Blue Velvet

Seven

The Cessna was safe. She hadn't really thought Despard's men would discover it. Tucked under a green-and-beige camouflage tarpaulin at the edge of the glade, it would have blended perfectly into the landscape from the air. The only way it could have been found was a ground search through the rain forest and Despard's city-bred men weren't equipped for that type of physical undertaking. Still, it was a relief to be sure. She gauged the tires to be certain they hadn't lost any air and was just straightening the tarpaulin back over the wings when she heard a cheerful voice behind her. "We both had the same idea. Is it ready to go?" She whirled to face him. "Julio! What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you until at least late this afternoon."

He shrugged. "Consuello wanted to go into Mariba last night instead of this morning to taste the delights of the sinful city." His dark eyes twinkled. "I tried to convince her that tasting the delights of my gorgeous body would do as well but she insisted she wanted both. A very greedy senora." He moved forward to help her with the tarpaulin. "So we stayed at a hotel near the waterfront and I drifted around to a few bars and kept my ears open. I borrowed her brother's motorcycle to get here after I left Consuello back at her cottage."

"And?"

"The Searcher has been impounded. It's been docked at the pier and has a two-man guard."

"And the crew?"

"Seifert and the crew are being held under house arrest at the Black Dragon Inn." Julio's lips twisted. "Very liberal house arrest from what I hear. The authorities aren't taking any chances of offending the Lantry conglomerate even to please Despard. They've been offered both the best Jamaican rum and a few of Alvarez's most talented girls to warm their beds. The authorities are obviously trying to make their time in Castellano as painless as possible. The word is that it may be a long stay."

"Why?"

"Despard is raging like a wild bull; everyone in Mariba has heard about you destroying the coke." He shook his head. "Despard doesn't like losing money and he likes being laughed at even less. Using a little muscle to keep Seifert on ice for a while will help him save face."

Kate bit her lip. "How long?"

Julio shrugged again. "Who knows?" His big hand fell comfortingly on her shoulder. "Don't look so troubled. I told you they're giving them everything they could want or need."

"Everything but their freedom," Kate said soberly. For Daniel that reservation would far outweigh any possible indulgence the authorities would offer him. After his experience in Sedikhan even the lightest confinement would grate unbearably on his nerves. "It's not right they should have to suffer for helping us."

Julio stiffened. "It's not as if they're torturing them with cattle prods, Kate," he said. "And there's not much we can do. There are two armed guards in the hall outside their bedrooms."

"You seem very well informed," Kate said with a grin. "All this you picked up in a bar?"

"I made it my business to be very thorough," Julio replied. "I knew I'd have to have ammunition to convince you how crazy it would be to try to do anything. I know you, Kate."

"Two men in the hallway?" Kate asked, frowning.

Julio nodded. "And even if you could find a way of getting the crew out of the inn, there's no way you could get them here to the plane without being recaptured."

"No, we wouldn't be able to get them to the plane," she agreed absently. "We'd have to take the ship."

He closed his eyes. "Madre de Dios, why didn't I realize you'd think of that?" His lids flicked open and he shook his head. "Kate, you can't just hijack a ship and sail it out of the harbor without expecting fireworks from the authorities. You'd never make it out of Castellano territorial waters and they'd charge you with piracy as well as whatever else they've rigged up against you."

"If I'm caught it won't be any worse for me," she said somberly. "You've heard how they treat women prisoners here."

"Which is why you shouldn't risk getting caught. Look, Kate, why don't we just fly Lantry to Santa Isabella and let him use the pressure of his company to get Seifert and his men released?"

Kate shook her head. "No telling how long that would take. I can't let them stay in Mariba if there's any chance of getting them out. They're my responsibility now."

"You can't shoulder the problems of the whole world, Kate." Julio's dark eyes were gentle. "You've got to pick and choose. If we go after Seifert and his crew, we'll have to leave the Cessna. Is rescuing Seifert and the crew more important than giving Jeffrey his new start?"

"No, of course not," Kate said quickly. "We'll just have to find a way of doing both."

He was gazing at her with exasperation mixed with resignation. "What could be simpler?" he asked caustically. "Are we also going to find another cocaine cache for you to burn up if you get bored?"

She frowned at him impatiently. "Don't joke, Julio. This is a very serious problem. "

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," he said. "Too serious and too dangerous for us to make the attempt."

