7.

Frustration never sat well with Horatio Caine. After being dropped off at his hotel, he found himself pacing his room, turning over the things that he knew regarding Schell Demereau and what he had seen and learned about the boat. His mind kept turning them over and over like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. What Beckman had managed to tell him only made the situation worse. On leaving the detective behind, Horatio had promptly tried contacting Hirsch himself and so far no call had been returned. Never one to sit still, he eventually caved in to the desire to at least be doing something and was soon on a long road trip.

Guided by a few maps, and another 30 minute trip on the Bainbridge Ferry, he was soon driving the back roads of Bainbridge Island searching for what could have been the likely spot for someone to be watching Rich Passage in search of a chartered ferry. There were two possible places and long stretches of road between them. On Bainbridge Island, north of the passage was Ft. Ward State Park. South of the passage was Manchester State Park. Next to Manchester was the Orchard Point Military Reserve. Both parks had a good clear view of the channel before it opened out onto Puget Sound. He spent the rest of his day wandering both parks and it was very late before he disembarked from the return ferry, driving through the nearly deserted downtown Seattle streets. By then his system had had enough and he wasn't surprised that, when he returned to his hotel room, he fell asleep almost at once.

By the next morning, he placed another call to Paul Hirsch, then contacted Schell at the hospital to pick her up as promised. She tried, to no avail, to talk him out of it saying she was perfectly capable of finding her way home. Something in him was deeply relieved to see her sitting on a bench waiting near the hospital entrance as he drove his rental car into the lot. Ever the gentleman, he was out of his car, and opening the door for her as she stood up. It was then that he noticed that Schell was on the small side and slender as a whip, though at the moment she looked a bit rumpled, having only the clothes that she had been wearing when out on the boat. She had pulled back her white hair into a pony tail, reminding him a little of Calleigh, and looked decidedly drawn and tired. He could only sympathize, hospitals were no place to get any rest.

"Hi," he greeted as he pulled the door open.

"Mornin'" she replied standing up with more than a hint of stiffness, smiled apologetically and picked up the little bag of her personal items from off the bench.

"Let me get that…" Horatio murmured, relieving her of her burden as she approached the car.

"You really don't have to be doing this, Lieutenant." She said, turning to look at him

"I've got nothing better to do," he replied with a gentle smile, his eyes avoiding hers. "And ummm…" he started, paused, then added "I, ahh," he looked away, nudged his sunglasses up his nose as he opened the back passenger door to set her belongings inside, and smiled shyly. "I don't know this place at all, would you know of a…" he paused again, shut the door, glanced about before looking at her over the top of his sunglasses with a hint of hope in his eyes. "A good place to eat?"

In that brief few minutes, she got a good chance to study him. He was a little awkward, though holding his own quite well, the gentleman in him was well in control, but she could have sworn this tall, handsome man was a bit bashful around women. She smiled, looking away from him, trying to line up this man, and the one who had been tactfully asking her questions like the professional lawman that he was.

"Lieutenant?" she asked, reaching up to rest a hand on the door of the car. "Are you asking me to breakfast?"

She watched him tuck his head in, look at three different places at once before finally meeting her gaze, very briefly.

"Yes…" he said, that soft smile touching his lips. "Would you allow me to do that?"

She could have sworn that was a 'puppy eyed' look he gave her. She dropped her head and smiled slightly.

"How can I refuse? You're my ride home." She replied. He seemed to change then, as he smiled, nodded his head and glanced back at her.

"Good…" he said softly, then repeated himself sounding as if he was reassuring himself that she had accepted, "Good. Climb in." He relaxed a little, smiled at her and pulled the door open farther, allowing her to get into the car.

Once behind the wheel and driving, he gained a little more confidence and asked.

"Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" he was careful not to look her way as she adjusted her seatbelt.

"Should I get a lawyer?" she teased gently, and was rewarded when he smiled, and snorted softly in amusement. "You seem to ask more questions than you answer."

"Part of the job," he said. "May I?" he asked again and this time he glanced her way, an eyebrow raised in query. Schell smiled then, something he found lovely, and looked out the passenger side window.

"All right, Lieutenant. Ask away."

"When did you go grey?" he asked. Schell suddenly laughed and glanced at him.

"Been driving you nuts, huh?" she asked back and he just shrugged, his hands resting lightly on the wheel and turning it as he maneuvered through traffic. He liked the sound of her laughter.

"Well, officer," she said, glancing at him with a hint of mischievousness, "I started going grey when I was fourteen. I used to be heartbroken because I was the only brunette of six cousins my Aunts and Uncles used to call the 'pissy little redheads'. When I started going grey, it seemed to make it worse. For the longest time I dyed it, but by the time I was twenty-five it was as white as it is now. I finally just accepted it."

