Chapter 3

I was having a nightmare. Instinct had brought me to the edge of waking an instinct which warned me of threat and danger. Still half asleep, I had slowly become aware that the boat was dead in the water.

I was struggling to open my eyes when the whole world caved in on me.

A jolt of pain shot through my skull, and at the same instant there was a brilliant flash of light. I was stunned all over. Numbly my head floated down and down, spiraled into a sea of darkness.

I lay there drifting, covered by a heavy blanket of stillness that would not let me rise. I heard strange sounds far away, the clanking of metal, the thunder of motors. There was a dark shadow standing over me. The shadow went away. Everything was saturated by the smell of gasoline.

I rolled on my back, trying to rise. The throbbing in my skull became unbearable. I kept trying to sit up. I had to. The feel of danger was all around me.

I concentrated on moving my arms until I was able to reach up and grasp the frame of the bunk above me. I got my eyes open and lay there groggy. The boat was still. The engines had stopped. I heard footsteps walking on the deck above my head. I heard waves splashing against the hull.

Then I reached for the money belt at my waist.

It was gone.

That was when I knew what was happening. Someone had slugged me while I slept. And the gasoline? A shiver darted along my spine.

I rolled off the bunk and stumbled over something on the deck. A body. In the dim light I saw Chris's dead eyes staring up at me.

I climbed over him and made my way to the open hatch. Instinctively I reached up and pulled a life jacket from the overhead braces. The motor of the small boat roared to life. I ran through the hatch.

A tiny ball of flame arched across the dark sky and landed in the stern. I dove over the side just as the gasoline ignited with a roar. It could have been my imagination, but I felt the heat of it on the soles of my feet.

The life jacket pulled me to the surface. The night was suddenly filled with brightness. The boat was swept from bow to stern by a single sheet of flames.

I heard the small boat roaring away into the dark.

For a moment I was still too stunned to feel rage. Duke Bevins had killed Chris. He had thought he'd killed me too. He had taken our money belts and burned the cruiser to make everything look like an accident.

I ground my teeth. Now I know why Duke had not wanted to cut the small boat loose when the cutter was firing on us. He had been planning this all along.

I kicked frantically, trying to put more distance between me and the burning boat. I was a hundred feet away when the fuel tank exploded, blowing the stern apart. I felt the shock and the wave of heat that followed a moment later. Even from that distance it was pretty intense.

I ducked my head under the water to cool my face.

The boat was listing now, going down by the stern. There was a loud hiss as the flames touched the water. She rolled to starboard and began to settle.

A heavy fog of smoke was settling low, beginning to burn my eyes. I kept watching the boat as the light diminished. The bow tilted up and she slid under with a sigh, enveloped in a cloud of steam.

The boat and the roaring flames had suddenly vanished. I was left with nothing but the lonely silence.

It's a funny feeling to be floating alone like that, out of sight of land. I slipped into the life jacket and looked around. Nothing at all in sight but a few wisps of smoke and the big Pacific Ocean.

I had no idea how far I was from land. Maybe twenty miles or more. Duke might have headed straight out, as soon as he took over the watch.

Far off in the distance I could hear the faint drone of the small boat. The sound was there for only a moment, then it slowly faded away. Duke would have a compass, heading back to land. I took a bearing on a couple of stars that were in the general direction where I had heard the boat.

I started swimming with the life jacket dragging me back. It was slow going.

I had been struggling more than an hour when the sky in front of me gradually began to lighten. I had figured my directions right. Dawn was breaking in the east, and that was the way I had been swimming. By daybreak I was so tired I had to float and rest every few minutes. The water was colder, chilling me to the bone. I'd been in it several hours.

The sun came over the horizon, diffused by a thin fog that lay all around me on the water. I could not see land, but I could hear dogs barking.

It was a good sound to hear.

I kept swimming in the same direction. Then I began to hear the roar of breakers whenever I stopped splashing. I hoped to hell they were breaking on a sandy beach.

