The Marriage Trap

by Anne McAllister

‘Can’t wait to get back now, can you?’ His voice was gruff.

  She knew he meant to civilisation, not just the boat. ‘Well…’ Frankly, she could have waited a lifetime. But he wouldn’t want to hear that.

  She didn’t have to perjure herself, though, because he stood up just then and said, ‘I thought not,’ then did a dive into the water almost next to her and began stroking back towards the boat. By the time she had swum back to it, he was already in and starting the engine.

  So much for dawdling. If he hadn’t been in a hurry, there was no question but that he was now. She clambered over the side of the boat, expecting him to stop and watch her, but he didn’t even seem to notice.

  They travelled until nearly dusk, scarcely speaking again. Then, when he saw what looked like a promising spot, Aidan steered the boat towards the riverbank and cut the engine. ‘You wait here,’ he told her. ‘I’m going to check things out.’

  ‘What things?’ she called after him. But he had leapt lightly out of the boat and plunged off into the jungle without answering. She noted that he took his gun. While she waited she scanned the treetops apprehensively. But no jaguars were anywhere to be seen, thank heavens. Nevertheless, she was glad when he finally returned. ‘What were you looking for?’

  ‘Unfriendly inhabitants,’ he said enigmatically.

  ‘Jaguars?’

  He shrugged. ‘No. Outlaws, actually.’ He was grabbing his duffel bag though, so she imagined he hadn’t found any.

  ‘Are there really outlaws hereabouts? As in “stick ’em up, bang-bang, you’re dead”?’

  He gave her a wry smile. ‘So I’ve heard.’ He jerked his head towards the interior. ‘Come on. I don’t see any.’

  ‘Why’d you think there were?’

  ‘Something one of the Indians told me before we left. He said when he was out hunting he had seen a band of white men. Bad men, he described them. Big knives. Guns.’ Aidan made a slashing movement with his finger across his throat. ‘That sort of thing. He was pretty descriptive.’

  Courtney made a face. ‘Did he see them actually…?’ She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer even as she asked.

  But Aidan shook his head. ‘No. But while you might use knives like those to cut sugar cane and hack your way through the jungle, you don’t use rifles that way.’

  ‘But we have a rifle,’ she argued.

  ‘So we do. Maybe they’re as harmless as we are, then,’ he said blandly, tying his hammock to one of the trees with quick, economic movements. ‘But I wouldn’t bet on it.’

  She didn’t. In fact, for all that she tried to pooh-pooh his warnings, every scuffle in the brush, every monkey’s leap among the trees, every creak and shriek made her jump. It was that, too, that kept her lying awake once they had eaten and Aidan had let the fire burn down to a dull orange glow.

  It wasn’t because she was missing the feel of Aidan next to her, the steady sound of his heart and the warm press of his hands on her back. It wasn’t!

  She flipped over in her own hammock, telling herself firmly that she ought to be glad she had a hammock to herself again. There was nothing worse than having to share one, than being crammed next to another person, having no space, no room to breathe. She sighed. The lady doth protest too much, methinks, she told herself wryly. A foot or so away Aidan shifted around irritably, then muttered something.

  ‘Are you asleep?’ she whispered.

  ‘What do you think?’ came the growl from the other hammock.

  ‘Why not?’

  He flipped over again so that he was facing her now, and he lifted himself up on to one elbow. The better to glower at her, she supposed, though she could scarcely see him in the dark. ‘How the hell do I know? Mosquito bites, maybe.’

  It wasn’t the answer she had been hoping for. ‘Do you really think so?’

  He made a strangled sound.

  ‘Would you like me to check? I could rub some calamine lotion on them and…’

  ‘For heaven’s sake! I’m all right! I just can’t sleep, damn it. And your hands on me wouldn’t help a bit, thank you very much! Now goodnight!’

  ‘Goodnight.’

  So much for the fond hope that he was missing her next to him the way she was missing him. So much for all her fond hopes, period.

  It would be best, she knew, if they got back to Boca Negra as quickly as possible so that they would not be alone again. It was hard enough being around him in the daytime, wanting him, telling herself that she had a perfect legal right to him—he was her husband after all— and knowing she had no moral right at all. But another night like this one she wasn’t going to be able to stand.

