The Captain's Lady Read online

  He pulled her close and kissed her deeply, passionately. She wondered why even the kiss seemed sad. He kissed her face, wiping away tears she had not known she’d shed until he covered her mouth with his once more and she tasted their saltiness on his tongue.

  “I’m here now, love,” he whispered against her hair.

  “Don’t say anything else. I don’t understand and it scares me terribly.”

  He said nothing more, not because she requested it, but because he thought he had given away too much already and he did not want her to understand. Not now, not when she still could talk him out of it.

  “I can’t stay any longer,” he said, getting out of bed. “I brought you some clothes. You’ll be needing them where you’re going.”

  “I suppose I will,” she sighed. “I can’t very well appear in court in my black attire. They’ll put me away before I get within three feet of the judge.”

  When he’d finished dressing, he dragged the trunk away from the door and moved it to the center of the room. “Aren’t you going to get dressed, Alex? Or are you waiting for one of the guards to come in and know what we’ve been up to?” His eyes teased her gently.

  “As if they didn’t hear! Not that I care. But if it will make you feel better I’ll dress.” She walked over to the trunk and started to open it but he stopped her.

  “Just put on the robe. I think you’ll be more comfortable. It’s warm in here.”

  She complied, not noticing his eyes were on the trunk as he spoke.

  “Where are the clothes you wore last night?” he asked. “I’ll put them away for you.”

  “You don’t have to.” Something in his face made her abort any further attempt to speak. She pointed to the chair that held her clothes. She watched, fascinated at the way he folded everything and placed it carefully in the trunk. She felt as if his hands were on her body, so intimate was his touch on her clothing. His head was turned away from her and she found the courage to speak again.

  “Why did you bring such a large trunk? My clothes hardly take up any space at all. My bag was sufficient.”

  “This suited better,” he answered, straightening and turning to her.

  It was then Alexis named the thing in his eyes. It was then she understood what his intention was and what it meant. Her lips parted to speak but it was too late. He had already seen the understanding in her face and he was prepared to still any protests before they were spoken. Alexis saw the lift of his arm, his fist tightly clenched, and she saw the sweeping motion of it as it drew closer to the side of her head. Then she saw it only at the corner of her eye as she stared at his face, his lips moving in a soundless I love you. Then she saw nothing. Nothing at all.

  Cloud caught her before she fell to the floor. He inspected the area where he’d hit her before he placed her tenderly in the trunk. He pressed her head forward and folded her arms across her chest. Closing the lid, he whispered, “I told them I could convince you.” He took out the key and locked it, then proceeded to drag it toward the door.

  “Damn you for a bitch!” he said loudly. “I practically broke my back bringing this to you and now you say you don’t want it. Ungrateful slut! Don’t you dare throw that! I’ll break you in half myself!”

  He knocked on the door so the guard would know he wanted out. “Hurry man! She’s having a fit in here.” The guard obliged and Cloud quickly moved out, dragging the trunk with him and successfully blocking the guard’s entry into the room. Cloud shut the door hard. “I wouldn’t go in there just yet,” he told the guard. “She’s furious with me for even suggesting she should cooperate. You know how women are.”

  “I know how most women are. Her”—he jerked his head toward the door—“I’m not sure about. She was breaking things in there earlier.”

  Cloud inclined his head toward the room. “It sounds as if she’s calmed down some. Give her a chance to cry it off. I doubt if she’ll be throwing anything else for a while. Make sure you tell Mr. Davidson that she refused to listen to me. She won’t help.”

  The guard nodded. “What are you going to do with her things? Want to leave them here until she changes her mind about wanting them?”

  “No. Serves her right if they’re not here when she needs them. I’ll take them back with me. She can have them when she decides to change her mind about a few things.”

  “That’ll keep her in line. A woman needs to know her place”—he winked at Cloud—“even if the woman is Captain Danty.”

  Cloud restrained his urge to put the man’s eye out. He said evenly, “Especially because she’s Captain Danty.” He returned the wink and left, pulling the trunk by its handle.

