I have been seriousl slacking... Hey y'all I did work on the other on a little. so here is this chapter enjoy

Forty Five

"So, what do you think?" Tori was glad the clouds had finally cleared out, exposing a half circle of brilliant stars for her appreciation. "Bear?"

"Hm." Jade gazed up at the sky speculatively. "More like a pig."

"Pig? C'mon." A wave rippled under them, and they rode it atop the rugged canvas float tied off to the dock. It rested at water level and let the ocean wash over them, but prevented them from being tugged out to sea at night, which could ruin the day of even the most avid of ocean lovers.

The sea was warm, and only lightly choppy, bucking them up and down every few minutes in a pleasant rhythm. Jade was lying on her back with her ankles crossed, and Tori had chosen a spot at right angles to her, using Jade's belly as an opportune pillow.

"How can that be a pig? It's standing up on it's hind legs. Describe to me the last time you saw a pig do THAT."

Jade sighed. "Well, it's a really fat bear then. Look at it's belly." She described an arc. "Must have eaten all the pigs."

"Hm." Now it was Tori's turn to ponder. "Maybe it's getting ready to hibernate."

"Eh." Jade pointed at a different set of stars. "I think that looks like a horse." She paused. "With a cart behind it."

Tori looked. Then she rotated her head to look again. Then she turned and pressed her cheek against Jade's stomach, peering up at her partner. "When was that optometrists appointment, again?"

"It's pointless anyway, because if I'm pregnant I read my eyes are gonna get worse. So I'll wait till after."

The dark haired woman solemnly stuck her tongue out. She flexed her body, making the raft ripple and bringing a wash of seawater over them complete with a floating chunk of fragrant seaweed. Jade batted the weed overboard, and exhaled, closing her eyes for a moment.

It was extremely peaceful, Tori acknowledged, if you could block out from your mind the knowledge that they were floating over thirty or forty feet of water filled with all kinds of critters. Most harmless, a few not, and the truth was she'd never grown to be as comfortable as Jade was at night in the sea.

But the raft helped a lot, and having Jade there made up the difference, so she was able to relax and enjoy the pretty sky overhead after their swim. "I'm glad it rained today, but I'm even gladder it cleared up." Tori said. "It's so pretty to look up at the sky like this."

Jade draped an arm over Tori's body, the edge of her thumb rubbing gently across the fabric over her ribcage. "It is." She agreed. "I could do this every night."

Tori's eyes flickered briefly closed, then they opened again. "Me too." But not in San Francisco, she silently added. While their condo was most certainly right on the water, the thought of floating in the sea that close to the port made her grimace.

Jade cleared her throat gently, and took a breath to speak, but then hesitated when the sound of an approaching boat engine caught their ears.

They lifted their heads and looked north, spotting running lights not that far offshore and heading in more or less their direction.

"Would it be outstandingly paranoid of me to wonder who's out there?" Tori said.

"Mm."

Jade patted Tori on the stomach and slid out from under her as she sat up. Shading her eyes, she studied the oncoming boat with a frown. It was small, about half the size of theirs, and appeared to be a low profile model, without the flying bridge a fishing vessel would have.

Sport boat, at night, wandering around in the Florida Straits. Either he was lost, or… Jade rolled over and off the raft, entering the water without much noise and taking hold of the edge of the float. "Tor.."

"Yeah, yeah." Tori slid over the side and joined her, peering at the boat over the pontoons that ringed the canvas surface. The water, though warm, was not as warm as the air, and after the long swim and the fact that she'd half dried out made her feel more than a little chilled. "It could just be a party boat."

"Sure." Jade agreed. "Even better reason for us not to be up their lounging in our swim suits." She remarked dryly. "I'm not in the mood to be yelling kiss my ass in three languages tonight."

Tori edged closer to her, pressing her shoulder against her partner's as they floated there side by side. The boat meandered around in a circle for a few minutes, then approached the shore again, heading directly for their dock. They got close enough for her to see there were three people on board, but it was too dark to see any details beyond that.