She moistened her lips nervously. Julio wasn't going to like this. "Well, actually I thought it would be better to divide up." She held up her hand to stop the protest that was sure to come. "It's the only sensible thing to do, Julio. I'll go to Mariba and work on getting the captain and the crew away from Castellano and you can fly Beau to Santa Isabella and deliver the plane to Jeffrey."

"No," Julio said flatly. "I'm not letting you go to Mariba alone."

"You've got to," Kate said persuasively. "It won't be all that dangerous." She ignored his snort of disbelief and hurried on. "I'll go to Consuello and ask to borrow her brother's motorcycle." She bit her lip thoughtfully. "In a loose jacket and that visored helmet I'll be almost unrecognizable."

"And the guards?" Julio asked. "Are you going to just snap your fingers and make them disappear?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it. Anyway, after I've released Captain Seifert I'll have him to help me hijack the ship," she said with a grin. "I have an idea he'll be very good at piracy. I can almost see him with an eye patch and a curved scimitar clenched in his teeth."

"If it gets that far," Julio said. "The odds are ninety-nine to one that it won't. I can't let you do it, Kate."

Her smile faded. "You have no choice, Julio," she said quietly. "It's going to be just the way I said. It's the only way we can help the crew and Jeffrey."

"No," Julio said firmly.

"Yes," Kate said just as insistently. "If you won't do it for any other reason consider it as payment of a debt." She paused deliberately. "El Salvador, Julio."

"Kate, don't do it." His voice was almost pleading. "Don't make me let you do this."

The battle was won. It was there in his face. She only wished she'd been able to convince him some other way. She smiled with an effort. "Don't worry. Everything is going to work out."

"Is it? I wish I could be as sure. You're going to do it tonight, then?"

She nodded. "There's no use waiting. I may even be able to catch them by surprise."

Julio's curse was very explicit Spanish and rampant with annoyance. "You speak as if you were a commando troop, not one lone woman. This is crazy. I'm crazy for letting you do it."

"Let?" Her tone was teasing. "I thought I'd weaned you away from that type of arrogance." His worried frown didn't lighten and she felt a pang of remorse. This was as difficult for her old friend to accept as it would be for her under the same circumstances. "Look, if it will make you feel any better, you can wait until tonight to fly Beau and the plane to Santa Isabella. Once we're on board the Searcher and out to sea I'll use the ship's radio to let you know we're safe."

"Safe! You mean until the Guardia Costa-"

"Maybe that won't happen," she interrupted. Now where did you leave Manuel's motorcycle?"

"At the edge of the forest, about a half-mile from the road that leads to Consuello's village," Julio told her reluctantly. "At least ask Consuello for any help it's possible for her to give you. She's always liked you."

"As long as it doesn't put her in any danger," Kate agreed. She hesitated. "You'd better wait here until almost sundown before going back to the tree house to pick up Beau and bring him to the plane." Her shoulders moved uneasily. "He might be a little difficult about this."

Because he is a man with all his senses intact," Julio answered caustically. "You wouldn't be able to blackmail him into giving in to this craziness. He doesn't owe you any debts to be called in."

No, it was she who still owed a debt to Beau. A debt he wouldn't let her pay now. He was more:inclined to adopt her than make her his mistress at the moment, she thought bitterly. Who would have believed the cynical Beau Lantry she'd met at Alvarez's bar would react like that? Well, if she could free his crew and give him back his ship, it would be a little compensation toward the debt she owed him before she disappeared from his life.

Sundown," she repeated. "By that time he'll have realized it will be too late to stop me. Tell him HI see him on Santa Isabella."

Julio's eyes were narrowed on her face. "And will you?"

Where else would I go?" she asked evasively. Anywhere to escape Beau's pity and generosity. Loving him as she did it would kill her not to meet him on equal terms.

"Kate…"

She turned away. "I've got to get going." She impulsively turned back and stood on tiptoe to brush her lips on his cheek. "Take care, Julio."

"Me take care?" he asked gruffly. He took her hand in his and fell into step with her. "And you're not getting rid of me so quickly. I'll walk you back to the motorcycle. I left a bundle of clothes I borrowed from Manuel for Lantry tied to the seat." He made a face as he glanced down at the short-sleeved blue shirt he'd had to leave open almost to the waist to accommodate his brawny chest. "I hope they fit him better than they do me."

