“Yes, and we are all wasting precious time here while she could be out there in grave danger. There are Royal Navy everywhere,” Maddox stated over a hard swallow.
“Grave danger, you say? And what was she in before she escaped?” Keara raised her sword to his chin.
Maddox looked at Green and shrugged, as Green rolled his eyes and raised his arms at the dagger now pointed at his side by one of Keara’s men. “I can assure you, she was in no danger whilst under my watch,” Maddox said, moving his chin to the side and lowering his hands to his hips. “You are all spending far too much time on me, when you should be out there looking for Ivory.”
“We’re not going anywhere until this ship is searched from top to bottom,” Keara said, again pointing her sword at his chest.
“He’s right. We must hurry. Keara, take Master Green and form a search. I’ll stay here and keep a close eye on Captain Carbonale,” Cassandra said drawing her pistol and pointing it at Maddox, whose hands once again raised to his ears.
“You heard the lady, Master Green,” Keara ordered. She sheathed her sword and snatched Green’s pistols from the floor, pointing them at his back. “You men, stay close. And Green, if your crew tries anything, I’ll blow two holes in you before they can draw breath.”
Once Cassandra was alone with Maddox, she ordered him to have a seat on the cot and she pulled up the chair facing him. “Give me the letter.”
“Please, Madame, I’d rather not…” Maddox was interrupted by the pistol, now pointed directly at the dimple in his handsome chin. “Of course…here, take it, if you must,” he murmured, turning it between his fingers and slowly lowering it toward her.
Cassandra stood and backed away from him as she opened it, looking down at the words and then back at him repeatedly. She folded the letter closed and set it on the tea table. “Well?” she asked. “Do you love her?”
“That’s a rather personal question, don’t you think?”
“How much more personal can it be for me, while I am standing here holding your life in my hands?” she asked, extending the pistol to arms-length in front of her.
“Yes. Yes, I suppose I do love her. But what difference does it make now?”
“It makes all the difference in the world. How can you send someone to the gallows whom you claim to love? Can you answer me that?”
“And how can you throw away a lover simply because the man chooses not to give up the sea?”
Cass stiffened. “This isn’t about Alphonse and me, Captain. Although I’m surprised you’d even care to bring it up.”
“Oh, I’d say it’s very much the same. Love doesn’t play out very well in our line of work does it, Madame?”
“I chose to leave him because of loyalty. Where’s the loyalty in trading love for fifty thousand pounds?”
“That was before…before I knew her,” he answered, lowering his hands and resting them on his thighs.
“According to this letter, you’ve gotten to know her better than any man alive, in only a week, and yet here you are in Nassau. Had she not escaped, in several hours she could be facing her death.”
“Please, I implore you, Madame; let me go. Let me search for her myself.”
“You’re insane. Why would I let you do that?”
“For love?”
“You don’t even know the meaning of the word.”
“Why do you think I was in this room when you and your people arrived? Did I bust through that door in the middle of the night because I had nothing better to do?”
“You busted it because you were afraid your pot of gold had escaped.”
“I busted it because I was coming to set her free.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Look at me,” he said with his arms outstretched. “Do I appear as a man who was attempting to thwart an escape? I’m not even wearing shoes!”
Cassandra pulled the chair away from Maddox and sat, resting the gun in her lap, but keeping it secure in her left hand.
“May I have my letter back, please?”
Cassandra reached over and lifted the letter from the table and then tossed it at him. “Listen to me; I’m not letting you go. If she’s out there, Keara will find her. So, please, just sit there quietly until she does. Once Ivory is found, if she chooses to believe your story, then so be it. I, on the other hand, don’t have to.”
Maddox picked up the letter, never breaking eye contact with her. He pulled it to his waist and slid it beneath his hand, into his sash. “I’m terribly sorry, Madame. Yes, you do.”
* * * *
“All clear, Cap’n,” Richard whispered in the dark, as he took Ivory’s hand and helped her onto the pier. “Let’s go; they’ll be on to us soon enough.”
