Читать книгу The Pirate: - Katherine Garbera - Страница 6

A warrior never worries about his fear.

—CARLOS CASTANEDA

J.P. “Laz” Lazarus had reinvented himself more times than he could count. Captain of a Danish tanker wasn’t too far of a stretch from who he really was. He loved the ocean and had grown up in the warm waters of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

He used his given name—J.P.—with each incarnation to remind him of the family he’d left behind eons ago. His last alias had been J.P. Crosby. But some things—like his love of the sea—had stayed with him.

He’d been an idealistic eighteen-year-old when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and signed up for Navy SEALS. He’d become a SEAL, one of a team of men he considered closer than brothers. Losing them had forced him onto this path. He was a mercenary, a gun for hire, and that didn’t cause him to lose any sleep.

He did what he was good at because frankly at his age—thirty-eight—it was too late for him to go back and try a new career. He wasn’t exactly qualified to do much more than this.

And on a night like this, with the warm breeze stirring over the Indian Ocean and his team at his back, he didn’t want to be anywhere else.

But talking to Daphne got him thinking about home. He had a place in the States that he went back to when he had some downtime. It wasn’t much. Just an old Florida coquina home on a remote stretch of unspoiled Gulf Coast in south Florida where he could just hang out and fish all day and then drive across Alligator Alley to Miami when he wanted to taste a bit of the nightlife.

The Savage Seven had become his life and his family. The jobs they took working for different clients around the world had validated who he was in a way that nothing else ever had. The differences between Daphne and him were more pronounced than she could guess. He made his living taking lives; she saved them.

“What are you doing? Savage and the team are ready to come on board,” Hamm said joining him on deck.

“Quiet. I told Savage to hold because Daphne was just up on deck.”

“Daphne? Do you mean one of the doctors?”

“Yes,” Laz said, glancing over toward the gangway where she’d disappeared when he’d told her to go below.

He hadn’t been sending her away only because he didn’t want her to know that his team was coming on board; he needed to keep the deck clear until they found out what they were up against.

“We look clear. Savage, you’re okay to come aboard,” Laz said. He lowered the rope ladder over the side. The first man over the side was Jack Savage.

He was their leader, and he was every inch the savage he was named after. He was as tough as nails and didn’t back down for anyone except maybe his sweet British wife. But even that didn’t happen too often.

“Boss,” Laz said.

“Romeo.”

Laz laughed. “I’m not romancing anyone.”

“Yeah, right. Just stay focused on the job.”

“I am. Let me show you the passive system I’ve added to the bridge.”

“Great. Hamm, show the rest of the men where to hide the weapons. We heard some chatter on the radio earlier. I think you should expect some action tonight or early tomorrow morning.”

Laz led the way to the bridge and showed Savage all the systems he’d been able to put into place.

“Since we are allowing the pirates to take the ship, I’ve added two recording devices here—one is video and audio, the other is just audio. The audio only is built into the radio and will allow you to monitor the frequency they are broadcasting on.”

“That sounds good. I’ll need you to show Wenz how to handle the scrambler. We have had some problems with all of our communications.”

“The salt air will do it every time. I will show him how to maintain all the radios,” Laz said. He was the team’s communications guy, as well as their transport expert. There wasn’t a machine that Laz couldn’t make work.

“As long as we can keep the lines open, I’m happy. Do you need me to leave another man on the tanker?”

“No. Hamm and I have it covered. Besides, at this point, if we had another man I think the crew and our passengers would question it.”

“I agree. Who are the passengers? Your message was a bit garbled…you said doctors?”

“Yes. They are going to Somalia, so we are going to take them close to the shore and they will take one of the speedboats there.”

“Who came up with that plan?”

“Their group. The plane they’d chartered was sabotaged.”

“Why didn’t they turn back?” Savage asked.

Laz shrugged. “I didn’t ask. But the fax I got from Maersk said that they were needed in Somalia to relieve the group of doctors who are already there.”

“Will they get in the way?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping we can deliver them before we lure the pirates to the tanker.” Maersk was a shipping line and not a passenger fleet.