Since that meant it was also too dark for the people on the boat to see them, it was a workable trade off. Tori let her chin rest against the pontoon, the scent of seawater and plastic coming strongly to her nose. "Doesn't sound like a party." She murmured under her breath.

"Nu uh." Jade agreed, sinking lower in the water until it just covered her mouth. She tugged Tori down a little, her partner's dark head far more visible in the low light than her own. "Sure doesn't."

Tori slid an arm around Jade's torso, glad of the warmth as she pressed against the taller woman. "What in the hell are they looking for?" She whispered into a now conveniently close ear.

"Trouble."

"You really think so?"

Tori was answered when a bright spotlight erupted from the small boat, throwing a powerful beam of light to explore the dock and the approach up to their cabin. She drew in a breath in a mixture of shock and anger, releasing the air in a stream of bubbles as she ducked lower in the water.

Jade moved lower as well, only her pale blue eyes now showing above the surface, narrowed and glinting in the faint light. The boat moved closer, circling around the raft – it's inhabitants paying the floating canvas little attention.

"Ahh, for a spear gun." Jade lifted her mouth clear of the water for a brief moment.

"Ahh, for a bazooka borrowed from your father with live rounds." Tori uttered back. "Jesus Christ, Jade… who in the heck do these jerks think they are?"

"More to the point, do they realize they're about to trespass?"

They watched the boat approach the dock and pull alongside, one of the figures jumping out to tie a rope to one of the stanchions.

"C'mon." Jade released the raft and started towards them, using a stealthy breast stroke to move herself through the water.

"Wh.." Tori looked around, then shook her head and followed, trying to make as little noise as possible. She wasn't as efficient a swimmer as Jade was, but all the practice she'd gotten since moving to California stood her to good stead as she kept up in the mild surf.

A mask and snorkel would have made her life easier. Errant little waves tended to end up splashing her in the mouth, and she kept spitting out sea water, but after a few minutes they were approaching the dock. The other two people had gotten out, and all three were now creeping up the wooden gangway towards the cabin.

Bastards. Tori felt a flush of anger sweep through her, taking the chill away and replacing it with a fierce heat. The outlines of the three didn't, though, look familiar to her, though she could see two were men, and one was a woman. "Think it's the reporters?" She caught up to Jade as they reached the outer edge of the dock and grabbed on.

"Dunno." Jade pulled herself along the dock until she was just across from the boat, craning her head to see where they intruders were. "Not sure I care."

The tone in her partner's voice alerted Tori at once. "What are we going to do? Confront them?"

For an answer, Jade swam over to the boat and reached up to grasp the railing, pulling herself up and over the side in a brief moment of starlit muscularity.

"Uh oh." Tori grabbed hold of the wooden ladder fastened to the side of the dock and got up on the bottom rung, peering over the edge of the boat to see what her partner was doing. "Jade!" She whispered urgently.

For a moment nothing happened, then a dark head appeared over the side, and Tori saw the boat start to drift away from the dock. "Oh ho." She chuckled low in her throat. "Bad girl."

The craft bobbed closer to her, as the outgoing tide took it gently from it's berth. As it passed, Jade stepped onto the side and then onto the ladder, holding something in her hand. She released the wood and dropped into the water next to Tori, jerking her arm down as she fell.

The boat's engine suddenly roared to life and it veered crazily off, heading southeast at a rapid clip.

They heard a yell from the shore, and Jade swung to the inside of the ladder, grabbing Tori and tugging her under the dock, a grin visible even in the dim light.

"You are so bad." Tori snickered, watching the boat disappear into the surf. "God, Jade.. what's going to happen to that thing? Someone could get hurt!"

"Nah." Jade nestled her jaw up next to Tori's ear. "They were about to switch to the other tank. Not much gas left." They both looked up as footsteps pounded on the top of the pier, accompanied by curses. "Now." She uttered softly. "Do we rise up out of the sea and kick their asses, or what?"

Tori listened to the voices over her head. "It's the reporter, isn't it?" She uttered back.

"I think so, yeah."

