The Pirate by Katherine Garbera Page B

he’d asked her to trust him, she realized that trusting any man was still a struggle. Two years after her divorce and she still hadn’t found her way back to just basic trust.
    â€œI’m not so sure. Wow, this day has been…”
    â€œReal,” Franny said.
    Daphne gave the other woman a questioning glance.
    â€œWell, at home we get up, go to work, do our job, and then head home and do it again. I mean there is a little variety but for the most part we live in this insulated bubble. But whenever I’m on one of these trips, it’s like seeing the real world. I can’t help but feel this is what life is meant to be.”
    Daphne wasn’t sure she wanted this much reality. She’d love the comfort of a chai tea latte from Starbucks and listening to John Mayer on her iPod. Instead she was in a holding cell with people she didn’t really know and those who mattered to her were a world away. And she was with a man who was dangerous to her because he was making her feel again.
    That was it, she thought. That bubble of her routine at home had insulated her from being hurt by a man and in one day she’d had that bubble popped and now she was here. Living and breathing in the real world with a real man.
    It was easy to see why she was attracted to Laz when she thought about her situation in those terms. He represented safety. She didn’t fool herself into thinking any of the men on her team could keep her and Franny safe. They were doctors and medics. Men used to saving lives, not taking them. Rudy was the only one who seemed at ease in this situation. Bob of course was doing what any good leader did, trying to keep everyone calm.
    â€œI guess you have a point. But I think this might be more real than I want to experience.”
    Franny shrugged. “I guess it’s different for me because I never found the right man to marry and have kids with, but I’ve always kept moving on hoping I would someday and instead…well, instead I’m here.”
    Daphne hugged Franny to her side. “It’s not any different for you than it is for me. We both left behind another life and another world. I guess we have to adjust to this. I know I do. Otherwise I’m going to curl up in a corner and cry.”
    â€œIf you do maybe Laz will come comfort you,” Franny said.
    â€œDoubtful. That man looks like the type who’d tell me to snap out of it!”
    â€œI see your point.”
    â€œGirls, come on over here,” Hamm said.
    Normally Daphne would take any man to task who called her a girl but tonight that didn’t seem important. Instead she gathered with the rest of the hostages. She’d never felt so powerless. She took a deep breath.
    She had to stop thinking that this was out of her control. She was still a doctor. Still knew how to save lives. Her boys were safe in the United States and for right now all of her group here was safe.
    They’d continue to be until something happened to change the balance of power. She wasn’t powerless, she reminded herself. There were ten of them in the hold, and there were a like number of pirates holding them. Something would happen to shift the balance of power.
    She had to believe that.
    â€œThe pirates are very interested in knowing the names of the Doctors Across Waters group. Rumor has it that one of you is related to a congressman,” Laz said. “I’ve told them you aren’t a factor in this hostage situation.”
    â€œThank you,” Bob said. “What do you think they will do?”
    â€œWell, for now I think they will let us be. But if the shipping company doesn’t step up and meet their demands, they are going to start pulling your group up on deck one by one and demanding that information until they get an answer.”
    â€œIt won’t come to that,” Daphne said. “I’ll talk to them.”
    â€œNo, you won’t,” Laz said. “Hamm and