Savage shook his head. “We can’t count on that. I’d recommend locking them up at the first sign of trouble so that we can keep them all alive.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Laz? You here?” Hamm said through the wireless earpieces they all wore.

“Yes, what do you need?”

“One of the men is up on deck.”

“On my way. Savage, do you need anything else from me?”

Savage shook his head. “Mann?”

Laz heard the conversation via his earpiece.

“We’re done. As soon as the deck is clear, we’ll meet you on the boat.”

“Sounds good. We’re running silent now,” Savage said.

Laz left his team leader and went back down to the deck to see what his crew member was doing at this time of night.

The ship was always active and this time of night was no different. It had taken a lot of careful planning to make sure the deck would be empty when Savage and the team arrived.

He wasn’t bothered that Daphne had been up on the deck tonight. He remembered his first time on the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. He’d been anxious to see how these seas were different than the ones back home.

And he had found that for all that he was on the other side of the world there was sameness to the oceans. A feeling of home that came to him only when he was on the seas.

And like that feeling of home there was now the familiarity of having to deal with a fractious member of his crew. Since they’d left port in Madrid, Fridjtof had been running around making trouble.

Laz knew it was past time that he stopped it.

Tankers were like a city at sea and he was the man in charge. Laz hated the bureaucracy that went along with being the captain. He wasn’t sure how Savage put up with it. Laz laughed to himself. Savage put up with it by ruling with a iron fist.

More than once the Savage Seven had had a knock-down, drag-out fight to settle differences of opinion. Violence was its own kind of peacekeeping method for their team. And right now Laz was running high on testosterone. He needed to get rid of his excess energy. He couldn’t take it out on the small crew they had on the tanker, though.

They were running with a small crew on this trip because of the recent piracy. Maersk and their clients wanted the pirates stopped, which was why they’d agreed to allow Hamm and Laz to infiltrate the crew. The rest of the Maersk Angus crew totaled ten men.

Fridjtof was the one man who made Laz uneasy. He was always poking around where he shouldn’t be. And twice Laz had caught him coming out of the radio room. The crewman was a loader so he had no business in the radio room.

Laz had already had a run-in with the man once before when Fridjtof was bullying one of the rookie crewmen. He was a tough man who only respected brawn. He wasn’t the type of man that you could talk around—fists worked best for him.

Laz rubbed the back of his neck. Or was that his wishful thinking coming into play? He needed the release and sparring with Fridjtof that would do that.

And now he was on deck in the middle of the night when everyone else was sleeping. Well that wasn’t true, Laz thought. Daphne had been up here but somehow he didn’t think she might be working a double-cross on the tanker crew. To be honest he did believe that Fridjtof had two bosses.

“Fridjtof? What have I told you about being on deck after hours?”

“Ah, sorry about that, Captain. Just needed to get out of my bunk for a few minutes.”

The night was calm and clear and not the type of weather for the men to stay belowdecks, but the dangers of the waters they were traveling through had made the “no deck” rule that Laz had put into place viable to the men.

“No exceptions,” Laz said.

“I thought I saw a woman up here. Was she an exception?”

“She’s none of your damned business. You will do what you’re told,” Laz said, pointing his finger at Fridjtof’s chest.

The other man took a deep drag on his cigarette and blew smoke back in Laz’s eyes. “I guess if I had boobs you’d feel different.”

Laz punched the other man on the shoulder. “Watch it. Our guests will be treated with respect.”

“Yeah, I know. They are off limits as well but not for you, eh, Captain?”

Laz narrowed his eyes on the other man. What had he seen? Maybe it would be simpler to simply take Fridjtof captive and send him with Savage and the rest of their team.

Daphne? How long had Fridjtof been up here? He didn’t really like the thought of this man talking about Daphne.

“She isn’t used to life at sea the way a seasoned crewman like yourself is.”

“I just think if I were curvy you’d be treating me differently.”

Laz shook his head. “Regardless, get below.”

Fridjtof looked like he was going to argue and Laz took a step toward the man. His command had to be absolute; there was no time to argue or run the ship like a democracy. “Or I can put you in lockup.”

