"Wind's picking up, Skipper," Paul said. He had taken over the helm after they'd turned the first mark. The second reach was another tacking leg, but the third and final reach would be downwind, and Jo planned on a spinnaker run.

She looked up into the rigging, scanning for any visible signs that anything was close to breaking. So far, so good. But we're not going as fast as we could. She looked back to find Bombardier.

"We've got about a half mile on her, Paul," she said. "But I don't think that's going to be enough once we hit the final reach."

The crewman nodded in agreement.

"They've got eight experienced crew on board," he said. "These guys are learning fast, and they're pretty good." He gestured towards the Seawolf's three recruits. "But learning how to get a spinnaker up is going to take some time."

"Mhmm." Jo made a quick decision. "Five minutes till we tack again, yeah?" she asked.

"That ought to do it, Skip," he replied.

"Okay." She stepped up onto the rim of the c.o.c.kpit. "Toby! Get Jason out of his hole and come on back here." She waited for the two men to come aft and take a seat on the cowling, then she looked around at her crew and pa.s.sengers. "We're doing pretty well," she said, grinning at the smiles that generated. "We're going to need to increase our lead a bit though, because once we turn the second mark there are a couple of tricky little maneuvers we've got to do that may cost us some time. Hoisting a spinnaker for the first time is always a bit of wild ride." She spread her feet a little wider as the Seawolf bucked over a bigger than usual wave, unconsciously adjusting her centre of gravity to maintain her balance.

Look at her, Cadie thought with a grin, more than happy she was sitting above Naomi, who couldn't see her without an effort. She's like a pirate king... born to be on a boat. Beautiful.

"So," Jo continued, "we need to ratchet it up a couple of notches. That carries a bit of a risk though because something on the boat may break. So I need you all to be extra careful about safety. Crew, make sure you have your gloves on and everyone, please keep hands and feet away from winches, sheets, rigging cables, whatever, unless you absolutely have to. Things fly around pretty quickly when they break. Okay?"

She waited for answering nods from everyone, feeling the warmth from Cadie's smile wash over her.

Mmm. Race? What race? She laughed at herself and snapped her mind back into gear. "We're coming up on our next tack. Let's get that done and then we'll crank it up."

The crew scattered to their positions again. Jo looked down at the remaining pa.s.sengers.

"Are you ladies willing to sit on the high side if we need you to, to give us a little more stability?" All but the senator nodded, even Kelli and Larissa, who normally were indifferent to the workings of the yacht.

Nothing like the smell of impending filthy lucre to get a junkie motivated, Jo thought grimly.

Halfway down the second reach disaster struck.

Things had been going well after they rounded the mark. The crew had wound the Seawolf up so tight the rigging was singing, vibrating with tension as the wind ripped through it. They'd stretched their lead over Bombardier to almost a mile by Jo's reckoning and she had been quietly optimistic as they headed for the bottom mark. She had the crew lay out the spare mainsail along the deck under the boom just in case.

She looked up at the full, straining sails, knowing they were at the limit of what they could ask of the big boat. This is the point where One Australia snapped in half, she thought, remembering the moment that particular Americas Cup campaign had come to a grinding, then sinking halt, scattering the 12m yacht's crew into the water.

Seawolf tilted over at almost 45 degrees to port, the wind bearing in hard from the starboard side. The crew and pa.s.sengers-except for the senator, who sat huddled in a corner of the c.o.c.kpit-were lined up along the high side, legs dangling over the edge. All were wearing lifejackets as a precaution.

Jo looked to her right, blinking rapidly as she recognized the telltale ruffles on the surface of the water that indicated an approaching gust of stronger than normal wind. "Paul!" she yelled. "Bullet!!"

Paul and Jenny leapt up and dove for the winches, bleeding some tension out of the sails, but it was too little, too late and the wind gust slammed into the mainsail. The boat tilted to an even steeper angle momentarily but then the sail exploded with a sound like a gunshot, a huge rent ripping down its length. The sudden loss of momentum jerked the yacht upright with a rush, the hull slapping down on the water violently. Cadie, who had half climbed to her feet when she heard Jo's yell, was caught off-balance, toppling backwards over the edge and into the sea.

