Course of the Heart (6 page)

“I think I owe you an apology.”

“Apology?” His blue eyes were darker, but glowed and twinkled in the moonlight.

“I . . . I said things that weren’t very nice.”

“Forget it,” he said, shaking his head. His hair had dried and it shined in the light of the moon. “Quite honestly, there’s nothing that you said that wasn’t true.”

“You’re just . . . different than I thought you would be.”

“No, I’m pretty much everything you said I was,” he said, scoffing. “I’ve been thinking about a lot of things I’ve done in my life, and the truth is there’s not much I’m proud of.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Please, I want to say this.” He leaned over, looking down at the deck. “Have you ever looked back at your life and wondered what you could have done differently? How you were too blind to see how your actions hurt so many people?”

“I think we all do the best we can, based on the circumstances.” As she said this, he shook his head.

“I don’t buy that. I was so caught up in doing what I wanted to do and what my father wanted me to do, that I didn’t think about what my actions were doing to others. Hell, I’ve turned out like my father. See what you want and take it. That’s the Riley Richey motto. I feel like I’m at the point where that won’t work for me anymore. I know that sounds cheesy and even like a line I would’ve used, but it’s the God’s honest truth.”

“I think you’re being harder on yourself than you need to be.”

“I doubt it. You think I started out on this trip because of the Will? You think this is about money?”

She had no answer.

“I had no choice. I’ve been living a lie for years. Being named in that Will was just blind luck. It gave me a chance to run away from everything and everybody, be alone and do some soul searching.”

“And then I showed up.”

“Yeah, well, I guess I was a little taken aback when you popped out of that locker. Jeez, you gave me a start.”

“I can’t believe I slept so long. I must have been more exhausted than I knew.”

He pointed to his face. “That must’ve been a lot to deal with. I’ve heard of guys that hit, guess I’d just never seen the results.”

“Thanks to you, the wounds are but a memory.”

“Yeah, you can hardly tell you ever had them.”

There was a short silence. Her anger was slipping away.

“Yes, but the scars will always be there, hanging in the back of my memory,” she said, her emotions taking hold. “And to think I very nearly walked right back into more of the same at Islamorada.”

He remained silent, looking up at the moon. The wind had died completely now, and the water was calm all around them. In a moment he just nodded slightly.

“Sam, you’re a good person with a good heart. And an honorable person. That dumb ass cowboy has no idea what a lucky man he was. Some day he will regret blowing it.”

His comment shocked her. She took a deep breath and recovered.

“Thank you. And thank you for being such a gentleman.”

A slight smile crossed his face. “It hasn’t always been easy.”

The gesture spoke volumes.

Chapter 5

For a long while, he lay in his berth, unable to go back to sleep. The digital clock, hanging in the mesh above, told him that dawn was still at least an hour away. The boat was dead still in the water, as the wind remained calm. The silence was deafening. He thought about getting up, but knew the slightest motion might be enough to disturb Sam. Instead, he folded his arms behind his head and struggled to turn off his mind. Within a few minutes, he was beginning to feel drowsy again.

The boat listed to the port side. He bolted from the berth. This could mean only one thing. Someone had stepped onboard. He reached under the mattress and retrieved his 38 Special. He released the cylinder and fingered the chamber. It was fully loaded. He stood on his berth and unlatched the porthole above his berth. It opened forward toward the cockpit. Silently, he ventured a look outside to the deck.

There were four of them. The last two of them were boarding from a dinghy tied up to the port side. When they turned toward the hatch, away from him, he hoisted himself up through the porthole and hid behind the mast and rigging. The four were speaking a language he could not decipher.

Pirates.

One of them counted with his hand quietly. As he finished his count, another of them slid the hatch cover open. Drew had been so distracted, he hadn’t even thought of locking it. They all moved quickly below. In a matter of seconds the cabin lights illuminated.

Samantha screamed. Drew crouched below the bulkhead and ventured a look below through the portholes. One of the men was dragging Samantha by her arm into the main cabin. She wore only panties and a T-shirt. Drew could hear another man below as he made his way into the master stateroom, slamming hatches and rattling shelves and spaces with a rifle barrel.

“How many onboard?” shouted one of the men in broken English.

“Nil,” shouted another before Samantha could answer, as he emerged from Drew’s cabin.

“No one. Just . . . just me.”

“Liar,” said another, and slapped her.

She fell onto the cabin floor.

Anger surged through him, but he remained silent. Charging in blind wouldn’t get them out of this mess. He needed to keep a clear head and figure out a way to take his ship back, without Sam getting hurt.

“It’s the truth. My husband died. I took his body to Andros to be shipped home. My brother is on his way from Miami to help me bring the boat home.”

The man motioned with his gun to the others and gave instructions in his native tongue. One of the pirates placed his gun in his belt and made his way up the ladders to the deck. Drew moved quickly onto the bulkhead above the top of the ladder.

