The bluster went a long way to harden his spirit, taking the edge off some of the uneasiness that nagged at him, but he knew he was in no condition to make good on his threats. As he stood in the wild untrampled grass at the end of the dock, he looked around for any sign of human life, but he saw only trees and rocks outlined in the heavy gray mist, and the only sounds that came to him were the cawing, peeping, twittering and yelping of scores of birds, hidden and unseen.

“Where the hell are we?”

Balaton inhaled deeply of the cold island air. “It’s called Jude’s Paradise.”

“What happened to Badger Rock Island? Listen, don’t I have a right to know what the hell’s going on—”

“I must leave you here,” the president of Crockett Industries told him bluntly.

David groaned. “Oh, shit.”

With a small smile, Balaton sadly shook his head. “You should have lied to me, David. You should have told me the jewels were still in Switzerland. I would have made you go with me to Geneva to get them. Perhaps then you would have bought yourself enough time, and you’d have had a chance. But there’s no need to blame yourself. You’ve never known the kind of fear that can drive good men into doing things they’d never have done if only they’d been allowed to live in peace. Be glad, David. You’ve never faced the horror of having to lie. For that, I envy you.”

“So you’re what Barky’s been trying to protect me from. You’re crazy.”

“Not crazy, David,” Balaton said mildly. “Afraid. You see, the jewels never should have left Budapest. I showed them to those two girls, just so that they would believe me. If I had guessed what they were planning…”

David couldn’t make any sense out of what Balaton was saying and didn’t care, instead readying himself. He leaned heavily on the crutch supporting his good leg and eased up the other crutch. When Balaton, lost in his own unhappy memories, turned back toward the dock, David lunged forward and swiped at him with the crutch.

But Balaton was quick. He scooted away from the blow, which missed him entirely, and jumped lightly onto the dock, springing over to the boat with the energy of a man half his age.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, David hobbled as fast as he could after the madman.

“I’m sorry, David.” Balaton hopped into the boat. “Truly I am. But now you’re my only leverage.”

One of his crutches sank into a rotted place on the dock, sticking there, and David lost his balance, falling fast as the other crutch went flying and he twisted around so he wouldn’t land on his cast. There was a terrible creaking and swaying, and he thought the whole dock would come crashing down, but miraculously it held.

Balaton had the boat’s engine started.

“Sarah will figure it out,” David yelled, trying to scramble up. “She’d know what you’re up to.”