"Paulie, get 'em down," Jo shouted, as she wrestled the wheel, pulling the still moving yacht around until it was pointing directly into the wind, the remaining sails flapping uselessly. Paul, Jenny, and the two men scrambled to pull down the ripped remnants of the mainsail, as well as the foresail, trying to stop the yacht in its tracks as soon as possible. Meanwhile Jo grabbed the nearest life-ring and threw it to Cadie who was, thankfully, fully conscious and seemingly unhurt.

Jesus, the senator is gonna have a cow, Jo thought as she watched Cadie strike out for the floating ring, even as the yacht slipped further past the blonde. Thank Christ she didn't hit her head on the way in.

True to form, Naomi was on her feet, screaming at the skipper. "Stop this f.u.c.king boat!" she yelled. Jo turned to try and placate the senator, but she was having none of it, brushing past the taller woman and rushing to the stern. "Don't just stand there, woman. Get in there and bring her back!"

"Senator, we're not just standing around. Everything that can be done to stop us is being done. And as you can see," she pointed in Cadie's direction, where the blonde had reached the life-ring and was floating inside its confines, calmly waiting to be picked up. "Cadie is okay. She's not going anywhere and we're doing our best to pick her up as quickly as possible."

"That's not good enough," Naomi shouted. "Get in there and pull her out!"

For G.o.d's sake, thought Cadie, brushing dripping hair out of her face and treading water. "Naomi," she yelled, "would you calm down? I'm fine." I swear she thinks I'm totally helpless. I'm glad I'm getting back onboard any minute. This water is dark and deep.

She decided not to let her mind wander too far down that track, instead focusing on Jo, who had pushed past the senator and was hauling in the line attached to the life-ring. She felt the tug and let herself be reeled in. Like a great big sunburned fish, she thought, giggling to herself incongruously. As she came in closer to the yacht, she grinned wetly up at Jo, who caught her eye and smiled back.

Finally she was in reach of the transom and she levered herself back up onto the platform.

"Nice catch, Captain Ahab," she said softly to Jo who suppressed a laugh.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked.

"Just a bit wet, but otherwise fine," the blonde replied, shaking seawater from her hair.

"Get out of my way, Madison," the senator growled, elbowing past Jo and grabbing Cadie's arm, dragging her back into the c.o.c.kpit. "I'll sue this G.o.dd.a.m.n company for all it's worth," she said, threatening Jo with a wagging finger.

"Sue for what, Naomi?" her partner protested as she picked up a towel and began drying herself off. "Wet clothes? Forget about it."

"Skipper!"

Jo looked up and saw Paul standing by the boom, pointing to their port side. She turned in the direction he was looking and saw Bombardier beating down on them at full speed.

Jo glanced around the deck of the Seawolf, taking in the expectant faces of crew and pa.s.sengers.

"Everyone else okay?" she asked. Nods all round. "Right. Let's go. Paul, Toby, Jason-get that new mainsail rigged. Jenny, you and Cadie haul the foresail back up. Let's get this show back on the road."

Everyone exploded into movement, leaving Jo and Naomi holding each other's gaze for a few cold seconds.

Come on you harpy, Jo thought. Give me half an excuse.

The senator blinked first. Hissing in disgust and flouncing back to her corner of the c.o.c.kpit, she grabbed another bottle of beer from the icebox on the way.

She's all bluff, Jo realized suddenly. I wonder if Cadie has figured that out yet.

She moved back to the helm and watched as Jenny and Cadie hauled the smaller foresail up, then set about tr.i.m.m.i.n.g it with the forward winches. It would take a while yet for the men to have the spare mainsail ready, but in the meantime they could make at least some headway.

"Trimmed, Skip," came the shout from Jenny.

