Aria kept her back rigid and refused to look at him but she couldn’t keep the blood from reddening her cheeks. A dungeon was going to be too good for this man.
They took off with more speed than she liked but she held on to the single seat in the boat as tightly as she could. It would no doubt give that odious man a good deal of satisfaction to see her tumble over the side of the boat.
After a few moments J.T. took the controls of the boat away from Bill and somehow got even more speed out of it. The salt air hit Aria’s face, and after her initial shock, it began to feel good. Now and then Bill would ask her if she was all right, but Lieutenant Montgomery just kept his eyes on the water.
In the late afternoon they stopped in Key Largo for gas. Although her muscles were stiff from holding on for so long, Aria sat in her place on the boat. She had been trained to sit still for hours at a time.
“Where can I get some sandwiches?” J.T. asked the dock owner.
“Gertie’s at the end of the pier.”
Bill stayed with the boat and Aria while J.T. got the food.
“What’s this?” Bill asked when J.T. returned. He was looking inside the bag of food. “A knife and fork for sandwiches? And a china plate?”
J.T. took the bags from Bill’s hand. “You ready to go?” he snapped.
“Just waiting for you,” Bill answered with a matching snap.
Bill boarded while J.T. shoved off then jumped in. As soon as they were headed north again, J.T. slammed an egg salad sandwich on the cheap plate he had had to pay dearly for and handed it to Aria with the knife and fork.
Aria, for the first time in days, felt comfortable eating. She didn’t notice the way Bill kept gaping at her.
“A real princess,” he said. “Wait’ll Dolly hears about this.”
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“Dolly isn’t going to hear about this,” J.T. said emphatically. “Nobody is going to hear about this. We keep it to ourselves.”
Bill started to say something, but after looking at J.T., he closed his mouth.
They arrived in Miami at midnight.
“We’ll have to wait until morning when the stores open,” Bill said, then groaned. “The navy frowns on being late. Think we’ll get the brig?”
J.T. leaped off the boat before it was fully docked. “Secure the boat and get her off. I have to make a phone call.”
Aria unsteadily stepped onto the dock and made her way up the ladder. She was determined not to show her weariness.
“It’s settled,” J.T. said. “There’ll be a cab here in a few minutes and my friend will meet us at a clothing store. There’s a train out of here at four A.M. Come on, Princess, you’re not too tired to buy clothes, are you?”
Aria straightened her shoulders. “I am not tired at all.”
The taxi arrived with a squeal of brakes and J.T. lost no time in pushing Aria into the back seat.
“She seems awfully nice to me,” she heard Bill saying. “Maybe you shouldn’t treat her like that.”
J.T. didn’t answer as he climbed into the front seat and gave the driver the address. They rode through the deserted, dark streets.
“Are you sure this place is open, bub?” the taxi driver asked J.T.
“It will be by the time we get there.”
They stopped in front of a small shop in a residential area of big, expensive mansions that were hidden behind vine-covered walls.
“Don’t look like much to me,” Bill said. “Maybe we oughtta try downtown.”
J.T. got out of the car. “There he is,” he said, walking toward a long black Cadillac that was pulling to the curb.