Blue Velvet

Kate's heart leaped to her throat. 'We made it?'

'You're damn right we made it.' Daniel turned to the still pursuing launch and made a jubilant and extremely rude gesture. 'Go home, you lousy bastards! You've lost us!'

The officer on the launch evidently concurred because the voice on the megaphone suddenly broke off. Then it resumed with a potent string of curses Kate had heard only in waterfront bars.

'They're falling back but they're still following,' Kate said anxiously.

'Stubborn,' Beau said. 'They'll give up soon. No one likes to admit defeat.'

'They don't appear to be very resigned,' Kate said. She was shivering, she realized incredulously. She hadn't been at all afraid when the action was going on and the launch had been wailing and bellowing like the bull of Beau's matador simile. Why was she suddenly feeling this sense of cold menace when the actual danger was over and the launch was so silent? They'd even turned off the siren and slowed their engines so they were barely keeping pace with the Searcher.

'I don't like it.' Daniel's brow was creased with a frown. 'I felt a hell of a lot safer when we were keeping them so occupied they didn't have time to think. I don't like it at all.'

'What can they do?' Kate asked. 'You said they wouldn't try anything once we were in international waters.' 'I don't know,' Daniel said slowly. 'I just don't know.' Beau's arm around her was growing tense. 'Go below, Kate.'

Her gaze flew to his face. 'What?'

'Go below,' he said harshly, his eyes fixed on the ominously quiet launch. 'And just this once, don't argue with me!'

'But I don't under-'

The silence ended as the launch's engines suddenly roared, propelling the boat toward them with a leap of speed!

'Hell!' Beau was falling to the deck, his arm carrying her with him. She had a glimpse of the launch almost upon them now, but veering to the left.

'Hit the deck!' Daniel's corresponding action followed his command and the members of the crew who hadn't already anticipated the order scrambled to obey.

They were only just in time. A lethal rat-a-tat-tat of bullets peppered the air above them. Dark gaping holes appeared in the white sails and the dark wood of the masts was ruthlessly peeled and splintered. It lasted only a moment and then the launch was veering away and speeding off in the direction of Mariba.

'Is anyone hurt?' Daniel's yell was met with various denials from the men. 'The bastards couldn't resist getting in a little farewell salute,' he said as he got to his knees. 'I have an irresistible urge to go after them and teach them a few manners. How about it, Beau?' There was no answer and Daniel turned. 'I said how about-' He broke off as he saw Beau's face, white as marble in the moonlight. 'Beau?'

His gaze flew to Kate's limp figure cradled in Beau's arms. Her lashes were dusky shadows on her cheeks, and a thin dark line of blood trickled from the wound at her temple.

Nine

'She's been hit.' Beau's expression was dazed and incredulous. 'They've shot Kate!'

Daniel was kneeling beside them in seconds. 'She couldn't be hit. They were aiming deliberately high. Even if we'd been standing the bullets would have been over our heads. The sons of bitches just wanted to scare us.' He tensed. 'Unless one of the bullets ricocheted.'

'What the hell difference does it make how it happened?' Beau asked fiercely, his golden eyes wild in his pale face. 'Look at her. They've shot her, dammit!' Oh, dear God, a wound in the temple. It must be serious. What if she died? What if he'd lost her even before they'd really belonged to each other? The thought filled him with such panic and fury he found himself trembling like a child lost in the dark. It was dark. The entire world would be dark now without Kate. 'She can't die, Daniel. I won't let her die.'

Daniel was bending closer, his keen gaze raking the area of the wound. 'Don't lose your cool. She doesn't appear to be having any trouble breathing. It's difficult to tell with all that blood but the wound doesn't look like a puncture. She may have been cut by a flying splinter.' He frowned. 'We need more light. I don't want to move her until we're sure.' He called over his shoulder to one of the crewmen hovering close by. 'Get me a lantern and a first-aid kit, Jim.'

'She's not going to die,' Beau repeated, his voice harsh with desperation. 'There are too many things I have to give her. She's never had anything. I've got to show her how much she means to me.'

Daniel's dark eyes were gentle. 'You can't buy everything, Beau. Kate's not going to let you subsidize her. She's too independent.'

'She's going to have to let me.' He gently tucked a lock of hair behind Kate's ear. 'What's the use of having anything if I can't give to Kate? All my life I've had my dear loving relatives and so-called friends clawing and fighting to get their hands on a few shekels of the Lantry Trust. Money's never given me anything I really wanted, but it will now. Because it means I can keep Kate safe and comfortable.' He tried to clear the thickness from his throat. 'And happy. God, I want Kate to be happy.'

'How do you know that money will bring her any more happiness than it has you?' Daniel asked quietly. 'I wouldn't say Kate has any materialistic tendencies. On the contrary.' The seaman was at his elbow now handing him the dark blue metal box with the red cross on it. 'Now we'll see how serious the wound really is. Hold that lantern closer, Jim.' He opened the first-aid kit and took out a gauze pad. With infinite care he brushed the blood away from Kate's temple. He didn't look up as he gave a slight sigh of relief. 'It's okay. It's just a cut, not even a very deep one. She probably wouldn't even be unconscious if the splinter hadn't struck such a sensitive area as the temple. She should be coming to any time now.'

'Are you sure?' Beau looked up, his expression strained and haunted. 'She's so damn still.'

'I'm as sure as I can be. I'm not a doctor, but I've had quite a bit of experience with wounds.'

Yes, Daniel would know, Beau realized, almost dizzy with relief. She was going to be all right. 'Thank God!'

Beau was angry with her again, Kate thought uneasily, his voice was harsher than she'd ever heard it. Even through this hazy half-waking mist she was aware of the tension that was vibrating through him like a violin string strung too taut. Her head was throbbing with a dull aching pain. Why was that? She tried to think but everything was a muzzy blur. Oh yes, she'd been struck on the head in the warehouse when they'd burned the cocaine. But that seemed such a long time ago. Why did it still hurt? No, it couldn't be that. The machine gun. She stiffened as memory swept back to her. The ship, the chase, Beau's voice telling her not to argue and go below, the explosive strafe of bullets.

Her eyes flew open. 'It wasn't my fault.'

'Kate!'

She was too intent to notice the hoarseness of his voice. 'It wasn't my fault,' she insisted. 'I didn't have time to go below.' Her brow creased in a cross frown. 'Not that I probably would have done it anyway. You have no right to give me orders.'

Daniel chuckled. 'What did I tell you? Independent as hell.'

'She can be as independent as she likes as long as she's all right.' Beau's gaze was devouring her in the lantern light and there was such an expression of tenderness and thanksgiving on his face that she caught her breath in wonder. Beau couldn't be angry with her and still look at her like that. 'Are you in any pain?'