Horatio grinned at the reference to her cousins. "Redheads do have something of a reputation," he murmured and elicited another soft chuckle from Schell.

"Should've been around my cousins," she joked. "Now that you have asked yours can I ask one?"

"Sure," Horatio replied, relaxing a little more as he maneuvered through traffic.

"Should I be worrying about a jealous girlfriend?" she asked, looking out the car window. She never saw him flinch, but she did hear his amusement at the question.

"Should you be?" he asked back.

"You're answering questions with questions, Lieutenant." Schell replied and looked at him to see him smiling ruefully at himself, as he looked downwards then up again as he approached a traffic light.

"No…" he said at last. "You needn't worry about a jealous girlfriend."

"Now I find that surprising," she responded.

"Surprising how?" he promptly responded. Schell began to chuckle again.

"There you go again…"

"Can't blame me for following my nature," he said and marveled when he noticed some of the tension in his neck was draining away.

"Who said I was blaming you?"

"Now who is answering a question with a question?" he asked. At this Schell began to laugh gently.

"We're dancing around in circles," she commented.

"So we seem to be." Horatio said, accelerating gently as the light turned green. "So where does a visitor to your city go to get a good breakfast?"

"Starbucks." Schell responded and he glanced her way to see if she was joking with him. She shrugged and grinned. "I'm not one to eat breakfast in the morning so I raid Starbucks for my Vanilla Latté, but if you really want to eat something then we can go to Salmon Bay Café, it's just down the road from where I live."

"Then Salmon Bay Café it is. Is there something there you recommend?"

"For you? The steak and eggs."

Horatio smiled watching traffic as he drove. "And why would you think I would like steak and eggs?"

"You definitely are not the type for quiche," she deadpanned.

Horatio found himself chuckling. "You've got a point there." He commented.

She turned and looked directly at him. "Well now, there was a straight answer," she gently teased.

"Meaning?" he asked.

"Let see, you are a police officer from Miami here for a convention, who nearly froze to death getting me out of the Sound, who's been nothing but polite and kind who also likes steak and eggs. You're starting to sound human. I was beginning to think I had been having some seriously weird dreams the last few days." She saw him blush a little.

"I have my flaws…" he commented softly.

"Don't we all? Never said I was perfect…" she joked lightening the mood. "I mean, how stupid could I be taking that rental out the other day?"

"You couldn't have known that someone was going to try blowing it up." Horatio said, wondering if there was the possibility that she could.

"No…" she said softly, reflecting on the past few days. "Say listen, can we stop by my place before we go eat? I need a shower and fresh clothes."

Horatio blinked once or twice. "Sure…" he said. "I'm sorry, I never even thought of that."

"It's been an interesting couple of days."

"That it has been," he commented with a smile. "That it has been…"

Once again she caught him by surprise. The address she gave him turned out to be Shilshole Bay Marina. He frowned as she indicated for him to pull into the parking lot specifically near dock 'S'. As he got out of the car, moving around it to open the door for her, he looked about to see a nearby, popular, mini-mart/bait shop, with a second story above it. Close by was a jetty where people where fishing or flying kites. Locals were milling about, coming and going, to and from their boats or activities. Several went by on bikes, skates or skateboards. There was a great deal of boat traffic about as Seattleites took advantage of the beautiful day.

The wind coming off the water was bit stiff, ruffling his hair as he looked carefully around. Schell didn't notice as she climbed out of his car. As he shut the door, she made to reach for the back door to get her stuff out but he murmured, "Ah, ah… I'll get that," then he opened it and gathered her things. Schell took a step back, looking at him, unable to not notice the sunlight playing off the red-gold of his hair. She looked away, towards the mini-mart, nervously tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Thank you…" she said softly.

"No problem. Where to?" He asked glancing towards the little store. He caught her tucking the strand of hair away then she nodded towards the docks.

"Over there," she said, nodding towards the boats and began walking towards it.

His head turned that direction, his jaw opening slightly in surprise.

"You live on a boat?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she said and paused looking at him. "Why?"

"Why a rental?" he asked carefully.

Schell smiled, looking down at her feet then looking up at him. "It's a 45 foot sailboat… I'm only one person."

He seemed to relax then, and smiled understanding. "And you need two to sail it. I see."

"But as I do love to sail, Lieutenant," she stressed his title slightly. "I rent from the office at the other end of the marina. Thank God I had the sense to say okay to the extra insurance. I'd be in more trouble then I apparently am now."

"I told you not to worry about that," he chided gently as he indicated for her to lead the way.

"I can't help it, Lieutenant Caine," she said. "Though it's been a bit surreal the last couple of days, it is beginning to become a bit too real now." She led the way down a small flight of steps to where the dock began and she began leading him down the slips to an extraordinarily beautiful, fully restored, 45 foot wooden yacht.