"I'll be glad of the company," she said with an affectionate smile. They'd traveled so many roads together. It hurt to think this might be the last one for a while. Her hand tightened on Julio's. "By the way, when you leave Castellano, will you take my carousel music box with you?" She laughed a little shakily. "I don't really mind leaving anything else but I'd like to make sure that's safe. You won't forget?"

He shook his head. "I'll remember." He cleared his throat. "I'll deliver it safe and sound to you on Santa Isabella."

Her eyes avoided his as her pace unconsciously quickened. "Yes, you do that," she said lightly. "On Santa Isabella."

As Julio leisurely climbed the ladder to the tree house the rays of the setting sun threw the figure of the man sitting on the platform above him into shadowy silhouette. It was just as well it was twilight, Julio thought. There was something so tense and intimidating about Lantry's immobile form that he had no wish to see that menace any more clearly.

"Where is she?" Lantry's voice was clipped and harsh as Julio swung up on the platform. Now that he was closer he could see the expression on Lantry's face was just as set and harsh.

"Safe," Julio said briefly. Madre de Dios, he hoped that was true. He tossed the bundle he was carrying down in front of Lantry. "I borrowed you a change of clothes." He eyed the bare chest of the man in front of him. "They may not fit very well but they'll keep the mosquitoes from eating you alive."

"Where is she?" Beau repeated. The first overpowering relief at the knowledge that Kate was safe was banished by anger. If he had her here he'd shake the living daylights out of her as if she were a beloved but unthinking child who'd stayed away from home too long. Beloved. Yes, she was beloved. The hours he'd spent worrying and agonizing since Kate had disappeared into the forest had made that fact very clear to him. He'd known before, almost from the beginning, but that knowledge had been honed and sharpened by anxiety until it had cut through all the nonessentials. Damn it, she said the plane was only a short distance from here and she's been gone all day." He was thrusting his arms into an aqua-and-cream flowered shirt with jerky motions. "Didn't it ever occur to her that I might have been a little concerned?" His tone was uneven as he buttoned up the gaudy shirt and shoved the tail into his Levi's shorts. "Of course, there was no reason for me to worry. Only Despard and the police and the Lord know what animals and insects there are in this blasted forest. By the way, are there any tarantulas in this tropical Garden of Eden?" Of all the horrors he'd imagined through the long hours of waiting, the thought of that hairy poisonous monstrosity crawling on Kate's satin skin had been most prevalent.

"I've never seen one," Julio answered cautiously. And Kate's never mentioned them."

That doesn't surprise me." The beat-up sandals in the bundle were a little small but beggars couldn't be choosers, Beau told himself. He looked up grimly from fastening the strap. "She tells me she's afraid of all kinds of things but she sure as hell doesn't act like it. Probably poisonous spiders are on the list of things she just blocks out of her mind."

"Maybe," Julio conceded. "Kate's had to do that pretty often over the years. It hasn't been easy for her."

Beau knew that and it filled him with an aching frustration and fury greater than any he'd ever known. Not even when he'd been in the throes of alcoholism had he felt so helpless. He wanted to give her so damn much and she wouldn't let him.

Hell, he'd probably have to make her his mistress before she'd even let him protect her from the insecurity of being without a country. Or he could marry her. He shrugged the tempting thought away in disgust. That's right, reach out and grab what you want. Don't give her a chance to slip away and fall into some other bastard's arms. Even if it's not fair to her, hold on tight and avoid the risk of having her make any comparisons after she's had a few of the advantages she's entitled to. She'd never had a fair shake from anyone else. Why should it start with him? "Well, where is our valiant little tigress now? Still at the plane?"

Julio shook his head, his expression distinctly uneasy. "Not exactly."

Beau went still. "Just what do you mean by 'not exactly'?" he asked with menacing softness.

"Well, not at all actually," Julio said uncomfortably. He released his breath explosively. "She's in

Mariba."

"Mariba." Beau felt his heart leap to his throat before an icy chill seemed to freeze the blood in his veins. "That's crazy. She couldn't be in Mariba."

"That's what I told her," Julio agreed ruefully.

"As you can see, it didn't do me any good. She's definitely in Mariba."

"Tell me," Beau demanded tersely. My God, Mariba!