  When he reached the stairs he motioned for a servant to help him, and together they carried the trunk out of the house and put it in his carriage. “Thanks for the assistance,” he said, climbing onto the seat. He tugged at the reins before the servant could question the contents of the heavy trunk and started off in the direction of the harbor.

  When he reached the wharf he did not go to the Quinton vessel. Instead he found helpers, two off-duty seamen, and told them what he wanted.

  “Take this trunk to the Quinton merchant over there. They’re expecting it. Give Captain Jordan this note.” He handed a folded slip of paper to one of the men. “Then get off the ship. They’ll be leaving in a hurry.”

  “This ain’t nothin’ illegal, is it?” asked the burlier of the two.” ’Cause if it is we’ll want no parts of it.”

  “At least if it won’t fatten our pockets,” said the other. Cloud withdrew some gold coins from his own pocket. “Illegal? I’m not sure. But this should take care of your conscience.” He dropped the coins into outstretched palms. The men lifted the trunk jerkily. “Easy there! That’s very precious cargo!”

  They handled it more gingerly. Cloud watched them carry it to Alexis’s ship.

  “Which one of you is Jordan?” asked one of Cloud’s helpers as he and his friend put the trunk on the deck.

  “I’m Captain Jordan. What do you want?”

  “We were told to bring this”—he kicked the trunk—“up here and give you this note.”

  Jordan snatched the paper from the man’s hand and unfolded it.

  Your cargo has been delivered as promised. I would make one suggestion: open the trunk several miles out to sea, so it can explode harmlessly. It was packed carefully and should not have suffered unduly from its confinement. You will find it damaged in only one area. Good Luck.

  Jordan placed the note in his back pocket along with the earlier one. He looked at his men then at the men who brought the trunk. “What are you still here for?” he asked them. “Didn’t the man who asked you to deliver this tell you the trunk contained explosives? We’re heading out to sea!” He laughed heartily as the two scrambled off the deck. “Heave to, men! We’re going to leave Washington intact after all.”

  His men regarded him curiously for a moment then their eyes focused on the trunk and back to Jordan. “That’s right,” he told them. “We have everything we came for.”

  Cloud saw the men he hired come running down the wharf toward him at the same time he heard a cheer go up from Alexis’s crew.

  “Why didn’t you tell us it was explosives?” they asked in breathless unison.

  Cloud laughed. “Would you have carried it if I’d told you?”

  “Hell no!”

  “There’s your answer.” He ignored their murderous looks and asked, “They didn’t open the trunk, did they?”

  “They’ re not fools. The captain said they were putting out.”

  Cloud nodded. He glanced down at the activity aboard the ship and then smiled, turning away. He got in his carriage, still smiling, and drove home. They would come when they found her gone and there were some answers he had to have, even if it meant facing charges of treason to have them.

  Chapter 14

  “What the devil?”

  It was Alexis’s first statement when the lid of the trunk was prie
d open. She squinted against the bright sunlight and struggled to see the faces of the men who hovered over her. Her hand went to her brow to block out the sun’s glare.

  “Jordan, is that you?” she asked weakly.

  His smile answered that it was. “Let me help you out, Captain.” He reached down to do just that but Alexis shook her head.

  “I can get out on my own,” she said stubbornly. She placed her arms stiffly on the sides of the trunk and tried to stand. Her legs were numb and refused to hold her. She started to collapse but Jordan caught her and lifted her out of the trunk, holding her against his massive chest. She tried to make some sense of her new surroundings as her crew gathered closer. “I don’t understand. What are you doing here?”

  Peach pushed his way to the front of the circle of men. “We came for you, Captain Danty!” he said proudly. “But you got away! Just like you said you would!”

  Alexis looked from Peach’s earnest face to Jordan’s concerned one. “Put me down, Mr. Jordan. I can stand now.” Her command was obeyed at once. She wavered slightly when her feet hit the deck, but she managed to gain control. She pulled at the belt of her robe, fastening it more securely around her waist. With a hand on Peach’s shoulder, she addressed her crew.

