Losing Control

Chapter 6

Once they were buckled in Kiraz grabbed hold of Ebru's hand and towed her through to the cabin of the boat to show her around. Eda handed a life jacket to Emir and one to Defne, "You don't have to put them on now but if we hit rough water we will all put them on."

Defne still stared at her and finally blurted out, "This is your boat? It's huge."

Eda chuckled, "It is rather a floating house isn't it? Ayfer if you can let the mooring lines free we can be under way."

Emir eagerly followed Ayfer to the front and watched how she took off the dock lines. Under her watchful eye, he cast off the rear lines and Eda idled away from the dock. Her hope right now was that none of them suffered from seasickness. An hour later it was clear that none of them were stricken with that malady as they motored close to the coast. They stopped at a dock to purchase some corn, chestnuts and fried fish before heading back out to sea.

Serkan had been putting in some long hours and thought that today he could knock off work a little early and spend some time with the children. Ever since Ayfer arrived they had been less standoffish. He was never winning brother of the year in their eyes but at least he was making some progress. They no longer left the room the moment that he walked into it in the evening. Maybe they would enjoy swimming with him this afternoon.

He arrived home to an empty house. There were half-completed projects but no children and no Ayfer. He looked for a note and found nothing. Serkan was beginning to get a little worried but realized that he could just call Ayfer. When she answered it was difficult to hear her with the wind and water noise, "Ayfer? Was there a problem with one of the kids?"

"No," she laughed, "My niece offered to take us on an outing. She just finished a long case and had some free time. The children are all fine and we'll be home in about an hour."

Serkan was puzzled, "What kind of an outing? I hear waves, water and maybe a boat engine?"

"Yes, we are out on Eda's floating money pit as she calls it. She wanted to take it out once more before she put it on the market."

"You're on a boat?" he was picturing a small boat, maybe a fifteen footer, out on the Bosphorus. "What's the name of this boat? What marina?"

Ayfer knew where his thoughts were going, "Please don't worry, Eda is a very good pilot and it isn't a small boat. It's a forty-four foot cabin cruiser named the Star Chaser. She keeps it at the marina by the castle, just down the street from the house."

Serkan was writing this information down as she gave it to him, "Serkan, I would never jeopardize the children," admonished Ayfer, "We'll be home in an hour. The children have enjoyed themselves immensely." She had taken quite a few pictures during the day and sent a few to him after she hung up.

He thumbed through the pictures that Ayfer had sent him. She was right, they looked like they were having fun. He gave a small laugh at the picture of Emir piloting the boat, the woman standing behind him coaching him must be the niece. There were no pictures of her directly, he only got impressions of long wavy brunette hair and a set of very nice legs. Serkan had no idea of how old the woman was, she could be anywhere from twenty-one to forty. He would wait until they got home and see if they would give more information. He headed to his office to work to bide the time.

Eda looked at Ayfer, "I hope that I didn't get you in trouble."

"Please Eda, the children had fun, all of them. Even Ebru laughed, we all heard her, Kiraz is good for her, this outing was good for her. It was good for all of them."

Defne looked at Eda with scared eyes, "Did we get Ayfer in trouble?"

She put her arm around the teen, "No, Ayfer isn't in trouble. I think that your brother was just concerned when you weren't home."