Jo waved her response and began the tug of war with the inertia-heavy wheel, forcing the rudder around until the wind began to catch the foresail again. Bombardier was now well ahead of them and she knew it was going to take some kind of miracle for them to win the prize.

But I'll be d.a.m.ned if we're going to wimp out on the fight, she thought, feeling the compet.i.tive rush flow through her.

We came through hoisting the spinnaker amazingly well, Jo reflected as she took in the crewmembers lying around in various poses of physical exhaustion over the deck. She couldn't see Paul or Cadie and guessed they were forward of the mast still.

Jo looked up and watched the huge, balloon-like multi-colored spinnaker fill and billow, pulling the Sea wolf along at top speed. Ahead of them, by about half a mile, was Bombardier. They hadn't gained any on their main rivals, but they hadn't lost any more water to them either, so for now, Jo was satisfied. The other eight yachts in their cla.s.s were well behind them.

Jenny recovered enough to pull herself up and wander back to Jo, handing the skipper a beer. "I'll take it for a bit, boss," she said.

"Thanks, Jen. Good job by the way." She grinned at her smaller crewmate and got a tired smile back.

"We're not going to win though, are we, Skip?" Jenny asked, her disappointment showing on her face.

Jo shrugged and drained the stubbie of beer, tossing the empty bottle back into the cooler in the corner of the c.o.c.kpit. "Not unless they run into some dead air, or break something," she conceded. "But you know this is a fluky game, Jen. Anything can happen." She stepped aside and let Jenny take the wheel. "Keep Bombardier at about 10 o'clock, hon. I'll be back."

"Aye aye, Captain."

"Oh shut up."

Laughing, Jo picked her way forward, stepping over bodies and greeting each of the crew and pa.s.sengers as she came to them. Toby and Jason looked like they'd died and gone to heaven.

"Having fun, fellas?" she asked, fairly certain of the answer.

"Oh you bet, Jo!" enthused Jason. He was sporting a lump on his forehead from a close encounter with the boom, but otherwise seemed happy. "I'm just sorry we blew that mainsail out. Doesn't look like we can win it from here."

"Yeah, sorry about that Skipper," Toby agreed.

"Not your fault, guys," Jo said. "Purely mine. I pushed it too hard at the wrong moment. But you two are naturals. You should do more sailing when you get home."

Both men grinned from ear to ear.

"I think we probably will," Toby said. "We're having a ball, Jo. Thanks."

"My pleasure," she said. Well, at least that's two satisfied customers.

She continued forward, finding both Paul and Cadie flat on their backs. Paul appeared to be asleep, but Cadie was shading her eyes with a gloved hand and gazing up into the colors of the spinnaker.

Jo crouched down next to the blonde and gently touched her knee. "h.e.l.lo, sailor."

That provoked laughter from both supine figures.

"Oh, I'm out of here if that's the quality of humor we've sunk to," Paul groaned and jumped to his feet.

Cadie sat up and met a twinkling set of blue eyes. Just then the Seawolf slid down the face of the wave she was surfing and dug her nose into the trough. A spray of seawater engulfed the trio leaving them to shake off like a pack of wet dogs.

Cadie giggled. It was the first time she'd seen Jo look less than impressed by the ocean. But the scowl that touched the tall skipper's face didn't last long, good humor returning as she met the shining green eyes in front of her. "Come on," Jo said. "You shouldn't stay forward of the mast in these kind of conditions."

"I'm okay, Jo-Jo," Cadie replied. "I'm having fun."

Paul chimed in. "She's right, Cadie," he said. "If the mast snaps, you're in the worst possible place up here."

Cadie sighed. "Okay, okay," she grumbled. Paul disappeared aft. "It's also about the only place on the boat Naomi won't follow me."

Jo nodded, suddenly seeing the lines of strain on the blonde's face. III think it's bad watching them be together how much worse would it be to be joined at the hip with the senator. "I'm sorry," she said.

Cadie brightened, shaking her head with a smile. "Don't be," she replied. "I'm actually having a great time. Entering this regatta was an inspired idea."

