Creel didn’t return the smile. He rose from the chair and pressed down his sailor’s jacket and reset the cap on his head. This was why he’d worn the uniform today, for the children.
“They’re Italian kids from a local orphanage. They never get to do anything. So when we’re at anchor here I always have them come out. For a good meal, new clothes, toys, and some fun. They’re just children; they should have some fun, Dick.”
“Very generous of you.”
“It’s why I didn’t have my wife come. It’s impossible for the woman to keep her clothes on while on this boat, even with little kids running around. I mean, adults are one thing, and if the crew wants to ogle her, but children? It’s really quite an appalling facet of her personality. Had I known before the wedding? Well, there you are.”
“A small dent in your aura of omniscience,” Pender said, not bothering to hide his smile.
“Dick, I’ve found that you occasionally take liberties with me that you have no right to take.”
Pender looked startled. “I’m sorry, Mr. Creel. I had no intention-”
Creel set a glass of port in front of him. “By the way, it is the best.”
A pale-faced Pender nervously lifted his glass with Creel.
Creel said, “To a better world.”
&
nbsp; “To a better world,” Pender mumbled nervously.
“Don’t look so glum, Dick, I wasn’t being entirely serious.”
This comment didn’t seem to make Pender feel any better at all.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes after I get the kids settled down to eat. Then after that I’m going to take them on a submarine ride.”
“You have a submarine!”
“I have everything, Dick. I thought you knew that.”
“Yes, but Italian orphans on a submarine?”
“And when one has everything, one needs to share,” Creel added firmly.
As Creel headed abovedeck to see his youthful guests, Pender set back to work. However, part of his mind was contemplating the oddness of mankind in general and the peculiarity of one enormously rich man in particular. He also made a mental note to never, ever treat himself as an equal to the billionaire. That, he knew, could be deadly. It was perfectly true that there were only a very few people who could do what Dick Pender could do.
But it was also true that there was only one Nicolas Creel.
CHAPTER 46
SHAW SLOWLY OPENED HIS EYES. His first image was the far wall where a small cabinet sat. When he moved his gaze to the right, his line of sight took in the pair of long shapely legs standing next to the door.
He smiled, even though the painkillers were beginning to wear off and it felt like his left arm had been amputated.
“Anna?” he said, trying to lift up his good arm to reach out to her.
The legs moved forward, coming more sharply into focus.
“It’s Katie, Katie James. Do you remember me?” she said awkwardly, her voice actually cracking.
God, he mistook me for Anna!
Katie stopped next to the bed. Shaw very slowly moved his head up so he could see her standing there.
He said in a drug-induced, halting voice, “What are you doing here?”