Amelia and the Captain

by Lori Copeland

  His sharp glance halted her intended threat. He wasn’t Dov Lanigan—she’d bet her life on it—but why was he pretending to be the disreputable privateer? But she couldn’t give his identity away if she had the slightest hope of getting out of this bad dream. There must be some sort of plan behind his brazen hoax. He was the only ticket she and the other women had to leave this boat.

  Lanigan dismissed her with a sullen glance. “I don’t know about this one. Perhaps she’s not worth the cost. Perhaps she’s touched with madness.”

  “No, no,” Brown assured. “She is quite intelligent. She’ll bring a pretty penny if you decide not to keep her.”

  With helpless rage, Amelia pooled a mouthful of spit and hurled it at Morgan Kane.

  Stiffening, he appeared to rein his anger. If looks could kill, she would be lying dead at his feet right now.

  She spat again. “You no-good swine.” She spat a third time.

  “Stop spitting on me.”

  She spat again.

  Mr. Brown stepped over to wipe the spittle off Lanigan’s coat. She spat on Brown.

  “See here! You stop this!” Brown demanded. “Do you know whom you’re spitting on?”

  Amelia’s eyes fixed accusingly on Morgan, but she kept silent, working up more spit in her mouth.

  “The woman is a lunatic.” Morgan…Lanigan jumped back when she spat again.

  Mr. Brown snapped his fingers, and two seamen stepped forward to stuff a dirty rag into her mouth.

  She kicked and clawed, trying to spit out the vile-tasting rag. The men bound her tightly with a rope, laughing at her struggle.

  Lanigan circled her slowly, appraising her like a prize horse. Up and down, her eyes followed his, promising revenge.

  “She is pure?”

  Brown nodded. “Of course…pure as the driven snow.”

  “Is there a doctor aboard?”

  “Certainly,” Brown replied. “Of course, there’s the little matter of his license being revoked, but when he’s sober, he knows his business well enough.”

  “I will expect her to be as pure as an angel,” Lanigan warned.

  “She will be examined immediately, but I can assure you this one is rare.”

  Lanigan’s gaze met Amelia’s smugly. “Good. She will think twice before she spits on men again.”

  “Take her below,” Mr. Brown ordered.

  Amelia’s eyes widened when the two seamen proceeded to drag her away. Examined? What was “examined”?

  Turning to Morgan, Brown apologized. “I’m sorry you had to witness that bit of unpleasantness. She is a bit high strung, but her mind is completely intact, and as you can see, her beauty is unsurpassed.”

  Morgan knew Amelia McDougal would be mad as hops when she returned. But in order for him to save her life, she would be forced to prove her value.

  “I will take the other women too.”

  “The others? Why, there’s as many as—”

  “Doesn’t matter. Have them ready to leave within the hour.”

  “Sir, this was not the plan. Do you have the cash? And there is the matter of delivery fee.”

  “The money will be in your hand tomorrow morning. I will make arrangements to have the funds delivered to the ship early. Don’t sail before the runner arrives.”

  “Well…the request is highly unusual…”

  Morgan pinpointed Brown’s gaze. “Are you questioning my word?”

  “Oh no! No, sir! Morning will be fine. The earlier the better.” The men turned to leave when a shuffle erupted between Amelia and two seamen. She drew back and kicked one in the shin. A string of oaths colored the air.

  The man raised a fist, and Morgan’s arm shot out. “Leave her be! She belongs to me.”

  “But she’s—”

  “Leave her!” Kane’s voice ricocheted off the water.

  The seaman dropped his arm, but the second thug tightened his hold on the struggling girl.

  Amelia shrugged free, straightening her posture. “I can walk, thank you.”

  Brown cleared his throat. “Your ship is nearby, Mr. Lanigan? I can provide you with excellent quarters…and many hours of pleasant diversion.”

  “No, as soon as the women are ready, we’ll be leaving.” Morgan prayed God would provide a way to carry on the ruse until early tide. There was the small problem of locating a ship to house who knew how many other women. Had he lost his wits? Assuming responsibility for lives he’d never met. He’d be responsible for their safety, feeding and housing them, and keeping them from the clutches of Dov Lanigan.

  The answer was yes. Apparently he had lost his wits, and it didn’t appear likely that he’d find them anytime soon.

  Now all he had to do was find a boatload of money, get a ship, rescue the women, and stay on mission.

  Amelia sucked in fresh air when she emerged from the bowels of the ship, cheeks aflame. If Morgan Kane was still aboard, he’d be living the last few minutes of his contemptible life. She had never felt such consummate hatred for one person. When the doctor took her below and performed…she closed her eyes as humiliation burned her cheeks. Proving her purity was the most demeaning travesty she’d ever encountered. It was bad enough that the captain of her dreams defrauded her, but how could he call himself a man?

  And yet something deep inside her trusted this man. Undoubtedly, word had spread about another conquest for Dov Lanigan, and Morgan was there to save her from an unspeakable fate—one more daft blunder because of her neglect.

