The girls led him up the stairs to the second floor. Regan, standing at the bottom of the steps, appraised their gracefully swinging hips and saw one of the girls reach back to caress Dykstra’s haunches. “Virgins, my ass!” he mumbled accusingly to Clarice.

  The madam shrugged and gave Regan a conspiratorial wink. “He’ll never know the difference.”

  Regan wiped the smile off Clarice’s face by issuing an edict: “I’m only paying for one! Now get me that room, I’ll sleep off this drunk and then I’ll take care of your girls, all of them!”

  Luanna was tiny, a porcelain doll. Jet hair flowed to her waist. Her small, naked breasts were firm and high. Her body was hairless in the Javanese tradition. “Regan,” she cooed softly, “Madame Clarice told me you were here.” She smiled beguilingly, her small, white, sharp-pointed teeth nibbling at her full, lower lip. “Have you been waiting long?” Regan grunted, neither an admission or a denial. Because of the rum he had consumed he didn’t know how long he had been there. Only his aching head told him it had not been long enough.

  Luanna slid into the bed next to him, wiggling her hips seductively as she slid into his embrace. She put her mouth against his and nibbled his lips, searching his mouth with her tongue. Regan lay still, accepting her caresses, willing himself to concentrate on her charms.

  What was wrong with him? Luanna had always excited him, heated his blood to boiling, he could never get enough of her. Now her charms were ineffectual, her body was too thin, too small, her breasts too hard and lacking voluptuousness. Her musk scent was unpleasant to him. His mind kept searching for fuller, softer breasts, lean, long haunches, the scent of spindrift. The Siren! That’s who he longed for, the damnable Sea Siren who was his nemesis.

  Luanna’s hands caressed him searchingly, sliding over his body in a hot embrace. Realizing her failure to arouse him, her lips became hungrier and she pressed her body still closer.

  Suddenly, abruptly, she sat up in bed, her eyes accusing and murderous. “So, you didn’t wait for your Luanna after all,” she hissed. “How dare you come to me spent and exhausted from the embrace of another?” She was enraged, seething with jealousy. She eyed him calculatingly, her lips curled back over her pointed little teeth, which now seemed carnivorous and deadly. She would rather have him dead than have him solicit another whore. To be rejected by Regan for another one of Clarice’s girls would mean the toppling of her position in the ranks. A position she guiltily knew she had abused. As Regan’s favorite she had enjoyed being pampered by Clarice and looked at with envy by the other girls. Rather than pay homage to her successor, she would kill him first!

  A slight snore filled the small, otherwise silent room. In a frenzy, Luanna was off the bed and reaching for the stiletto she kept hidden in a dresser drawer. She pounced on the bed, the knife poised. Her movements jarred Regan awake. He leaned over and grasped her arm, knocking the stiletto to the floor.

  Chaezar’s words rang in his ears: “You have to be careful, Regan, these Javanese whores are well versed in the art of murder.” Regan shuddered at how close he had come to fulfilling Chaezar’s prophecy. Luanna was up and reaching for him with sharp, talon-like fingers. He threw her against the wall, grabbed his clothes from the chair near the door and made a hasty exit.

  As he raced down the stairs, naked, his clothes in his arms, he bellowed, “Dykstra, you son of a bitch! It’s time to get out of here! No virgin’s worth your life!”

  His near-white thatch of hair practically standing on end, his face flushed, he was completely sober now. He passed in front of Clarice, who was laughing uproariously.

  “I see you’re in a hurry, Regan,” she shouted as he leaped through the door. “We’ll settle up the bill another time!”

  Sirena passed her days in distracted idleness. Chaezar’s sudden departure had left her feeling frustrated and empty. Time dragged and would continue to drag until he returned and she could plot her revenge.

  Occasionally she dined with Regan, but neither of them had much to say. That night in her room stood between them and made communication impossible.

  One afternoon Caleb came to her room. “What is it, Sirena? What’s wrong?” he asked. In the six weeks that had passed since she had found The Hook she had become irritable and demanding. Restlessness created a hollow look about her eyes.