Richard leapt into the boat, and Ivory followed. She hurried to sit and grabbed both oars as Richard struggled to untie the rope from the piling. “Richard…”
“I’ve almost got it, Cap’n,” he said, looking back over his shoulder at her barely visible face. Even while wet, her glowing pale hair was unmistakable. “I’ve got it!” he shouted as the rope grew slack in his hands, and then they were free.
“Nay, lad. I’ve got it,” a voice spoke out of the darkness as the silhouette of a man appeared on the dock, holding the end of the line. Richard pulled hard, but he was no match for the broad-shouldered young man at the other end. Ivory jumped to her feet and snatched the line from Richard’s hands and held on, but pulling on the rope only served to bring them closer to the pier.
“Let it go you, bastard!”
“I’ve heard tell there’s a large bounty on a blonde sea-wench who thinks she’s a pirate. I’ll let this rope go… once I’ve tied it securely around your neck.”
Ivory gasped as she recognized the voice. “Tommy? Tommy Boston? This is your Captain, and I’m ordering you to release this rope and help me!” Ivory was stunned and fought to balance herself as the small boat rocked under the struggle.
“You’re not my captain anymore, Ivory Shepard. Your bitch of a cousin saw to that. I have no captain, and you have no freedom,” he grunted and pulled at the line, trying to tie it back to the piling.
Ivory pulled the dagger from her belt and handed it to Richard. “Cut this son of a bitch free, boy!” she shouted. She leveraged herself against the bow of the boat as Tommy reeled them, hand over hand, back to the pier. Suddenly, what sounded like a gun-shot struck the air, and Ivory fell backwards into the boat. “Cap’n Ivory!” Richard cried out, dropping the dagger and falling to his knees next to her.
“I’m…I’m fine,” she said, holding up her bloodied, rope-burned hands.
“I thought ye was shot!”
Ivory looked up from her back and then clambered to her hands and knees to the bow to find Tommy on his knees, writhing in pain, with the tail of Maddox’s whip tightly entwined around his neck. Maddox appeared as a giant looking down upon her. Richard knelt behind her and grabbed the oars, nervously bouncing them against the water, but going nowhere. The boat drifted a few feet, when Ivory saw Maddox give her a nod.
“Richard, wait,” Ivory said, taking an oar from him and paddling back towards the pier.
“No, Cap’n, please,” Richard begged.
As the boat reached the end of the boards, Maddox raised his free hand to hold her off and said, “Another time,” as he pointed toward the Cutlass in the distance.
“But Maddox, wait…I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Ivory. Go…before I change my mind.”
Ivory pushed off the pier and sat back as Richard slid the oar from her hands and rowed them into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Cass, what happened?” Keara shouted as she ran into the room.
“He’s gone after her. I’m sorry, Ke. He overtook me with Ivory’s razor and took my pistol.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, but we’ve got to go. Untie me, please. She wasn’t aboard?” Cassandra asked, as she shook
loose the ropes after Keara cut them.
“No, she got away. Let’s get back to the Cutlass. Maybe, by some miracle, she saw it and found a way to get there.”
“Knowing Ivory, she’d swim it.”
“What of him?” Cassandra asked, nodding at Master Green.
“I am no threat to you. Leave. I will not attempt to stop you,” Green said, standing in the doorway with his head lowered. Keara and the men walked from the room, and as Cassandra passed, Green took her arm and held her back. “You are unharmed, I hope?”
“I already said he didn’t hurt me,” she answered, never meeting his gaze.
“I know that. It is obvious you are not injured,” he said, as he leaned over to acknowledge the butt of her pistol that peeked out from beneath the mattress of the cot. “You are a complex woman, but that is something I have always known. Why did you let him go?”
Upon hearing Keara’s shouts for her to hurry up, Cassandra finally turned and faced Green, pulling her arm free. “I had my reasons.”
“When can I see you?”
“You can’t see me—you never have. It is why we can never be together.”
“Cassandra, I see you now, and I want to try again. Ever since that day in Kingston, I…” he whispered. His voice grew low and rich with emotion, and his breath was hot against her cheek.
