LITMIR.BIZ

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all we need,” Hamm said.

      “Thanks, Savage, we will handle her protection here,” Laz said. “Tanker out.”

      “Why did they let her come here? Don’t they know what kind of hotbed this is?” Hamm asked

      Laz had no idea what motivated anyone to do anything. He only knew that he and Hamm and the rest of the Savage Seven would do their damnedest to protect Daphne and the other doctors in their group.

      “I guess it doesn’t matter,” Hamm said.

      “Not really. She’s the kind of bait that could draw Samatan out of hiding.”

      “Indeed. She’ll make nice bait but I’m not sure she’ll agree. And capturing Samatan is our goal,” Hamm said.

      Getting Samatan—the leader and possible trainer of most of the pirate groups that operated in this area—was their ultimate goal. The man was elusive and deadly. And, Laz suspected, smart. Samatan had been operating in this area for over three years and had never been caught. He was very good at raking in the dough.

      “We’ll do it without using the woman,” Laz said. “We always get our man.”

      “Yes, we do. I’m not sure I like this setup with the civilians.”

      “No one does. It’s really the wrong place and wrong time for them to be here.”

      “Damned straight,” Hamm said.

      “What do you need me to do?”

      “Check the radio room and the communications that have gone out. I want to know if they found out about the doctor from someone onboard this tanker.”

      “Will do.”

      “Let me know as soon as you find anything. I want to keep a low profile on the radio waves if we can. Not contact Savage again or have him back on the ship.”

      “I think we can manage that,” Hamm said, walking away.

      Laz stayed where he was—staring out over the sea. One of the reasons he’d always liked being on the water was the sense of isolation. That feeling of being alone in the world. He rubbed the back of his neck. No doubt a therapist would have a field day exploring why he needed to be alone.

      But he didn’t give a crap. He liked it. And tonight in the quiet before the storm that he knew would be coming he felt at home with his place and purpose and that was enough for him.

      Lately he’d felt…empty. Unsure of his reasons for always moving on. Maybe it was the fact that both Savage and Mann had married. It made him aware of the fact that he was closing in on forty and still alone.

      He checked his weapon and walked across the deck. Laz pulled his night-vision goggles out of his pocket and put them on. He skimmed the horizon around the boat and saw…nothing. Maybe the faint shadow of something but nothing concrete.

      Damn, he was restless. He really wished that Fridjtof had given him an excuse to fight. He needed the physical release of sparring with someone.

      He sent a wordless message to Savage using clicks on his wireless mike and earpiece to be on alert that the pirates may have been signaled and continued about the business of running the ship on alert for an attack from pirates.

      Laz tried not to think of the lovely doctor who might be risking her neck by just being on this mission, but it was hard not to. She had captured his attention whether or not he wanted the distraction of her. His secret fantasy woman had dropped in his lap—here of all places.

      He had combed bars and bowling alleys back home looking for a woman like Daphne…hell, that was probably why he hadn’t found her. She wasn’t a honky-tonk barfly but a real sophisticated woman.

      He didn’t waste time worrying about the class differences between them. He knew that he could overcome any of those superficial differences. Talking to her tonight had made him realize that he wanted to overcome them. He wanted to have something with Daphne. If it turned out to be a fling, well he knew he’d be better for it.

      Damn, maybe it had been too long since he’d had some R&R. Maybe what he should have done before they’d left Madrid was found a lovely Spanish señorita and spent a few days in her bed.

      But somehow he suspected no matter how many women he’d had, Daphne still would have affected him the way she did. If the threat of pirates wasn’t imminent, he knew he’d have found a way to seduce her tonight.

      “Laz, you there?” Savage said in his ear.

      “Go ahead,” Laz said.

      “Wenz has picked up an unmonitored call coming from fifty nautical miles from your location. This beacon sounds like it might be a distress call.”

      “Do you think it’s the pirates?” Laz asked.

      He crossed the deck quickly and took the stairs leading to the bridge two at a time.

      “Thor, take a break. I’ve got the bridge,” he said to the crewman working in the bridge.

      “Yes, sir. I’ve been dying for a cigarette,” Thor said.

      “Enjoy,” Laz said. Once the man was gone, he pulled up the navigation maps on the computer.

      “Go ahead with the coordinates, Savage,” Laz said.

      Savage gave him the coordinates and Laz logged them into the computer program. “We don’t have a history of attacks in that area.”

      “Affirmative. Check your logs and let me know if any previous captains experienced distress calls before being attacked.”

      “Will do,” Laz said. That was one way to get his mind off Daphne and back on the job, he thought ruefully.

      It wasn’t usual for him to woo a woman, and he’d never been tempted before this. The job—this mission—was the most important thing in his life. Like all the missions before this one. And the ones that would come after.

      The lovely doctor was just a woman, and he knew he’d do well to remember that. She was someone he could enjoy for the length of this mission but beyond that she was from a different world.

      And a man who changed his name and his persona every few months wasn’t the kind of man who could offer her anything more than a few hours’ pleasure in bed.

      And he did want that. She was sweet yet sexy at the same time. She was smart and sassy and everything he wanted in a woman.

      He shook his head. The job, he thought. He needed to stay focused on the job. Men who didn’t often ended up dead.

      And he sure as hell wasn’t ready to check out of the game yet.

      Chapter Three

      The way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death.

      —MIYAMOTO MUSASHI

      Daphne was a bit unsure of herself this morning. Her “alarm” last night had been for naught and she felt very foolish. The rest of the team didn’t censure her and they all still remained on guard. Daphne and Bob were still planning to send a message to Paul as soon as they received permission from the captain.

      Bob was seasick and asked her to wait a few hours before they went to use the radio and contact Paul. She wondered if he was having second thoughts now that it was daylight. She was. With the heat of the sun on her shoulders and the fresh air in her hair, she didn’t believe there was any threat to them.

      This trip, which had seemed the answer to so many of her problems, now just seemed foolish. Her intent to help impoverished children didn’t feel silly to her. Even at home she had always done that by making sure her practice treated kids from all income levels. What worried her was the desire to have an adventure so she wouldn’t feel like the left-behind woman anymore.

      No matter that they hadn’t been attacked by pirates last night, she knew that Laz

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