Stormy Vows - Iris Johansen [91]
“Good!” Dominic said briskly, his mouth quirking. “By the way, do you play chess?”
Jane's face was puzzled as she answered, “Why, yes, I used to play often with my grandfather.”
Jake Dominic shot a sly glance at Benjamin. “You see, Marc,” he said flippantly, “it's kismet.”
“So it would seem,” Benjamin said sarcastically. “Well, if you're set on keeping her, I'd better find her a place to sleep.”
“Yes, you do that, Marc,” Dominic said lightly, “Run along with Marc, Jane.”
Jane stood up and obediently moved toward the waiting captain.
“Just a moment,” he said, bending to pick up her backpack from the floor. “You forgot this.”
Jane turned and held out her hand as he moved toward her.
“It's heavier than it looks,” he said, weighing it casually.
“Oh, that's just the bomb,” she said absently. Then, as she perceived both men's stunned expressions, she giggled helplessly. “It's just a stink bomb,” she assured them, her face alight with amusement. She glanced at her watch. “There must be something wrong with the timer,” she commented. “It should have gone off ten minutes ago.”
“Let's not take any chances, shall we?” Jake Dominic asked testily, carrying the backpack over to the large porthole. He opened the porthole with one hand and drew back his arm to toss the bomb into the sea. “I have to sleep in here tonight.”
Jane grinned and turned to follow Benjamin from the room.
The explosion as the bomb hit the water was deafening, and a shock wave rocked the ship, causing Jane to stumble against Benjamin. The captain instinctively put out his arms to catch her, but she tore away from him to whirl and stare in horror at the fiery glare that still illuminated the darkness beyond the port-hole.
“Oh, my God!” she breathed, her eyes wide with shock. “Oh, God, I didn't know.” How could Les do such a thing, she thought incredulously? If the bomb had gone off while Jake Dominic lay sleeping, he would surely have been killed, and who knew how many more would have been hurt? The blast had been awesomely powerful. If anyone had been injured, then she, too, would have been responsible. She had brought the bomb aboard. She had even set the timer. “Please, believe me,” she pleaded brokenly, tears running silently down her cheeks. “I would never have done this; I didn't know.”
Jake Dominic had been thrown against the easy chair by the force of the blast. Now he slowly straightened and looked at her grimly. “Oh, I believe you,” he said tersely, his face a shade paler than it had been before. “You wouldn't have perched on top of a live bomb for almost an hour and then forgotten it existed, if you knew what your friends were up to.”
Jane drew a quivering breath of relief. “I don't suppose you'll let me work off my debt now,” she said uncertainly. “I can understand if you want to turn me over to the police. It was a terrible thing to do.”
“You're damn right it was terrible,” he said harshly. “It was also stupid, irresponsible, and dangerous. You should have your head examined to have become mixed up with a bunch of idiots who would perpetrate something like this. You obviously need a keeper!”
Benjamin's voice sounded from behind Jane. “Shall I ready the launch?”
Dominic's eyes flared angrily. “Hell, no,” he said. “Why should I let a group of crackpots do me out of my personal slave? She goes with us. Now, get her out of here before I change my mind.” He turned away and gazed out the porthole, his back taut and angry. “We'd better get underway at once and not wait until tomorrow. Someone's bound to have seen that explosion, and we don't want to answer questions from the Coast Guard.”
“Right,” Benjamin said laconically. He opened the door and, taking Jane by the arm, pushed the dazed girl ahead of him into the hall. Before he shut the door he spoke dryly to Dominic's expressively furious back. “I'll have to agree with you, Jake. She's certainly not boring.”
Jane was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the cabin she was shown to on one of the upper decks. Though small and compact and obviously meant for crew instead of guest occupancy,