As the man took the last step, Drew hooked his arm around the man’s neck and pulled him the rest of the way onto the deck. With the butt of his own gun, Drew knocked him unconscious. He swiftly dragged his body further onto the bulkhead and quickly tied the unconscious pirate’s hands behind him with the mainsheet line. Drew hid the man’s gun inside the sail cover.

He could hear the others rummaging around in the cabin below, all chattering and laughing. He could hear bottles clanging and knew they had found the liquor.

Think!

He contemplated his next move. Should he wait until the next one ventured up looking for his friend? His next course of action soon became apparent.

“Please, please. Please don’t.”

Drew heard a lot of commotion and assumed the remaining men were fighting over who would be first with Sam. He moved to the porthole and looked into the cabin, confirming his worst fears.

Her panties had been torn off and one of the men was trying to pry her legs apart. Drew moved quickly into the cockpit, glanced in to see the proximity of the others and found them all distracted and staring at Samantha, waiting in line for their turn. One still held his rifle. Drew took aim and fired a shot, stripping the rifle from the man’s arms. The others turned toward the hatch and made a move for their own weapons.

“Freeze!” Drew cocked the hammer of the 38. “One move and you’re all dead.”

The remaining two men held their arms high and began pleading. Drew pointed to the man second in line for Samantha. “Lay your gun on the floor, slowly.”

The man complied. The guy who’d had the rifle moaned, holding his hand. The bastard who’d been trying to rape Sam stood next to her with his shorts down, and Drew aimed his gun at the man’s dick. The pirate’s gun lay on the settee next to Sam, who had scurried back into the corner of the cabin, her arms folded over her bare legs, her face pale, and eyes shiny with unshed tears.

“Sam,” he said gently. “Grab the gun next to you, honey, then get the other weapons from the floor.”

Drew turned toward the pirates, his gaze narrowed. She’d been hit again, and it seriously pissed him off. “All of you, next to the table. Keep your hands in the air.”

The men stood frozen, watching her as Sam hurried to pull her panties on and pick up the rifle and handgun.

Drew pointed the gun out the hatch opening and fired toward the bow, into the water.

“Move!”

The men scurried over to the table, their hands in the air.

“Sam, bring me the guns, then go to my stateroom and lock yourself inside.”

“But, Drew—”

“Please, honey. Just do as I say.”

She kept her distance from the men while bringing the guns to him. He tossed them over the side of the boat, as Sam disappeared into his stateroom and closed the door. When he heard the latch, he waved his weapon at the four pirates.

“One by one, climb the ladder and come up to the deck. I want you plastered so close to each other that you all three are coming up the ladder together.”

Once on deck, he lined them up in the cockpit, then waved the gun toward the leader. “Tie your friends up.”

One guy made a move toward him, but Drew kicked his foot upward, catching the SOB in the groin area. He fell backward, grabbed himself, and began moaning.

“Anybody else want to get cute?” Drew swept the gun around the circle of men.

The leader began tying up the others. His heart thudded, realizing how close the man had come to taking him.

A shiver traversed his body as he thought about what they would have done to them if they had gotten the upper hand. His mind blocked any scenario of what would have happened to Sam. He was contemplating what to do with the remaining untied man when Samantha appeared from below, having changed into her sweat suit.

Drew gave her a weary look and then realized he was glad she was there.

“What can I do?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“Are you up to tying the last one?” Drew indicated the man who had been preparing to rape her.

“Absolutely.”

She seemed very up to the task, tying him so tight, he cried out. As she finished, she turned the guy toward her and kneed him in the crotch. He doubled over in pain.

The eastern horizon was beginning to show the start of the new day as all four of the pirates were loaded into their dinghy. Drew disabled the engine of their skiff and used the boat hook to shove them off. As he pointed the gun toward their boat, they all began to beg and cry, apparently sure that he was going to kill them. Drew’s mind flashed back to the bastards standing over Sam with the intent to rape her, and he had to admit the idea was tempting. But he turned his aim at the last second and blew three holes in the bottom of the wooden skiff.

The water immediately spouted in, covering the bottom of the boat. He glanced toward the island. If they could swim at all, they might make it to the narrow beach when the boat went down, though he didn’t really give a shit . . .

Samantha was quiet while he prepared the boat to weigh anchor. As the breeze picked up and the island disappeared from view behind them, she brought coffee and a breakfast bar to him in the cockpit. As he sat in the stern with his hand on the wheel, she sat next to him and snuggled close, shivering against the cool breeze. When he looked over at her, she took her hands and framed his face, looking into his eyes. He ignored the funny feeling the power of her eyes gave him. He had to keep things in perspective. “You okay?”

“Thank you,” she whispered, and kissed him lightly on the lips. She withdrew with a confused look. She continued to stare at him, stirring fire in his loins, so much so that he had to look away. She moved next to him again, clinging to his free arm. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to get warm.”

