She sat up, and her tears dried like magic. “Of course, the very place,” she said. “Cudco Key. It lies to the left of the islands, and it’s small. I know a shack there. I found it when I was out there once.”
“Fine,” I said. “If we can get there, that’s where we’ll go.”
I didn’t know where we were, but as we were heading in the same direction as the islands, I didn’t worry. We passed Dayden Beach, and I looked at the moored raft. It seemed a long time since we sat on it together. We kept on, and after a while I saw a wharf ahead. That gave me an idea.
“We’ll trade this car for a boat,” I said.
“I’m glad you’re with me,” she said. It came from the bottom of her heart.
I patted her knee. It was a nice knee, and she didn’t take it away, so I left my hand on it.
We stopped by the wharf and got out. I made sure my gun was handy, and I kept a firm grip on my cigar box. That was one thing I wasn’t losing. We looked around. There were a number of U Drive pleasure boats moored along the wharf, but they weren’t fast enough for me. I
wanted something that’d shake a police boat if it came to shaking police boats.
I found what I was looking for after a while. She was a trim thirty-foot craft; mahogany and steel and glistening brass. She looked very fast.
“That’s her,” I said to Miss Wonderly.