Free Make Her Pay by Roxanne St. Claire Page B

busy trying to screw the truth out of her, someone else had screwed him. He blew out another curse, just as Paxton powered in.
    “Get out of here, Alita,” he said. “I need to talk to Con privately.”
    She speared him with a look, and left.
    “There’s a thief on board,” Flynn said.
    No shit. “Whoever it is, they’re still on board, and so is that medallion,” Con replied. “We need to search every room, every hold, every bag, every corner until we find it.”
    “Do we ?” Paxton practically spit out the words.
    “As you may recall, you gave me the assignment to secure the treasure this afternoon.”
    “And you failed.”
    Had he been set up? “Who on this ship has this kind of capability?”
    “Plenty of people,” he said. “And if we don’t find that medallion soon, you’re going down as the one who took it.”
    Con shot him a look. “You know damn well I didn’t take it.”
    “I don’t know anything.” He turned to leave, then paused. “I don’t even know how you got this job.”
    He disappeared into the hall, leaving Con to examine the broken cabinet and search for clues that a second-rate thief might leave behind. There were none. An hour later, he’d finished reattaching the cabinet and headed to his own cabin, not bothering to lock the lab.
    Paxton had taken all the treasure that day to the mainland, and the medallion was gone. He stepped out into the hall and stopped when he saw Lizzie sitting on the floor outside of his bunk.
    She put down something she was reading. “You have a minute?”
    He nodded, noticing that she’d showered, changed into a loose, blousy top, and looked even fresher and prettier than when he’d left her.
    Standing, she held out a brown notebook he knew he wasn’t supposed to recognize but did. “I want to share something with you.”
    Part of him was disappointed. The part that wanted to seduce the answers he wanted out of her.
    “Come on in,” he said, unlocking his cabin. “Your reputation’s probably pretty trashed by now anyway.”
    “Like I care.”
    He shot her an appreciative smile. “Tough girl.”
    “Seriously, I don’t care about these people.”
    “One of whom is a fairly skilled thief.”
    “At least now you know it’s not me.”
    “Unless you’re working with someone,” he shot back.
    “That was a pretty thorough distraction technique you employed up in your cabin.”
    “You think that I planned that?”
    “No,” he admitted. “You’re not quite that devious.”
    She took the chair, her posture stiff and awkward. Was she nervous? “Don’t be so sure.”
    He gave her a quizzical look and indicated the notebook. “What’s that?”
    “My father’s journal.”
    Lowering himself to the bunk, he leaned his elbows on his knees. “I’ve already got a good book going, so I guess you must have a reason for bringing this in here.”
    She took a breath and nodded. “I was going to sleep with you.”
    “Did you change your mind?” And what did it have to do with that journal?
    “I changed my mind about you. I think you’re… one of the good guys.”
    He laughed softly. “That’s what you call them now?”
    “I mean, you can be trusted.”
    That must have been some make-out session for her. It left him hard as a rock, but trustworthy? He was better at this than he thought.
    “Con, I need some help.”
    Her tone was dead serious, so he matched it. “For what?”
    She held up the notebook. “Have you ever heard of a legendary ship called El Falcone ?”
    Whoa. He was much better than he thought. “I’ve heard the folklore.”
    “Do you know the captain’s name?”
    He searched his memory banks and the little information he’d read. Nowhere had a captain’s name been mentioned.
    “His name was Aramis Dare,” she said, a look of absolute expectation on her face. When he didn’t respond, she leaned forward.
    “Aramis Dare .”
    “A relative of yours, I take it.”
    “Yes, I am a direct descendant of Aramis, who