Page 69 of Wild Escape

She smirked. "Some men find me challenging and exciting. I'm sorry I'm too much for you."

I gave her a look. "After we eat, you're going to call Rick at the Dutchman and tell him to get in touch with Dane. You want to set up a meeting to split the loot from the dagger.”

"No. I'm not going to do that.”

I lifted an eyebrow.

"I haven't been out long enough to realistically recover the dagger, connect with the buyer, and get the money. $30 million is a lot of cash. If I call now, he’ll know something is funny. Sit on it a day or two. It'll be more believable. Then we can set up a sting and take him down. I'll take you to the dagger, then you can let me go."

Her position wasn't totally without merit.

"So what you're saying is there's really no reason for you to be out of jail for the next couple of days, and I should take you back to jail right now.”

"If you take me back to prison, then word will get out that I'm in prison. The sting will never work. What you need to do is put the word out on the street that I escaped and am still at large.”

I shared a look with JD.

It wasn't a bad idea.

I called the sheriff. "I need you to put a BOLO on Daphne O'Connor."

"Good Lord, Wild. Don't tell me you lost her?”

"No. She’s sitting right across from me. I'm about to call Paris and let her break the news. Word will get out. The fugitives will see it. I need those assholes to think she's loose and draw them in.”

He considered it for a moment. "Sometimes you have good ideas."

I smiled. "I know."

I ended the call and texted Paris. I sent her a mug shot of Daphne and told her the vixen had escaped.

Within 20 minutes, Daphne's photo was all over the news.

We watched the broadcast on the TV in the salon. Daphne looked proud of herself. Most people looked terrible in mugshots, but Daphne didn't look half bad.

After dinner, I escorted her down to a below-deck stateroom. It was one of the smaller guest rooms with two bunks, a private en suite, and a fold-down flatscreen TV. It was enough to keep her occupied.

"Do you need to use the restroom?" I asked.

"I guess I should probably take advantage of the opportunity," she said.

I let her slip into the en suite unattended and waited for her in the room.

She returned a moment later, then I secured one wrist to the bed frame with long-chain cuffs. With the frame bolted to the floor and no paper clips or bobby pins nearby, there was no way for her to escape. Not this time.

"This is not exactly comfortable,” she said. “Do I really have to sleep like this? Where am I going to go? You said if I leave the authorized zone, you'll get a notification. I won't be hard to find.”

"I've already taken too many chances with you."

She smirked, and her mischievous eyes sparkled. "Maybe you haven't taken enough."

I gave her a doubtful look.

"You could sleep in here, keep an eye on me.”

"You're not my type."

She laughed, knowing better.