Page 65 of Hot Intent

She sagged in relief. “No, no. That’s fine. He said you’d have an egress plan for me.”

“Shame. That’s quite a noice pair o’ knockers ye’re sportin’, there.”

“Uhh, thanks. When exactly to you anticipate being able to drop me off?”

“If we get under way on toime, tonoight, late. ‘Ard to tell with these Cubanos, though. They do things in their own sweet toime. Sit toight in ‘ere until I come fer ye.”

“Will do.”

The big Aussie backed out of the infirmary with a grin. He’d better not literally dump her overboard. But the casual way he’dmentioned it made her fear that was exactly what he had in mind.

13

As the drug-induced drowsiness wore off, sharp awareness replaced it, turning Alex’s paranoia into action. As dusk fell, he stole a car and headed out. Havana was where he had knowledge that could get him out of Cuba.

A pang of regret at abandoning Katie stabbed him before he remembered she’d been a willing participant in his drug-assisted interrogation and had let the CIA use her as a weapon against him.

He had to make a quick trip to Washington D.C. to take care of a few loose ends, and then he was going off the grid for good. He’d had it with double-crosses and backstabbing. He wasn’t about to stick around and let the CIA kill him. Or worse.

He was furious that Katie had betrayed him and gone over to the enemy like that. Although, she’d never made any secret of being a dyed-in-the-wool American patriot. He rolled his eyes at her naivete.

He knew better than just about anyone how dirty governments really got their hands. Screw them all. He was done.

Katie ate her snacks and hid in the infirmary for the evening. Whether the crew would actually gang rape her or not, she had no idea. She suspected the Aussie had said it just to mess with her. But she wasn’t a hundred percent certain, hence the hibernation act.

A ship’s mate of some kind had come in to meet her and ask if she was properly provisioned to sail. She’d managed to maintain a pleasant expression and meet the man’s eyes when she said she was. She lied and said a crewmember had already given her a tour of the ship, too.

“And he showed you the evacuation route and where your life boat muster station is?” the guy asked.

“Yes,” she lied again.

He checked off a box on a clipboard and left quickly after that.

She napped on the bottom bunk until it was time to sail. The Caelum started to rumble and shake as its mighty diesel engines came to life. The sound was shockingly loud. She couldn’t imagine weeks on end living with that roar around her. It was maybe an hour until the ship began to rock ever so slightly. They must be under way.

It was disorienting and more than a little nauseating being tucked in this tiny, windowless cabin that rolled faintly but continuously. She barfed into the sink and then downed a packet of anti-seasickness pills she’d spotted in a drawer earlier. Too miserable to sleep, she browsed through a medical reference book she found in the desk drawer. It was outdated by about fifty years.

She had no idea how late it was when a quiet knock sounded on her door. She cracked it open to reveal the big Aussie. “It’s toime, lassie. Oi’ve got the conn for the next hour.”

“Umm, okay.”

“Grab yer loife jacket and c’mon.”

Crap. Hewasgoing to throw her overboard!

Donning the bulky orange flotation device, she followed him down the passageway, which was lit at long intervals by bare light bulbs in metal cages. It was creepy as heck. He led her into a stairwell and headed up. She jogged after him and emerged onto the open deck of the ship with a gasp of surprise. It was raining. Ribbons of gray streaked downward in the glow of the ship’s running lights.

“Are we meeting up with someone out here?” she asked doubtfully. It was pitch black beyond the ship’s rails. She couldn’t even see where the ocean ended and the sky began. It was just blackness and more blackness stretching beyond the rusty metal deck. How on earth was another vessel going to find them and rendezvous with them in this mess?

“A ship’ll be along to scoop ye up afore long. ‘Ere’s yer dinghy.” He shoved a bulky, heavy pack into her arms.

Herdinghy? “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Pull the orange tab and climb aboard. She’s got a transponder. Saltwater activated. Yer roide’ll pick up the signal and come along.”

Stunned, she let him take her by the upper arm and lead her over to the railing at the edge of the ship. Holy crap, it was a long way down. No way was she jumping off that. There’d better be a ladder around here somewhere for her to climb down. Although even that was a daunting prospect.

“Be sure to jump well clear of the ship. ‘Twould be a shame if ye got sucked into the Caelum’s propellers and minced to bits.”

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