Death Echo

dickhead.”
    â€œAmanar?”
    â€œHim, too.
    Mac smiled. “I’ll start the engines. You pick up all the lines that are loose.”
    â€œLoose.”
    â€œAs in not under tension holding the boat against the dock.”
    â€œOh. Yeah. Sorry. I’m still back with dickhead.”
    â€œCome here a minute and put those sexy lips to work.”
    She gave him a startled look, but did as he asked.
    His mouth brushed over hers, lingered, then he breathed against her ear, “You did good, partner. Real good. Nice bathing suit. Now get that beautiful butt out on the dock.”
    â€œI like your butt, too.”
    Mac laughed out loud.
    Smiling, Emma sauntered out the door and onto the dock. She heard various buzzers, bells, and engine noises while she picked up two of Blackbird ’s four dock lines. By the time she got the loose lines coiled and tossed onto the deck, the engines had farted happily and settled in to a muscular purring.
    She ignored the three men watching from the top of the gangway.
    Mac signaled for her to pick up the forward spring line and toss it aboard. When she was finished, he stepped out on deck with a portable joystick controller.
    â€œLeave a half-loop around the cleat on the aft springer and hand me the line,” Mac said.
    Emma had already gone over this maneuver several times before on Autonomy. She understood that the loop was backup in case something went south with the joystick or the engines. She passed the line up to him and hopped aboard via the black swim step and stern gunwale gate.
    He gave the joystick the lightest of nudges. Blackbird tugged against the line. He nudged the stick in the opposite direction, nodded to Emma, and handed her the line. She flipped it off the cleat and brought it safely aboard while Mac maneuvered the big boat away from the dock and into the fairway. With a wary eye to wind and current, he turned Blackbird in its own length and motored slowly out of the marina.
    â€œWhere to, besides north?” Emma asked.
    â€œJames Island. We’ll put down a lunch hook and give everything a going over.”
    â€œAh, sure thing.” She leaned close and murmured, “What’s a lunch hook?”
    â€œGet a wind jacket and come up to the bow. With this toy,” he waved the joystick at her, “I can hang out up there and see everything on the water.”
    And not be overheard by any salon bugs.
    â€œGotcha,” she said, grabbing her wind jacket.
    When both of them were on the bow, Mac began talking to Emma without looking at her.
    â€œA lunch hook is a small anchor with a short scope,” he said, pointing to the smaller of the two anchors resting on the bowsprit. “In other words, short work for a short stay.”
    She fought against a smile. “Not asking what a short scope is. Guys get unhappy talking about duration or length or heft.”
    Mac shook his head and laughed. He didn’t want to like Emma. He just wanted to get the job done. But she made being together easy.
    Too easy.
    â€œDid you see the look on Lovich’s face when you stripped?” Mac asked.
    â€œI was too busy watching Amanar swallow his tongue.”
    â€œYou enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
    â€œHey, I was stationed way too long in cultures that spent so much time ignoring and suppressing sex that a man couldn’t breathe air within ten feet of a woman and not get hard.” Emma shrugged. “If they’re thinking about tits and ass, they’re not thinking about the job, are they?”
    â€œWhat about me?”
    â€œYou have enough wattage to do two things at once.”
    â€œBabe, I hope so,” he said, blowing out a breath. She had looked way too edible in a bikini. “What does a captain have to do for a cup of coffee?”
    â€œLet me think about all the delicious possibilities.”
    â€œMake coffee while you think.”
    â€œYou like yours with sugar or salt?” she asked.
    He grabbed her, kissed her hard, and growled, “Sugar on the side.”
    â€œNot touching that,” she said, retreating hastily.
    â€œThat’s what they all say.”
    She muffled a laugh. “Should I toss the galley while I make coffee?”
    â€œOnly if you’re bored. We’ll have plenty of time at James Island.”
    Mac didn’t look away from the water until he heard the salon door close. Then he let out another long breath and forced his mind back to