Read Just The Pits (Hetta Coffey Series, Book 5) for Free Online Page B

noon."
    "Let me rephrase that. Did you visit my boat yesterday?"
    "Naw, you said you were gonna go get your pickup. Why?"
    "Nothing, I guess. I must be losing my marbles."
    "Hetta, you lost your last marble long ago. What's wrong?"
    "I could have sworn I had a loaf of bread, a block of Velveeta and some ham in the fridge, but it's gone."
    "Oh, man, the Velveeta ? This is serious. You'd better call in the federales . Ya know, that kinda thing used to happen at my house, but then I found out it was you."
    "They emptied the trash!"
    "Well, you certainly never did that."
    I sighed. I'd worked late Friday night, then caught a few short winks before getting up at oh-dark-thirty to catch the airport shuttle. Maybe I ate the ham? Oh, and an entire loaf of bread and a half pound of cheese? I think that might be something I'd remember. I mean, we're talking Velveeta here.
    "Jan, someone has been in my boat."
    "Maybe that raccoon has figured out how to jimmy the lock."
    "The little bandit was on here, all right, but only outside. Someone else broke in."
    "They steal anything more valuable than cheese?"
    "No, not that I can tell."
    "Does the marina office have a key?"
    "Yes. That must be it. They're closed today, but I'll ask tomorrow. I feel better already. Maybe a guard got hungry."
    "Probably. Just in case maybe you should use that deadbolt Jenks installed on your cabin door when you crash tonight. You know how you draw trouble."
    "Come on. I've only been here a week."
    "What? A whole week and you haven't pissed anyone off? You slippin'?"
    "Okay, there is this one guy. He's a Chicano out of California and thinks he's God's gift to the purchasing world."
    "I knew it. Will you never learn?"
    "Nope." I yawned. "I'm beat. That ferry ride is a booger. I'm hoping to catch a nap before I call Jenks on Skype later."
    "Ya gonna tell him about the reefer raid."
    "Why worry him? He can't do anything from Dubai."
    "Yes he can. He can fire up that fancy schmancy security system he installed on your boat. Promise me you'll ask him."
    "I normally never listen to any advice you give, which has worked in my favor for well-nigh the hundreds of years I've known you, but as bad as I hate to say it, you are right."
    "You have made my day. My year. My—"
    I hung up.
     
    When Jenks and I first met back in the San Francisco Bay area, I had recently bought my boat and was being stalked by an evil Brit. Jenks installed an Internet-based security system on Raymond Johnson , but I hadn't been using it in Mexico because it requires either a landline, or really high quality Internet. I'd had neither until now. This marina had amazingly fast and reliable Internet service.
    I had to figure out how to get Jenks to reinstate the service without his getting suspicious that, once again, I'd ended up with a can of worms.
    "Good morning," I chirped into my Skype headset.
    "Hey, you're back. How was the ferry ride?"
    "Grueling. But now I have my pickup and can avoid Pedro of Death's charming company each morning. How's life in Dubai? Must be a bitch living like the point zero one percent?" Jenks was the guest of a Saudi Prince we know who has a suite of some kind in the Burj Al Arab hotel, the one that looks like a giant boat under sail. I'd watched a You Tube tour of the Royal Suite and checked prices for a regular room. Minimum was fifteen hundred buckaroos a night. Jenks was staying for free as the prince's guest, so what in the hell was I doing in a dusty little town on the Baja? I'll bet they have lots of Velveeta in Dubai.
    Jenks reads my mind on occasion. "You could be here, you know."
    "And do what all day? I saw this thing on television about living in Dubai and the women seemed bored silly. They can't do squat without a husband's written approval. I would, however, like a chance at stealing one of those gold-plated toilet paper dispensers I saw on that You Tube tour."
    He evidently didn't think I was being sincere. "Your choice." He was a little curt, not his