"You mean to say you're still willing to leave Aden with me?" Adam asked the next morning, his eyes wide. He had reached across to clutch the fingers of Ava's hand.

"Of course I am, Adam. This is the age of high-tech, Sailor." She patted his hand. "I can write the series of articles from anywhere. And I'm not only 'willing', I'm anxious and excited to get going."

They were seated in the cockpit of Vendetta enjoying their second cup of coffee following breakfast. Adam had been schlepping his butt around as though he'd been abandoned at the Prom. Though, it hadn't had an adverse effect on his love-making. On the contrary, now that Ava thought about it, their intense and lengthy session last night did have a certain added quality of urgency to it... rapturous. But his mood had troubled Ava. She had begun to worry that Adam had changed his mind about them. She was relieved to have that issue straightened out. "When do we shove off?" she asked brightly.

"Anytime I guess... today, if you want," Adam replied happily. "But don't forget, Guma has your clothes and some other things from your hotel room. Maybe you could call him, let him know we'll probably be leaving sometime today."

"Sure. I'll give Aaron a ring too, let him know. But, your wound. We'd better schedule a visit to the hospital before anything else."

"Aw, fugetaboudit. I told you, the color's good, the pain minimal, it's fine. Besides, they're too busy at the hospital. We're shovin' off today.

Ava shrugged, said, "All right, tough guy. What time you thinkin'?"

"Um, I have an errand I gotta take care of. We can slip our moorings anytime after lunch."

"Errand? Oh terrific, another errand. The last time you attended to an errand it was murderous. What can I expect this time?" Ava hoped Adam simply needed to reload his supply of Glenfiddich before their departure. She'd noticed there was less than half a bottle remaining.

"Ava, I'd rather not say; a guy has to have his secrets. But trust me, it's nothing for anybody to lose their head over."

It was well past noon when Ava spotted Adam exiting a cab on the Old Town waterfront. Waiting for him and wondering what the frig he'd been up to all morning had been bugging Ava horribly. He'd been gone for hours. It had helped somewhat when Inspector Guma, and then Aaron, had shown up, but she was certain they noticed her distress.

Finally seeing Adam provided huge relief, but Ava could feel that relief quickly transforming to ire. What the heck had he been doing? Why all the secrecy? Not over a Glenfiddich run, certainly. Ava began to wonder whether there was somebody in town to whom he'd needed to bid a special farewell; after all, he probably hadn't been a monk these past two years.

"Guma, good to see you," Adam said as he came aboard. He was carrying two medium-sized packages. "Hello, Aaron," Adam nodded, "nice of you to personally see us off."

"I would not miss it for anything, Adam."

Ava said, "I'll get you a drink. Shall I take those things below?"

"No, that's okay, I got it. Anybody need a refill?"

They all sat in Vendetta's cockpit and discussed events in Yemen and other countries in the region, and where Adam and Ava planned to go next.

Ava was still somewhat perturbed with Adam but she was able to be sociable, she said, "We know a nice couple who are sailing in the Greek Isles; maybe we'll meet up with them. On the way, I think a stop in Egypt would be in order. And I also think we'll need to check out, first hand, what's taking place in Syria; the world needs to be kept aware."

"Huh? Egypt? Syria?" Adam said. "I didn't get the memo on that one. But hey, you know me: Always open to suggestions and... compromise."

"And, I believe that may be my cue, my good friends," Inspector Guma announced. "It is time I resume my duties; help keep the opponents separated until the next round. First on my agenda is pinching that blighter, Ali Khan, along with Zalmay's brothers."

Guma shot glances at Adam and Aaron. But they'd plastered 'plausible deniability' masks on their faces and avoided eye contact. Ava was completely comfortable exercising professional discretion. Guma smoothed his mustache to hide a wry grin, he said, "Dreadful pity if they've managed to show us their heels, eh?"

They bid their farewells and then Guma and Aaron stood on the pier and watched as Adam backed Vendetta out of the slip. Ava was standing on the fore-deck.

As Vendetta eased clear of the slip and Adam was about to maneuver her bow into the south, Aaron Abel called out, "Au revoir, Adam East." He smiled broadly, then immediately put his fingers to his mouth in pain. He blew a kiss to Ava, "A bien tot, darling."

Vendetta's stern almost plowed into a derelict sambuq before Adam recovered and shoved her into all-ahead-full. He offered Aaron a so-long-nice-to-know-ya salute as Vendetta's bow barely skimmed past the edge of the slip.

Ava giggled, said, "Goodbye, Aaron. I'll keep you in-the-loop. And don't forget, you owe me a Niagara story from nineteen-fifty-three. Goodbye, Inspector. I love you both." She blew them kisses.

Aaron called back, "Yes, sweetie, we'll have dinner again. Adam! You are definitely invited as well."

Adam lifted his chin at Aaron, shouted, "I'll make a note."

Ava laughed, saying, "Sailor, 'I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship'."