Murky Waters Robin Alexander

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secret spread through the family like wildfire. My sister became
enraged.
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The older woman paused for a moment to gather her emotions. I
was never really sure why my sister reacted the way she did. If she
were worried about his eternal soul, I would have thought she
would have handled things differently. Deep down inside, I
admitted to myself that she was simply embarrassed.
The woman sighed. Bless his poor heart. His last words were
scribbled on a scrap of paper. He said if God hated him, what hope
did he have? He blew his brains out and put an end to his twenty-
three-year life. Had someone stepped in and told him the truth, he
might still be with us today.
Claire was at a loss for words as tears glistened in her eyes.
Thank you for sharing that with me. I ll never forget it.
I m glad you allowed me to share it. The older woman patted
Claire on the shoulder and left the room. Claire was so intent on
listening to what the woman had to say that she neglected to get
her name, but she was glad the woman spoke up when she did or
Linda may have found herself suffering Claire s wrath.
When Claire made it to the third-floor office, the phones were
ringing off the hook. The crew coordinators were answering calls
and sending their requests for travel arrangements by email to
Claire s department. Her meeting in the galley had caused her to
run a little late. She went into her office and quickly got set up to
help her agents.
Claire glanced into Tristan s office through the glass wall that
separated them. Tristan was busy on the phone and was typing on
her computer. As Claire waited for her own computer to boot up,
she continued to watch Tristan answer one phone line after the
other. She was catching the overflow from the crew coordinators.
Claire appreciated that Tristan worked with her people and shared
their load when they were busy. Ellen was right when she said
Tristan was an excellent boss.
Just before lunch, Cam dropped in and invited Tristan and
Claire s staff to a crawfish boil at the fleet. Claire was thrilled at
the prospect of finally getting real Louisiana mudbugs. When the
lunch hour arrived, the entire department made a beeline for the
fleet.
Tristan sat next to Claire and showed her how to peel the meat
away from the small crustaceans. Only eat the ones with curled
tails. If their tails are straight, throw them in the trash. When the
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tail is straight, it means it was dead before it went into the boil and
is not any good.
Claire did as she was instructed, carefully peeling each tail and
watching Tristan as she skillfully peeled and ate twice as many.
Claire glanced across the table at Mike and was disgusted by his
technique. After he ate each tail, he would suck the head of the
creature before throwing it into the trash.
When he caught Claire watching him with a look of revulsion, he
smiled and asked, What s wrong, Claire? You don t suck heads?
Tristan s head snapped up, and she glared at Mike. He smiled
maliciously as he stuffed another crawfish head in his mouth and
sucked the juice from it. Obviously, Tristan doesn t know what s
good.
I have no desire to learn to suck heads, Mike. I ll leave that up
to you since you seem to be quite skilled at it yourself. Since
you re not a Louisiana native, I can only assume that someone
spent some time training you how to do it, Claire shot back,
knowing she was walking a fine line and dangerously close to
stooping to Mike s level.
A huge grin made its way across Tristan s face as the rest of the
table laughed and chided Mike. Claire had beaten him at his own
game. Mike ate the rest of his lunch in silence, occasionally
glancing at Tristan with a scowl.
So, Claire, how do you like living in Cajun country? Allen, one
of the fleet dispatchers, asked.
I like it. It s not much different from Houston. The climate is the
same, and the food is just as spicy. I m really enjoying learning all
about Louisiana and its culture, and Tristan has been kind enough
to take me under her wing and show me around.
Oh, Tris, you should take her out on one of those swamp tours
and let her see some of the sights, Allen said.
I ve always wanted to do that, Claire. Why don t you and I go
sometime? Mike asked, breaking into the conversation while
looking at Tristan.
Sensing the tension between Mike and Tristan, Allen tried to
keep the situation from escalating. Mike, how about we go
sometime? Matter of fact, I have my own boat. We can do our
own tour and maybe get to fish a little.
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Robin Alexander
Mike stared at a smirking Tristan for a moment before directing
his attention to Allen. That sounds great, man. Give me a call at
the office, and we ll make plans. I ll even buy the beer.
Tristan continued to smirk, but what she really wanted to do was
stomp a mud hole in Mike s ass. She was livid that Mike would
actually put Claire on the spot like that in front of a group of
people. He was much too pushy, and Tristan decided then that she
would have a chat with Mike alone.
Several of the boats were tied off at the landing barge, and
Tristan took Claire down to meet some of the crews. Mike and
Lauren accompanied them since neither had ever been on any of
the vessels. As Claire talked with one of the captains, Tristan
watched Mike out of the corner of her eye. He studied Claire from
head to toe, barely able to take his eyes off her. When he glanced
over at Tristan, Mike realized that he had been caught staring.
Their eyes locked, silently challenging one another until Tristan s
cell phone rang.
She stepped onto the stern of the boat to finish her call and lit up
a cigarette as she listened to the caller drone on about a medical
release for one of the deckhands. A few minutes later, she snapped
the phone closed and turned to go back into the galley. It was then
that she came face-to-face with Mike.
You don t like me much, do you, Tristan? Mike questioned,
looking her in the eye.
No, Mike, I don t care for your kind at all, she answered
without flinching.
Now, why is that? Do I threaten you in some way? he asked
smugly.
There s nothing about you I find threatening, but your repeated
attempts to get Claire to go out with you, even though she has
made it plain she is not interested, are wearing on my nerves. You
do know what harassment is, don t you?
Tristan, are you threatening me?
If you were one of my employees, you d be unemployed right
now. You work for Suarez and therefore are Claire s problem, but
if you continue behaving as you have, I m ready to step in and
resolve the issue. If you want to consider that a threat, go right
ahead.
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Murky Waters
Mike pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. He exhaled the smoke in
Tristan s direction. I ve heard that these boats are very
dangerous. It s been said if someone goes overboard, they could
very likely be pushed under the boat by the current and drown if
they are not caught up in the prop first. He stared at Tristan with
a cold intensity.
You re exactly right, Mike. Should someone fall over the side,
all the people here watching would be helpless if the current were
just right. Tristan could feel the hair rise on her neck as she stared [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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