Page 148 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

Our dirty little secret.

Priest called before we could pile onto Frankie’s boat and sail back to Ilha Grande the next morning.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” he asked.

“Have you been talking to Demelza?”

“As it happens, I have.”

“Then you should know the bad news comes first, always.”

“The bad news… She still thinks you need a vacation.”

Okay, that wasn’t terrible.

“And the good news?”

“The good news is that the world seems to be uncharacteristically quiet at the moment. Probably the calm before the storm, but I have this yacht for as long as I need it, so why don’t you guys meet me in Puerto Rico and we can all take a break for a few days.”

“What about Cole?”

“Bring him along. We could do with more Y-chromosomes around the place.”

“I’ll have to ask the others, but I’m game.”

I still had T-Rex to deal with, but he could stew until we got back. Plus someone had to save Priest from getting drunk and accidentally marrying a pretty woman he met in a bar. What were the rules around marriage licences in Puerto Rico? I needed to check that.

“You can also tell them that the authorities will be retrieving the gold from theCrosswindlater today.”

Awesome. We’d kept half a dozen bars as a finder’s fee, but perhaps they could use the remainder to fund an anti-drugs task force?

“What about the rest of the treasure?”

“It’ll be salvaged from theSpanish Dancerin due course, and any archaeology work will be carried out with minimum impact on the surroundings. The ship itself will be left in place.”

“Shame they can’t leave the gold in place too.”

“They did consider that, but one group of treasure hunters has already tried to steal it. Once the valuables are removed, the wreck won’t have the same attraction.”

“The gold was prettier in the sea with the fish all around.”

“Unlike you to be sentimental, Jezebel.”

“I think…I think I’ve changed in the past two months.”

Cole had changed me.

“I know, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone finds their soulmate.”

Priest sounded quite melancholy. Shit, he was going to get hitched again, wasn’t he? A wedding was about due.

“I’ll see you later. Don’t do anything dumb in the meantime, okay?”

“I’m just going to meander around for a while, maybe find a bar for lunch.”

Uh-oh. Wife number four had been a waitress. He’d only been in the Bahamas for two days when he married her.

“Sounds good. Is there much to do there?”

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