  “I gave you men orders not to come here. Isn’t that so?” There were murmurs of acknowledgment. “Do you have any notion of what your presence here could have meant?”

  “Aye, Captain,” said Ned. “We knew. The risk was worth taking.”

  “I’m sorry, Ned,” she answered. “Of course, you all knew. What I am saying is that it’s a good thing Captain Cloud agreed to help you. Otherwise you wouldn’t have stood a chance of getting me out of Washington.” She did not perceive their questioning glances immediately. “Our course, Mr. Jordan?”

  “Back to Tortola first. Then wherever Captain Travers can be found.”

  “Good. You seem to have it all under control.” She looked at her men, searching for one face. She frowned. “Where is Captain Cloud? I have a few things to say to him about the way he packed me.”

  Jordan’s eyebrows furrowed. “But Captain, he isn’t here.”

  Peach winced as Alexis gripped his shoulder more tightly. “What do you mean he is not here? Where is he?”

  “He never was here,” Jordan replied. “He made contact with us when we sailed in this morning. He sent a young boy with a message and later he delivered the trunk by way of a couple of dock workers. We never saw him.”

  Alexis’s mouth went slack for a moment and then drew in sharply for air. Redland stepped forward, thinking she was going to faint. “Then you didn’t plan this with him?” she asked softly as everything was becoming clear to her.

  “No, Captain. He was the last person we would have approached. “Jordan brushed back his hair in a nervous movement. “Didn’t he tell you we were here? Didn’t you come with him willingly?”

  Cloud’s words to her made sense now. She stood very still, hands at her sides, her mouth drawn in a tight line of pain. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she said quietly to Jordan, “There are some explanations we need to exchange. Come to my cabin in ten minutes.” She turned to Peach. “Take my trunk down.” To the others she said, “Continue present course until I find out what’s been going on. I am too surprised at seeing all of you to be angry.” She smiled. She turned sharply and went to her cabin, and the men congratulated themselves on their insubordination with low laughter.

  Alone in her cabin Alexis changed clothes quickly. Her thoughts whirled and she struggled to put them in order. She had expected to end up anywhere but aboard her own ship. When she recognized her crew she allowed herself to hope that Cloud had decided not only to free her but to come with her as well. Why had he elected to stay behind? What chance did he have? He was going to be accused of treason for releasing her.

  She was saved from dwelling on the final outcome by Jordan’s insistent knock.

  “Come in. Have a seat, Mr. Jordan.”

  Jordan settled his muscular bulk into the chair at Alexis’s desk. His fingers tapped lightly on the arms of the chair, the only sign of the tension knotting his insides. Alexis sat on the edge of the desk, one leg bent, an ankle resting on the knee of the other.

  “What was your plan this morning when you entered the harbor?” asked Alexis.

  “We were going to ask some questions and find out where they were keeping you. After that…” He paused. “After that we were going to get you out.”

  “Did you ask questions?” Her voice was low and strained.

  “No. Captain Cloud contacted us first. He must have seen us coming in.”

  “The notes. Do you have them?”

  Jordan nodded and reached into his pocket. He handed her the first slip. “You can see he didn’t give us any indication you weren’t coming willingly,” he said while she read.

  Do not look for the prize you are seeking. Make no inquiries. It will be delivered this afternoon. Arrangements have already been made. Your visit was a welcome surprise.

  “Yes, I see. So you assumed I planned this with him and you being here just made it easier for us.”

  “Well, yes. I thought at first it might be some kind of trick but I decided to wait and see if he delivered.”

  “The other note. I want to see it also.” She slipped the first note into the pages of her log and read the paper he gave her. Then she placed it with the other and stared at her folded hands for a long time before she spoke. “I am going back, Mr. Jordan.” Her voice was quiet, controlled, but Jordan saw the effort it took to say those words so evenly. “I do not know if you are fully aware of what Captain Cloud has done—”

  “I’m beginning to see,” Jordan said slowly. “You didn’t know anything about this, did you? You were not expecting us.”