  If Aidan had done something, said something, to change her mind, she would have been the happiest woman in the world. But he didn’t.

  Never much of a talker, he said less the next day than he had said in any of the preceding two weeks. He looked grim and morose, frowning every time she looked at him.

  She understood. He still wanted her physically, and he was getting more frustrated by the minute because he couldn’t have her. Not without jeopardising their chance of an annulment anyway.

  Well, he wasn’t any more frustrated than she was, that was certain.

  The day was long and hot, and the tension grew between them like a storm about to break. The prospect of another night together hung over them like an angry cloud. There seemed no way to avert the disaster until, just as she was unloading the boat for the night, she spied three scruffy men in a canoe coming downstream.

  One of them waved to her and shouted something.

  Courtney paused as she was shouldering the duffel bag she had gone back for and looked at them curiously. The one steering had changed his course and the boat was now coming right towards her.

  ‘Bom dia! Bom dia!’ the one in front boomed at her, a grin splitting his swarthy, stubbled face. He said something else in Portuguese too rapidly for her to understand.

  She shook her head: ‘Sou americana.’

  Immediately the one who was handling the tiller spoke up. ‘Texas, little lady. I’m from Texas.’ He was burly and sunburned, with a battered straw hat clamped on curly, sandy hair. ‘M’name’s Deke, and this here’s Sonny.’

  Sonny was even more portly, obviously a man who enjoyed his beer and victuals. He looked as if he enjoyed many of the baser pleasures in life, and the grin he gave her made Courtney glad when Deke went on, jerking his head at the dark-haired man who had spoken first. ‘That’s Jose.’ He pronounced it as if it were the girl’s name, Josie. ‘Fancy meetin’ you out here.’

  ‘Uh, yes.’ Courtney smiled at them and began edging back into the bush where Aidan was hanging the hammocks.

  ‘Settlin’ in for the night, are you?’ Deke went on as he used one of the oars to pole the canoe in towards the shore.

  ‘Yes. My hus… husband and I are just…’

  ‘Husband?’ Deke looked at the other two men and shook his head. ‘You got a husband? Now ain’t that a shame? Pretty girl like you, married.’

  ‘How ’bout we share a meal with you?’ the one called Sonny said. He stood up in the canoe, his blubbery body making it pitch before he stepped ashore.

  ‘Just a neighbourly meal?’ Deke gave her an encouraging smile. ‘We share our rations with you all, and you share with us.’

  ‘Well, I…’

  ‘We’d like the comp’ny.’

  What was she supposed to say? No? And did she really think they would just blithely hop back into their canoe and head downstream if she did? Besides, she thought, ever ready to put the best complexion on the events at hand, if they stayed around, she and Aidan wouldn’t have the privacy that was so wearing. There was no way if these three were around that they could spend the evening obsessed with what they could be doing, if only…

  ‘Yes,’ she said with more firmness than she felt. ‘Do join us.’ Turning, she led the way into the jungle.

  ‘We have company,’ she announced unnecessarily when she foun
d Aidan squatting before the fire he had started, opening a can of beans for their dinner. At her words he stood bolt upright and his eyes flickered— where? Courtney’s gaze followed his—to the gun?

  She gave him an irritated look. They might be grimy and a bit disreputable looking, but surely he didn’t think these men were the outlaws they had been warned about?

  ‘This is my husband, Aidan,’ she said to the men following her. ‘These are Deke and Sonny and Jose.’ She gave the slight, dark-haired man’s name its proper Portuguese pronunciation, and he seemed to spare her a flicker of approval.

  He was the only one who did. Aidan was clearly furious. He stood, feet apart, hands loosely clenched, his eyes darting around, sizing things up. Only when they lit on Courtney did they linger, and the gaze he gave her was so filled with anger, she was relieved when it moved on.

  ‘I thought we could share our meal with them,’ she began, trying to paper over the situation with words. ‘Sort of a change of pace.’ She tried to say with her eyes what she thought they needed a change of pace from, but Aidan didn’t appear to notice. A muscle in his jaw ticked.

  ‘And we’ll chip in a bit, too,’ Deke offered. ‘Sonny caught some fish earlier.’

  His words were met with stony silence.