"Wow," he commented, reading the name 'Amalia Blue' on the stern plate. He looked up at the tall mast, taking in the taff rail, the wheel, the cabin. He paused as they made their way to the side of the boat.

"Would you indulge a police officer for me?" he asked.

Schell frowned, looking at him a moment. "I suppose, what is it?"

"Just call it a hunch, or over protectiveness, but will you allow me to go in first?"

She stared at him a moment as he studied the opening to the deck and the cabin. "You don't think…"

"It pays to be careful," he said, looking at her over the top of his sunglasses. He hated seeing the fear come back in her dark blue eyes. "It'll be all right, I just want to check it out," he murmured gently. Schell studied him a moment, seeing his sincerity then pulled her keys out of her pocket.

"Okay," she said softly, setting them in his hand.

"Good…" he whispered, smiling at her and handing her her things. "Just wait here." Then he stepped onto the deck of the boat.

She watched him as he looked carefully around, first checking out the stern then the bow before making his way back to the cabin entrance. She couldn't help but notice how the sun reflected the gold in his red hair, the artist in her thrilling at the colour. Hair that rich was rare, she thought to herself, silently reaching up and pulling at her own. He was deceptively tall too, a lot more powerfully built than she realized and an extremely good dresser. She glanced down at her rumpled jeans, suddenly feeling inferior and looked away out over the marina.

She turned back at the sound of him opening the door to the cabin. He was gone a few minutes before he came back out.

"Nice boat," he commented, reaching out his hand to help her onto the deck.

"Thank you…" she murmured as he allowed her to go ahead of him. "Nobody hiding under the bed?" she asked trying to hide a sudden shyness of her own

"Nobody under the bed," he said with a smile.

"Well…" she said entering the salon, "Welcome aboard the Blue. She's a remodeled pilot cutter from the Scilly Islands near Great Britain. She was used extensively during the depression to smuggle illegal booze about. Someone left her to rot, she was restored and the folks who commissioned me for their series of paintings rented her to me." Schell realized her nerves were talking and she looked apologetically at Horatio as he stood up straight in the kitchen. His head was a few inches shy of the ceiling.

"Sorry…" she said. "I don't get a lot of guests in here."

"That's all right." he said gently then asked, "You mentioned that you are an artist. Where do you paint?"

"Oh, at a studio I rent. It's within walking distance. I get the best of both worlds here. Mom swears I was a mermaid in another life. I have always loved being on or near the water. My paintings reflect it as well, I've always had a fascination for shipwrecks, so I started specializing in painting them and one thing led to another…."

"You mentioned a commission?"

"Yeah," Schell said turning away from him and setting her items on a starboard side table. She looked over a laptop computer at her navigation station. "One of the Microsoft boomers, you know that gang that got onto Gates coattails just when Microsoft went big? Well, they are big sea and navy buffs. They saw my stuff down in Santa Rosa a few year ago, some paintings I had done for the Historical Society there and they commissioned me to do a few paintings for them of local area shipwrecks. After them came the Florida Maritime Institute offer, plus two others that are being ironed out now, and I realized my dream of being an artist had come true…" she glanced at Horatio.

"That's a rare thing," he said, smiling.

"Don't I know it…" she said with heartfelt gratitude. "Amalia Blue here belongs to the Thorpes. I'd love to take her out, but I need a few more hands." She smiled nervously. "You know Lieutenant, you really didn't have to give me a ride home and you certainly don't have to take me out to eat."

"Horatio," he said gently.

Schell blinked as she looked at him. "Pardon?"

"Please," Horatio looked down, slipped his sunglasses off and smiled. "Call me Horatio or if it makes you feel more comfortable, call me H. You keep calling me Lieutenant and I am not at work. And you said yes to breakfast…"

She blushed then. "I am so sorry! It's just that…" she started, stopped and looked up at him shyly. "Forgive me… Horatio. Let me get cleaned up, all right? Just make yourself at home. There's coffee to brew if you'd like."

His smile shed a few years from his features as he glanced at the nav station. "There's one thing I certainly wouldn't mind using, with your permission of course."

"Anything." she replied promptly.

"Mind if I use your computer?"

"Oh no! Please, go right ahead. Should I make coffee or would you rather wait?" She reached over and turned the laptop, flipped it open and hit the power button to turn it on.

"Coffee would be fine," he said, gently folding the earpieces of his sunglasses closed and then slipping them into the vee of his shirt.

Moments later she gently shut the door to the master bedroom at the stern of the boat, fresh coffee wafting about the salon and Horatio ensconced at the nav station with her computer. She heaved a sigh, leaned against the door and shook her head before she looked in the mirror at the very stern end of the craft itself.

"My mother is never going to believe this…" she murmured to herself as she pushed away from the door.