Baited by CRYSTAL GREEN

veins.
    “I won’t be responsible for sending you into that cage, Mr. Harrington,” Will said.
    “It would be worth your while.” Duke made the international sign for cash with his fingers by rubbing them together.
    Grunting, Will just shook his head and planted his hands on his hips. Even though he had his eye on the big pie in the sky, he apparently had pride in his reputation, also.
    Still, too much of it, Kat thought. Pride was responsible for his quest for redemption. Pride was why they couldn’t be together.
    By now, Duffy, Nestor and Louis had filtered to the back of the crowd, tellingly silent. Kat wondered if they agreed with Eloise and Alexandra about keeping Dukeout of the cage or if they wouldn’t mind seeing a speedier demise out of the older man.
    “Bottom line,” Will said, “is that I’ll dismantle that cage before I let you get into it.”
    With that, he headed toward the bridge.
    “You’re missing a good opportunity,” Duke said.
    With surging admiration, Kat watched Will disappear, a warm smile on her face. When Duke caught her eye, she lifted her brows, just like she was saying, “So much for him giving in to money.”
    But when his visage clouded—frustration at being proved wrong?—she stopped smiling, feeling a little owned.
    Manipulated.
    It riled her temper, her need to find a way out of the net she’d found herself tangled up in.
    Cool yourself, Kat, she thought. Losing it isn’t going to help at all.
    “Let’s just go watch Chris from the flying bridge,” Kat said to Duke, offering him a graceful way out.
    “Hold it.” Nestor cleared his throat, reminding everyone of his presence at the back of the crowd. “I say we postpone the dives for a spell, just until we straighten a few matters up.”
    But Chris was already on his way toward the cage, pulling Dr. Hopkins along with him. Thank God seeing Duke had brought his verve back.
    “Let’s go!” the boy yelled.
    “Not yet,” Louis headed off after them.
    Nestor took off, too, unsuccessfully urging Chris to come back.
    Arms folded over his chest, Duffy watched the chase, then followed his father. The various gathered crew members traded jaded looks, probably used to the drama of the wealthy, then went back to their jobs.
    That left Duke, surrounded by disapproving women.
    After a tense hesitation, he nodded, his grin sheepish. “Hell, I tried.” Then, growing serious, he turned to Eloise and Alexandra. “Thank you for the concern.”
    As Kat led him away, she noted Alexandra’s pleased expression: The almost-hidden relief of someone who’d positioned her chessboard queen in a very strategic square.
     
    Before they’d momentarily left their posts to witness all the hubbub, Larry the dreadlocked and Tinkerbell had eased the cage into the water. So, it was just a matter of getting Chris into the last of his gear, linking him to the “hooka regs”—long-hosed regulators that were connected to oxygen tanks on deck—and helping him inside. Since everyone had been prepped on safety, everything was a go.
    As the cage was lowered a couple of feet below the surface, Kat leaned over the flying bridge’s railing with Duke and Dr. Hopkins, who had joined them. The clear water gave them an eagle’s-eye view of the ocean and cage; they could see Chris holding an underwater video camera, see the bubbles gushing upward with his breaths, see the chum—fish scraps, oil, guts, blood—spread into the ocean to attract sharks.
    When the first creature, then the second, appeared,Kat grabbed Duke’s arm, on edge. All that was protecting Chris from a set of dagger-sharp teeth were the cage’s bars and the knife that cage-divers wore strapped to their thighs.
    The sharks began to take passes at some tuna bait.
    “Would you look at that,” Duke said.
    Dr. Hopkins laughed. “Every time I see them, I can’t help feeling like it’s my first time.”
    A ten-footer glided past Chris and the cage. Previously, the doctor had explained