"You always been in love with him?" Martin asked as he followed Matt as best he could with the flashlight.
"As long as I can remember." I said and he looked at me.
"So what happened?"
"When I finished high school, Matt was in his first year of college. Before he went to the institute." I explained. "I moved out of my aunt's place, I was sick of her telling me how to live my life, who to date, who Not to date, all that." I waved my hand and he nodded. "So, I go, and I guess Matt kept trying to call me, and my aunt kept saying I wasn't home or I wasn't available, until, according to him, and to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't put it past her, she tells him I'm on my honeymoon, and to take a hint and move on with his life." I sighed, and took the bottle of wine from him. I took a long drink, and then cleared my throat. "Meanwhile, I've been dealing with Quint and moving in there and all of that, and finally I get a chance to mail Matt a letter, and what happens? His folks send it back and tell me to stop leading Matt on." I sighed and took another drink of the wine before handing the bottle back to Martin. He looked at the label for a minute, before looking at me.
"So, Hooper's loaded, and you two were neighbors." he said and I nodded, knowing where he was going. "Are you rich Caroline?"
"Yeah." I said simply.
"How much?"
"When my mom dies, I inherit the entire estate." I said, and cleared my throat. "Couple million. She's still alive, but I'm currently in charge of the estate." He had been taking a drink, and instantly started to cough.
"Are you serious?" he asked. I was about to answer, but at that moment Matt came sputtering to the surface. I looked over the side of the boat as he swam over to us.
"What happened?" I asked as he yanked off his mask, and started to climb the ladder.
"I had-" he gasped. "An accident."
"What do you mean an accident?" Martin asked.
"I mean I had it Martin, I had it." he panted, climbing over the side of the boat.
"Sit down Matt." I said as he tried to explain.
"Ben Gardner," he said between breaths of air. "Is dead." Martin and I looked at each other grimly and I sighed.
"What about the accident?" Martin asked, and Matt explained what happened while I found him a towel.
"You dropped it!?" Martin shouted when I came back out with the towel and Matt instantly rose to his defense.
"You would too if you were down there!" he shouted back.
"There's no way Vaughn is ever going to listen to us without it!" he shouted.
"It's not my fault!"
"Well whose fault is it!?"
"No ones." I said and they both looked at me. "It was like Matt said. An accident."
"Oh sure, take his side." Martin scowled and I smiled at him.
"Well, now I know where your son gets his stubbornness." I said and he pouted. "Look, let's tow the boat in, maybe there will be something else we can find in the morning, there's no use in us standing around shouting at each other here, is there?" I asked and both men shook their heads. "Right, now, shake hands and make up." I said. They both stared at me and I looked back. "I could have said kiss and make up." I said and they both grinned, before looking at each other. They shook hands and I nodded. "Okay, let's do this."
"Martin, there's a rope under the seats right there, Caroline you can tie a decent knot, right?"
"Of course." I said and he smiled.
"Great, I'm gonna swim over there, toss me the rope when I'm at the bow eye." he said and I nodded. He got back into the water as Martin walked over and handed me the rope. He looked at Matt in the water and I could see him getting a little nervous.
"Matt!" I called, and he looked back, I held up the rope and he nodded, so I threw it to him, keeping hold of one end. He set to work tying it around the bow eye, and then returned to the boat.
"Caroline, you can keep charge of the line, right?" he asked and I nodded. I had tied our end around the cleat on the back of the boat, but being in charge of the line, I was in charge of making sure we didn't give it too much slack in case the rope should get caught around our propeller, which would in turn send Matt back into the water for a third time.
"Alright guys." Martin said when we got back into the harbor. He went to the harbormaster's office as I tied the boat down to the pier, then took the hook Matt was handing over to me, and I pulled Ben Gardner's boat in, and tied it down as well. About half an hour later the coroner, was there, as well as some other people to get the body out of the water. "Guys, you don't need to stay here any longer." Martin said coming over to us. Matt and I were sitting on his boat, he had changed back to his soggy jeans and shirt, I was now wearing his jean jacket and was half asleep on his shoulder.
"You don't want us to stick around?" I asked, and Martin shook his head.
"No, we're gonna pull the body out in a second, you don't need to see that." he had obviously sobered up quite a bit.
"I drove you here." I said and he nodded.
"Hendricks is gonna drive you home." he said and I nodded, and looked at Matt who had been deep in thought.
"See you tomorrow Martin." I said softly, as I took Matt's hand, and we walked to Lenny who was waiting for us. He lead us to the car, no one said a word as we went back to my house.
"Is it true- Ben?" he asked as Matt and I started to walk back to the house. I paused, looked at Matt, and then nodded. He let out a low breath, and I walked over to him, and put my hand on his arm.
"We know what we're dealing with now." I muttered. He nodded grimly. "Good night Lenny." I said, and walked back to Matt, who wrapped his arm around me, and led me back to the house.
"I'm gonna take a shower." Matt said as he pulled away from me. I nodded, and scooped some food into Gus' food bowl. He was winding around my ankles, and instantly went to the food bowl I had scooped for him.
When I finished I went to my bathroom and filled the tub with hot water, then sank into it. I let out a low groan and let my mind go over everything that had happened during the day. When I got out I dried off and pulled on a pair of underwear, a tank top and a pair of cotton shorts.
It was a humid night, and I opened the windows, I was staring out at the water when there was a light knock on the door. I looked back as Matt walked into my room. He walked over to me, his curly hair was damp, and he smelled fresh and clean, making me smile lightly as he wrapped his arm around my waist.
I smiled lightly, resting my forehead against his shoulder, and wrapped my arms around his middle tightly. He sighed into the embrace, and followed me over to the bed. We climbed into bed, and he moved in close to me, wrapping his arms around me as we both passed out.