Blue Velvet

One

"What other choice do we have?" Kate argued, running her hand distractedly through her riot of short curls. Her eyes were fixed gloomily on the entrance to the waterfront tavern across the street. "We're caught between Scylla and Charybdis."

"Scylla and Charybdis?" Julio asked blankly.

"You know, the she monster of the sea and the whirlpool," Kate said, her gaze still on the door to Alvarez's Bar.

He didn't know, but then Kate was always referring to things he knew nothing about. "What Jeffrey calls between a rock and a hard place?"

Kate nodded. "If we don't go into that tavern and get Jeffrey, he's going to end up in the cockpit of the plane with a knife at his throat. Or they'll get him so drunk he'll tell them the location of the Cessna."

"If he doesn't pass out first," Julio suggested hopefully. "According to the bartender, he was pretty close to that point a few minutes ago."

"Then they'll wake him up and start all over," Kate said. She shook her head. "No, we've got to go in after him. Once we have him out of Ralph Despard's clutches we'll worry about getting him off Castellano."

"And how do we do that?" Julio asked, his lips curving in a skeptical smile. "Despard is alone at the table with Jeffrey now, but Simmons and a few of the other men are in one of the back rooms. If we make any move, they'll pour out of there and be all over us."

Kate bit her lower lip. "We can't make any obvious moves. I don't want them to realize that you're a part of Jeffrey's crew. You've always been away guarding the plane when Despard has visited Jeffrey at the cottage. As long as he doesn't know you exist, you'll be safe. I'll go in by myself."

"No, I will not permit it," Julio said firmly. He should have known how she'd react. Kate was as protective as a lioness with her cub about anyone she cared about and she cared about Jeffrey Brenden. Perhaps too much for her own good. In the four years he'd been with the two of them, he'd watched her nurse Brenden through hangovers, tease him into cheerfulness when he was depressed, and pull him out of scrapes. It never occurred to her to ask anything in return. Kate always gave with both hands. He couldn't criticize Jeffrey for taking from her; he himself had accepted her loving generosity and devoted affection on many occasions. However, he couldn't swallow the idea of her walking into that bar alone. "If it must be done, we'll do it together."

"No, I think I've come up with a way." Her brow was wrinkled in thought. "Did you check the location of the power box as I asked?"

He nodded. "It's outside and in the back."

"Good." She checked her wristwatch; it was just past midnight. "In ten minutes I want you to be at the power box. Give an on and off flicker as a warning for me. Everyone will think it's just a power surge. Then a minute later turn off the lights altogether and remove the fuse. Okay?"

"And what will you be doing while I'm playing with the fuse box?"

"I'll be at the table distracting Despard and trying to find a way to ease him out of the picture."

"Distracting?" Julio frowned. "I hope you don't mean what I think you mean. You wouldn't know how to handle a man like Despard."

"Oh, Julio, I said distract, not seduce! It shouldn't be all that difficult to divert the man for ten minutes. He's made a pass at me almost every time he's been at the cottage." She made a face. "Not that I'm anything special. He probably makes a pass at every woman under eighty."

But she was something special, Julio thought. Warm and loving with a clear bell-like honesty that he'd never known in any other woman. The idea of Despard so much as laying a hand on her made him a little sick. "I don't like it. You shouldn't even be in a bar like that."

"I've been in that bar plenty of times, as you know very well. And I can take care of myself," she added. "Heaven knows, I've had plenty of practice." That was certainly true, she thought ironically. Jeffrey was a dreamer, always chasing fantasies, and she trailed along behind trying to hold his feet on the ground and keep him from being too badly hurt. "And this is no exception. I'll be fine, Julio."

"I think I should . . ."

"No, Julio," she said with gentle firmness. "We'll do it the way I said. As soon as the lights go out, you dash around to the front door and come inside. I'll need help getting Jeffrey out of there. Until then, I want you to be as invisible as possible." She grinned impishly as her gaze traveled over his massive shoulders and intimidating bulk. "That should be enough of a challenge for you."

"Kate, it's too--"

"It's the only plan we've got," she interrupted. She looked at her watch again. "Ten minutes, remember." She started across the street without giving him a backward glance. Julio would keep her out here all night arguing and it would only end the same way. As she'd told him before, they were caught between Scylla and Charybdis.

The interior of the crowded bar was dim; the odors of whiskey and sweat mingled with the acrid-sweet aroma of marijuana. She paused a moment beside the long polished oak bar that was Hector Alvarez's pride and joy, her eyes searching anxiously around the room for the familiar gray-streaked head.

A woman at the corner table was lushly attractive and vaguely familiar, Kate noticed. Perhaps she'd even met her. Jeffrey liked company while he drank and the more attractive the company the better.

But the man the woman was with tonight certainly wasn't Jeffrey, though he looked as if he might be an American. He was dressed in black jeans and a short-sleeved knit shirt that was either navy or black. It was hard to tell in the dim light. But his hair was definitely a shining bronze. She was about to turn her attention to the other end of the room when the man glanced up swiftly as if suddenly aware that she was staring at him.

Dangerous. The thought came out of nowhere. There was a reckless curve to his well-shaped mouth and his smile had a mocking deviltry that was obviously very appealing to the bar girl next to him. His eyes narrowed on her and a thrill of uneasiness surged through her.

She glanced away. How stupid she was being. For a moment she'd actually felt more threatened by that stranger than she'd ever been by Ralph Despard. It must be because her nerves were stretched taut that her imagination was running away with her. She finally spotted Despard in the far corner. No wonder she hadn't seen Jeffrey, she thought gloomily. He was slumped forward, his curly head resting on the table. That was all she and Julio needed to make the situation perfect--a totally unconscious Jeffrey.

Well, they'd just have to cope.