16. West
CHAPTER 16
WEST
I’d be an idiot to crack that flash drive. Whatever I find on there, I’m sure it’s not going to be good. And then I’ll have to wrestle with my pesky conscience, ultimately lose, and then I’ll have to take the information to the police and help them nail these people.
Yup. Too much work. Too much involvement. Way too many people to deal with. It’s an awful idea. Good thing I’m getting good at ignoring my conscience. Besides, I’m already doing my good deed for the year. I saved the ball of cheer, and I’m setting her safely on shore. What more could the world want from me?
I’ll leave her on the dock, fuel up my boat, and sail away. She’ll be Fletcher’s problem then.
I quietly open the cabin door, thinking she’ll be asleep. The poor girl could probably use a nap with such a rough start to the day. It’s only early afternoon, and it feels like it’s been days since I met her.
But when I step inside the cabin, I see that she’s kicked her shoes off and is sitting on the bunk with her legs curled under her and a notebook on her lap. I don’t even know where she found that, but she’s busy drawing something on it.
She glances up briefly and then tilts the notebook more to where I can’t see it.
I clear my throat. “I think you should probably go to the authorities with that flash drive of yours.”
“Oh, I plan to,” she says while she’s still studying her notebook. “I’ll go to them after I find the money.”
I grunt and dig through the cupboard to find the peanut butter I have up there. I grab a spoon and take a big bite.
When I turn around, Sydney isn’t staring at the notebook anymore. She’s looking at me with something close to horror on her face. “What are you doing?”
I try to say, ‘having a snack,’ but talking around a mouthful of peanut butter doesn’t really work, and it comes out in a mumble. Stepping out of the cabin, I look around for my water bottle that I left next to the wheel.
When I come back to the cabin, I sit on the doorway step.
“What are you drawing?”
Her eyes widen. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Just doodling to help the time go faster.”
I nod once. “We should be getting close. Just another hour or so.”
Sydney hugs the notebook to her chest. “Where are we right now?”
“West of port.” It seems like a logical answer because I’m not looking at the navigation system and can’t tell her.
She glares at me. “So very helpful.”
“Well, it would be a lot longer trip if I said east of port, now wouldn’t it?”
Her lips quirk up into a small smile. “You have a warped sense of humor; I hope you know that.”
I point to her notebook again. “What are you drawing?”
Her eyes widen. “Just doodles.”
I hold out my hand and stare her down.
She slants a look at me. “Promise you won’t laugh?”
“Promise.”
She slowly pulls the notebook away from her chest and passes it to me. “I was trying to draw your portrait,” she says quietly.
“Hmmm,” I manage to say as I study it. It’s all I can manage as I’m busy chewing my tongue to keep from bursting out in laughter. “You know, honestly, I was expecting something bad. You’ve completely surprised me.” Because it’s horrendous .
“Really?” she says brightly.
I nod and pass it back to her.
“Thank you. I mean, I know it’s not good, but I want to learn to draw faces.”
I nod. “You keep working at it, and you’ll get it.” In another fifty years . I turn around and head back on deck, closing the cabin doors behind me. I gasp in a breath of fresh air.
She’d looked so concerned I just couldn’t let myself crack while she was watching. I take another deep breath as my shoulders shake with silent laughter.
The way she’d been hunched over that notebook with her pencil flying furiously… I’d thought it would be a different outcome.
And then for her to say she was drawing me? I have to press a fist against my mouth. The drawing looks like a kinkajou crossed with a hippopotamus and a man. I’m not even sure how she managed to get all those elements in there.
But she was drawing me. That sobers me up quickly. She’s sweet. Kind. And thinking about me.
That’s dangerous.
The sooner I get her off this boat, the better.