Strategy. It was tough to work that out while you were stuck under a dock in the presence of curious night fish nibbling your heels. If they remained quiet, then the culprits had no one to blame but themselves, and nothing to say about Jade or Tori.

If they confronted the trio, then their complicity in the boat's startling disappearance would be clear, and they would have to deal with the publicity, not to mention calling the police.

It was late on a Saturday night, and Tori didn't want to spend the rest of the night calling the Marathon County police and explaining the whole shebang.

On the other hand, she really wanted to kick that reporter in the shins. "I think we should go kick their asses." She finally said, hearing the nascent panic in the voices over her head.

Jade merely began swimming to the other side of the pier, tugging Tori along with her to the ladder on the opposite side. She went first, climbing up to the top of the wooden platform and waiting for Tori to join her as they stood behind the three intruders.

"Son of a bitch, that ain't stopping." One said. "We better go call the Coast Guard or something… what kinda idiot were you to leave the engine on, Virgil!"

"I didn't!" The other man replied in an exasperated tone. "I told you that ten times already!" He half turned. "Look, Ms. Banks, why don't you just go over there and sit down while we figure out where we're going to go to get a phone and.."

"You could use ours." Jade interrupted this engaging drama, pitching her voice low and projecting it across the dock.

All three intruders jumped, and turned to find Jade's tall form standing menacingly behind them, with Tori , more visibly irritated counterpoint to her right. The two swimsuited figures were outlined in starlight and threw oddly large shadows across the dock to spill over them.

"Oh.. uh.. hi." The reporter summoned a weak smile from somewhere.

"You might as well use it before I call the cops." Jade went on. "And then you can explain to them why you're trespassing on private property."

Pat Banks stepped forward. "Okay, okay – just hang on. I can explain this."

Tori actually just laughed. "So can I." She said, folding her arms across her chest. "And you know, maybe we should call the local paper, too. I'd love to see this on the front page."

Jade glanced at her in some surprise.

"Now, hold on." Pat said. "Tell you what. Let's go up there and we can talk while these bozos figure out how to get their boat back."

"I'm going to call the police." Jade turned and headed for the cabin. "And trust me… I'll press charges." She called back over her shoulder.

"Shit." Virgil sounded panicky. "Man, I told you we shouldn't have done this."

The reporter turned to Tori. "This isn't what it looks like."

Tori looked at her, looked at the darkness around them, peered off at the rapidly disappearing boat, then looked back at the reporter. Both her eyebrows hiked up. "Okay." She said. "I'm game. Explain to me how three people sneaking up in a boat to a private dock, then creeping towards our house is something other than what it looks like." She spread her hands out in a questioning manner. "I'm waiting."

Banks hesitated, looking at the two guys with her.

"Okay, nevermind. I'm over it." Tori went to the end of the dock and reached under a bit of rock, removing a small key and opening a locked, watertight box. She lifted the radio receiver inside and keyed it. "Coast Guard, Coast Guard, this is Dixieland Yankee portside, over."

"Wait." The reporter came over to her and lowered her voice. "Listen, I know you've got a right to be pissed off. But would you please just let me explain? This isn't against you. I'm just trying to get some information that will let me work in your favor."

Tori merely eyed her. "Coast Guard, Coast Guard, come in." She repeated into the mic.

"Please?"

"Dixieland Yankee portside, go head." A man's voice erupted from the radio. "This is Cutter Avalon."

"Avalon, we have a pleasure craft underway without anyone aboard just southeast of us." Tori unkeyed the radio. "You've got whatever time it takes for the cops to get here. Don't waste it." She said.

"Yankee, we copy, we see it. " The guard officer sounded exasperated. "Good gravy."

"We have the boat operators here." Tori informed him. "Over."

"Thanks, Yankee. We'll get back with you." The radio fell silent. Tori put the mic inside and locked the box, then she turned and headed for the cabin, without another word.

After an awkward moment of indecision, the reporter ran after her.

Jade entered the cabin shaking her head and muttering under her breath, slamming the door behind her as she evaded Chino's curious snuffling and headed for the phone. Then she hesitated and stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Chino, if I call the cops, what do you bet it'll be two hours before they get here."

