“A different kind of bad news. I have to deliver this injunction to you. It’s a freeze on the Dragonfly. Because it’s an asset of which the ownership is now in dispute, it’s being impounded.”

Allie dropped her bags of ice with a thud. She’d expected something, but not something this fast or this extreme.

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“If it were a car, it would be towed to an impound lot until ownership could be determined. But that’s kind of hard to do with a boat. So this order specifies that the Dragonfly can’t leave her slip.”

She could feel the blood draining from her face. “I have charters all week!”

“I know, Allie. I hope you realize I had nothing to do with this. I’m just doing my job.”

“Oh, Thom, I don’t blame you. It’s that jerk lawyer, Cooper Remington. Do I have to vacate the boat?” That was a frightening thought. A tiny berth on the Dragonfly wasn’t much, but it was the only home she had. She didn’t have enough ready assets in her personal account for even a month’s rent for an efficiency apartment.

“No mention of that. In some cases like this, they would put a locking device on the boat’s ignition so the engines couldn’t even be started. But I don’t think Judge Isaacs was willing to go for anything like that. He knows if there’s a court order, you’ll obey it.”

“Of course I will, but why did they do this? I understand they want to get their hands on my boat, but what would it hurt if I kept working while this gets sorted out?”

Thom shrugged. “I haven’t met the guy, so I don’t know.” He held out the court order. She took it and shoved it into her straw tote bag without reading it.

“I’m really sorry,” Thom said. “If there’s anything I can do…”

“That’s really nice of you to offer.” She noticed then that the Princess II-Jane and Scott’s boat next door-looked as if it had been closed up tight. “What happened to the Simones?” she asked. “They were here Friday. I thought they were staying through this week.”