Blue Velvet

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.'