"Gruff." Chino seemed in total agreement.

After a moment's indecision, Jade headed for the bedroom instead, figuring putting on some kind of clothes was probably a good strategic idea before re-confronting their unwelcome guests. She pulled a shirt and shorts from the dresser and stripped out of her swimsuit on her way into the bathroom, grabbing a towel and drying herself off before she changed.

She glanced cursorily into the mirror. "Ugh." One hand reached up to remove a string of purple seaweed from her neck, and dropped it into the waste basket. "Can't believe I didn't feel that." Pulling on her clothes, she ran her fingers through her wet hair and turned, hearing footsteps impact the porch outside.

A single set, and to Jade's ears, a distinctive pattern. She was not surprised when the back door opened and Tori walked in, her face twitching a little and a stormy look in her eyes. Her hands were half balled into fists, but despite all that, she looked amazingly sexy and Jade couldn't help grinning at her.

"What?" Tori caught the grin. "Did you call the cops already? I got the Coast Guard."

"Not yet." Jade bumped her towards the bedroom. "Go change. I assume our reporter friend is right behind you? I'll take care of her."

Tori exhaled, but headed towards the inner door. She paused and turned as she reached it. "Was I doing something funny when I came in? You were grinning."

The door opened abruptly, preventing an answer. So Jade merely looked her partner up and down, and waggled her eyebrows, before she turned to face Pat Banks.

Tori sniffed. "Ah..hah." She entered the bedroom and shut the door behind her, ears straining as she heard Jade's low rumble start up. "Stupid idiotic son of.." she paused at her reflection in the mirror. Then she sighed. "Jade, you could have told me this damn thing was semi transparent wet."

At least it had been comfortingly dark outside. Tori quickly removed the unexpectedly risqué suit and replaced it with a pair of worn denim short overalls, tucking a sedate white tshirt into them before she buckled one strap over her shoulder.

Impatiently, she flicked her fingers through her hair, and then she turned and marched back into the living room.

"Look, I know you're pissed off and maybe you have a right to be." Pat was saying.

"Maybe?" Jade paused in mid motion. She was in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of milk.

"This isn't what it looks like." The reporter came over and faced her over the counter. "Look, Ms. West, I thought we had an understanding."

Jade gave herself a moment's thought while she drank her glass down, the only sound in the cabin outside Tori's rustling in the bedroom her swallowing. She finally put her glass down, just as her partner emerged and braced her arms on the counter. "My understanding is that I am a public officer of a public company, and I perform my public duties during working hours."

"Well, sure.."

"This is not a working hour." Jade cut her off. "I'm not sure why you don't understand that. I am off the clock. Out of the office. On vacation. Not answering my email. What OTHER.." She slammed her hands down on the counter, with a smack. "Way do I have to phrase that so it makes sense to you?"

"But this is not just a working hours story!" The reporter shot back. "This is about people, it's about people who are in this situation, trying to make something happen. You think everyone else is just taking the weekend off?"

"I don't care." Jade replied evenly. "It's not my problem what anyone else does." She pointed at the reporter. "Why is it a problem to anyone else what I do?"

"Okay, look." The reporter eyed Tori warily as the shorter woman strode past her into the kitchen, taking the milk jug from Jade's side and drinking directly from the opening. "It's my job to tell the story in this special. Now, I don't mind telling stories, and I don't mind making them up when they're not interesting enough for me." Her attitude was more direct now. "But I also don't like being fed a tale, and you know, I think I'm being fed a tale."

"Okay." Tori put the milk jug down. "But that doesn't explain why you're here."

Pat looked at her. "Honey, its you two who are feeding me the tale."

Jade looked at Tori, Tori looked back at Jade. They both looked across the counter at the reporter. "What?" Jade's brow creased. "I haven't told you anything." She glanced at Tori. "Have you?"

"Um.. no, I've only cursed at her so far." Tori shook her head. "What are you talking about?" She asked the black woman.

"Oh, don't play that game with me." Banks said. "You are two smart cookies, and it's way too late to pretend you don't know what's going on." She put her hands on her hips. "So let's drop the act, okay?"