“You knew the whole time he had her, yet you lied to me. Why?” Cassandra asked as she stared straight ahead.
“He is my Captain. Would you not lie for Ivory?”
“I just lied to my cousin and best friend for Ivory. Of course I would. But I didn’t lie to you.”
“Yet, you did not answer my question. When can I see you?” Green grabbed her again. But this time, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flat against him, lifting her off her feet to meet him face to face. “Let me go, Alphonse!” she cried out as she struggled against him. She turned her face from side to side to avoid his wanting mouth. His lips pressed repeatedly against her cheeks as she twisted away from him. Once he found the soft opening he was aiming for, he claimed it hard and held her by the back of her neck to keep it, until she succumbed to his desperate kiss.
When she pushed off from him and freed herself, there were tears in her eyes. She swiped them away, hard, with the backs of her hands and ran off into the night. She hurried to the waiting longboat, jumped in, and pulled the oars up into her lap. She said almost nothing all the way back to the Cutlass.
“Is everything alright?” Keara whispered over her shoulder.
“Never better,” she sniffled.
“So, what are we goin’ ta’ do ‘bout Blacksnake?” Sandy asked.
“The first thing we’re going to do is find Ivory. Then, we’ll worry about Blacksnake.”
“You know he ain’t gonna let it rest, Cap’n.”
“I know. However, I may have an offer he can’t refuse should he decide to pursue us back to Port Royal.”
“He won’t—at least not tonight,” Cassandra mumbled.
* * * *
“Richard, look. That’s my ship,” Ivory proudly announced as they each pulled an oar.
“So, that’s the Cutlass, then? Fine looking vessel, Cap’n,” he said, looking back over his shoulder at the silhouette of the ship. The small bits of light emanating from it could easily be mistaken for twinkling stars.
At last they pulled along-side of her, and Ivory blew her signature whistle to gain the attention of whomever was closest on deck to toss down the rope ladder. To her delight, it was Willy who answered the call. He scrambled to toss the ladder and awaited their climb.
“Ahoy! Aye, lass, it’s you!” he exclaimed as he gave her a hand up, and she in turn pulled Richard up as well.
“Yes it is, and all in one piece,” she said smiling.
“Made ye a friend, did ye?”
“Yes, this is Richard, cabin boy to Maddox Carbonale…well he was. Now, he’s a sailor in training, although his first lesson will be how to take a damn order.” She smiled down at Richard who appeared completely exhausted and barely able to hold his eyes open.
“Come along, laddie. I’ll find ye an empty bunk,” Willy said and waved for Richard to follow him as he waddled off. Richard stood frozen and looked up at Ivory for her approval.
“Go on. Get some rest. Willy, wait… where is everyone?”
“I imagine Madame Keara, Madame Cassandra, and the rest should be back soon since you’re here and not o’er there. Miss Miranda was in the Cap’n’s quarters, last I seen her.”
Ivory ran her hand along the rail as she walked towards the cabins and gave a heavy sigh. She was met with a rousing welcome and a pat on the back from every man still awake and standing. The door to her cabin was open, and the room was softly lit by the pale glow of a candle on her desk. Miranda had fallen asleep and now lay with her head down, using her forearms for a pillow. Ivory stepped around behind her without a sound and leaned over and spoke in her ear.
“I’m gone a little over a week, and I find you asleep at your post?”
Miranda’s head popped up and twisted from side to side, and then she sat back hard in the chair and rubbed at her eyes. Ivory stepped out from behind her and slammed her hand down on the desk. Miranda jumped out of her seat and pounced on Ivory, nearly knocking her over. “Cousin! They found you!”
“Well, no, not exactly, but I’m back,” Ivory said with a laugh, holding tightly to Miranda.
“You’re alright, then? That ol’ Blacksnake didn’t beat you or anything else…did he?” Miranda stood back and inspected her cousin from head to foot and found no notable injury.
“No. I need to get out of these wet clothes, but I’m as fit as ever—maybe better.”