  “I was expecting you to follow orders!” she snapped. She slid off the edge of her desk and walked the length of the cabin to the porthole. She sat down on the bench and remained silent until she knew she could speak without becoming angry. “Kurt,” she said finally “It is good to—”

  He interrupted her: “I know that, Captain.” He let her see, with his wide smile, that he was also glad to see her and that her anger did not bother him. “Now tell me what happened that I don’t know.”

  “The charges against me were more than I was led to believe when Captain Cloud first spoke to me. There are also charges of piracy because of my association with Lafitte. Of course, all the charges were false. It was their attempt to get me to bring them Lafitte. Captain Cloud tried to persuade them to forget Lafitte, to allow me to go after Travers and help them later. He was not successful and neither was I. I was informed the charges would be made and that I would go to prison. I was placed under guard that evening. Apparently that was too much for the captain.” She smiled grimly, remembering it had almost been too much for her.

  “I was held at Mr. Davidson’s home until I could be taken to jail. That’s where you would have found me this morning. There would have been no possible way for you to get me out without killing someone. Captain Cloud, however, was permitted to see me. Apparently they trusted him enough to allow him to bring my clothes, maybe they thought he was their last chance to convince me. I don’t know.” Her voice was quiet as she finished her recital. She fingered the silver chain at her throat. “There was something different in his manner when I talked to him but I did not have any idea he was going to release me. I never would have permitted it. It is too dangerous for him. He must have known. He did not give me an opportunity to talk him out of it. His fist made reasoning impossible.” She glanced out the porthole to avoid meeting the first mate’s eyes. She concentrated on the horizon, her face devoid of any emotion.

  Jordan said nothing for several minutes. The gentle drumming of his fingers was the only sound in the room. Abruptly, his movements ceased and he spoke with calm assurance.

  “Captain Cloud is waiting to be charged with your escape.”

&nbs
p; “Yes. I believe so.”

  “Why? He would have been welcome to come with us.”

  “I think he wants to convince them they were wrong to hold me that way. He wants to give me time to find Travers.”

  Jordan shook his head slowly. “He doesn’t have a chance. You were an important part of their plans. They’ll consider his actions treasonous.”

  “I know it.”

  “And his actions kept us from doing the same thing. Even the notes he sent us are perfect. We can always say we never knew what was in the trunk. There is no mention of you. Only prizes and explosives and damaged cargo.” He laughed suddenly, chillingly. “We thought he meant you were going to explode because we had come after you. He really meant you were going to be furious because he wasn’t aboard.”

  “That’s right,” she said quietly. She searched his face earnestly. “Do you understand why I have to go back, Mr. Jordan?”

  His expression was deadpan. “Do you understand why we are going with you?” Alexis’s eyes betrayed her surprise and Jordan’s laughter this time was warm and comforting. He smiled openly, his eyes shining with the brilliance of a child setting out on some new adventure. “You don’t think we are going to let him hang after he returned you to us? And we are certainly not going to allow you to turn yourself in. They wouldn’t trade anyway. They’d have you and Captain Cloud. No, we came to Washington to get a captain out and that’s what we are going to do. Objections?”

  Alexis grinned. “I don’t think it would be prudent to object. I’d only end up with a mutiny on my hands.” She stood and began pacing the deck, not in restless agitation, Jordan noted but with a purposeful stride that marked her resumption of full command. Her words were clear and crisp, edged with the undeniable authority of her position. “How far are we from Washington?”

  “Not far. If we turned about now we could be back before sunset.”

  “Too early. We will continue slow and steady and then we will turn and go back when it is dark. I doubt anyone will come after us now. Captain Cloud is the only one who could bring us in and he has probably sent any pursuers on the chase of their life. If there are any ships sighted, we are going to outrun them. No fighting unless we’re fired upon. Is that clear?” Jordan nodded. “Did you sight many British frigates as you were approaching?”