Jade picked up her glass, poured more milk into it, and then wandered out of the kitchen shaking her head. She walked right past the reporter and went over to the couch, dropping into it and extending her legs out across it's surface. "What do you think, Tor?"

"What do I think?" Tori put the milk back into the refrigerator. "I think she got stung by a bunch of jelly fish. Want me to call 911? Hallucinations'll be next." She leaned on the counter. "Lady, you're nuts."

"I'm nuts?" The reporter's eyes widened.

"We have no idea what the hell you're talking about." Tori told her in a confidential tone.

Banks looked from one to the other. She pointed at Jade. " You told me from your perspective this whole bid was just business. Right?"

"Right." Jade acknowledged.

"So, then tell me, Ms. West, how professional it is that your father's been working at the Telegenic's ship, causing trouble?"

Uh oh. Jade outwardly refused to react, not even to let her eyes flicker over to where Tori was standing. "My father?" She mused. "My father's a retired naval officer who takes odd jobs on the waterfront to keep busy." She said. "I find it hard to believe he was causing trouble."

Tori had to strain not to smile, despite the shock of the words.

"And he just so happened to take one there?" The reporter asked sarcastically. "Just like your.. "She turned and looked at Tori. "assistant just happened to attack your competition at a restaurant?" A snort. "Give me a break." She said. "This is all about personal issues, and you've got as many as anyone else does."

"Actually." Tori chose her words carefully. "Your friends at Telegenics were trying to get me to come out with them, so they could attack my partner here." She circled the counter. "I got called out of town.. on business." Her smile was icy. "And my assistant was being courteous in letting them know I wasn't going to make it."

"With a chili bowl? I think an email would have been enough." Banks shot back.

Tori half shrugged. "Your friends were.. very professionally… sitting in a hamburger shack dissing us at the top of their voices. My assistant took exception to that. I don't blame her."

"Honey, that ain't how I heard it."

"My assistant is eighteen years old, and she was with her mother." The brunette sat down on one of the counter stools. "I believe what they told me." She shrugged slightly. "But for that matter, if Jade and I did react in any way, it was because they were pushing us to the wall."

The reporter looked around the cabin. "I just don't believe that. You know what I think? I think they're right. All those people are up there working their butts off to make this happen, and you two are here in your…love shack."

She turned and walked to the door. "Call the cops. See if I care." Her voice was now cutting. "But let me tell you, ladies – I know exactly how I'm going to play this story, and for you… it's not going to be pretty."

Banks turned and left, slamming the door behind her.

There was a brief silence in the cabin, as the two partners regarded each other. Finally, Jade shifted her position, rolling onto her side and propping her head up on her hand. "Love shack." She mused. "I like it."

Tori rubbed her eyes. "Jade, this is not funny."

"No." Jade agreed. "But what in the hell are you going to do, Tor? Dad was doing exactly what she claimed, and we're here." One shoulder shrugged. "And the battling Brazillians did what they did. It's all in the spin, and she's got the turntable."

"Nice." The brunette trudged over and sat down on the couch next to Jade. She let her hands fall slackly between her knees and extended her bare feet across the carpet. "So, now what?"

Now what. Good question. Jade really had no idea now what. "I just don't get what the big deal is about us being up here. It's not like you and I are running the cables." She temporized. "What's that all about?"

Tori pondered. "They're control freaks, so they think everyone else should be too?" She thought a moment more. "And, well, you know hon…. I can remember projects where you were a little like that too."

She peeked at Jade to gauge a reaction, but got a mildly bemused expression in return.

"I know." Her partner nodded agreeably. 'But I got over it. You helped me, matter of fact. I sniffed around one of yours one time too many, and you told me what I was going to die of."

Tori's head dropped forward a little. "I did no such thing."

Jade's lips quirked. "Well, not in those words, no." She admitted. "But you did."

"I did?" Tori thought back, trying to recall the momentous occasion. Had she really told Jade to back off? Then the memory surfaced, and she exhaled, picturing a scene in Jade's office with her pushing a set of colored project folders across her bosses desk. One of us really needs to own these, Jade.

