"All set?" Beau was standing beside her, the gasoline can in his hand and a handkerchief tied over his nose and mouth.

She punctured the last two bags, dropped the pocketknife on the pile and very carefully got to her feet. "All set."

"Outside," Beau ordered, turning her around and giving her a push toward the door. "Ill be with you in a minute." Then he was pouring the gasoline over the piles of coke.

She took a few automatic steps toward the door before she stopped short. What was she doing? This was her job," not Beau Lantry's. She turned back and saw Beau throw the gasoline can down, scoop up the burning torch from the floor, step back and hurl it on the pile of coke. It burst into flame! Beau wheeled and dashed for the door, his arm encircling her as he passed, carrying her with him. "I told you to get out of here," he growled with barely restrained exasperation. "Why the hell didn't you?"

"The whole thing was my idea. I couldn't leave you alone to do my job."

"Couldn't you?" There was an odd searching flicker in his eyes as he paused a few yards outside the door to remove her mask and then his own. "No, I don't think you could, Kate."

He was gazing at her so intently she felt a tinge of uneasiness. "Hadn't we better get away from here before the building goes up? It's bound to bring the rest of Despard's men on the run."

He looked away. "You're right." His hand was beneath her elbow guiding her away from the warehouse. "Let's go."

The warm humid air was striking her face like a smothering wet rag. She'd hoped it would help clear the mist that was interfering with her thought processes but it only seemed to increase the heavy lethargy she was experiencing. "What did you say the name of your ship is?"

"The Searcher." His eyes were once more narrowed keenly on her face. "It shouldn't take long to get to the docks from here, should it?"

"No, not very long," she said vaguely. "Searcher is an odd name for a ship. Most of them are named after women. No one seems to know why." She sounded very coherent, she thought proudly. "Most authorities think it became a tradition when the ancient Greek sailors honored the Goddess Athena."

"I hope I haven't offended your women's lib sensibilities," he drawled. "After all, it's a unisex name."

"Women's lib? What's that?"

He started to smile but it faded into incredulity. She wasn't joking; she actually didn't know. "I'll explain it to you later," he said slowly. Then his mischievous grin lit the lean darkness of his face. "Or then again maybe I won't!"

"Good heavens, it's enormous." Kate's eyes widened in disbelief, her gaze on the three-masted schooner berthed at the dock. "I saw a windjammer cruise ship docked in St. Thomas once and this is almost as large as that."

"I like to be comfortable," Beau said easily. "And I have guests occasionally."

"You must be very rich," Kate said soberly. "It's a beautiful ship, Beau."

"Stinking rich," he said inelegantly. "And I told you in the bar I'd be more than generous with you. You won't have to worry."

"I'm not worried." She glanced away so he wouldn't see how much his words had hurt. "You've been very generous already. If you'll just get Jeffrey away from Castellano, I promise I won't ask for anything else."

His hand was beneath her elbow helping her up the gangplank with a protectiveness that was very comforting. Now that she thought about it, that concern had been in evidence during the entire trip back to the ship from the warehouse. The walk had been made in almost total silence, but Beau's hand had been there to support her at every curb or sudden roughness in the cobblestone street. That instinctive care was yet another anomaly in the complexity of his personality.

"You may change your mind later," he said cynically. "I won't hold you to it. I'm used to paying for what I want. However, I'll see that you get that first installment right away." He gestured toward the man who was strolling lazily along the deck toward them. "Or, I should say, Daniel will. Daniel is very experienced in getting things done, aren't you, Daniel?"

"Very," the big man agreed amiably. "I know all the best ways of making bail, of finding the nearest emergency clinic in every port in the Caribbean, not to mention my talent for bribing or soothing irate fathers, brothers, and sundry municipal officials. What would you do without me, Beau?"

"He's also captain of the Searcher in his spare time," Beau said with a grin. "Sometimes he forgets to mention that. Daniel Seifert, Kate Gilbert. Kate's going to be with us for a while."

Daniel Seifert enclosed her hand in a gigantic paw with surprising gentleness. He was somewhere in his middle thirties and almost as large and brawny as Julio. There the resemblance ended. His trendily cut auburn hair, snapping dark blue eyes and trim auburn beard gave him an attractiveness that had a much more virile impact than Julio's dark good looks.