Fridjtof held his hands up. “I’m going, Cap.”

Laz watched the other man disappear.

“Damn it, I don’t like that guy,” Hamm said, joining Laz at the railing.

“I don’t trust him,” Laz admitted.

“With the women?” Hamm asked.

“With anyone. Is the rest of the deck clear?”

“Affirmative,” Hamm said.

“Team, you are clear to retreat.” Laz spoke softly and knew that his message had been received when the other four members of the Savage Seven appeared on the deck. Aside from Savage, there was Kirk Mann, who was the second in command for their team. He had been a marine sniper before joining their unit. No one shot with more accuracy than Mann. Wenz was their medic and Van was the team’s computer expert. He was the one they were all relying on to track Samatan’s ship when it surfaced.

Samatan was the leader of a particularly bloodthirsty group of pirates. The Savage Seven had been hired to capture him. The general belief was that if the head of the viper was cut off it would lead to the nest of the pirates. Then the attacks would launch.

Hamm took up a post near the gangway so that they wouldn’t have any more surprise visitors. Slowly the men departed over the side railing.

“We’re not going far. Just out of sight of the ship. We’ll be in radio contact if you need us,” Savage said.

“I’ll alert you the minute we see anything suspicious.”

“Good. Once you let them on board don’t fight. Their MO is that they take the ship with a show of force but usually don’t kill their captives.”

“You’re telling me stuff I already know, boss.”

Savage put his hand on Laz’s shoulder. “I don’t like having those civilians on here. The tanker crew knows how to handle this kind of thing.”

“I’ll take care of them,” Laz said.

“You do that. I’m going to have Wenz dig up what he can on the doctors’ group. I’ll send you back what we find. Good luck.”

“Thanks, boss.”

Though everything was in place Laz didn’t relax. Experience had taught him there was no such thing as an easy mission, especially with all the variables they were dealing with here. The added passengers and stopping to deliver them to their destination was not going to be an easy matter. But their schedule did have the time for a one-day stopover.

He almost wondered if someone knew that the Savage Seven was watching over this ship and that’s why they’d arranged for the Doctors Across Waters group to travel with them.

Laz would keep the group safe. Savage would want them protected as well. He was keen on keeping as many civilians alive as possible on their missions. That was one of the things Laz liked about working for Savage. That and the fact that he was a valued member of the team. Despite the fact that Savage was their leader, the group respected everyone’s opinion and skills.

Laz couldn’t ask for a better life, he thought while standing on the deck and looking out over the moonlit ocean. So what if sometimes when he was at home he felt lonely?

This was the best job in the world for him, and he knew that nothing and no one would ever make him give it up.

“The deck is busy tonight,” Hamm said.

“Damn straight. I got an itchy feeling on the back of my neck that something is going to happen.”

“Having Fridjtof up here was odd. That man is always creeping around.”

“I agree. Keep a close eye on him.”

“I am.”

Hamm and Laz had been in some tight situations together but they always came out the victors. Their current mission was working secretly for the allied nations to stop the threat of piracy in these waters.

Their group’s aim was to be offensive instead of defensive. Instead of waiting until a ship was taken hostage, they were proactively in the area to thwart and capture the pirates.

One of their own men—Kirk Mann—had been working in Somalia to infiltrate the pirates. It was Mann’s lead that had brought them here to the Angus. Kirk was the best at disguising himself, and he had a soulless attitude that made it easy for him to fit right in with lawless men.

Laz had seen a different side to Kirk last year when he’d fallen in love with Olivia Pontuf. Laz had thought it would change Kirk but it hadn’t. He still worked with them and was just as lethal as before.

Laz didn’t know if he’d stay in this business if he had a woman like Olivia waiting at home for him.

“Laz?” Savage said through the wireless earpiece.

“Here.”

“We just got word that the pirate group is moving to attack tonight. They are looking for Americans and they had some intel on our doctors. Someone in that group has a connection to a U.S. Senator.”

“Nice. Who is it?”

“It’s the woman…Daphne Bennett, she’s the ex-wife of Senator Paul Maxell,” Savage said.

“Fucking hell. That’s 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.