It was twilight. A chilly breeze came from the south as the waves hit the wooden beans of the pier.
Leigh was already waiting at the pier. She was using the light from her cell phone to look at a couple of crabs below. They were picking meat off a dead frog. I wonder if those frogs really are endangered. There was a tunk tunk tunk sound behind her, and she turned to see Vivian walking on the planks in heels.
The weeks in the sun and shade should have purked Vivian up. But her face was still pale and her body somewhat gaunt. "You left a bunch of bottles in the room again."
Vivian looked up as though she didn't realize someone was in front of her. "Did I? How careless of me." There was no reason to discuss her slow decline into alcoholism. She decided to change the subject. "I hope they didn't drag us out here to -- "
"Ssssssh," hissed Leigh. "Look. Out there in the ocean."
The two of them spotted lights in the water. Seth, Redjack, and Aaron were all driving the three boats. It was too far away to notice the heavy modifications, but the boys had manage to quiet the engines and lower the sides of the hulls. The boats were now faster, quieter, and harder to see. They kept the lights shining towards the pier, the only sign of their presence.
"Good God," said Vivian. "They did it."
Seth was driving the lead boat. He signaled for Redjack and Aaron to follow him as he headed towards the docks. The girls were grinning like schoolchildren at this point. Seth tossed a rope towards Vivian. "Tie her up."
Leigh helped with Redjack's boat, and Seth pulled Aaron's next to his. Aaron hopped off the boat and handed Vivian a few maps of the Atlantic coast. "The circles mark friendly places where we can gas up and get supplies. The triangles are caves or other forms of natural shelter we can use during the daytime. The red crosses are to be avoided -- law enforcement or someone friendly to Ramos."
"That's usually the same thing," said Leigh.
Aaron nodded in agreement. "Where's Chris?"
Vivian pointed back to the rental house. "I told him what you said and he's getting all the supplies ready. Redjack, I told him to leave your explosives alone."
"Thanks, Viv."
Leigh looked around at everyone and grinned. "We're finally going to do this, aren't we?"