"I approve of you far more than I did the earlier arrivals," he said, his dark eyes twinkling. "We have enough men on this ship."

"Julio and Jeffrey arrived safely?" Kate asked, relieved.

Seifert nodded. "About an hour and a half ago. I quartered them with the crew." He lifted an inquiring brow at Beau. "Is that okay?"

"For now," Beau said with a shrug. "Are we ready to get under way?"

"As you command." Daniel's mocking smile was a white slash in his bearded face. "Would I dare disobey?"

Beau snorted. "You'd dare do anything, if it pleased you." His glance fell to the captain's huge hand still clasping Kate's. "Are you going to let her have her hand back or are you hoping to form a permanent attachment?"

"The idea has definite merit." Seifert released her hand reluctantly. "I suppose you've already established a prior claim though."

"Definitely." The single word was crisp and incisive.

"Then I gather the guest cabin I had readied won't be needed," Seifert said lightly. "What a pity."

"I have to see Julio and Jeffrey and tell them I'm on board and safe," Kate said, biting her lip worriedly. "Julio won't be able to rest until I do."

Beau shook his head. "Not tonight. You can see them tomorrow morning." He turned to the captain. "I'm taking her to my cabin. Drop in and let Rodriguez know she's safe, will you?"

Seifert nodded. "Right away. I suppose it would be rudely inquisitive of me to ask what she's safe from?"

"I'll tell you later." Beau's hand on her elbow was propelling her forward. "You'll be sorry you missed it."

"Possibly," the captain drawled. "Your companions in deviltry aren't generally as charming as Miss Gilbert." He watched Beau open the door to the passage to the lower deck. "But haven't you forgotten something?"

Beau glanced over his shoulder impatiently.

"What?" "Where am I to get under way for? Trinidad?" Beau shrugged. "Just get out of Costellano territorial waters PDQ. We'll decide our destination tomorrow."

Three

The master cabin was surprisingly large and luxurious for a sailing vessel. The bunk against the far wall was oversized and covered with a denim spread in a cheerful melon color that contrasted with the rich oak of the walls and the brown and beige tweed of the carpet. The built-in bookcase was enclosed with doors that were carved with a fretted openwork design that gave the modern room a pleasing touch of Mediterranean opulence.

"This is very nice," Kate said, her gaze lingering on the bookcase. "I can see what you mean by being comfortable." All those lovely books. The doors offered tempting glimpses of everything from leather-bound weighty-looking tomes to bright slick jacketed novels. What wouldn't she give for a week with that bookcase.

Then with a little sense of shock she realized she might very well have that week. That was why she was in this cabin. To make herself available to Beau Lantry in that bunk she'd been admiring so impersonally. Tonight. He'd said he wanted to consummate their bargain as soon as possible and brought her to his cabin for that purpose. Why wasn't she more nervous at the thought of that consummation with this total stranger? The only thing she seemed capable of feeling was this chilling weariness and lethargy that seemed to be seeping into every bone.

"I'm glad you like it," Beau said crisply. With his hand beneath her elbow, he steered her across the room toward the bed. "Since you'll be spending a good deal of time here in the future. Sit down." He gave her a nudge that reinforced the invitation that was more of a command and she found herself sitting on the edge of the bunk and gazing up at him wearily. His hands were on the buttons of her chambray shirt and he had three of them unbuttoned before she fully realized what he was doing. So soon? Evidently he was too impatient to wait any longer for his payment.

She looked up into his intent face bent close to her own. She didn't try to interfere with his deft disrobing of her. He was perfectly entitled to claim his rights to her body at any time he chose, she thought tiredly. She just wished he'd given her a chance to rest a little first. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a shower before we do it," she said quietly. "It's been quite an evening in a number of ways."

His eyes flew up to meet her eyes and she saw a flicker of surprise in their depths. "Do 'it'?" There was a thread of barely repressed anger in his voice. "What the hell kind of men have you been sleeping with, for Lord's sake? Do they all jump your bones when you're so tired and hurt you're practically ready to pass out?"