The Pirate & The Adventurer & The Cowboy

came in?" Jared's mouth was next to her ear.

    "No. Nothing. Can we talk in here?"

    "Yes, but keep your voice down."

    "I suppose it would be asking too much to turn on the flashlight again?"

    "Definitely." He shifted slightly beside her but remained invisible in the pitch darkness. "What the hell are you doing here or is that a dumb question?"

    "Why do you think I'm here? I tried to call Sam Finley and there was no answer. I went to the lounge and there was no sign of you, Max or Jeff Taylor. All in all, I figured things might be getting just a teensy bit out of control, so I thought I'd come see what was happening." Kate paused to catch her breath. "Jared, what is happening? This is getting scary."

    "You were right. Things have gotten just a bit out of control. I couldn't find Max in the bar, so I decided to check out the castle myself. He was waiting for me.

    "What do you mean? Max is here? Then why are we sneaking around alone in the dark like this?"

    "Max was waiting for me with a gun," Jared explained patiently. "What's more, the fat little bastard took away mine and put me into the dungeon cell. Damned embarrassing."

    "He took away your gun?" Kate's voice rose on a squeak. "You had a gun with you? Where did you get it?"

    "I picked it up from the house before I came up here, of course. Where do you think I got it? Amethyst is a long way from the nearest 911 operator. Out here we have to look after ourselves."

    "And a fine job you seem to be doing."

    "Don't start nagging now. Save it for later, okay?"

    "Okay, okay. I'm trying to put this together. I take it Max has turned renegade or something?"

    "Or something. Looks like he's decided to quit nickel and diming the government and go for the big time. He's involved with the pirates."

    Kate was shaken. "You're lucky he didn't kill you."

    "He plans to. But he wants to do it at sea so he doesn't have to worry about anyone finding the body and linking him to this mess. I was put into one of the cells to wait until they're ready to move the cargo. I was going to get shipped out along with the electronics."

    "Oh, Lord," Kate whispered. "He was going to kill you. How did you get out of the dungeon?"

    "Roger Hawthorne was a cautious man. He'd lived through enough mutinies to know enough to plan ahead. He considered the possibility that he might someday be forced to occupy his own dungeon so he designed a way out that only he knew. He put the information into his journal. I discovered the secret years ago after I started reading the books he'd left behind."

    Kate was dazed. "I can't believe this. Max a traitor and potential murderer."

    "You know, I never really felt a lot of warmth for old Butterfield, but I figured since his supervisors trusted him, there was no reason I shouldn't. Just goes to show—in case anybody ever doubted it—that the government is as good at making mistakes as everyone else."

    "Better, probably. Poor old Butterfield. I suppose there's no predicting what the trauma of never getting his novel into print will do to a writer's mind," Kate said soberly.

    "Don't be an idiot. Max never even got the damned book written." Jared was silent for a moment, obviously deep in thought.

    "What about Jeff Taylor's wet suit? Why was it in the hidden chamber earlier today?"

    "Max was kind enough to fill me in on that. He said Taylor has been making regular visits to the chamber. There's an underwater entrance through a lava tunnel. He could come here any time and not risk being seen."

    "That explains why he liked to dive alone."

    "Right. Seems he was doing some last-minute work on those crates this afternoon and wanted to consult with Max about some details. He was in a hurry and didn't want to take the time to get back into his gear and swim out around the point and into the cove. He just left his stuff here and went down the path. It was safe enough on a one-shot basis. No one noticed him, but it's damned lucky you didn't happen to be coming up the path at the same time he was going back to the resort."

    "Yes. Isn't it, though." Kate's fingers trembled.

    "Your being here changes things. I was going to wait for Max and Taylor to return, but now I think our best bet is to get back to the resort and try to track down some assistance from Ruby. Sam is over there somewhere. I'll start calling around until I find him."

    "Good idea. Let's get out of here." Kate put out a hand to find the wall.

    "This way." Jared took hold of her arm and