  As much as she longed to throttle the captain, she would do or say anything needed to play along with his deception until she could catch a moment alone with him and demand to know how he knew where she was and how he planned to save her and a boatload of women from certain ruin. The odds were monstrous against such a daring rescue. Freeing her was one matter, but rescuing eleven women was quite another matter.

  If Kane was willing and able to do all this, she would literally owe this man her life.

  When Morgan stepped outside on the deck, he saw light flare as a young woman struck a match with her thumbnail and lit the cigarette dangling indolently from her lips. Her gaze locked brazenly with his as she slowly removed the cigarette and held the match just below her face. The light cast a flattering glow on her strong cheekbones, her straight nose, her arched brows. Her lips puckered in a provocative pout before she blew out the match. In the sudden darkness, her eyes held his for an instant before he turned and strode toward the railing. She spoke first.

  “Go ahead, say it. I’m a fool.”

  Drawing her to a sheltered alcove, he chanced a second look to see if anyone witnessed the exchange. The deckhands were too absorbed in bringing the women on deck to notice the captain. “You’re far from a fool, Elizabeth, but you were incredibly careless. How did you end up here?”

  “How do you think? Like the others, I was captured by Brown’s thugs. The question is, how did you know I was here?”

  “I didn’t.” Morgan struck a match, his eyes locked with hers. He touched the fire to the tip of her cigarette.

  Inhaling deeply, she shook her head. “We’re in serious trouble, aren’t we?”

  “I think we can safely assume that we are.”

  She brought the smoke back to her mouth. “I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t careless. One moment I was walking along, minding my business, and the next moment I was overpowered by two burly thugs who dragged me to this diabolical hole. In the blink of an eye, I found myself a prisoner of Austin Brown, a despicable soul who plans to sell me and the others.”

  “It does boggle the mind, doesn’t it?” Morgan focused on the silent harbor. “Have any idea where we can buy a ship?”

  “Buy one?”

  “Temporarily borrow one.”

  “That’s crazy, Morgan. We don’t have funds to buy a ship. Let’s just get out of here.”

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures. There must be some sloop or freighter in the harbor unattended.”

/>   “You’re serious. You plan to go through with this ruse—take these women and run?”

  “That’s my plan.”

  “It’s insane. We save ourselves.” Drawing on the cigarette, Elizabeth appeared to consider the idea. “Taking the others will be too dangerous—is it true you actually know the McDougal girl?”

  “Briefly. We met on the trail. She was in trouble then, but nothing like this.”

  “She claims she’s met you. You’re willing to lose the mission and possibly get ourselves killed to come to her assistance a second time?”

  “Are you suggesting that our job is less dangerous?”

  “Listen.” Elizabeth turned pleading eyes on him. “I’m sorry I let down my guard—”

  “No need for apologies. We’ve worked together long enough to know that neither of us would intentionally endanger the other. The circumstances were unforeseen, I can’t deny that, but there is a way out. I just have to find it.”

  “It better be clever. I trust you more than any agent I have worked with, but the situation is so grave, I have to wonder how any of us could survive unharmed.”

  “The task isn’t enviable, granted. The situation developed so fast, I haven’t had time to devise a plan. I overheard Brown bragging about your capture in a pub, or I wouldn’t have known what happened to you. I came for the McDougal woman.”

  “The featherhead? You’re here because of the featherhead?”

  “She’s smart enough, Elizabeth. There are times when she doesn’t use her best judgment, but she knows her limits.”

  Elizabeth took a step back. “You’re defending her. In the brief time that you’ve known her, you’ve appointed yourself her protector? The girl will get us killed with her reckless and impulsive nature.”

  “She’s young and impressionable,” he disputed.

  “Pigheaded and brash!”

  “Childlike and inexperienced,” he dismissed.

  Elizabeth stepped closer. “Why are you shielding her? If it wasn’t for her, our lives wouldn’t be in danger.”

  “Amelia might well have saved your life. Calm down. I’ll get us out of this.”

  “So a child inadvertently led you to me,” Elizabeth repeated. “What about the mission? This could destroy all we’ve accomplished. We are so close to seizing Lanigan. So close!”

  “Consider this a stroke of unbelievable luck. The mission is intact. We know for certain where Lanigan is now. No more wild goose chases to locate him only to lose him again.”

  “Sheer madness,” she murmured. “Surely every man aboard this ship has seen or met Dov Lanigan—”

  “They haven’t. I know it sounds unbelievable, but from what I’ve heard, Lanigan doesn’t show himself often. It does sound unlikely that not one packet rack would have met him, but that appears to be the case. Even Brown is buying the charade—for the time being. If anyone knows Dov Lanigan, they haven’t spoken up. We take our chances. Unless you have a better idea.”

  Elizabeth discarded the cigarette and ground it out on the deck with her heel.

  “Hey,” Morgan chided. “What will our host think of your treating his ship with so little esteem?”

  “Frankly, I don’t care what the captain thinks.”

  “For the moment, I’d suggest you be more courteous and play the helpless captive.” His gaze shifted to the empty deck. “You never know when ears are listening.”

