Free The Pirate by Katherine Garbera Page B

long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She had the same worried look on her face that Daphne was sure she wore too.
    â€œI know that but I don’t like…I just need someone to blame for this. I guess I’m scared and looking for a fight.”
    Franny laughed and wrapped her arm around Daphne’s shoulders. “Me too. I almost took Bob’s head off because he said that I should put on a sweatshirt so I didn’t look too feminine to the pirates.”
    Daphne tried to smile but she was scared. There was a knot in the pit of her stomach that simply wouldn’t go away no matter how hard she tried to focus on being positive.
    She’d never been in a life-and-death situation before. She didn’t count the times she’d been in the operating room and had a patient code, because in the operating room she was a god and she knew she had the skills to bring a patient back.
    But on this ship…out here in the real world, she wasn’t as sure.
    She had no experience in what to do here. And she needed to do something. She needed to be active and not just sitting around waiting for something to happen.
    â€œWhat did the Captain say?”
    â€œNot much. I still don’t really trust that man,” Daphne said. “I know that his first priority is our safety and the safety of his ship but…”
    â€œI’ll go talk to him,” Jerry said. “I think maybe he’s used to dealing with men.”
    Jerry walked away and Franny snorted. “That remark had machismo all over it.”
    Daphne shook her head. “Maybe that’s what we need here. Maybe I’m just borrowing trouble by worrying about him, but I need to do something to make us all feel safe.”
    â€œUs all? Or yourself?” Franny asked.
    â€œMyself. I hate feeling like a victim.”
    â€œMe too. But in this case”—Franny said, gesturing at the room they were locked in—“I don’t think there is anything we can do except wait.”
    â€œI stink at waiting,” Daphne said.
    â€œWell, that’s all we can do,” Jerry said, returning to their side.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause the Captain doesn’t want to take a chance on getting us killed.”
    â€œSo he thinks we’re safe,” Daphne asked.
    Jerry shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I think he’s not sure of our skills and wants us to just be good little passengers until the pirates make a move so he can see how they are going to treat us.”
    Daphne couldn’t explain it but just hearing that they were to wait and see made her feel like she was going to explode. That was not a plan in her mind. That was like saying an abused woman should sit quietly so she didn’t incur the wrath of her abusive husband.
    She didn’t admit to them that her real anger with Laz stemmed from the fact that he was treating her like everyone else. But then again, why shouldn’t he? She was just like everyone else on this tanker—a passenger and his responsibility. She was nothing more important to him then that.
    She didn’t fool herself that just because they’d had sex anything had changed between them. It hadn’t for her. Really, it hadn’t.
    Laz looked at her for a second and then turned away.
    â€œI can’t believe this.”
    â€œWhat?” Bob asked, coming over to join her.
    â€œThe Captain wants us to just sit tight and wait this out. See how the pirates treat us.”
    â€œWell, it makes sense. These men are unpredictable,” Rudy said. “They remind me a lot of the guerrillas I met in South America.”
    â€œAll criminals are unpredictable,” Franny said.
    â€œNot like these kind of men,” Rudy said. “These are men who have nothing to lose because they have nothing to go home to.”
    Daphne understood that mentality. “How do we deal with them?”
    â€œI’m not sure. I think the Captain