Serpent in Paradise by James Stephanie

Author:James, Stephanie [James, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: mom 05/31/2014
ISBN: 9780671475284
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 1983-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

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Amy sat huddled in the cabin as Dirk Haley guided the large cruiser to the

far end of Saint Clair. She watched the coastline as it drifted past outside

the window and wondered dully what Haley intended. A quick search of

the sparsely furnished cabin had yielded nothing useful, not even a kitchen

knife. What next?

Saint Clair was virtually uninhabited outside of its single town, so it was

not surprising that when Haley finally anchored the boat in a cove, Amy

saw no sign of life ashore. When he unlocked the cabin door, she swung

around to glare at him, struggling to conceal her fear.

“Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way,” he muttered,

shifting the gun to his left hand and reaching for her arm. “Come on.”

“Killing me isn’t going to do you any good.” Her mouth was suddenly

dry as he yanked her out of the cabin and up on deck. “I’m your only link

to that mask!” She had to keep calm, keep bargaining. It was her only

hope.

“You’re my link to the mask, all right, but not in the way you think.

You’d better hope you made a good impression on Lassiter while you were

in his bed.”

“What are you talking about?” she managed, a new fear taking shape in

the pit of her stomach. Her hands were trembling and she stumbled

awkwardly as he pulled her across the deck to the small ladder that hung

over the side.

“You’re my key to getting that mask, but I’m not going to send you back

for it. Lassiter knows where it is, too, doesn’t he? I thought so,” Haley

added in brutal satisfaction as he saw the betraying tension in her

expression. “Well, we’re going to find out if he thinks enough of his new

playmate to trade that mask for her. Your best hope is that he doesn’t

know what the thing’s worth. Because if he does, I can tell you right now

he won’t give it up just to get your warm body back in his bed. He’ll be

able to buy all the warm bodies he needs if he learns the value of that

thing. Come on! Quit stalling. Get into the dinghy.”

Amy nearly fell going over the side into the quietly rocking little boat

that trailed the cruiser. She’d never felt so clumsy in her life. What would

Haley do if her nervous awkwardness resulted in the dinghy tipping over?

Or should she try to tip it deliberately?

That feeble plan was crushed almost at once.

“Put your hands behind your back,” Haley growled roughly, reaching for

a coil of rope in the bottom of the small boat. With a few savage twists he

immobilized her wrists. Any thought of trying to deliberately overturn the

dinghy died. She would probably drown herself if she tried such a thing,

now that her hands were tied. Even if she could make it to shore, it wasn’t

likely she would do so alone. Haley would be right behind her.

In deadly silence he rowed them both to shore. There Haley forced her

quickly out of the boat and into the shallow water. Amy waded toward the

sliver of sandy beach, her sandals heavy and uncomfortable as they

became waterlogged.

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