“Because all of a sudden you're Mister Huggy Bear. It's very weird.”

“Come on, Underwood, can't a dude say he's sorry and be real? What's the problem?”

Bull was getting frustrated, and I didn't want to push him too far. “Okay, we're cool,” I said. “You say you're sorry, I believe you.”

“Excellent.”

“Well, I don't believe you,” Abbey cut in. “Either you're faking it, or you've had a total personality transplant.”

Bull's long, dull face pinched in confusion. “Whaddya mean by that? What kind a ‘transplant' you say?”

“Never mind,” I said. “What about Jasper Jr.?”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. He's sorry, too.”

“Really? Then where is he?”

Bull hitched his shoulders. Dark half-moons of sweat had appeared in the armpits of his faded Harley-Davidson T-shirt.

“He couldn't come, but he wanted me to tell you it won't never happen again,” Bull said. “We won't beat on you no more.”

“That's nice. Next you'll be sending me flowers.” Naturally, Bull didn't catch on that I was being sarcastic.

“I'd really like to hear Jasper Jr.'s apology in person,” I said.

“Fat chance,” mumbled my sister. She picked up the grocery bag and lugged it inside the house.

Bull just stood there, sweating through his shirt and staring down at his enormous bare feet. It sounds strange, but I felt sort of sorry for the guy. He'd quit school and left the Keys to be a big baseball star, but here he was back on the rock, bagging groceries and hanging out with losers like Jasper Jr.

“Come on, man. Tell the truth,” I said, though it wasn't in Bull's nature.

He looked up slowly. “Underwood, who's the freaky old man? The guy in the woods?”

“Just a friend,” I said, thinking: a friend and total stranger.

“Where'd he get that wicked-bad scar on his face?”

“He doesn't talk about it,” I said, hoping that Bull would think I was tight with the pirate guy.

“Thing is,” Bull said, “he told me and Jasper to… well-”

“What?”

“He told us to tell you we was sorry for what we done to you and your little sister. He was real clear on that,” Bull said. “But when it come time, Jasper just flat wouldn't do it. He said he didn't care what some crazy old bush rat told him.”

“What else did the old man in the woods say?” I asked.

Bull turned and checked over his shoulder, his eyes moving up and down the street. “He said not to screw up again. He said he'll be hangin' close, and don't never forget it.”

Bull's visit finally made sense. He'd come to apologize because he was terrified not to.

“You'll tell him, won't you, Underwood? Tell him I stopped over and said I was sorry. When you see him again, I mean.”

“Sure, Bull. When I see him again.”

Though I wondered if I ever would.

After lunch my sister and I headed for Shelly's place to deliver the food dye and review our plan. Even though she came to the door wearing the nappy pink robe and carrying a plastic razor, we could tell that she was in better shape than the day before.

She waved us inside and cheerfully resumed shaving her legs at the kitchen sink, a procedure I'd never witnessed so up close and personal. The way Shelly did it wasn't quite as glamorous as in the TV commercials. Whenever she nicked herself, she'd cuss like a biker and wipe away the blood with her pinkie. Abbey watched in fascination but I felt kind of weird, so I turned away and pretended to be enchanted by the scummy aquarium. I could hear the razor blade scraping across Shelly's skin as she said, “So-we're good to go?”

“What about Billy Babcock?” I asked.

“Don't worry, I got that all figured out.”

But I was worried.

If Billy was at the Coast Guard station when the sewage spill was reported, he'd tip off Dusty Muleman right away. It wouldn't take long for Dusty's crew to unhitch the Coral Queen and take her offshore, where they could flush the holding tank until there was no trace of our dye-and no way to connect Dusty to the crime.

“Ever since he heard Lice was gone, Billy's been spendin' lots of time at my bar,” Shelly said, “leaving ten-dollar tips on ten-dollar tabs.”

“Did he ask you out?” Abbey said.

“Only about two or three times a night.” Shelly tossed the plastic razor into a trash basket, poured herself a cup of coffee, and sat down at the dinette.

“I'll handle Billy Babcock,” she said with a confident smile. “Now lemme see what you got.”

Abbey gave her the grocery bag containing the bottles of coloring gel. Shelly peeked inside and said, “Those are puny little suckers. Sure that'll do the job?”

“Well, it's concentrated-” I started to explain.

“I know it's concentrated, Noah. I've baked a few treats in my time.”

Abbey told her that we'd bought out the store. “Thirty-four bottles. Is that okay?”

“No problem,” Shelly said. “I've got a purse big enough to carry a Honda Civic.” She held up one of the bottles. “Ever use this stuff before?”

Abbey and I shook our heads.

“Well, it doesn't pour out like water. It's more gooey, like sunblock, so you've really gotta squeeze,” Shelly said, demonstrating on a capped container. “Thirty-four bottles, that's gonna take some time.”

I hadn't thought about that when we'd picked out the gel. Neither had Abbey.

“See, it's just me working solo behind the bar,” said Shelly, “and Dusty doesn't like his customers to go thirsty. I only get two fifteen-minute potty breaks every night, which ain't nearly enough time to flush all this stuff.”

“Does that mean you can't help us?” I asked.

“Now don't get your shorts in a knot,” she said. “I'll tell Dusty I got sick off the shrimp salad-what's he gonna do, make me go in a bucket?”

“Isn't there a head near the bar?” I asked.

Abbey poked me. “A what?”

“A toilet,” I explained. “On ships they're called heads.”

Shelly told us that the Coral Queen had three sets. “One fore, one aft, and one up in the wheelhouse, which is out of the question. It's only for the casino manager and the crew.”

“But aren't you part of the crew?” Abbey said.

“No, sweetie, I'm a bartender. They make me tinkle with the civilians.”

The more I heard, the more worried I got. The longer that Shelly was away from the bar, the greater the risk that Dusty or one of his goons would go searching for her. Other things could go wrong, too. What if the toilet she was using malfunctioned, or got clogged?

I decided on a slight change of plan.

“You'll need some backup on board,” I said. “I'll take half the dye and flush it from a different head.”

Shelly tossed her head. “Oh no you don't, James Bond Jr. It's too hairy.”

“Just find me a place to hide. There's got to be somewhere safe.”

“Hello? What about me?” Abbey interjected.

Together Shelly and I turned and said: “No way!”

“You don't bring me along, I'll rat you out to Dad and Mom,” my sister declared. “I swear to God, Noah.”

She wasn't joking, either. The veins in her scrawny neck were popping out, she was so ticked off.

“You couldn't do this without me,” she said. “If it wasn't for my fifty-one bucks, you wouldn't have enough dye to color a birdbath!”

I couldn't argue with that.

“This is gettin' way too complicated,” Shelly said, slurping at her coffee.

“Look, we're only going to get one chance at Dusty,” I said, “so we'd better do it right.”

Shelly shot me a doubtful look. “If you two brats get caught-”

“We won't,” Abbey cut in.

“But if you do-”

“We'll never mention your name,” I said. “That's a promise.”

“Double promise,” said Abbey.

Shelly sighed. “I must be outta my mind.”

It was almost five-thirty when Mr. Shine dropped off my parents at the house.