Gunpowder & Gold (Justified Treason, Book 4): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories
Page 27
Without lowering the gun, she backed towards the door.
“Stop it, Charlie. Where are you going?” Devastated by the thought of her leaving me, my voice cracked in the most pathetic way.
“Where I am going will be of no interest to you. You would be terribly bored and feel utterly trapped there, for in this place I am seeking, I will find peace and quiet. And there will be no sluts there!” She glowered at Shannyn over my shoulder. “My plans have not changed, Sterling Bentley. But this horrendous act of betrayal has forever changed my heart.”
Unwilling to let her go, I stepped towards her. She pulled the hammer back. “You move, and I will kill her. If this pistol doesn’t fire then I have two daggers to throw and a cutlass to wield. She will die under my hand if you leave me the opportunity.”
As much as I wanted her to stay, I could not let her kill my lifelong friend at her father’s place of business.
“Just as I thought.” Charlie squinted at me hatefully before walking out the door. “You may as well keep her around because I will have nothing to do with you from here on out.”
And there she went.
As the door slammed behind her, I tried to follow, but Shannyn grabbed my arm. Face covered in blood, she pleaded, “Let her go. Just let her go.”
I swatted her off of me. “No. Never. I will never let her go. And you! This is your fault, you dirty rotten bitch. I should have let her kill you.”
“I’m sorry, Sterling. I didn’t know this would happen, I just love you so much and—”
“You don’t love me! If you did you never would have come between me and the best thing that has ever happened to me. My wife. In fact, if you knew me at all, or cared about me one bit, you would have known that I love her more than anything in this world, and you would have known that I would never, ever risk what I have with her for a few seconds of pleasure with a skinny little slut like you.” Her eyes filled with tears. I didn’t care at all. “And even if I was alone and free, I wouldn’t be with you. Now, get out of here before I beat on you like she did.”
She ran out of the room, sobbing like a little girl. Good. She could go cry to her father about what a home-wrecking tramp she was for all I cared. Mindlessly sifting through my new and absurdly expensive clothes, I threw on an ivory shirt, an emerald and gold waistcoat, then loaded myself with weapons and headed for the door.
Turning the knob, I paused for a moment. What would I say to Charlie? How could I make this right? If I could tell her what Shannyn had come to tell me in the first place, maybe she would understand how the bitch had tricked me. Ah, but I was a fool to let her in at all. And I kissed her. I did. Damn it. How could I have been so stupid and selfish?
Thinking back on the unfamiliar seriousness of Charlie’s expression, I began to wonder what would happen if she wouldn’t forgive me. What would happen then? As I began to imagine my life without her, my heart darkened. And then I remembered the words her brother Isaiah had said to me, It is a relentless struggle to love a woman, but you know as well as I, there is no burden heavier than being without her once you have fallen in love. Aye, as crazy as it was, it was true. Yes, my life before her was free and simple, but now that I loved her there was no turning back. And in truth, I didn’t want to. Of all the women in the world, I chose Charlotte as my wife, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I wouldn’t allow it to be any other way. I had no idea how I’d make this up to her, but by God I would.
I bolted out the door. Rushing down the hall, I turned the corner, and bumped into someone. Annoyed by the way this presence slowed my pace, I looked down to yell at the idiot who wasn’t watching his steps. It was Toby. Rubbing his head that had hit the wall on the way down, he said, “Sorry, Captain.”
I hurried to help him up. “What do you want, mate?”
“I just came to see what you were doing. I got some hashish and—”
I didn’t care what he had. “I don’t have time right now. I’ve got to go.” I ran down the stairs and out into the alley.
Assuming Charlie had gone to the ship, I headed in that direction. The sun was setting low and with the red and pink colors lighting my way, I ran as fast as I could, but the streets were busy. The crowd was slowing me down. Turning down an alley to dodge the slow moving herd, I dipped under a stairwell, and hopped an empty barrel, but as soon as I turned the next corner, my stride was halted by the feel of horrendous pain piercing my shoulder.
Stopping in my tracks, I looked at my shoulder to see a small dagger had been lodged into my skin. While I ripped the thing out, I looked around for movement. There was no one in sight. Evincing my cutlass, I crept under a stairway, hoping the backstabbing coward had gone elsewhere so I could get on my way, but also ready to fight if he decided to show himself.
Hearing a slight shuffling on the ground—coming from the direction from which the knife was thrown—I looked towards the sound. The building cast a shadow over the alley where I hid, but in the ray of light shining around the corner, I saw the shadow of a man stretching across the dirt pathway. He was wearing a long coat, and his wide brimmed hat had a long feather lying flat across the front.
My heart, still pumping rapidly from running, sped up as I realized who had thrown the knife I was still holding tight to. When he turned the corner, cutlass drawn, I was sure of it. Voodoo Doubloon had found me.
Shit. Why now? Damn it, why now?