The first sight of land was a jagged rock peak reaching above the fog. Then I saw the tops of palm trees, and finally a white ribbon of sand. I swam faster, and the rolling waves helped push me along.

The sun had been up more than an hour when I finally waded ashore. I was exhausted. For just a moment I felt a vague fear that Duke might find me passed out on the beach and finish me off. But he had a boat and plenty of gasoline. He was probably far up the coast by now.

I staggered out of the wash of the waves onto the warm beach. There I dropped to the sand and slept.

Water splashing over my feet woke me up. The tide had come in. I rolled over and looked up at the sky. The sun was directly overhead. I was feeling better, but I was still weak. And I was hungry as a bear.

I stood up. The beach was deserted in both directions, but I saw thatched roofs in the coconut grove off to the right. I walked that way. I was barefooted. I had just a pair of shorts and the life jacket. And the waterproof watch strapped to my wrist.

The watch could be my ticket out of this place. Wherever I was. If I could find somebody willing to buy it.

As I walked, I began to stagger in the deep sand. I was weaker than I had thought. My knees were ready to buckle. Sweat poured down my face and chest. My head throbbed. I touched it with my fingers and found the knot just above the temple where Duke had slugged me.

By the time I reached the grove I was practically crawling. I stumbled from tree to tree, leaning against each one for support.

I heard light female laugher very close, off to my life. I walked toward the laughter. Then I stumbled over a fallen log and sprawled onto the ground.

A dog came up and began to sniff.

Then there was a pair of small brown feet standing close to my head. I rolled over and looked up. There was a brown-skinned girl with long, dark hair. She was wearing a faded cotton dress and nothing else.

She had a pretty face and very bright teeth when she smiled. There was a look of uncertainty in her eyes.

"Buenos dias," I said.

But she darted away. In a minute she was back, and there was an old man with her. The two of them lifted me up. I tried to stand, but my knees gave out. They walked me between them, across a clearing and through the low door of a thatched hut. It was cool and dark inside.

I was conscious of being laid out on a woven mat. A rolled blanket was put under my head for a pillow. I drifted off to sleep, wishing I could sleep forever. I almost did....

When I woke up it was because someone was washing my face with a cool wet rag. The same dark-haired girl who had found me and brought me to her shack.

I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my head. My muscles were sore, and there was a throbbing inside my skull. I rubbed my head slowly and some of the pain went away.

The girl leaned above me, staring curiously. She was a trim little Indio with a full, fleshy body and heavy breasts. Moving with cat-like grace, she folded the wet rag and laid it on my forehead.

There was a flexing of muscle beneath the loose folds of her dress. As tired as I was, I felt the stirring of desire.

"Es bueno?" she asked.

"Si. Bueno."

"Como se llama?"

"My name?" I grinned. "Hank."

She repeated it softly.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Pepita."

"You're very pretty. Bonita."

She smiled sweetly, showing the white edge of her teeth. She had full lips and eyes as black as coal. Her nose was pure Indio flat across the bridge with a sensual flare at the base.

"You bunger-y?" she asked, struggling with the words.

"Si. Very hungry."

"Okay baby."

She giggled. Someone had taught her a few words of English, and she was taking advantage of a chance to use them.

"You got food?" I asked. "I bring it "

She stood up, and I saw that she had solid legs. Her breasts swayed when she turned and walked away. I watched the jiggling motion of her ramp.

She stooped going out the door. I lay there smelling wood smoke and the odor of something cooking. She came back to me with a plate and a fork. I sat up, leaning on my elbow, and she began to feed me.

Plantains.

Fried bananas. And they were delicious. I ate everything on the plate. I could have eaten another helping. Pepita must has sensed it.

"More to eat?"

"Pot favor."

She went out the door and came back again. This time I took the plate and fed myself, while she squatted on her haunches and watched me, grinning with pleasure. Now and then her eyes wandered over my body, which was naked except for the shorts.

She seemed to like what she saw. I had a pretty good tan, but compared to her my skin was pale.

