Part 19 (2/2)
Blu wasn't going to explain why that was. He'd set the time frame for selfish reasons so he could be with
Angel a little longer. But now that she knew who he really was, it hardly mattered when Curt made his callto Maland. The time he had with her had come and gone. It was too short, but then hewould always feelthat way. He couldspend a lifetimewith her and still think it was tooshort.
”This is ah.e.l.luva plan, Blu. You sureyou wanttoplay it this way?” Blu looked out over the water. ”It'll work.” ”It could get you killed.” ”Maybe.” ”Mort tells me she's a real looker.” Blu smiled a little sadly.”Oui,she's some beautifulwoman.” He felt Brodie's hand on his shoulder. ”Are you sure you want it this way? You don't have to be the one to face Maland. It could be me.” Blu faced his friend. ”Thanks, but Maland and me, face-to-face, that's how it has to be to work. How I want it to be.”
”Then we'll do it like you said.”
”When this thing goes down, I wantAngelin your back pocket far away from Maland. I don't want her anywhere near him.”
”It's your party,mon ami. Like I said before, we'll do it any way you want it.”
”Then I'll see you later.”
”Wait a minute. Where are you going?”
”I need some air.”
”Did you warn her that I was going to take her back to Rose's place?”
”No.”
”Then don't you think-”
Blu vaulted into the boat that drifted alongside the Nightwing. ”Make sure she gets to Ma's safe and sound, then meet me back on the Demon's Eye.” * * * Salva Maland stood on the deck of the Princess and gazed at the yacht's figurehead. Yes, his beautiful princess was naked, her hands tied like he always enjoyed seeing her. He closed his eyes and imagined stroking her jutted-out b.r.e.a.s.t.s, mounting her youthful hip. She was perfection, his Princess, and the craftsmen who had spent months creating her flawless likeness had been a master with wood. The more time that pa.s.sed, the more Salva realized his mother had been right to warn him about the spell this lovely creature had woven around him. His craving for Kristen had become a fever inside him. She'd become his drug, and he knew-had known for three years-that she was the only woman who could sate his unusual appet.i.te. His cell phone rang. Salva reached into his pocket and opened the compact phone. ”Is that you, Aldwin?” he asked as he held the phone to his ear and recognized the man's annoying Southern drawl.
”What the h.e.l.l do you want? I've just finished tearing apartthe Florida coast,and I'm in no mood to-”
”She's here.”
Salva went stone still. ”You have her?”
”No. But I know who does.You're not goin' to believeit, or like it much, though.”
Salva's heart started to pound beneath his expensive black silk s.h.i.+rt. Kristen was in Algiers. How?
Why? The only way she could have found her way back there was if her memory had returned. ”Then she knows who she is? She knows about being kidnapped?Aboutour deal?”
”See, that's the crazy part I don't get. If she knew her name, she would have contacted the old man. She hasn't done that. And last night she looked straight at me and didn't recognize me. How she got hooked up withhim, is a mystery.”
”Him?Who are you talking about?”
”The Blu Devil. She was with duFray lastnight. I caught themtogether.”
Salva was so stunned he didn't have a reply right away. Finally, he asked, ”Define 'caught them together.'”
”You know, sittin' together at a restaurant. I saw duFray kiss her hand.”
He was hearing the words, but Salva was alreadyrevising a new, moreheinous way, for the Blu Devilto die. The man had been a thorn in his side for a year. He'd helped send his half brother to prison and had jeopardized his lucrativebusiness. His mistake innottaking duFray out immediately was now costing him more than he had ever imagined possible-the Devil had his princess.
Seething, Salva didn't want to ask his next question, but his fixation had him by the throat. ”Do you think he's touched her?”
”You mean, had her?”
Salva gripped the phone tighter.
”h.e.l.l, I don't know. I can't say it's happened, but I can't say it ain't, neither. Krissy sure turned into somethin' special.”
Salva couldn't take anymore. ”How much does the Blu Devil know?”
”Too much. He knows she's my sister, and he knows you killed Ben.”
”How the h.e.l.l does he know that? You talked, didn'tyou, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?”
”They tortured me.”
”They?”
”I was taken to one of duFray's shrimpers and some of his men stripped me and put me in the hold with the creepy crawlies. I barelyescaped with my life. ButI didn't tell them that I'd talked with you, or that you'recomin'. You're comin', ain'tcha?”
For an answer, Salva threw the cell phone into the Gulf. A moment later, he instructed his captain to sail for the Louisiana coast.
Kristen and the Blu Devil together.Salva's ragestarted to buildlike a tropical storm. He knew thatkilling them both would be a reasonable solution to this nightmare he was living. But he also knew he couldn't live without hisPrincess.No, she was going back tothe island, and he would punish her every day for the rest of her life for leaving him. But first he would teach her the price of betrayal.
The Blu Devil was a dead man. Only before his blood was drained from his body, Salva intended to strip the skin off his back an inch at a time. And while he filleted Kristen's lover, he would make her watch.
Chapter 15.
^ When Blu arrived at the fish market at nine the next morning, the store was filled with customers, and Bessy Turner was doing her best to see to their needs. Giving the older woman a nod, he scaled the stairstothe apartment he'd grown up in. His mother came into the kitchen when she heard him enter. He noted her face was pale, but she offered him a weak smile.
”Amanda's asleep in the bedroom, and so is Kris.”
”Kris?”
”I can't keep calling her Child. She has one of her own.”
Blu nodded, then looked down at the black backpack that sat by the door. ”I see she's packed. Did Brodie explain what's going on?”
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