  “I think I’m going mad,” she answered. “Are you happy, Caleb?”

  “Happy enough,” Caleb confessed. “Regan keeps me busy. He’s taking me on a cruise to the inner islands. He says he wants someone to meet me. Why is that, do you suppose?”

  “When did he first mention this to you?”

  “It was just after you dealt with The Hook. Remember, Regan was returning with him from the inner islands? He called me into his office and told me. His eyes were so sad, I know he grieves for his son. When I was there he told me he knows his son is alive and he’s determined to find him. Regan’s eyes are haunted and he drinks more than what’s good for him. You must have noticed the change in him, Sirena.”

  “I rarely see him, how could I notice a change in him?” she replied bitterly.

  “Regan asked me if I remembered who the carving on the Tita reminded me of.”

  “And did you?” Sirena asked vaguely.

  “No, and it bothers me. It seeems so familiar. Let me get it and show it to you. Perhaps you will notice something.”

  Caleb was back in minutes, the small model held securely in his sun-browned hands.

  “It’s beautiful,” Sirena said, taking the model from his hands. “Whoever did the carving is a master craftsman.”

  “Regan said it’s an exact likeness of his wife Tita. Look at the carving around the eyes. You can see separations between her eyelashes. Isn’t she beautiful?”

  Sirena ran her hands over the small carving and looked into Caleb’s eyes. Her own were narrowed as she gazed at the boy. It couldn’t be. Yet … “Tita was a native princess, I imagine her eyes were inky-black.”

  “Brown,” Caleb corrected. “Regan said they were soft as a dove’s, and her hair was like silk, her skin was like spun honey.”

  “She must have been very beautiful,” Sirena said sadly.

  “What is it, Sirena? I see such sadness in your eyes.”

  “It’s nothing. I guess I’m just bored.”

  “Does the carving remind you of someone, as it does me.”

  “Yes, it does look familiar. I think it’s the eyes. What do you think?”

  “I agree. That’s what I told Regan was familiar to me. He just looked at me and smiled.”

  “I’ll think about it and if I decide who it is I’ll let you know,” she said, handing back the model to the boy.

  Caleb scampered off happily, his model clutched in both hands.

  Sirena sat frowning. It was impossible yet everything would almost point in the direction of … Had Regan noticed the resemblance? If he had, her game was up. Suddenly she gripped her stomach as a violent attack of nausea overcame her. God in Heaven, not again. What ailed her? Suddenly her eyes widened and she gasped. Her mind raced as she gripped her stomach and fought back the retches. Wearily, she lay down on the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Please, God, no, don’t let it happen. Not now, not after all I’ve been through.

  Sobs shook her body as she buried her face into the smoothness of the pillow beneath her head. How would she explain it? Regan would never believe her. Would he kill her? Did she care? Yes, she whispered, I care, for I love him. I love him too much to let him know. I’ll have to leave. Soon she wouldn’t be able to hide the obvious. Already she had noticed Frau Holtz looking at her with more than her usual suspicion. I have to do something. And Caleb. What of Caleb? What would be best for the boy? Her head whirled and the only consolation she could offer herself was the certainty that this child was Regan’s. The signs had appeared long before that afternoon with Chaezar but long after the event’s aboard the Rana.

  “Sirena, I’m going to the inner islands with Regan today. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone. Will you be all right alone?”

  “Of course, why do you ask?”

  “You don’t look well to me. The circles under your eyes get darker each day. Is there anything I can do?”

  “I don’t think anyone on Java has been getting much rest! Not with these nightly tirades from the volcano.” The Sisters of Fire had been reminding the islanders of their presence more frequently with their ominous tremors and belches of hot cinders. Many natives had escaped from the Dutch plantations, slipping away by night in their dugout proas. Still, the stubborn Europeans refused to acknowledge the threats. They doggedly remained on Java, fearful of losing the fruitful properties they had amassed.

  “When do you leave, Caleb?” Sirena asked, anxious to divert his attention away from herself.

  “Sometime this afternoon. Regan says he must be here when Señor Alvarez returns. He has a score to settle with him. He blames Chaezar and Frau Lindenreich for his son’s disappearance.”