  Elizabeth appeared to calm. “In the meantime, what do you want me to do?”

  Morgan answered as candidly as he could. “I have no idea. I’m making this up as I go, but I won’t leave you and the others here.”

  “Of course not. Morgan Kane always puts others first.”

  “I wouldn’t leave a wild boar here.”

  “There are over fifty men aboard ship…against the two of us. The situation is hopeless.”

  “Ah, but there will be twelve of us, and nothing is ever hopeless. But I’ll need your full cooperation.”

  “My help? I’m a prisoner. Remember?”

  “Play it smart, and do as Brown tells you. The voyage to Houston will be short, provided the weather holds. By the time we get there, I’ll have a plan.”

  “We’re going to Houston?”

  “For the time being. We have to get out of Galveston immediately.”

  “You’ll have a ship, I trust.”

  “I will by the time we need one.”

  “What about the squirrel? Shouldn’t she be told we’re working together?”

  “No,” Morgan said flatly. “Amelia is not to know about our association. The less she knows, the better.”

  “Now there’s a ray of light. She’s clueless—”

  “Elizabeth—”

  “If she knew we’re working together, she might show more caution.”

  “Tempting thought, but false. Like I said, she’s young and naive.”

  “Ah! Then you agree with me. She’s an anchor around our neck!”

  “Charmingly impetuous,” he maintained.

  “You just met the woman! What is this fascination with her?”

  Morgan said quietly, “We have enough trouble without inviting more. The girl can be dealt with, Elizabeth.” His voice turned grave. “I don’t need to warn you that you and Amelia are fighting for your lives. This is not the time for backbiting and petty bickering—”

  Elizabeth straightened. “You said your misplaced sense of responsibility for Amelia McDougal was born because you rescued her from a jail wagon, but I don’t have the same passion, Morgan. Far from it. The woman is dangerous—not only to us but most definitely to our mission.

  “I understand, but this isn’t the time for heroics,” Morgan warned. “These men have no soul. None. You would do well to remember it. If Amelia knows nothing about our association, she can’t arouse suspicion among anyone we encounter.”

  “You’re serious? You really don’t plan to inform her about our association?”

  “Not a word, and I strongly advise that you use the same common sense.”

  A weary sigh escaped the woman. “I’m scared. There was a time when life held no meaning for me, but it isn’t that way anymore. When the war’s over, there’s so much I want to experience, so much living to catch up on. I can’t bear to think that a mere child like Amelia would hold the key to my future.”

  “Nobody has any keys, Elizabeth. But the women have God and a fairly formidable couple of experienced government spies on their side. That was enough for Joshua in the battle of Jericho; it should be good enough for them.” Morgan’s thoughts wandered back through the years when he had sat at his grandmother’s feet as she read the Old Testament aloud to him, recounting the battles and struggles God’s people had faced. The accounts had stuck with him.

  So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them, (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them. Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.

  “Maybe, but God had His eye on Joshua,” Elizabeth whispered, breaking Morgan’s thoughts.

  Morgan shook his head. “God hasn’t changed. If we keep our heads and God is with us, we can outwit these hooligans. Lay low and follow my lead.” He met her eyes in the flickering light of whalebone lanterns swaying from the yardarms. “I have a hunch we’re in for a rough ride.”

  Fiv
e

  The remaining captives were manhandled onto deck. Morgan stood by as brawny seamen silenced fearful cries with the backs of their hands. The exchange appeared to be little more than a cattle roundup. A man shoved Amelia across the deck, drawing back to strike her in a silent warning.

  Amelia glanced in Morgan’s direction and discreetly eased to the shadows. He had no doubt her thoughts toward him were none too charitable. The purity examination was the only way he could get her off the ship. Each captive had to endure one.

  Minutes passed as he watched the women gather. Suddenly he felt a cold blade in his side.

  “You’re upset,” he observed dryly, knowing without doubt who the assailant was, but puzzled. How did Amelia get a weapon? Her grudge was likely to get them killed.

  “You low-down, cross-eyed weasel.” She pressed closer to his ear. “I’m going to slit your gullet and then saw your serpent tongue out of your scheming, two-faced, ugly head.”

  “Would it offend you if I asked why?”

  The knife slowly lifted to his temple. “Do you know what an ‘examination’ is?”

  “Where did you get the knife?”

  “I stole it.”

  He calmly bent to search his boot holder. “Easy now,” he warned when the blade cut lightly into his throat. He straightened. “How did you get my knife?”

  “I told you. I’m good. Now say your prayers, heathen.”

  “All right, but I’m your only hope of getting off this boat.”

  “You’re not the least bit worried about me. You’re with these thugs.”

  “Believe what you want, but I’m not here for my health.”

  “How did you know where I was?”

  “Overheard Brown bragging in the tavern.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Your choice.”

  Her tone assumed a note of grim finality. “If you have any last words, you’d better say them.”

  “You’re going to be sorry.”

  “You let me worry—”

  He whirled and took the knife so fast she blinked. “Are you out of your mind?” He tucked the blade in his boot.