    Mac raised dark eyebrows. “With all the satellites in orbit measuring changes in height of the ocean surface, and the amount of traffic in the shipping lanes, there should be plenty of warnings on the air about rogue waves in the containership transit zones.”
    â€œYou’d think,” Emma agreed wryly. “But, damn, those sneaky mountains of water just keep rushing up and washing really expensive yachts into the drink. Nothing cheap, mind you. No wannabe yachts need apply.”
    â€œIs there a chance that the Consortium is some kind of stalking horse for the opposition?” Mac asked.
    â€œIf they are, St. Kilda couldn’t find it. And yes, we looked. We’re real picky about our clients.”
    When we have the choice.
    For a few minutes there was nothing but the small sounds of lunch being devoured.
    â€œIs Blackbird going to the same owner who commissioned Swan ?” Mac asked.
    â€œNot on any documents we could find. Swan was on her way to Portland, Oregon. Owner was a really pissed-off class-action attorney whose bouncing buddy spent just hours on the boat’s design. Hours , I tell you. Getting a black hull and matching swim step cost buttloads of money. Buttloads, I tell you.”
    Mac smiled. “Bent your ear, did she?”
    â€œHe,” Emma said. “Before I was assigned to the case, he chewed on insurance agents while his lover threatened class-action suits in all possible venues, known and unknown.”
    â€œClass action for yachties?” Mac shook his head and laughed over his vanishing sandwich.
    She smiled. “You and Faroe think alike.”
    â€œI know those yacht hulls come off the production line like big cars, only in much smaller numbers,” Mac said. “But what are the chances of two rich yachties going to Blue Water Marine Group franchises in two states and insisting on identical interior design and black on the hull and swim step? And throwing in whacking great oversize engines just for kicks and giggles?”
    â€œSame questions Faroe asked. Their son is still trying to calculate the odds, and Lane is some kind of math-computer guru.”
    Silently Mac finished his sandwich, took a big swallow of iced tea, and rapped his knuckles slowly, gently, on the table.
    Emma could tell when a man was thinking hard. She shut up and waited.
    â€œIf it wasn’t for the built-alike thing,” Mac said finally, “I’d say that the thefts were probably done by unrelated gangs in variousMalaysian and FSU ports that were lifting anything they could get a sling under.”
    â€œThe identical-twin thing is why I was assigned up close and personal to Blackbird. Faroe really hates coincidences.”
    â€œSmart man.”
    â€œVery. People who believe his easygoing, howya-doing act deserve what they get. Then there’s the name of the first ship.”
    â€œBlack Swan?” Mac shrugged. “I know the term—something that is believed to be impossible until it happens.”
    â€œThe name got popular after the World Trade Center was brought down by terrorists. We were like the Europeans who had never seen a black swan until they discovered Australia. Black swans were an event impossible to forecast, therefore impossible to prepare for.”
    â€œLike winning a lawsuit based on the fact that people who drink coffee are too stupid to know that coffee is hot?” Mac asked dryly. “Could be the lawyer who ordered the yacht has a really twisted sense of humor. A name like that deserves hijacking.”
    â€œI know. But I just…”
    â€œDon’t like it?” Mac finished.
    She shrugged. “Sort of like a raised middle finger.”
    â€œLike I said. Twisted. And yes, I read a book called The Black Swan . Along with about a million other people in the U.S.”
    â€œPretty much what St. Kilda said.” She sighed. “Wish Blue Water would call and hire you.”
    â€œDon’t like your little bunk?”
    He’d offered to share the stateroom with her, but she’d had an attack of common sense and taken the tiny second cabin with its cramped bed.
    â€œI don’t like waiting,” she said. “I’m used to it, but I’ll never enjoy it.”
    Before Mac could answer, his cell phone rang. He looked at the incoming message ID: Blue Water Marine Group.
    â€œYour wait just might be over,” Mac said.

25
    DAY THREE
ROSARIO
1:08 P.M .
    D