Free Fallen Honor: A Jesse McDermitt Novel (Caribbean Adventure Series Book 7) by Wayne Stinnett Page B

minutes as I watched the sun slowly sink toward Water Key half a mile away. The sky was clear and bright, just a string of low clouds far to the west. The southern tip of the line of clouds seemed to glow like the end of a cigar. I did my best to describe it to her, knowing that she missed watching it with me.
    The truth was, I missed her. We’d become very close these last few months. Every Friday afternoon, I’d pick her up at the Anchor and she’d stay until early on Monday morning. Sometimes, not so early.
    After ending the call, I joined Carl and his family for supper and then turned in early. I wanted to spend a few hours going over every inch of the new boat. Until Carl and I could work something out down below, we’d have to tie it up to one of the piers, or haul it out and put it under the temporary shed.
    I didn’t much like either option, but the dock area under the house was full. Besides the forty-five-foot Revenge , there was a Cigarette boat, two center-consoles and two skiffs down there.
    I had an idea about relocating the boat hoist I’d built long ago to lift my skiff out of the water before a storm. Since then, I’d enlarged and enclosed the whole area below the house and hadn’t used it. I could winch Kim’s skiff up, since she’d be gone most of the year, secure it up high, and dock my skiff below it. That’d free up enough room for the new runabout.
    I drifted off to sleep about twenty-two hundred and dreamed about sawing and nailing.

“ S o, you’ve seen it before?” Michal asked after he and Coral had eaten two dozen oysters and chased them down with two bottles of beer. “The green flash?”
    Coral smiled. “A few times. I try to watch the sunset every evening, but in winter it’s already over before I get off work.”
    Michal was curious about why the setting sun seemed to be so important here. “What’s the big deal about the sun going down? It does it every day.”
    Looking out over the water outside, a deep peace came over Coral’s face. “It’s more than just something that happens every day, Michal. And there’s no guarantee that you will see another. It’s the symbolism that marks the end of the day, a time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished.” She turned back and looked deeply into Michal’s eyes. “Too often, I watch it and can’t mentally jot down anything I did that was worthy of the day I was given.”
    “What did you wish for, when you saw it?”
    “Always the same thing. To live one more day in paradise. And here I am, so one of those wishes must have worked.”
    “Maybe just wishing at sunset works for you.”
    Coral smiled. “Could be.”
    Michal looked out over the now-dark water of the bight. Several long docks extended out toward the breakwater and beyond that, the seemingly endless ocean. Halfway down the sky, a half-moon glowed, creating sparkles on the surface as far as his eyes could see. “I can sure see why you wished that.”
    “I do believe the bug has bitten you, Michal. I can tell when you looked out over the water at the dock and again just now.”
    “I do like it here. Is it always so hot?”
    “For a few months in summer. Most of the year it’s very comfortable, especially winter. There’s no better way to celebrate the beginning of a new year than taking a midnight swim in the ocean. Why are you here, Michal? I mean here in Key West.”
    Michal thought for a moment, wondering how much he could or should tell her. “Just tired of the cold winters up north, I guess. New place, new start. You?”
    “My aunt lives here. She’s a palmist and tarot card reader. Aside from that, pretty much the same reason.” She stared into his eyes as if trying to come to a decision. “Are you running from something or someone, Michal?”
    “Why do you ask?”
    “A lot of people come here to escape their old life.” She sighed, just a tinge of melancholy in her voice.
    “Yeah, I guess so,” he replied, acknowledging both the question and