Tick Tock

with.”
    “I hot-wired it,” she said, grinning.
    “It started while you were pulling your door shut.”
    “I can hot-wire one-handed.”
    “In two seconds flat?”
    “Cool, huh?”
    She turned left onto a divided street that led to Marine Avenue, the island's main drag.
    “We're so soaked, we're ruining the upholstery,” he worried.
    “I'll send the owner a cheque.”
    “I'm serious. This is expensive upholstery.”
    “I'm serious too. I'll send him a cheque. You're such a nice man, Tommy. Such a straight arrow. I like that about you.”
    Emergency beacons flashing, a police car turned the corner ahead and passed them, no doubt heading toward the burning boat.
    “What do you think it cost?” Tommy asked.
    “A thousand bucks ought to cover it.”
    “For an entire yacht?”
    “I thought you meant the upholstery damage. The Bluewater cost about seven hundred and fifty thousand.”
    “Those poor people.”
    “What people?”
    “The poor people whose boat you trashed. Are you going to write them a check too?”
    “Don't have to. It's my boat.”
    He gaped at her. Since encountering Deliverance Payne, staring agape had become his most-used expression.
    As she stopped at the Marine Avenue intersection, she smiled at him and said, “Only owned it since July.”
    He managed to re-hinge his jaw to ask, “If it's your boat, why wasn't it docked at your house?”
    “It's so big it blocks my view. So I rent that slip where it was tied up.”
    Scootie thumped one paw repeatedly against the dashboard, as though expressing his impatience to get moving.
    Tommy said, “So you blew up your own boat.” Turning left on Marine Avenue, which was the commercial centre of the island, Del said, “Didn't blow it up. You have a tendency to exaggeration, Tommy. I hope your detective novels aren't full of hyperbole.”
    “Okay, you set it on fire.”
    “Big difference, I think. Blow up, set on fire—there's a big difference.”
    “At this rate, even your inheritance won't last long.”
    “Oh, you're such a goof, Tommy. I don't set yachts on fire every day, you know.”
    “I wonder.”
    “Besides, I'll never have money worries.”
    “You're a counterfeiter too?”
    “No, silly. Daddy taught me to play poker, and I'm even better than he was.”
    “Do you cheat?”
    “Never! Cards are sacred.”
    “I'm glad to hear you think something's sacred.”
    “I think a lot of things are sacred,” she said.
    “Like the truth?”
    With a coy look, she said, “Sometimes.”
    They were reaching the end of Marine Avenue. The bridge across the back channel to the mainland lay less than a block ahead.
    He said, “Truth—how did you start this car?”
    “Didn't I say? The keys were in the ignition.”
    “That's one of the things you said. How did you start the fire on the boat?”
    “Wasn't me. Was Mrs. O'Leary's cow, kicked over a lantern.”
    Scootie made a weird chuffing, wheezing sound. Tommy could have sworn it was doggy laughter.
    Another police cruiser appeared on the arched bridge ahead of them, entering the island from the mainland.
    “Truth—where did the birds come from?” Tommy asked.
    “Well, it's the eternal mystery, isn't it: which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
    The oncoming patrol car stopped at the foot of the bridge and flashed its headlights at them.
    “Thinks we might be bad guys,” Del said.
    “Oh, no.”
    “Relax.”
    Del stopped beside the cruiser.
    Tommy said, “Don't turn him into a cat or a crow or something.”
    “I was thinking—a goose.”
    The electric window purred down.
    The cop had already lowered his window. He sounded surprised when he said, “Del?”
    “Hi, Marty!”
    “I didn't realize it was you,” the cop said, smiling at her from behind the wheel of his cruiser. “New car?”
    “You like it?”
    “A real beauty. Yours or your mom's?”
    “You know Mom.”
    “Don't you go breaking any speed limits.”
    “If I do, will you personally paddle me?” Marty, the cop, laughed. “I'd be delighted.”
    “What's all the hubbub?” Del asked innocently. “You won't believe this. Some fool rammed a big damn boat high speed into the sea wall.”
    “Must've been having a great party onboard. Why do I never get invited to the great parties?”
    Apparently uninterested in Tommy, Marty said, “Hi, Scootie.”
    Craning his burly head to look past Del, out the side window, the Labrador grinned, tongue lolling.
    To Del, Marty said, “Tell your mom we'll be watching for her in that car.”
    “You might not see her,” Del said, “but you'll sure hear the sonic boom.”
    Laughing, Marty drove