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Hagen nodded. 'That's right.' He scrambled down the rocks and O'Hara followed.

'Would I be right in supposing we're not returning to Macao at all?'

For a moment Hagen hesitated, but only for a moment. 'That's about the size of it,' he said. 'Do you mind?'

A grin split O'Hara's face wide open. 'She's a grand lass,' he said.

'Let's hope they thought that wreckage was all that was left of us,' Hagen said.

O'Hara nodded, suddenly sober. 'I hope so. Charlie has a long arm.'

Hagen went into the wheelhouse and started the engines. He reversed out of the inlet and then turned the wheel over to O'Hara. 'I think we can just about make Haiphong,' he said. 'You take over for a while. I'll relieve you later.'

He went below and sat by her bunk, smoking and looking at her, and after a while she opened her eyes and smiled at him. The cabin tilted as Hurrier lunged into the waves and she said weakly, 'We're moving again?' He nodded and she went on, 'Macao?'

He shook his head. 'Haiphong. We've got just enough fuel. We'll move on to Saigon from there.'

For a moment she lay watching him and the tears began to well slowly from her eyes. 'Oh, Mark, I love you so much.'

He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. 'When I was patching you up,' he said, 'a funny thing happened. I forgot about the gold. In fact, I forgot about everything except you.'

'What about Charlie?' she said.

'To hell with Charlie. We'll turn over the gold and sell the boat and move on. I'm not afraid of Charlie.'

'Where will we go?' she said. 'Ireland?'

He nodded. 'Maybe; we'll talk about it.'

She smiled happily and he took her hand, and after a time she drifted into sleep. He sat there for a little while longer, and then he went up on deck and took over the wheel from O'Hara.

The wind had freshened even more and spray spattered against the shattered windows of the wheelhouse as the boat dipped over the waves. A gull flew low over the deck and skimmed the water with a shrill cry, and as the wheel kicked in his hand Hagen suddenly grinned. For the first time in his life he felt as if he was really breaking out of something.

A Biography of Jack Higgins

Jack Higgins is the pseudonym of Harry Patterson (b. 1929), the New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including The Eagle Has Landed and The Wolf at the Door. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Patterson grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child, Patterson was a voracious reader and later credited his passion for reading with fueling his creative drive to be an author. His upbringing in Belfast also exposed him to the political and religious violence that characterized the city at the time. At seven years old, Patterson was caught in gunfire while riding a tram, and later was in a Belfast movie theater when it was bombed. Though he escaped from both attacks unharmed, the turmoil in Northern Ireland would later become a significant influence in his books, many of which prominently feature the Irish Republican Army. After attending grammar school and college in Leeds, England, Patterson joined the British Army and served two years in the Household Cavalry, from 1947 to 1949, stationed along the East German border. He was considered an expert sharpshooter.

Following his military service, Patterson earned a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics, which led to teaching jobs at two English colleges. In 1959, while teaching at James Graham College, Patterson began writing novels, including some under the alias James Graham. As his popularity grew, Patterson left teaching to write full time. With the 1975 publication of the international blockbuster The Eagle Has Landed, which was later made into a movie of the same name starring Michael Caine, Patterson became a regular fixture on bestseller lists. His books draw heavily from history and include prominent figures--such as John Dillinger--and often center around