From where I hid he still hadn’t noticed me, but as he looked around, a few of his men turned the corner behind him. There were at least ten of them. Though not normally one to run, the inconvenience of the timing forced me to consider it. I had far more important things on my agenda than getting captured by a pirate hunter. Considering that, alongside the fact that he had been paid to deliver me alive, I decided to take the chance. With my back against the wall, I attempted to dart around the corner. I fully expected to be chased and possibly knifed in the back again, but rather, I came face to face with more of Doubloon’s men. A whole wall of them.
“Road’s closed, Bentley,” one of them snarled.
It was. The alley was tight and they were three deep, wall-to-wall. There was no way I could break through their weapon-lined barrier.
Not wanting to turn my back on them, but feeling more of Voodoo’s group encroaching from behind, I forced myself to turn around. Though the alley was wider on this side, there were more men filling it, and they all had their guns aimed at me.
Standing center stage of this dreadful show, Voodoo Doubloon coolly stated, “So we meet again, Mister Bentley.”
With no way out, but knowing about his arrangement with Lloyd Wilshire, I attempted to bargain. “So what’s the pompous dog paying you? I bet I can beat the price on my head.”
“Ah, yes, your friend, Mister Harrison, was more than willing to inform me of the lofty shares your crew received for their capture of Mariposa de Oro. He was also kind enough to let me know which room you are staying in, as well as where a few of your secret stashes are placed. So, unfortunately for you, this means I need no permission from you to take that gold if that was what I wanted.”
Thinking of how hard I’d worked to earn that gold, and remembering just what Charlie had planned to do with it, my heart filled with the ardent passion to kill the treasonous son of bitch who shared this information with him. “Who the hell is this Mister Harrison?”
“The surgeon you forced into service.” Doubloon welcomed Doctor Stabs to step forward.
I glared hatefully at the treasonous rat. Looking terrified by my threating expression, he took a step behind Doubloon. “I have always hated you, Bentley. Now, not only will I get to watch you suffer, but I will be getting paid for it.”
Also looking annoyed by the doctor’s weak behavior, Doubloon said, “Yes, Mister Harrison. You will be paid heavily. In fact, let me give you something now.”
While I wondered why the hell Doubloon was going to pay him now, the pirate hunter pulled his gun and shot the gore-bellied traitor in the
heart. As Doctor Stabs fell over dead, Voodoo coughed on the black powder smoke cloud lingering around his person. “I will use a coward to get what I need, but I refuse to reward one for his ill deeds.”
Nodding in approval, I said, “I feel the same about those kinds of men. See, maybe you and me could get along, Doubloon. There has to be a way to work this out, starting with the fact that Doctor Stabs has no idea where I stored my excess loot.”
Doubloon responded, “I work for gold and I work with sense. I have been following you for long enough to know what you are capable of, and I am certain that no amount of gold you may have hiding elsewhere will be worth the trouble you could cause me if I loosen this circle around you. So I am afraid this is it.” He shook his head. “Yet, I can’t deny that it is quite a shame to have to end your heroic tale in such a manner, for I have very much enjoyed the festivities of your life as I stalked you. But a job well done is a job well done, and I must follow through with my obligations.”
They all stepped closer. There was no way out. Refusing to go down without a fight, I spun around, running my blade across the guts of the few men in the huddle. As the others rushed in, I raised the knife in my hand and ran it through the neck of the first man to touch me. I was able to get a few others as they tried to tackle me. Stabbing, punching, kicking, and even biting once they got me on the ground, I fought until what I thought would be my last breath. But hearing Doubloon shouting at his men to keep me alive, assured me that this entrapment could very well end up serving me a fate much worse than death.
With my memory of all the horrendous tortures I had seen performed running rampant in my mind, I felt someone clamp a metal cuff on my wrist. I was able to wield it like a mace, hitting a few across the face until one of them grabbed it and clamped my other hand. The chaining of my feet came next, shortly followed by the roping of my legs and the bagging of my head.
Refusing to be still, I hopped and flopped like a hopeless idiot until someone kicked me across the face. Tasting blood and seeing stars, it became all too much work to move anymore. Surprised by how colorful it suddenly was behind the black fabric blocking my view of the world, I watched the rainbows drift around until I saw and felt no longer.
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Be sure to look for more out & upcoming
Endless Horizon Pirate Stories
Justified Treason
Justified Treason
Tarnished Persuasion
Wicked Rose
Gunpowder & Gold
*Honorable Betrayal
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Uncharted Secrets
Uncharted Secrets
Queen Of My Nightmare
Every Time It Rains
Never Surrender
*Relentless Storm
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Tales Of A Navigator
The Only Life For Me
Bloodstained Blade
Tale Of A Traveler
*Two Days From Tortuga
*Upcoming
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Cristi Taijeron (Better known by the pirates as Ivey Taijeron) Other than writing pirate stories, I’m a stay home mother who also does the bookkeeping at the auto shop my husband and I own. I enjoy off-road adventures through the desert as much as I love building sandcastles at the beach, and at home I have a flower garden I tend to. Though I have been passionate about drawing, painting, and writing for most of my life, it has always been my greatest dream to publish a novel. Inspiration is everywhere, and seeking it daily, there is never a dull moment in my world.
To learn more about my inspiration for these stories, along with more information on the history of pirates, please visit:
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