China Star by Maurice Medland

Author:Maurice Medland [Maurice Medland]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction/Thrillers
ISBN: 9781640190733
Publisher: New Word City, Inc.
Published: 2017-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

“Miss, you ‘wake?”

In a distant corner of her mind, Elizabeth Grayson heard a high-pitched voice and the rattle of a door. Expecting Four Finger Tang to come barging into her cell, she crossed her arms over her chest. Her hands touched warm flesh. She was naked. With a shudder, she opened her eyes. Steel beams and electrical cables came into focus. A beam of sunlight swept across her face. She was aboard a ship. She’d stripped off her prison uniform, showered, and washed her only set of underclothes before drifting off into a coma-like sleep. She sat bolt upright, scrambling to cover herself with the blanket.

“Who is it?”

“It only me, Francisco.”

The door opened and the funny little man who’d given her a cup of soup last night walked in. He had an armload of clothing in one hand, a stack of towels and a ditty bag in the other. He laid the clothes on the foot of the bunk, then stepped back and dipped his head.

“I buy for daughter. Here, miss, you take.”

Elizabeth looked at the clothes, a pair of stonewashed jeans embroidered with a colorful butterfly design, a yellow sweatshirt, and a pair of white canvas sneakers. She’d grown up with a closet full of designer clothing, but she couldn’t remember any as beautiful as these.

“Oh, they’re gorgeous. I couldn’t.”

“No, no. You take. Daughter have too many clothes.”

Clutching the blanket around her neck, Elizabeth looked at her tattered prison uniform lying in a heap on the floor. Her eyes went back to the pile of new clothing. She reached out and touched the sweatshirt and jeans hesitantly, as though they might vanish.

“Are you sure?”

“Francisco sure.” He held out the ditty bag and a stack of towels. “Shampoo. Soap. Fresh towels. You get clean up, I bring you food.”

Elizabeth felt like leaping out of bed and hugging the man, but she didn’t want to scare him to death. She smiled at him.

“That’s so kind of you.”

Francisco colored slightly and looked down. Not wanting to embarrass him, she looked away and saw the room for the first time.

“Where am I? It was dark when they put me in here last night.”

Francisco looked around as though he’d never seen the compartment before either.

“Captain stateroom, miss.”

She felt a warm glow. She had to admit, the captain had taken her breath away when he swept her up in his arms last night. Even with the blackened face, his good looks were obvious. Tall and lean, with an edge to his voice and an easy manner, he’d reminded her of a young Harrison Ford. He was the last thing she’d thought about before drifting off to sleep. She looked down. The thought that she was sleeping in his bed, naked, sent a shiver through her.

“I’m sorry to put him out of his bed.”

“Oh, Boss-man never use. Too far from bridge. He sleep in sea cabin.”

“Boss-man?”

Francisco flashed a grin. “No one else call him that but me. No one else get away with it.”

Elizabeth grinned back, joining in the conspiracy.

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