  ‘Isn’t that nice?’ Courtney said when it was clear Aidan wasn’t going to say anything.

  ‘Terrific.’ The one word came out through Aidan’s clenched teeth. He took a step towards the gun.

  Courtney frowned at him.

  Sonny frowned, too, also stepping forward. All of a sudden, and quite amazingly for a man so large, he jumped between Aidan and the rifle and whipped a long and vicious-looking knife out of his belt.

  At the same instant Jose grabbed her, yanking her arms behind her back and pinning them there. She jerked, trying to pull away from him. But his hold was like a manacle, and she stopped struggling a second later when a smaller but no less deadly knife flashed in front of her face.

  ‘For God’s sake, you could have waited until we’d eaten,’ Deke snapped at Sonny.

  Sonny didn’t even glance at him. ‘An’ get shot meantime?’ He sidled over and picked up Aidan’s rifle. ‘No, thanks. Let’s just get on with it.’ He cradled the ride against his forearm, the barrel pointing right at Aidan’s chest.

  Deke sighed, then shrugged. ‘Well, all right, if that’s the way you want it.’ His gaze shifted to Courtney whom he regarded with a nonchalance belied by his next words. ‘Your money or your life, sweetheart.’

  ‘My—’

  Aidan did step forward then. Sonny brought the end of the rifle barrel right up against his chest. ‘Don’t.’

  Aidan stopped dead.

  ‘We don’t have any money,’ Courtney tried.

  ‘No?’ Deke sounded disbelieving. ‘Supposin’ you show me.’ He motioned for Jose to let her go, then waited while she opened her duffel bag with trembling fingers and tossed its contents on the ground. Deke pounced on her wallet, extracting the notes and stuffing them in his pockets. He scowled at the folded packet of traveller’s checks, then riffled through her clothes, holding up a pair of bikini underpants, mortifying her and making Sonny lick his lips. Then he jerked his head at Aidan. ‘Dump his gear, too,’ he commanded her.

  She looked at Aidan. The muscle in his jaw was ticking furiously, but he held himself under steely control. Only his eyes moved, and then his head in an almost imperceptible nod. Courtney crossed to the other side of the campfire where his bag lay and unzipped it. She took it, emptying it out, trying to scuff his wad of money out of sight under the leaves on the ground. But Deke saw her and jerked her foot, knocking her on her bottom at the same time as he snatched the wallet and opened it. His face was almost comical when he shook it and nothing more than three small notes fell out.

  ‘That’s it?’

  ‘She told you, we don’t have much money,’ Aidan said flatly. ‘Some people don’t lie.’

  ‘Some people don’t live long enough,’ Sonny said prodding him in the chest again with the rifle.

  ‘Leave him alone,’ cried Courtney, trying to scramble to her feet again.

  ‘Rather we went after you, sweetheart?’ Sonny gave her a leering grin.

  ‘I’d rather you—’ she began hotly when Aidan ground out, ‘Courtney, shut up!’ His green eyes glinted fire and she closed her mouth contenting herself with a glare at Deke, which promptly turned to outrage when he hauled her roughly to her feet.

  ‘Let me go!’

  ‘Not for a second, girlie. Let’s see what else you got.’ He spied the narrow gold chain she wore around her neck. ‘That for instance. Take it off.’ With trembling fingers she did. And then he saw the ring. ‘That, too.’

  ‘It’s… it’s my wedding ring,’ she protested.

  ‘Ain’t that just too bad. Give it to me. Now!’

  It shouldn’t hurt so much to take it off. It was a ring her father had had, not one Aidan had picked out. It wasn’t even an heirloom really. And it certainly wasn’t a gift from a man who really wanted to be her husband. Yet parting with it hurt desperately. She swallowed hard as she tried to draw it off her finger. Aidan had put a thick wad of tape around it so that it wouldn’t fall off, and it didn’t remove easily.

  ‘Hurry up!’ Deke demanded, thrusting a grimy hand under her nose. ‘We ain’t got all night.’

  ‘It’s not worth that much,’ she argued. ‘Couldn’t you just…’

  ‘Lady.’ The knife point touched her chin. ‘The ring.’