  “Caleb, if for some reason I’m not here when you return, I want you to stay here with Regan. This is to be your home from now on. Someday you’ll understand. I promised you the Sea Siren and she’ll be yours, when you’re of age. I’ll see to it that she’s sent here for you.”

  “Where are you going?” the boy asked, fear leaping into his eyes as he clutched her arm.

  “I’m not sure. You must trust me and tell no one what I just said to you. I can’t stay here any longer. For Regan’s sake I must leave. Please believe me when I tell you that I don’t want to hurt him anymore.”

  “Will you take the Sea Siren?”

  “Yes, I shall take her. Alone.”

  “Alone!” Caleb gasped.

  “Your promise, little brother.”

  The boy gulped but promised, his body shaking with fear.

  “There’s something I must tell you. I’m almost positive that what I am about to tell you is true. I couldn’t leave and not let you know. I think Regan suspects but isn’t sure. Until that time, you have a right to know but you must not let Regan know and you must guard this secret until such time as Regan acknowledges it.”

  “What secret?”

  “Remember the carving on the bow of the Tita?” The boy nodded. “You thought it reminded you of someone and so did I.” Sirena grasped the boy’s shoulders and looked lovingly into his eyes. “Tita was your mother and Regan is your father. I’ve suspected for a long time but wasn’t sure. You say Regan is taking you to the inner islands today. He’ll want someone to look upon you and give him details. You must not let on that you know. If you do, he will think it is some sort of trick. He has to acknowledge you himself. Once he realizes that you are not my brother, he will know that I am not what I pretend to be. Now do you see why I must leave? Don’t cry, little one, you’ll soon gain a doting, loving father. Already I see the love creep from his eyes when he looks upon you. You’ll have a full, rich life.”

  “And you, what will happen to you?” Caleb looked worriedly at the woman who had been his Capitana and his sister.

  “I will be fine. You mustn’t worry about me. Will you keep the secret?”

  Caleb nodded dejectedly. “I’m too big to cry,” he blubbered.

  “You’re never too big to cry,” she said, holding him close to her chest. “You have to hurry now, it’s almost the noon hour. Don’t look back, little brother, go out that door and join your father.” You’ll always be my little brother, she whispered to herself as the door closed on her gathering tears.

  Sirena looked around the small cluttered room and forced herself to walk through the door. She would go downstairs and leave by the front door. Who was there to question her, certainly not Frau Holtz? And if she did, what could she do about it?

  Walking around the courtyard, she saddled her horse and mounted it. She sat for a moment, looking at the house. Who was there to miss her? Perhaps the boy, but in time he, too, would forget her. She spurred the horse and narrowly missed colliding with a dark shadow emerging from the driveway.

  “Chaezar! What brings you here?” she demanded coldly.

  “And what brings you out at night, atop such a fiery steed?”

  “I’m bored,” she lied. “Regan isn’t here. He took the boy to one of the inner islands this afternoon.”

  “To the inner islands?” Was she wrong or did she detect fear in the man’s voice?

  “Yes,” she answered him simply.

  “Is it true he turned the man with the hook over to the Sea Siren?”

  “Yes, it’s true. Have you just returned, Chaezar?”

  “Several hours ago. I came as soon as I heard. Now you say that Regan has gone to the inner islands. That’s strange, he rarely goes there.”

  She knew Chaezar was baiting her for more information. “But you’re wrong, Chaezar. He’s been going there every week for the past month.” Sirena sensed the man’s fear at her words and enjoyed it. Nevertheless, this wasn’t the time to deal with Chaezar. To take her leave of him, she said, “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll continue my ride. I’ll leave a message for Regan saying you called.”

  “That won’t be necessary. Perhaps you’ll allow me to join you on your ride. The evening is much too lovely to be alone.”

  “Your pretense is admirable; however, I prefer to ride alone. I have many things I wish to think about. I haven’t forgotten our last meeting, Chaezar, nor will I forget it in the future.”

