The memory of those dreams was with her now, as her yacht sailed within sight of the palm-covered atoll. Passionata's Island was named after the female pirate who had headquartered there in the early days of the eighteenth century, a pirate queen known for her successful attacks on merchant ships that ventured too near her sanctuary, and acclaimed for her skill as a seductress.

"Jonas, I want a good shot of the island as we approach," she directed her cameraman, who obligingly aimed his handheld video camera over the ship's bow. "I'm thinking this is our opening," she continued. "Maybe with some mysterious music and a voice-over talking about the reputed curse on the island." Oh, yes, this place even had a curse. Talk about a made-for-television story. Passionata was a tragic-romantic figure who had left behind treasure worth millions—perhaps even billions—of dollars. She smiled, imagining the network head, Gary Simon's eyes popping when he saw the numbers for audience share when Sandra Newman Presents Passionata's Treasure, aired next fall. He'd be tripping all over himself to offer her a new, more-lucrative contract.

As the yacht rounded the reef at one end of the island and headed toward the deeper harbor on the west side, two other vessels already anchored there caught Sandra's attention. The larg