  She shuddered, swallowed, then twisted it, twisted it again, pulling all the time until at last the ring came free. Deke snatched it out of her hand and pocketed it without a second glance. She felt as if he had stolen her heart. Lifting her eyes, she looked at Aidan. His face was stony and unreadable. Whatever he felt, she was sure it wasn’t close to what she felt. He couldn’t imagine how badly she wanted that ring to remember their marriage by after he was gone.

  ‘Come on.’ Deke gripped her by the arm and began half dragging her back towards the boats. ‘You’re comin’ with me.’

  Out of the corner of her eye, Courtney saw Aidan start to move after them. Then Sonny cocked the rifle and said with quiet menace, ‘I wouldn’t if I was you.’

  ‘Where are you taking me?’ she demanded as Deke shoved her roughly down the path ahead of him.

  ‘We’re gonna check out the boat, you and me.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘No buts, girlie. You just do as you’re told an’ ain’t nobody gonna get hurt.’

  He gave her a shove and she stumbled through the trees towards the riverbank. She tried to look over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of Aidan, but Deke was between them, shouldering her on. She stopped at the water’s edge.

  ‘Now what?’

  ‘Now you just get in that boat and toss the stuff out to me.’ He indicated the two reed baskets that were still sitting in the bottom.

  ‘You won’t want them,’ Courtney told him. ‘They’re not worth anything to you. Just odds and ends from the Indian tribe where we—’

  ‘Lady, I don’t want their history. I want them. Now toss ’em over.’

  She looked at Deke, then at the knife he waved, and wondered why she had ever thought having him and his friends share dinner was a good idea. And as for making things less tense between Aidan and herself… there was a laugh. Grimacing, she got in the boat and lifted the first basket out.

  All at once she heard a crashing noise in the woods. Deke, who had been watching her, jerked around, scowling back towards the way they had come. ‘Sonny?’ he yelled.

  For a moment there was no reply, and Courtney felt a wild surge of fear mingled with hope. Had Aidan escaped? Then Sonny’s voice drifted back to them. ‘ ’Sawright. No problem.’

  Deke smiled, one of his coolly nonchalant smiles that Courtney could see now were cruel as well. ‘Keep moving, sugar.’ He gestured at the basket with the knife he held.

  Hopes dashed, Courtney kept movin
g. She set the basket on the bank, then turned back for the other one. She didn’t even see Aidan when he leapt out of the shadows and toppled Deke into the river.

  ‘God!’ Deke thrashed in the water, then sank, Aidan on his back, choking him.

  Courtney scrambled out of the boat and tried to wade in to help him. Deke still had the knife. He twisted, trying to shake Aidan off, trying to slash him with the sharpened edge. But Courtney grabbed his wrist and twisted hard, wrenching it free.

  The knife fell into the water, and with it went Deke’s enthusiasm for battle. When Aidan flung him on to the bank and shouted at Courtney to get the rope out of the boat, he didn’t even put up a fight.

  ‘How did you—?’ Courtney began, but Aidan shook his head.

  ‘Get the engine going. Now.’

  ‘Aidan, I—’

  ‘Hurry up, unless you really want to stay and share a meal—and God knows what else with them.’ His voice was mocking and bitter.

  Courtney hurried. By the time he had Deke tied to his satisfaction and had groped through the outlaw’s pockets for his own money and Courtney’s, she had reloaded the baskets and had the engine going.

  ‘Good,’ he muttered, and, helping himself to the canoe paddles from the other boat, he jumped in. ‘Move out,’ he commanded.

  The last thing Courtney saw of Deke he was rolling on the bank, hands and feet tied, shouting for Sonny and for help.

  ‘How did you…’ she started to ask again. But her heart was hammering so loudly and her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn’t even get enough control to finish the sentence.

  Aidan finished it for her. ‘Get away? Sonny got a little careless. He thought he’d check through the food supplies, just to see if I’d hidden anything in them. He told me to move. I moved—to the other side of the fire. I kicked it in his face.’

  She couldn’t help wincing. ‘And Jose?’

  ‘He didn’t have a gun. He wasn’t hard to overpower when Sonny was out of commission.’

  ‘That scuffling was you, then?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘But Sonny said he wasn’t having any problems.’

  Aidan gave her a grim smile. ‘Amazing what a man will say with a knife at his throat.’