With his free arm he drew her close and rubbed her shoulder. The shivers subsided after a few moments, but she made no attempt to free herself from his hold. Strangely, she felt good next to him. With her arms folded across her breasts, she fit neatly into the space between his arm and chest. For a long while, the silence prevailed, as warmth permeated between their bodies. To his surprise he didn’t feel ill at ease.

He turned the vessel slightly to port to pick up the eastern wind, as the blood red sun rose across the starboard bow.

They made the northern tip of Andros by nightfall. Drew had been quiet for most of the day and remained quiet as he secured the boat anchors. Samantha had a bad case of the shakes. She could not erase the memories of that early morning, the helpless feeling that she was about to be raped, made worse by the memory of her last time with Brad. As she looked into the eyes of her assailant, she’d seen that same look of desperation as she had with Brad. There was no doubt in her mind that the pirates could have delivered, unlike Brad toward the end of their time together.

The last night in bed with Brad had been a nightmare. She’d been at first relieved when he couldn’t maintain his erection. At least her wounds would be confined to her face. But then he’d used his anger to become aroused. The more he hurt her, the more aroused he became. She’d never forget the fear that he’d never come, so that it could finally be over.

The look from the pirate had been the same. It wasn’t so much a physical need, as much as it was a look of total dominance and power. A cocky expression that said they would have their way in any form and fashion they wanted and there wasn’t a damned thing she could do about it. Even the thought that Drew was somewhere on the boat couldn’t alleviate that feeling of hopelessness and dread that she had felt. It wasn’t so much the fear of physical pain, even though that was in the forefront of her mind, it was more than a man’s slimy, dirty body part was going to violate her.

Thinking about what had nearly happened made her shudder again. Although the air had warmed as the day passed, she never shed her sweat suit. There was just no way to get warm. She had clung to Drew’s side in the early morning for a long while before sensing his discomfort and moving away. He’d told her to stay close to him as long as she wanted. Was he only being considerate of her feelings?

All day she fought the need to get close to him. Not in a sexual way, but more in a big brother/father way. Something, anything to feel safe. Thinking back, she could remember only a short period of her recent past when she had felt safe, and that was from the time she’d first jumped onto Drew’s boat until the attempt of the pirate to rip her legs apart.

It had never occurred to her that piracy was still alive, especially so close to Florida’s coastline. How could this be? And how had Drew been so ready for the attack? She had been dead asleep when the pirates came bursting into her stateroom. She hadn’t given a thought to this type of invasion. It had never entered her mind. When the door had flown open that morning, she remembered how Brad had shown up at the hotel, and thought it was him.

She shook the thoughts from her head as she prepared a meal. The thought of eating was repulsive, but she knew Drew would probably be hungry. As she finished and was preparing to bring the food on deck, he stepped down the ladder, pulling the hatch closed behind him and latching it.

“Kind of chilly out there tonight.” He made his way to the galley sink. With a short squirt of water, he lathered his hands and then dried the soap from them without rinsing. “Might want to eat below tonight.”

He glanced back to the hatch. “I’m so sorry I didn’t think of latching it last night.”

“Forget it, Drew.” She placed tuna salad before him. “It never occurred to me either. I guess I was over confident that Brad couldn’t find us. I had no idea anyone else would want to—”

“It’s okay,” he said, as she sat at the table across from him. “We won’t be hearing from those guys again. Believe me, there’s plenty of boats out there for them to pillage. I doubt they come back here. I think it will be a pride thing to them. The quicker today fades from their memories, the better.”

Still in her sweats, Samantha shivered. She rubbed her hands together nervously. “Please, eat. I’m not hungry tonight. Besides, I nibbled while I was fixing dinner.”

“It looks good.” He picked up his fork and dug in. “I don’t know how you can make tuna so delicious.”

“You don’t have to say that.”

“I mean it.” He shoveled more into his mouth. After he swallowed, he grinned. “Can’t you tell?”

She struggled to allow his humor to calm her, but it was no use. The boat shifted and she flinched.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, reaching for her hand. “It’s just the wind. Believe me, I can tell the difference between the wind and when someone pays us an uninvited visit.”

“I’m sorry.” His hand was both warm and reassuring. “I’m still a little jumpy.”

“It’s all right.” He wiped his mouth, then took a long pull from his beer. His brows drew down as he studied his food, chewed for a few seconds and then looked directly into her eyes. “You’re sleeping in the master stateroom tonight.”

She couldn’t hide her reaction. The apprehension must have shown on her face.

“Relax,” he said softly, never letting go of her hand, although she withdrew instinctively. “You’re safe with me. I never thought I’ve ever say that to a woman, believe me, but you’re sleeping close to me tonight. You can wear those sweats if you want. In fact, I’d sleep better if you did, and I promise to keep my distance. And if I do something stupid in my sleep, just whack me on the head and tell me to stop.”