it was almost noon the next day when they approached pucuro. jack ordered lorraine belowdecks long before they reached the harbor. he didn't want to take the slightest chance of anyone's seeing her. he hadn't come right out and said it, but pucuro was full of cutthroats and thieves. however, it was either stop here or waste another day searching for some other little out-of-the-way port.

"jack?" lorraine stood on the steps below, the wind tousling her hair. jack was hard-pressed to remember any woman looking more beautiful than she did right then.

"what?" he made himself sound short-tempered.

"would it be possible...for you to pick me up a few clothes while you're in town?"

"any particular color?"

"yellow's my favorite."

"i'll do what i can."

"thank you." she disappeared, closing the door behind her.

jack maneuvered the boat toward the docks, which were old and ramshackle. a number of small boats were tied up there. he noticed a couple of disreputable-looking young men who studied him as though trying to estimate how easy it would be to take him on. jack met their stares until both glanced away. an edgy feeling came over him as they hurriedly left.

with no one in the vicinity to hear, jack knocked lightly on the bulkhead and told lorraine, "i'm going now."

"be quick, okay?"

"like i said, i shouldn't be more than thirty minutes." he was well aware how uncomfortable it was for her belowdecks. soon it would be stifling.

he was about to leave, then decided to give her one last warning. "you need to be quiet."

"i know that. just go, okay?"

he hesitated. the feeling was back, and experience had taught him not to ignore his gut. unfortunately he had to go into town; there were few other alternatives. it'd been many hours since they'd eaten and they couldn't go much longer without supplies.

"is something wrong?" lorraine's loud whisper came up from below.

"not a thing. just sit tight." he didn't like leaving her, but he had no choice. "one final reminder. don't fire the gun unless it's absolutely necessary. understand?" the last thing he needed was her using it as a signal to remind him to pick up coffee.

when he'd jumped onto the wharf, jack had to watch where he stepped. the wood had rotted in quite a few places. as quickly as he could, he headed in the direction of the town's only store. supplies were outrageously priced, but for once jack wasn't going to quibble. he wanted in and out of pucuro, no questions asked.

it went without saying that he wasn't fond of the town. his first and only visit to pucuro, a number of years ago, had nearly gotten him killed. he'd been part of deliverance company, and murphy had sent him on a fact-finding mission. fool that he was, jack had gotten the information he needed, then lingered in the cantina. that had been his first mistake.

he'd decided to stay for a glass of beer when he noticed a woman across the room. the look she gave him wasn't unfamiliar. she was interested and frankly, after several months of celibacy, so was he. cain had insisted that when his men were on a mission, they keep their pants zipped. only cain wasn't in charge anymore, murphy was. jack had made a classic mistake. he'd gone home with the pretty se