Jade had cocked her head to one side, she remembered, and then casually pushed them back across the desk with a smile.

No, not quite in those words. "Okay, you got me." Tori admitted. "But I don't get why it matters to them. After all, if we're slacking off, isn't that better for their side?"

"Mm."

"And, she told me she had information that would be to our advantage." Tori suddenly remembered. "Was that just to get inside this place and have her say? I don't get it , Jade. This isn't adding up."

"No." Jade curled her body around Tori's and wrapped an arm around her for good measure. "I thought that woman had a more balanced viewpoint. Something happened." She said. "Either she bought into Michelle and Shari's pitch, or something else happened that made her turn around. I know she was probably playing me at lunch, but I really…"

"Hrm."

"Really. I didn't get that vibe." Jade shook her head. "I got the feeling she was trying to find the other half of the story."

Tori sighed. "Wonder how dad got outed? Maybe in retrospect that wasn't the smartest thing we ever did, asking him to go in there."

"Eh." Jade turned her head as her cell phone rang. "That's probably him. I'll ask." She picked it up and answered it, surprised to see the office's caller id instead. "Uh oh." She answered. "Yes?"

"Oh, Ms. West? Good.. this is the security desk." The voice answered, sounding relieved. "Listen, I have the security guy at the pier on the line, he needs to speak to you." There was a click, then a another line was connected.

"Hello?" Jade ventured.

"Uh.. oh, hi, Is this Ms. West?"

"Yes."

"This is Steven at the pier, ma'am. We've been trying to call Ms. Vega, and there's no answer. "

Jade looked inquiringly at Tori, who sat up and peered around like a startled meerkat searching out her phone. "She's here. What's the problem? You need to talk to her?"

"No, well.. it's not.. " The guard seemed unsure. "It's the port, ma'am. They're going nuts here. There's television cameras and all kinds of stuff all over the place, and I think they're asking everyone to leave."

"Huh?" Tori took the phone. 'Steven, this is Tori. What's happening? Was there an accident?"

"No, ma'am, But some kind of government people are here, and boy, they've got this place lit up like a Christmas tree for sure. I think they're looking at the ships. Something's wrong, I guess. They won't tell us anything."

Tori held the phone out a little, and lifted her free hand in question.

Jade was at a loss. "Okay, well…" She rubbed her jaw.

"Did they make all the workers leave the ships, Steve?" Tori asked. "Are our contractors still there?"

"No, oh, wait. Hang on." The sound went muffled, then came back. "Ma'am, one of my guys just came in to relieve me and he said he heard it's an environmental thing.'

"Environmental." Tori repeated. "Okay, but are they asking you to leave the pier?"

"No, ma'am, apparently what some of these people want is for the boats to leave the pier." The guard now sounded much more sure of himself. "It's not about us at all."

"Phew." Jade exhaled. "At last, something that has nothing to do with us, for a change."

"Yeah." Tori agreed. "Okay, Steve, you guys just sit tight near the office, okay? If they make everyone get out, give me a call." She paused, "Wait, give Jade a call because my cell phone's AWOL at the moment."

"Okay, ma'am, will do." Steve replied. "Sorry to bother you."

Tori hung up the cell phone, which she handed to her partner. Then she got up and started roaming around the cabin, searching for her own. "Where in the dickens did I put that thing, Jade? I know I had it when we got here."

"Sounds like Quest's got a real problem on his hands." Jade put the phone down and rolled to her feet, joining in the search for the missing cell. "Something he can't blame us for."

"For a change." Tori paused, then slapped herself on the head. "Damn it, I left it in on the bike." She groaned in disgust. "Be right back." She disappeared through the front door, with Chino chasing after her.

A knock came at the back door. Jade scrubbed the fingers of one hand through her hair and went to answer it, wondering if it would be their reporter's boatmen, the coast guard, the cops, or the National Enquirer. Nothing would have surprised her at this rate.

She opened the door. "Yes?"

"Okay, listen." Pat Banks said. "Can we start over?"

Well, almost nothing.