"Well, we can thank Paul for that," Jo said. She opened her mouth to say something else, but another wave splattered across the bow, soaking them both again. She opened her eyes to find a dripping blonde, giggling at her.

"Sorry, but you look so p.i.s.sed when that happens," Cadie chortled. "Like somehow you don't expect it."

Jo laughed and sat down next to the blonde. "One of the good things about being the skipper and not the crew, is you get to stay nice and dry in the stern most of the time," she said. She wiped the salt.w.a.ter off her face. "That's the theory anyway."

"S'not working, Skipper."

"No, it's not," Jo replied, squeezing the water out of the bottom of her shirt. She turned to face Cadie and the sudden sense of connection between them was almost palpable.

"You took my breath away before, you know," Cadie said softly, watching a drip slide down Jo's aquiline nose.

Suddenly bashful, Jo ducked her head, looking up at the blonde through long, damp eyelashes. "When was that?" she asked huskily.

"You were standing on the rim of the c.o.c.kpit, and you had your arms crossed and you looked like the world was yours for the taking." Jo chuckled, feeling the blush rising despite the cold water. Cadie leaned in towards her. "It was about the s.e.xiest thing I've ever seen."

Jo cleared her throat, fighting the urge to kiss the blonde right here and now, senator be d.a.m.ned. "I think we both need a cold shower," she said, smiling. A movement in the ocean caught her eye. "And I think we're about to get one." Seawolf's nose dug deep into the trough of the wave in front of it and again the pair was doused. "Come on, or we're both going to end up over the side."

This time the blonde didn't argue and let Jo pull her upright.

"I think it might be a good idea if I went down into the sail hold and made my way back below decks," the skipper said. "That way Naomi's not gonna know which way's up, with any luck."

Cadie nodded, suddenly glum again. "I'm sorry, Jo. This is an awful lot of s.h.i.t to go through just for a paying customer."

"Hey," Jo waited until Cadie's eyes lifted to meet her own, "you're not just a paying customer, and I don't think you have been from the moment we laid eyes on each other."

Cadie smiled gently. "What am I then?" she asked.

Jo paused, tilting her head as she thought about it. "I think you're who I'm supposed to be with," she said.

Cadie's heart lurched in her chest and long seconds went by as they gazed wordlessly at each other, just enjoying the connection, oblivious to the bucking of the deck under their feet.

"Oh, we are in so much trouble," Cadie muttered, laughing at the rakish grin that lit up Jo's face.

"Understatement," the skipper replied. "Now get going, crewman."

"Aye aye, Captain," Cadie responded, snapping a smart salute.

"Oh shut up," Jo laughed, watching the very wet blonde turn and make her way aft.

"We're running out of water, Skip," Paul said.

"Yup, I know mate," Jo replied. She was sitting on the rail of the stern, holding the wheel in place with her right foot, propping her chin on her hand, elbow on her other knee. The spinnaker reach had been a straight speed run, with no tactics involved beyond picking the right sail and the fastest line to the finish. "Not much we can do about it. It's..." She stared hard at the stern of the Bombardier, "...in the lap..." She reached for her binoculars, "...of the-G.o.ds." She gazed through them for several seconds.

"What is it, boss?"

"Whooohooo. The G.o.ds are smiling, Paulie!" she yelled, standing up and clapping her hands together. "They blew out their spinnaker!"

Paul grabbed the binoculars from around Jo's neck, almost lynching her in the process. "Get the f.u.c.k outta here," he exclaimed, climbing up onto the rail. Jo jumped down and picked up Jason's gloves, which sat on the rim of the c.o.c.kpit. She tossed them at the American.

"We're back in the hunt, folks. Let's kick it up a notch, eh?"

Whoops and hollers greeted the news, and people scattered in all directions. Cadie manned her winch, releasing the slack in the sheet and taking the tension on the grinder, waiting for the order to wind. She glanced back and watched Jo at the helm. The tall woman was wound almost as tight as the rigging, and Cadie grinned at the obvious glint in the steely blue eyes. A pirate queen. My pirate queen.