“But, if you’re here, then where’s Ke and the rest?”
“I don’t know. They didn’t really try to board the Cat, did they?”
“Well...that was the plan—to board the Cat and rescue you.”
Ivory snatched the spyglass from her desk and raced off to the deck. She swiped it open and pressed it to her eye and found them, perhaps five minutes away. “I see something. I think it’s them!” she shouted to Miranda, now rushing to her side.
“Thank God.”
Ivory raised the spyglass again and aimed it straight at the Cat. “I can barely see through this thing. I knew Richard had doused the lights, but…”
“Well, we’ve an hour until sunrise, and Ke will be aboard any minute now. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to raise sail and get the hell out of here?”
Ivory lowered the spyglass and found herself lost in thought for a few moments. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yes…yes, of course I am. I just need a few hours of sleep, and I’ll be my old pain-in-the-ass self. I’ll have Willy wake the crew and ready her for sail immediately. Let’s go home, Mir.”
“Let’s get the others aboard first, right?” Miranda suggested with an arched brow.
“Of course…” Ivory dipped forward towards Miranda and began to fall. Miranda caught her in her arms and screamed for help, bringing several sailors to her aid. “Help me get her to her bunk!”
Several hours had passed before Ivory opened her eyes and realized they were at sail under a good wind. She sat up on her elbows and found Keara asleep in the chair next to her bunk. She rubbed at her eyes and yawned before she sat up and threw her legs over the side.
“Ivory, you’re up,” Keara said, sitting up straight in the chair.
“Barely. I have to pee…badly.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“The hell you will. I think I can remember how to do this for myself.”
Keara stood and paced the room as Ivory relieved herself. “So, you’re alright then?”
“I was just tired, Ke. Not to worry. I was locked up in a room for a week. You know me; without fresh air and my crew I get a little addled.”
“Addled is a good word for i
t, I suppose,” Keara mumbled.
“Instead of our usual bickering banter, how about a welcome back?”
“I’ll welcome you when you’re through over there,” Keara said, waving Ivory off over her shoulder.
“Thanks for keeping things right, Ke. I knew I could count on you.” Ivory walked to her desk and sat down. She flipped open the log and studied it for a moment, while Keara sat in the opposite chair and dropped her bare feet on the desk, crossing her ankles.
“Really, Ke?”
“We need to talk.”
“I can’t talk to the soles of your filthy feet. Do you mind?”
Keara put her feet back on the floor and scooted the chair until her knees touched the backside of the desk. “So…are you going to tell me what happened?”
“Why don’t we wait for Cass and Miranda?”
“I think you and I should go over this first.”
“Well, as I’m sure you know by now, Carbonale sent the two sloops after the Diamond. Once she was underwater, I climbed into a longboat and floated around for a few days, baking in the sun with nothing but a half bottle of rum. They pursued me and dragged me from the boat, half-dead. Then, they locked me up, nursed me back to health, slapped a dress on me, and drug me to his ship, bound for Nassau.”
As she spoke, she dressed and walked to the mirror. She lifted a comb from her dresser and pulled it through her hair slowly, glancing back at Keara to gauge her temperament. Ivory never knew what to expect from Keara. Her disposition could be like the edge of a dagger, but her heart was the size of a whale. When Ivory combed her hair back away from her face, the short piece kept falling forward. She pulled it as close to her head as she could, tucking it into the leather tie. “Ugh! It will be months before this stupid hunk of straw grows out.”
“So…it sounds as if you left out the part where you and Blacksnake ended up in bed together.”
“Now, hold it right there, Ke…” Ivory said, no longer able to put off Keara’s questions.
“Hold my ass, Ivory. What the hell really happened? We risked our necks to get you back only to find out you two were having some twisted affair. Tell me you only did it to win him over. Tell me you did it because you were desperate. Jesus Christ, tell me you did it because he’s so damn pretty… because the Ivory I know wouldn’t allow herself to be bedded down by some pirate traitor who plans to sell her ass to the guard!” Keara’s voice rose to a shout.
The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) Page 18
