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I took a deep breath That was a , and I spat up some more foam and mucus "Let’s just say I missed my boat," I said

"What ?" he asked It was a rhetorical question; he was showing off for his crew "You have a kid on the ship?"

"No"

"Money, then" He flashedof hter died out on the erous "Don’t think I want to tell you that," he said "Not yet"

"Why?" I was starting to believe I’d been better off with the sharks

"Aive you ot i They think they can buy their way out of anything" He gazed atThat makes me nervous"

"Maybe I’m poor"

He snorted "Even the poor offer You don’t even try to make a deal"

"Maybe I’m crazy"

He showed me teeth "Maybe Maybe you just think on’t hurt you ’cause you’re so pretty"

"No," I said, and held his gaze "I’m sure you’d try like hell to hurt me, for any reason or none at all I’m sure you’ve slit throats and raped and tortured if you felt like it Probably just yesterday"

That woke a lot ofthe rest of the crew I heard the slap of boots -from other parts of the ship, drawn by the tinfoil smell of trouble in the air

"Huh," the captain said "So what you got to stop me if I want to do the same to you?"

"I’le onhad subsided, but the nerves aking up, and I could feel the outline of the torch forain, black and steady I could feel the black well of power opening, ready to flood into uys know comic books? The Incredible Hulk? " Josue looked blank He looked around at the others

"Bruce Banner," one of the crew piped up "You won’t like roup of people, no ht appear, there’s always a geek I was just surprised that, in this company, he’d admitted it

"It’s like that, only I don’t have to wait to turn green," I said "I’entlemen Don’t push me, and I won’t push back, and we’ll all be just fine

So you to keep " The captain was no longer amused "Shut up, bitch," he said, and shoved the barrel of his pistol under my chin "You don’t threaten h for that "

I didn’t reach for power It reached for me , a black tidal wave that pounded into

No!I rejected it, slammed the door shut and held it closed as the power thundered on the other side I felt small and pitiful and ridiculously weak, and I kneas only a second from death at the hands of these men, these pirates - but my other choice orse

"Sure," I said Josue hadn’t noticed a thing, froht he was still in control, not one heartbeat away fro a red stain on the deck "You win" If he pushed that gun into ed "I always do," he said "Tell me who you are"

"Joanne Baldwin"

"No Who you are You’re not afraid of ave up"

"Not because you’re afraid" Josue ay too smart It was a little creepy Then he took it too far by saying, "I like women best when they’re afraid They shut up more"

"You’re a real charmer, did you know that?" He flashedto put me in the hold What then? You turn etI already kneho that would be, and his initials were Bad Bob Biringanine

"Soreed "Unless you plan to make me a better offer"

"I’ll pay you that he’s paying you," I said I did want to get to Bad Bob Just not as his helpless captive Much better if I could hire ht to him unexpectedly

Josue slowly showed his teeth in a sold-plated incisors, both on the bottolam vampire look that must have been pretty effective in his line of work

"Where you got all that rab, as if he was about to make a withdrawal I fended him off

"No, idiot I keep my money in a bank, like every other criminal who isn’t a complete moron

Look, I was on that ship with some of the wealthiest people on earth I’m not just some casino rat I know people"

Josue looked unimpressed "What people?"

"Cynthia Clark Theeeky enthusiasm of film obsessives everywhere

Froured they est DVD collection ever somewhere belowdecks Not that they’d ever paid for any of it, of course

"Famous friends doesn’t mean you have money How you expect to pay me?" Captain Josue asked, and spread his hands to sho unencumbered I was by those phantom millions

"Electronic transfer," I said "It’s how business works these days People don’t carry cash, they carry personal identification numbers and ATM cards" He wasn’t convinced "And how does this help ave hio, I promise you, I’ll fill your ship so full of dollars you won’t be able to sleep without restacking bundles of cash"

"Then give me your account number and PIN code I’ll check it out" I raised ht you didn’t have a cohed "You give me the infor whore That seeain with Guess you’ll just have to trust me"