The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) (34 page)

“Do I know you, pretty man?”
Teach asked, as he pushed the tent opening aside to offer them entry and ducked
inside behind them.

“We met several years ago in
the West Indies…at an inn in New Providence, and…”

Teach sat down, then lifted
his lantern and held it up to Maddox’s face. “Pretty man, I remember ye. The
peeper.”

“No, no, no, Captain, I
assure you now, as I did that evening, I simply…”

“Blacksnake, I remember ye.
Can’t take a bit of ribbing, aye?”

“Only to my enemies,
Captain.”

“Hello, Captain.
 
I’m Ivory Shepard, Captain of the
Carolina Cutlass
. We’ve come to request
a stay here for a while. We’ve both a price on our heads and are being sought
by a man o’ war sent from England,” Ivory said, reaching out to shake Teach’s
hand.

Teach regarded her
carefully. “Would ye mind taking yer leave for a bit Cap’n Carbonale? I’d like
a word with the Razor here, if ye don’t mind.” Teach leaned back on one elbow.
Once he laid eyes on Ivory, he barely looked at Maddox, except when he’d
identified him from their previous meeting.

“Captain, anything you wish
to share, you may say in my presence, sir.” Maddox sat straight up and replied.

“My camp. My rules. Yer all
welcome to stay, though. The man o’ war won’t be lookin’ for ye here, and the
water around the island isn’t deep enough for her to pass anyway. We’ll speak
later.”

Maddox looked over at Ivory,
and she removed her hat and nodded to him to signal she’d be fine. Ivory could
see he was seething, but under the circumstances, the decision for him to exit
was already made, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to change it. He turned
and noticed two large men in the doorway, waiting to escort him should he
protest and bowed to his host, and stepped outside.

“The Ivory Razor… right here
in me tent. Tell me, Captain, how did ye hook yerself up with the likes of
Blacksnake? I mean, he’s an earner, that’s for sure, but I heard tell he sacked
yer ship a month ago or so and tried to turn ye over to the Guard.”

“Misunderstanding,
Captain.
 
He did, however, secure my
release and has assisted me in evading capture since that time.”

“All of this over a bloody
blue stone.”

“Excuse me?”

“The blue rock. Don’t
pretend ye don’t know to what I’m referin’; yer too bright for such nonsense.”

“How do you know about the
diamond?”

“How can ye not?
 
Considering the talk stretches from Kingston
to Boston.”

“Tell me then, what’s the
talk?
 
I’ll tell you if it’s true.”

“Ye sure ye want the
truth?
 
‘Cause I got a feelin’ it’s
gonna’ put the ax to yer love life with Captain Handsome out there.”

“Just tell me and stop
playing games. I’m a woman, not an ignorant girl.”

“That fifty thousand pound
bounty wasn’t for yer head; it was to get that blue rock.”

“How do you know this?”

“That rock was on its way to
Nassau to be picked up and brought to Boston to be cut, polished, and set in a
very fine and very large brooch for none other than ol’ Georgie the First
himself. Well, if not fer himself, fer his wife Sophia…or could a’ been fer his
mistress… but either way, all of them diamonds was commissioned for him. When
ye sacked that merchantman, ye took everything that belonged to the King.”
Teach shook his head and chuckled. “I’ll give ye credit there lass. When you
hunt, ye hunt well.”

“So, the King’s Guard knew
the whole time those diamonds were aboard?”

“They knew everythin’ that
was on that ship from the diamonds to the slaves, and don’t ye think
otherwise.”

“If that ship was so damn
important, why didn’t she have an escort?”

“Escort draws attention.
Escort means there’s something extra special aboard,” he said with a wink.

“So, you’re telling me that
Maddox has known the entire time about those diamonds, and he was going to turn
me over to the guard in Nassau and then collect the reward for the diamonds
too?”

“I can’t say what the man
was thinkin, Captain, but he knew ye had ‘em. I’m certain of that. They just
wanted the diamonds back but if they couldn’t get the stones, they’d take you
instead.”