Julio obediently related the results of his investigations of the previous night and his conversation with Kate that morning. He studiously avoided looking at Beau's steadily darkening face, but he was no more than half through with his narrative when the other began to swear softly and with great fluency. He finished hurriedly and as he expected at once received the full force of Lantry's anger.

"For God's sake, why didn't you stop her? You should have tied her to the nearest tree if nothing else. Do you want to see Despard get his hands on her?"

Julio flinched. "What do you think?" he asked fiercely. "I've known her far longer than you and we've been through more than you could ever dream. She probably saved my life in El Salvador. I told you why I let her go alone."

"Debts, bargains, all of this nobility crap," Beau said wearily. "Between us we'll be lucky if we don't get her killed. It's time we forgot everything but getting her off this damn island in one piece."

Julio's brow creased in a troubled frown. "But I promised-"

"But I didn't," Beau interrupted harshly. "And if you think I'm meekly going to let you fly me out of here and leave her in Mariba alone, you're as crazy as she is."

"I didn't think you would." There was a touch of complacent satisfaction in Julio's smile. "And I was careful to promise her only that I'd fly the plane to Santa Isabella, not you."

"Very wise, since you wouldn't have been able to keep that particular promise anyway," Beau said crisply. He rose lithely to his feet. "Now what do you say we make tracks for the Cessna?"

"We're going to wait there for her to radio us?"

"Hell, no. As soon as it gets dark you're going to fly me in as close to Mariba harbor as you can manage." His lips twisted. "I hope you're as good a pilot as Kate claims. I don't want you cracking up trying to get low enough for me to jump."

"You're going to jump into the sea and swim to shore?" Julio asked, his eyes widening.

"Unless you have a better idea. Believe me, I'd welcome any other suggestion. I've been in the water so much lately I'm starting to feel as if I'm growing gills."

Julio shook his head. "It's certainly the fastest way to get to Mariba. Probably the only one if you're going to get there in time to do Kate any good." He frowned. "But she's right, you know. If you go to the inn now, you could blunder in and upset any plan she might have for getting the crew away."

"If she has any plan," Beau said grimly. "In my experience of Kate, she operates ninety percent of the time on impulse power."

"You'd be surprised how often she comes through with flying colors though," Julio said with a grin. "Jeffrey has always said she's a natural."

There was no doubt that Kate was that. Naturally bright, naturally honest, naturally loving. The most beautifully straightforward person he'd ever known and certainly the most maddeningly infuriating one. "I won't go to the inn," he decided reluctantly. "I'll take a chance on Kate getting them away and see what I can do about the ship. Two guards, you say?"

Julio nodded. "That's what I heard."

"Let's hope you heard right. I wouldn't like to receive any unpleasant surprises." He looked ruefully down at the brilliantly flowered shirt he was wearing. "It's going to be hard enough trying to play Errol Flynn in this iridescent garb you've provided me with."

"Manuel likes color," Julio said absently. "God, I wish I could go with you!"

"Someone has to fly the plane and I don't think Kate would appreciate it if you kamikazed the Cessna."

"I guess not," Julio said as he opened the door of the tree house. "Ill be right with you. I promised to get something for Kate."

"The carousel?"

"It was the only thing she wanted."

"It means a lot to her," Beau said. "You go ahead, I'll bring it."

Julio hesitated a moment, his gaze on Beau's face before nodding slowly. "All right. I'll wait down below for you."

It was already dusk in the little room but Beau made his way with instinctive sureness to the rattan chest. A stray wavering ray of sunlight streamed into the dimness, lighting the music box with an elusive radiance. The proud arch of the unicorn's neck, the valiant boldness of the mythical centaur, the perky cheerfulness of the small spotted pony. There was so much of Kate embodied in the whimsical little music box. So much beauty, so much courage, so much…

He bent to pick up the music box with painstaking care, feeling his throat tighten painfully. The only treasure she'd wanted to take with her, Julio had said. Well, he wasn't about to let her take this particular treasure and leave him behind. She'd have to learn that wherever she went from now on he'd be beside her. To hell with being fair. He couldn't risk her putting herself into danger like this again. It was going to tear him apart to stand and wait for her to come to the Searcher. He'd give her until midnight but no later before he went to the inn. Then he'd be damned if he'd ever let her out of his sight again.

He tucked the music box beneath his arm and moved swiftly toward the door.