  “Ah, my little dove, what can I say?” He threw his hands up in a helpless gesture. “I’m a man, you’re a beautiful woman. I was lost in the moment, and may I say it was a memorable moment?’

  Sirena flushed. “You tricked me! The wine was drugged and you were the one who drugged it. You knew I’d never crawl into your bed otherwise!”

  “Dear Sirena, you sound like an angry virgin. If I recall correctly, you were quite enamored of me that afternoon and surprisingly experienced, despite the rumors of Regan never having bedded you.”

  “Pig!” Sirena spat. “You want only to ruin Regan and you thought by seducing me you could break him and achieve your ends. I could understand an honest seduction, but not this contrived affair. I think Regan has something to settle with you.”

  “What sort of threat is that?”

  “It’s not a threat. I don’t know what he’s been doing, but my brother tells me that these trips to the islands have something to do with you. And that’s all I know,” she said, jerking the reins from his fingers.

  Chaezar gripped her wrist, twisted it, and nearly dragged her from atop her horse. Sirena kicked out, struggling to free herself from his surprisingly strong grasp. Pulling backward, Chaezar’s grip ripped her sleeve, baring her arm to the moonlight.

  Viciously, Sirena lashed out, aiming for his eyes. Shocked, Chaezar stepped back, giving Sirena her chance to escape. Spurring the animal, Sirena’s heart hammered in her chest. Even though it was dark, the moon shone quite brightly and his face had been hate-filled. Had he seen the scar? Would he have recognized it as the wound a slicing cutlass leaves? There was no doubt in her mind that if he wanted to he would overtake her and … What would he do?

  Unknown to either of them, a tall stately figure had watched them from the window. She had been so near she might have reached out and touched them. Frau Holtz’s face was set in dour lines. She had suspected for some time the Mevrouw was hiding some terrible secret. She had noted that every time the Mevrouw went into retreat the Sea Siren wreaked her havoc.

  Juli said the ailment the Mevrouw claimed to suffer left a film, white and salty like spindrift, on her skin and hair. Then finally, spying from the garden, she had seen the Mevrouw and Caleb climb into the house through the window.

  Frau Holtz had secretly championed the Sea Siren and had admired the piratess’s triumph. Frau Holtz, along with all the female sex, knew what it was like to be impotent in the face of men’s strength.

  The main reason Frau Holtz disapproved of the Mevrouw wasn’t because of her deeds at sea, but because she believed Regan was being cuckolded. Now, seeing the wild hatred in Sirena’s face, the viciousness of her escape from Chaezar, Frau Holtz admitted her mistake. Swiftly, she calculated the days till Regan’s return. She must tell him. Frau Holtz knew another secret—Sirena was pregnant with Regan’s child.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  The cool night air cloaked Sirena as she spurred the beast beneath her. Twice she reined in the gelding when she thought she heard hoofbeats behind her. Satisfied, she continued her journey to the Sea Siren.

  She dismounted and stood quietly listening for any sound other than the usual night cries of the birds. The frigate lay in her berth like a dark, ghostly phantom. She gave the gelding a hard slap to its rump and prayed he would find his way back home.

  Quietly, she crept aboard the dark ship and headed for her cabin. The night lay before her like an oblong grave. She would have to ready the ship under cover of darkness. Her nausea was returning and she felt decidedly weak as she bent to hoist the sail. Her feet were sure on the gently pitching deck and she gave a startled cry as her toe touched something soft and yielding.

  “Who goes there?” came a hoarse sleep-filled shout.

  “Jacobus! What are you doing here? You startled me.”

  “I didn’t think you would mind if I slept on the deck. It seems the older I get the fancier my notions. I can’t sleep on land. I didn’t think you’d mind and at the same time I keep my eye on the ship for you.”

  “No, I don’t mind,” Sirena said, trying to fight down the nausea that threatened to erupt. “I’m taking the ship back to Spain. If possible I’d like to set sail before midnight.”

  “You’d sail without a crew? But Capitana, that is not wise! Do you know what the bounty on your head is? It was posted two days ago. You won’t stand a chance on the seas alone. It will take but an hour to get the crew together.”