Ivory jumped to her feet and
ran from the tent. She passed Maddox and flew into the darkness, heading for
the trail back to the skiff. She dodged campfires, drunken pirates, and tents
all the way until she finally hit sand and was tackled to the beach from
behind.

“What in the hell are you
doing? What happened back there?”

“Let go of me, you lying
snake!”

“I’ll not let go until you
start making sense.”

Maddox held her down,
sitting on her in the sand. Each wave that rolled in made a soft woosh and was
mere inches from her head as she thrashed beneath him. “Get your hands off of
me, I said.”

“I refuse to let go of you
until you tell me what happened back there.”

“Teach told me everything.
He told me about the bounty on my head, and about you knowing about the
diamonds, and who they were for, and how you planned to collect the money for
the diamonds, as well as me.” Ivory’s chest rose and fell as she blew hard, hot
breaths from her nose up into Maddox’s face, which was now as white as the
sand.

He let go of her arms and
sat back on his knees. Ivory slid herself from beneath him and climbed to her
feet. “I should take your head right now and toss it into the ocean.”

“Please, just let me
explain.”

“Explain what? How you lied,
cheated, and used me for a lousy fifty thousand pounds and some shiny rocks?”

“Fifty thousand pounds isn’t
lousy, Ivory but that isn’t the point is it?”

“You’re infuriating! Can you
ever not make some ridiculous joke at my expense?”

“I’m really trying here, but
you’re making this very difficult. Can you please stop shouting at me and allow
me to explain?”

Ivory slapped her arms
across her chest, folding them tight, and paced back and forth as Maddox remained
on his knees in the sand, staring up at her through wide and desperate eyes.

“I didn’t know you then. All
I wanted was freedom. You see, had I been able to deliver you and the diamonds,
mainly the large blue one, I’d have received the fifty thousand and a pardon,
and I’d have made my way to the quiet life of a free gentleman, anywhere I
wanted. Then, when I first saw you…the first time you blinked open your eyes at
me, I knew I was in trouble. When you cursed at me and tried to kill me…God
help me, I knew the moment I touched your hand when you asked for more water
that there was no way I would be able to go through with any of this.”

“Then why did you? Why did
you take me to Nassau?”

Maddox knelt with his head
down and his eyes closed for a moment. When he raised his face to her, he
appeared a broken and lost soul, exposed to the elements of her fury and angst
at his hands. “Pride? Denial? Everything you can imagine a man feels when he
knows he’s wrong and yet lacks the humility to admit it. Even when I knew I
already loved you, I continued my charade and told myself there was no way you
could love me once you knew the truth.”

“You were right,” she said
through her gritted teeth as she ran off toward the skiff.

Maddox clambered to his feet
and chased after her in the dark, following the glow of her white hair as it
fell from the braid and tossed against her shoulders in her wake. “Stop, Ivory,
please! I’m not finished explaining,” he called out as he reached out and
caught her by the sleeve.

“Let me go!
 
I need to get back and retrieve my diamond
from Tobias.”

“You know Tobias took the
diamond?”

“Well, of course I do. Who
else could have taken it? Wait, how did
you
know?”

“I sent word to Tobias that
I was in Charles Towne. I instructed him to take it. You see, my dear, Tobias
was working for me. Jackson came to Kingston and tried to make a deal with me
for the stones, but I wanted no business with him. Tobias was a spy I sent
along to keep an eye on him.”

“Oh, this just gets more
interesting by the minute. Please, Maddox, just let me go!”

Maddox had had enough. He
took Ivory by the arms and held her still. “Ivory Shepard, you are going to
stop this nonsense and listen to me. I knew Jackson was in Charles Towne when I
saw the
Jade
. I paid Tobias to remove
the blue diamond so that Jackson wouldn’t get his hands on it. When your men
overtook Jackson’s, Tobias had no choice but to join my ship. He knew you were
far too clever not to discover him.”

