Free Choke by Stuart Woods

“Well, shall we get under way?” He ran up the steps to the bridge, cranked the engines, and expertly backed the sixty-footer out of her berth, then headed for the entrance to Key West Bight.
    Clare produced Bloody Marys for everybody, and they took seats on the broad afterdeck and sipped their drinks, chatting idly and enjoying the winter sun.
    They had traveled perhaps ten miles when Tommy noticed smoke coming out of a ventilator. He stood up and shouted, “Hey, Harry! You got a problem down here.”
    Harry stopped the engines and looked over the railing at Tommy. “What is it?” he asked.
    “Looks like smoke coming from down below,” Tommy called back.
    Harry came down to the deck, looking worried. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about the mechanics of this vessel,” he said.
    Chuck spoke up. “Looks like exhaust to me, Harry. Have you got a tool kit aboard? I’ll be glad to take a look at it.”
    “Sure, Chuck, right under the seat, there, in the locker.”
    “Let her drift for a few minutes, and turn on your blower. We’ll give it a chance to clear out down there.”
    Harry followed Chuck’s instructions, and after a few minutes, Chuck went belowdecks.
    “Gosh, I hope it isn’t serious,” Clare said. “I’ve been looking forward to getting out on the water.”
    “Chuck sounds like he knows what he’s doing,” Tommy said.
    Shortly Chuck came back on deck. “Harry, nothing to worry about, just your exhaust tubing for the starboard engine came loose from the overboard vent. I put it back on and put a second hose clip on real tight. You shouldn’t have any further problems.”
    Harry placed a hand on his heart. “Thanks so much, Chuck; I thought I’d burned up an engine or something.” He turned back to the controls, started the engines, and they were immediately under way again.
    They layed anchor off Sand Key, on the reef, and finished their second round of Bloody Marys.
    “Anybody for a dive?” Harry asked.
    “Sure,” Chuck said. “I brought my gear, and I see you have a compressor down below. I was working right next to it.”
    “I sure do; I hate lugging tanks back and forth from the dive shop. It’s much more convenient to be able to fill them myself aboard. Tommy, do you and Rosie dive?”
    “Nope,” Tommy said. “We’ll stick to snorkeling.”
    Equipment was produced. The Carrases, Chuck, and Victor got into their diving gear and set off along the reef. Tommy and Rosie donned masks and snorkeled lazily along in their wake.
    Rosie was in the galley with Clare, putting together lunch. “So, Clare,” she said, “how long you been in Key West?”
    “Just a few months,” Clare replied.
    “Where do you come from?”
    “New York. Harry was in business there, and when he decided to retire, we came south.”
    “We’re from New York, too,” Rosie said. “What part of town did you live in?”
    “The Upper East Side,” Clare replied. “Park Avenue.”
    “We were in Brooklyn Heights,” Rosie said. “We’ve put our house on the market, and I think we’ve got somebody interested.”
    “It’s nice in Brooklyn Heights,” Clare said. “We used to go to the River Cafe. You and Tommy have any kids?”
    “A boy, Tommy Junior. He graduated from NYU last spring. How about you?”
    “No, Harry and I have only been married for a little over a year, and at his age, he’s not too interested in kids. To tell the truth, neither am I, much. We have an awfully good life the way we are.”
    “I see your point. How’d you and Harry meet?”
    Driving home, Tommy grilled Rosie about her conversation with Clare. “Is that it?” he asked. “I already knew all that part of their story.”
    “That’s it, Tommy; I guess I’m not too good at the third degree.”
    “Don’t you believe it, babe; you’ve grilled me often enough.”
    “Well, I asked her all the girl questions, and that’s all she told me. It didn’t seem to me like she was hiding anything.”
    Tommy shook his