I had a good build because until the past year I'd done a lot of physical labor. And I'd fought a couple of dozen fights in the ring, amateur and a few professional. Until one night, in Miami, when I'd gotten my brains knocked loose from my skull, I'd decided that boxing was for the birds.

The knocks I'd taken showed on my face. It wasn't a face you could call handsome, and yet it possessed a kind of rugged charm that sometimes made women catch their breath.

There are enough women around who like their men to be hard. I've never had any problem finding willing females.

Money had been the real problem.

It was hard to come by. For the first time in my life I'd managed to accumulate a good nest egg, and then a lousy bastard named Duke Bevins had knocked me in the head and taken it.

The little Indio must have seen the scowl on my face.

"You okay, baby?" she asked. "Yeah," I muttered. My throat was dry after all the food. "You got water? Agua?" She nodded.

"I get it for you, baby."

She brought me a drink in a hollow gourd. I saw the fullness of her thighs where her dress was pulled tight as she leaned above me. She could probably squeeze the life out of a man with those sturdy legs.

I gave her a smile, and she smiled back.

When I reached up and slid an arm around her waist, she let herself go limp. She landed on top of me, her hips squirming, her hands stroking my face.

She kissed with her whole body in motion.

I slipped my hand under her dress, discovering that she wore nothing underneath. She whimpered with delight when my fingers stroked gently.

She clamped her legs and wormed. A throaty growl came from her parted lips. Her dress slid up around her waist as she began to push restlessly.

Leaning down, she kissed me on the cheek.

"Momentito," she whispered.

She jumped up and ran to the door. There was a rolled mat above it, tied with a cord. She loosened the cord and let the mat roll down. That gave us some privacy.

A mangy dogedged through the door and came over to lick my feet. She gave an angry cry and kicked the dog in the tail. It yelped and ran outside.

I watched in the dim light of the hut as Pepita pulled the dress over her head and hung it on a post. I shivered from the sight of her naked body, the dull coffee color of her skin, the roundness of her breasts and thighs.

Her belly quivered as she walked over and leaned above me. Her breasts swung pendulously.

I heard the hissing of her breath, for she was already trembling with anticipation. She shoved the two big globes into my face, then she began to roll her head drunkenly, causing her long black hair to sway across her shoulders. A wail burst from her lips, then became wild, excited laughter.

She wormed her hips slowly, thrusting and retreating. I caught hold of her swelling breasts and massaged them, pinching them into elongated cones. The hard brown nipples stuck out in throbbing stiffness.

Her torso writhed as though she were in a trance. Her breathing grew strained. Her breasts bobbed with each thrusting movement of her excited body.

I felt a slow burning start in my guts and spread through my bloodstream. This dame was utterly pagan, as primitive in her passions as a jungle animal.

As her ecstasy grew, her whole body began to shiver. Her belly quaked, while she wove a magic rhythm with her thighs. Her flesh was slick with sweat. Her black hair, falling about her face, gave her a wild, demented look.

Suddenly she shoved against me and locked her arms around my neck. Her mouth crushed against mine. Her black eyes shone brightly. Sweat rolled down her breasts and belly, cutting little trails through the dust which powdered her skin.

Moving into position, she pinned me down to the mat with her compact little thighs. I felt the warmth of her body, and it started a tingling along my spine. She must have thought I was too weak to take the initiative, so she was going to do all the heavy work.

I really didn't give a damn.

She pressed with her haunches and squirmed her torso. Then she scooted lower. The breath caught in my throat. I reached up and braced her, clamping my fingers into her fleshy hips. We moved together, our bodies twisting in the age-old tempo of lust.

For a moment we clung to each other, then both of us began to writhe in torment. Sparks danced along my back as she ground her hips. My body stiffened. Shock waves tore through me with explosive force.

I felt her shuddering too. And then her hips stopped moving as her strength ebbed away. With a sigh of contentment, she fell down and lay beside me while she continued to tremble. She had stunned me with the violent power of her passion. I could not fight against sleep.

Slowly I drifted off again....