“Tobias took it for you? So,
you got the diamond, after all. Isn’t that just perfect?”

Maddox slowly released her
from his grasp and stepped back from her. “You truly do not love me, do you
Ivory? How could you love a man you deem impossible to trust? Sadly, I am
questioning my own loyalty to you at this moment.”

Ivory was like ice. She
neither frowned nor smiled.
 
Her posture
was rigid, and barely a blond hair moved in the soft breeze. “What did you
expect? Perhaps if you’d have been honest with me, none of this would have ever
happened. You have only yourself to thank.”

Maddox leapt to her and
pulled her flat against him. She resisted, but he would not relent. He tried
desperately to kiss her, and she pulled back fast from him, slapping him hard
across the face. “Do you find me funny? Am I some sort of joke to you? How dare
you!
 
And don’t think I didn’t feel how
thrilled you are just now. Does my anger excite you? God, you’re not only a
liar, you’re disgraceful.”

Maddox began to laugh. This
wasn’t his usual chuckle, but a laugh like she had never heard… and like he had
never experienced before. He doubled over, wheezing and holding his stomach,
until finally he staggered towards her. She stood as ice again, but this time
with edges like razors.

“Dammit, Maddox, stop this.
Have you lost your bloody mind?”

“Give me your hand,” he said
and continued laughing through short snorts and ragged breaths.

“I will not.”

“Just give me…dammit,” he
said, reaching out and grabbing her hand from her side.

He held her tightly by the
wrist and pulled at her as he reached deep into his pants pocket and pushed the
blue diamond into her hand. “Here. I was saving it for later while we were
hopefully naked—perhaps for even the second time— but you’ve forced my hand.
Now, shall we return to our respective ships? As much as it pains me to admit
it, I’ve had rather enough of you for one day!” he shouted; his laughter had
transformed into exasperation and he marched off toward the skiff.

The ice cracked and
shattered from her as she stared down at the big blue egg in her hand. She
tossed it into the air several times and then turned and followed him. “Maddox,
wait.”

He was bent over pushing the
skiff back into the water. He blew out a heavy sigh and stopped, then stood
with his hands on his hips and his mouth drawn down on one side in disappointment.
“What is it now? I believe we’ve lost the wind, Ivory Shepard.
 
But on a more positive note, at least this
time I didn’t get anyone killed.”

“You do love me, don’t you,
Maddox?” she asked softly, tossing the diamond a few inches into the air above
her hand and catching it.

“You’re a damn fool of a
woman, do you know that? I care nothing about that blasted diamond and for the
record, I no longer wonder why you’ve been alone all these years.” Maddox
turned and pushed the skiff until it bounced in the calm surf and drifted a few
feet away.

“Just answer the damn
question.”

“Yes!” he shouted at the
sky. “For God’s sake, Ivory, I’ve humiliated myself, swallowed my pride, and
given up nearly everything to chase you from the Caribbean to the bloody
Atlantic. Twice! What more can I do to prove myself to you?”

Ivory leaned back, and with
a windmill swing of her arm, she launched the blue diamond so far out into the
black water, they barely heard the splash. She walked into the light surf
towards him and smiled up at his wide-eyed, open-mouthed face.

“Let’s go, shall we?” Ivory
leapt into the skiff and Maddox followed. He shook his head as he sat down,
pulled an oar across his lap, and looked up at her as she stood over him. Her
blond hair now danced about her face like clouds against the dark sky, and her
smile fell away as she pulled the oar from his hand and tossed it into the
water, followed by its mate.

“Is there anything else
you’d like to toss into the water, Madame?”

“You know, I don’t usually
take on men of your age, but I do have a reputation for finding them and
leaving them much better than they were.” She straddled his lap and wrapped her
arms loosely around his neck.

“Oh yes, I have heard that
rumor. However, I don’t recall asking for the job,” he said, as she removed his
hat and tossed it overboard.