Deep Blue (The Mermaid Chronicles Book 1) by J Turbett

home.
                  "The Bailey girl, she here?"
                  "Yep. She moved out to the wall ‘bout, oh...an hour ago?" the barkeeper replied, gesturing.
                  "How much has she had?"
                  "Oh...three martinis, maybe four shots of Jack, and two grogs." He reached up and sheepishly scratched his head. "Seppo can really drink, doc."
                  "She all paid?"
                  "Nah, she's got a tab open."
                  "Here." Adam handed the bartender his credit card.
                  "Awfully nice of you, doc," said the bartender as he ran the card through the machine, then handed it back. Adam took a deep breath, then headed toward her table.
                  Alice didn't know where the time had gone; her brain was completely fuzzy when she looked up into Adam's face. She was on the concrete wall behind the bar. She had been watching the ocean, or the stars, or something; she didn't really remember. All she knew was that no one had bothered her – until now. Adam loomed above her, staring at her, probably trying to gauge just how drunk she was. Alice was wasted and didn’t rightly care.
                  "Hi," he said.
                  "The fuck you want?" she demanded with a slur, trying to sit up and almost falling over the edge. He grabbed her arm and, supporting her, lifted her off the wall and positioned her so she sat facing him. He was doing something, touching her face, looking at her pupils; it was uncomfortable and she didn't like it. A shock ran through her body, making him jump a little.
                  "Hell of a day?" he asked. He was putting her arm around his shoulders. His arm snaked around her waist, lifting her. She thought about struggling, but she probably couldn't have walked right then anyway. 
                  "Your stupid town sucks!" she answered. She sent another jolt of electricity through his arm. It didn’t hurt; he knew she could do worse if she weren't so intoxicated. He smiled that good-natured, winning smile, though this one was a bit strained.
                  "Come on, you don't need to be here."
                  "You wanna take me to some cozy lil alley?" She demanded defensively, or as defensively as she could, drunk as she was.
                  "No," he said seriously, "I need to get you away from people.
                  She looked him up and down suspiciously. She didn't look good. She bent forward and in the next moment, she was vomiting. He stood over her, supporting her; trying to keep her hair out of the way.
                  "Come on, Miss Martini," he helped her out of the bar. “Clean-up out there,” he called to the bartender apologetically, who nodded as he watched them leave with relief.
    Adam kept walking as Alice sent dull shock after dull shock through his body. He moved her down toward the marina where his boat was moored. It was a decent-sized sailing yacht that could function with or without the sails. He laid her on her side in the bunk with a bucket next to her, and then went out to call her parents.
                  "Hello?" Sarah picked up the phone.
                  "Hi, it's Adam Carson."
                  "Are you okay, Adam? You sound out of breath."
                  "Alice had a little too much to drink tonight, so I wanted to let you know that she can't make it home, but she's safe." There was silence on the other end. Then he heard a sigh.
                  "Thank you for taking care of her."
                  "It's no problem." They hung up and he went back to the boat and got underway. He hadn't been honest with her mother. Surely her mother assumed Alice was safe on Adam's couch, not sailing out to sea. A drunken person on a boat wasn't usually