Four
Kate could feel her eyes sting and burn with unshed tears but she blinked them determinedly away. Jeffrey looked so lonely despite the jaunty set of his shoulders as he jumped lightly out of the dinghy and strode rapidly up the pier away from them. She waited until he'd rounded the corner at the end of the dock before she turned to Beau, who was standing beside her at the rail of the
'You were talking to him a long time on the way here,' Beau observed. 'Don't tell me you were trying to talk him out of his change of lifestyle?'
'Of course not,' Kate said, frowning. 'Mari-anna's a wonderful woman and she'll take terrific care of Jeffrey. He should have done this years ago.'
'Then what's the problem?'
'Jeffrey's always been so independent.' She bit her lip worriedly. 'He's not going to like feeling he's beholden to Marianna for an income.' Her chin squared determinedly. 'I'm going to have to do something about that.'
'Why do I suddenly have a nasty chill down my spine?' Beau asked warily. 'May I ask what you're intending to do?'
'I just can't let Jeffrey walk away without knowing he's going to be happy.' How was she going to convince Beau? She'd thought that once he'd met Jeffrey he'd be more sympathetic toward her old friend. Most people liked Jeffrey even if they didn't approve of him. Beau, however, had displayed a very puzzling coldness and resentment toward him. 'He's a very proud man.'
'And?'
'A year or so ago he was talking about opening an interisland charter service. It never came to anything, but it's really just the kind of thing Jeffrey would be good at. He's a very good pilot and can land on a dime in all kinds of rough country.'
'I can see where he'd gain a certain amount of expertise in that area,' Beau said with an ironic smile. 'What is all this leading up to?'
'Santa Isabella would be a perfect base of operations for a charter service. Besides the wealthy plantation owners there's a plush hotel and resort that opened recently on the other side of the island.' She rushed on. 'There's only one difficulty. We had to leave the Cessna on Castellano. I'll have to go back and get it.'
'What!'
Oh dear, his face was darkening more by the second. 'He needs the plane to start a charter service. I'll have to ferry it from Castellano to Marianna's coffee plantation.' She was speaking rapidly, careful not to look at him. 'It shouldn't take long. You can drop me off and then sail back here to Santa Isabella. As soon as I've delivered the plane, I'll come directly to the pier and you can send the dinghy for me.'
'Oh, I can?' Beau asked with deceptive calmness. 'You have it all planned out. I take it you can fly a plane and land it on a dime as well as Jeffrey can?'
'I'm pretty good,' she admitted. 'Not as good as he is, of course, but I've been flying since I was fourteen. Julio's only been flying for the last two years and he's amazingly competent for the number of hours he's logged,' she explained earnestly. 'Jeffrey never let us become involved in any of his jobs, but we sometimes had to ferry the Cessna from one place to another.'
'If he was often in the state he was in last night, I can see the reason why,' Beau said grimly.
'Jeffrey didn't use to drink like that,' Kate protested. 'It's only lately that he's been-'
'I couldn't care less about your friend's drinking habits.' Beau was holding on to his patience with no little effort. 'Nor Julio's dazzling expertise in the cockpit. I'm wholly concerned with this insanity of yours about going back to Castellano.'
'It's not insane, it's essential,' Kate said stubbornly. 'Jeffrey's going to need that plane and it's really my fault he doesn't have it. I should have thought of a way of getting us off the island in the Cessna to begin with.' She sighed. 'You're right, I'm too impulsive. I should have planned it all out ahead of time.'
'And this isn't impulsive?' Beau exploded, his eyes blazing. 'My Lord, you've just destroyed millions of dollars' worth of Despard's drugs in addition to bashing him on the head with a bourbon bottle. You say he's hand in glove with the government of Castellano, so if by any chance he doesn't get you, the authorities would be sure to. Yet you calmly tell me you're going to walk back there and retrieve a piece of misplaced property? You're damned right it's crazy!'
'Don't worry, I'm not going to involve you this time,' she said soothingly. 'All you have to do is drop me off in Castellano and then pick me up in Santa Isabella.' She met his eyes gravely. 'I'm not trying to back out of our agreement. I just have to do this first.'
'I'm well aware you'd probably cut your throat rather than break your promise,' he said through his teeth. 'And you don't need to worry about 'protecting' me. You may have this need to be a little mother to Brenden and the whole world, but just leave me out of it. I can take care of myself.' He drew a deep breath. 'And I can take care of you too. Since no one else seems capable of the job, I'm obviously elected. There's no way I'm going to take you back to Mariba. It would be sheer suicide to turn you loose on the streets.'
'It's not going to be all that dangerous,' she argued desperately. 'Look, I'm not asking you to sail right into Mariba harbor. The plane is hidden clear on the other side of the island. That side is almost uninhabited. It's all rain forest and a few fishing villages along the lagoon. We have the Cessna stashed and camouflaged in a glade in the forest.' She made a face. 'On an island like Castellano, it was best no one knew its location. It's right on the main drug routes and planes and yachts are prime hijack targets. We keep it gassed and ready to go, so I can be in the air in less than an hour after I hit the beach. It will all be perfectly safe.'
'If it's so perfectly safe, why don't we drop Julio off and let him ferry it?' Beau asked silkily. 'You've just been telling me what a hotshot pilot he is.'
Darn, she'd been afraid he'd ask that. 'Well, there's a slight possibility Despard may have ordered an island-wide search for the plane,' she admitted reluctantly. 'He's bound to have discovered who you are by now. There aren't that many Americans who dock at Mariba. He'll put two and two together and realize we left Castellano by ship. Which leaves a very valuable commodity in the form of the Cessna just sitting there unguarded.' She paused. 'If he can find it.'
'So you don't want to risk Julio but you're willing to put your own neck on the block.' His voice was rough with impatience. 'Do you have some kind of death wish or something?'
'This isn't Julio's responsibility,' she said stubbornly. 'It's mine. Jeffrey's my friend and he needs my help.' Her eyes met his steadily. 'He helped me when I needed him. I owe him.'
The anger faded from his face but the exasperation remained. 'A debt.' He muttered a very explicit curse. 'Why the hell did it have to be a debt?' He turned to the captain, who was leaning on the rail some distance down the deck talking casually to one of the seamen. 'Daniel,' he roared. 'As soon as that blasted dinghy gets back, set sail for Castellano!'
Seifert's navy blue eyes showed no surprise as he straightened and turned to look at them. 'Again?' he asked laconically. 'I may not even have to use a navigation map this time.'
'Very amusing,' Beau said. He turned back to Kate. 'I trust your Cessna has instruments. It will be almost sunset by the time we get back to Castellano and I want us to be off that island in one hour flat.'
'Us? But I told you-'
'Us,' he repeated with emphasis, his eyes flickering dangerously. 'And if I were you, I wouldn't argue. At the moment I'm feeling a bit hot under the collar, to put it mildly. I'm within an inch of saying to hell with it and telling Daniel to head for Trinidad.'
