‘What happened to your army buddy?’
He leaned over and kissed her on the throat. ‘Gone,’ Hatcher growled and the subject was dropped. She knew better than to ask ‘Gone where?’ If he wanted her to know he would tell her. Obviously he didn’t. She was delighted that the stranger had left and Hatcher was hers for the evening.
She went below, selected a bottle of vintage red wine from the liquor cabinet and opened it to let it breathe. She heated the food in the oven and set the table. Then she turned on the radio, keeping the volume low.
‘Hey,’ she yelled up to him, ‘you want to put this thing on automatic pilot and come eat?’
‘Done,’ came the hoarse answer. She heard the engines die out and the anchor splash in the water, and a moment later he appeared in the salon.
‘I decided to anchor for a while. We’re right off Sapelo Island,’ he said, dipping his fingers into the fettuccine and tasting it.
‘Mind your manners,’ she snapped.
‘Delicious,’ he said and poured each of them a glass of the red. They clinked their glasses in a silent toast. He leaned over and kissed her very lightly, tasting the dry, musky wine on her lips.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered. Then, making small talk, she asked, ‘How long have you known Jimmy Cirillo?’
‘A long time.’
‘Where did you meet him?’
‘In an alley in Boston.’
‘An alley?’
‘Yeah. I was breaking into a store and he was a cop.’
‘Are you kidding me?’
‘Nope.’ Hatcher leaned back and realized he was about to give away some family secrets. He felt comfortable doing it.
‘My old man was an architect, and not a very good one. Blew his brains out in the shower of the Boston Men’s Club one afternoon. I was ten at the time. ‘Three years later my mother ran off with, uh, hell, I don’t even know, never saw the man. Anyway, I hit the bricks. By the time I was fifteen I was one of the best cat burglars in Boston.’
‘Why, Hatch, I had no idea,’ she said in amazement.
‘That’s just the tip of the iceberg,’ Hatcher said with a smile.
‘Well, what did Jimmy do to you when he caught you?’ Ginia probed.
‘He took off his badge and his gun belt, put them carefully on the sidewalk, and beat my ass to a bloody pulp.’
Ginia broke up — she put her hands over her mouth and giggled into them.
‘And that’s not all. He got me a job; actually he got me three jobs, and I walked out on all three. So one night he grabs me, shoves me in this alley, off comes the badge and gun belt and he gives it to me again. Then he says, “I’m gonna keep whippin’ your ass until you hold a job and stop boosting my beat.” And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’
‘He made you what you are today,’ she said with mock pride.
‘Yeah,’ Hatcher said and then added rather solemnly, ‘but the guy on the dock had a hand in it too.’
‘What did he catch you doing?’
‘Going for admiral,’
‘Huh?’
‘That’s another story.’
They ate the rest of the dinner in silence. Hatcher was not one to talk and eat, but she sensed something impending. She knew he was going before he said it.
‘I have to leave for a while.’
‘Uh-huh, and just what does that mean, Hatcher, “a while”? A week, a month, ten years?’ She asked it lightheartedly.
He smiled and reached over and laid the palm of his hand softly on her cheek. ‘Longer than a week, hopefully less than a month,’ he answered.
‘Can I do anything for you?’
‘Call John Rogers at the bank and tell him I had to leave in a hurry. I’ve prepared a power of attorney for you so you can handle my market and bank accounts. If I should need money for any reason, shift funds at the bank into my drawing account.’
‘You trust me that much?’ she asked, surprised.
He smiled at her. ‘Implicitly,’ he answered.
‘When are you leaving?’
‘In the morning.’
