"No, I will not permit it," Julio said firmly. He should have known how she'd react. Kate was as protective as a lioness with her cub about anyone she cared about and she cared about Jeffrey Brenden. Perhaps too much for her own good. In the four years he'd been with the two of them, he'd watched her nurse Brenden through hangovers, tease him into cheerfulness when he was depressed, and pull him out of scrapes. It never occurred to her to ask anything in return. Kate always gave with both hands. He couldn't criticize Jeffrey for taking from her; he himself had accepted her loving generosity and devoted affection on many occasions. However, he couldn't swallow the idea of her walking into that bar alone. "If it must be done, we'll do it together."

"No, I think I've come up with a way." Her brow was wrinkled in thought. "Did you check the location of the power box as I asked?"

He nodded. "It's outside and in the back."

"Good." She checked her wristwatch; it was just past midnight. "In ten minutes I want you to be at the power box. Give an on and off flicker as a warning for me. Everyone will think it's just a power surge. Then a minute later turn off the lights altogether and remove the fuse. Okay?"

"And what will you be doing while I'm playing with the fuse box?"

"I'll be at the table distracting Despard and trying to find a way to ease him out of the picture."

"Distracting?" Julio frowned. "I hope you don't mean what I think you mean. You wouldn't know how to handle a man like Despard."

"Oh, Julio, I said distract, not seduce! It shouldn't be all that difficult to divert the man for ten minutes. He's made a pass at me almost every time he's been at the cottage." She made a face. "Not that I'm anything special. He probably makes a pass at every woman under eighty."

But she was something special, Julio thought. Warm and loving with a clear bell-like honesty that he'd never known in any other woman. The idea of Despard so much as laying a hand on her made him a little sick. "I don't like it. You shouldn't even be in a bar like that."