The Pirate and the Puritan (32 page)

Her captor stopped abruptly.
“That’s the one the British are looking for. You know him?”

She was afraid to hope. “I’ve
been on his ship this last month. He’ll be furious when he finds me missing.”

“I don’t want any trouble with
the likes of him, Bertie,” said one of his friends.

“Won’t be no trouble, but there
might be a big reward.” Her captor shifted her weight onto his hip. “Where can
we find him, lass?”

“He’s...” As for as she knew,
Drew was in one of the taverns. The idea of revealing any information that
might cause his capture constricted her throat.

Her dilemma was solved by an
outburst from the sensible one of the four. “Oh, no, Bertie, you’re not getting
us in on this one. Let the whore go.”

“You always were a scared one.
Run on back to the ship. The rest of us will get the reward and the bastard’s
whore to boot. We’ll be famous as
El Diablo
himself.”

The other two men looked at one
another and hesitated. Thankfully, the sensible one wanted to get rid of her as
badly as Bertie wanted to keep her.

“You’re drunk And even if you
weren’t, what makes you think you got a chance against
El Diablo
? He’d
feed you to the sharks.”

She intended to tell them Drew
was an actual cannibal, but the words stuck in her throat when the sensible one
tried to yank her from her captor’s arms. Suddenly, she became the object in a
tug-of-war.

“Let go of her, you black-hearted
bastard, or I’ll knock you senseless,” said Bertie. The other man didn’t heed
the warning, and Bertie followed through on his threat. In the erupting fray,
Felicity found herself thrust to the ground.

She pushed herself up, spitting
out sand. If she was hurt, she didn’t have time to notice. She yanked up her
bodice, grabbed the hem of her skirt and ran faster than she imagined possible.

The sailor named Bertie called
after her, but she didn’t dare look back. Nothing could stop her flight. A
roaring sounded in her ears and she wasn’t sure if it was the rush of wind or
the beating of her heart. Sand turned to cobblestone and bit into her bare
foot, but she refused to slow down.

The voices grew louder. She
feared the pirates were behind her. A group of men loitered in the street, but
they looked no better than the men chasing her, so she shoved past them.
Someone yelled at her to stop. The voice had a crisp English accent. She
stopped so abruptly, she slid forward before she caught her balance.

Instead of a rescuer, she found a
white stallion rearing above her. A shove to the ground cut short her scream as
the breath was knocked from her lungs. Pain exploded down her side. She
struggled to remain conscious. She lost. Darkness enveloped her.

Drew emerged from the
Rapture’s
lowest deck in a barely controlled rage. His crew scrambled about the main deck
in preparation to set sail, while Solomon stood in the center of the activity,
calmly giving orders. Drew forced himself not to shout, but to walk to where
Solomon stood without attracting the attention of his men.

Drew motioned Solomon aside.
“Don’t let the prisoners leave the ship yet.”

Solomon sent a sailor standing
near them on a task before he turned his attention to Drew. “The skiff taking
them to shore left shortly after our return. You said you wanted to be out of
the harbor within the hour.” Solomon’s gaze narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

Drew forced himself to speak
slowly and calmly, though he was sure nothing in his expression hid his anger.
“Felicity’s not in my cabin.”

Solomon stiffened, but Drew had
the distinct impression his irritation was directed toward him rather than
Felicity. “You shouldn’t have left things the way they were between you two.
Did you remember to lock her in when we left the ship?”

Drew wanted to lash out at
Solomon, but he restrained himself. He unballed his fists and flexed his hands.
“Do you think I would take the chance of letting her loose in her present state
of mind?”

“Hugh probably let her out to see
to Avery. I’ll check there first.”

Drew nodded. “I’ll take over on
deck. We’ll move the ship to the other side of the island when the crew return
with the launch. We can’t leave New Providence until I find Felicity.”

Damn Felicity. She’d left them in
a dangerously vulnerable position. Pink dawn had already turned to a clear,
bright morning, ensuring the
Rapture
would be easy to spot once someone
started to look. Anchoring at the edge of the bay protected them from discovery
as long as no one knew
El Diablo
lingered in the harbor. Once McCulla
and his men found an ear to bend, every Redcoat on the island would be looking
for his ship. And then there were the other pirates. For the size of the reward
his father was offering, many of them would see their own mothers dangle at the
end of a noose.

Drew had intended to be under
full sail before McCulla stumbled into his first tavern—his most likely
destination since Drew had supplied his prisoners with coin to see them safely
home. Drew chose to believe his extravagant gesture reflected Ben’s wishes
rather than a foolish attempt to redeem himself in Felicity’s eyes. A lot of
bloody good it did him now.

He’d wring her pretty white neck
in earnest when he found her. The dangers awaiting her if she’d left the ship
were too numerous to consider. He paced the deck, checking inside coils of rope
and anywhere else that might provide a clever hiding place.

The minute he had met the quiet
emptiness of his cabin, a sick sensation in the pit of his stomach told him she
was gone. Luckily, overwhelming fury soon followed. Believing Felicity had
disobeyed him was easier to accept than… He’d not stopped Solomon in his quest
to locate Felicity below deck because Drew wanted his intuition to be wrong.
Just as he wanted his other realization to be a misguided, overemotional
conclusion brought on by lack of sleep. He was in love with Felicity.

Having never been in love before,
he hadn’t recognized the strange and decidedly consuming emotion. But the devouring
fear that engulfed him when he discovered her gone showed him the truth. His
chest tightened with every breath. Even the risk he put himself in—more
importantly, the peril he subjected Solomon, Hugh and the rest of his crew
to—could not make him change his course. He would not leave the island without
her.

Solomon returned on deck with a
tight jaw and a bleary-eyed crewman. The discreet shake of Solomon’s head came
as no surprise. “Mr. O’Neil was on watch last night. I thought you might want
to question him.”

O’Neil had the body of a man and
the freckled face of a boy. He went from looking sleepy to looking nervous.
“Did I do something wrong, Captain?”

Drew feared one of his reassuring
smiles might turn into a grimace. The best he could do was try not to scowl.
“No, not at all.” This pup was no match for Felicity on a mission. “I just need
to know if anyone left the ship last night.”

The crewman glanced at Solomon,
then back at Drew. “Most everybody left to go to the island except for the cook
and Hugh. I thought they all had leave, sir.”

Drew shook his head. “Something
else. I’m looking for anything unusual you might have noticed.”

The young sailor studied his feet
for a moment, then lifted his gaze. “I heard a splash—like a dolphin jumping
through the water. Thought maybe it was begging for a free meal. I looked but
didn’t see anything. I only heard it once.”

“Thank you. That’s what I
needed.” Drew turned away and stared at the island. The bloody shore had to be
at least a mile from the ship. The idea of Felicity reaching land scared him
even more than her drowning. The inviting white sand disguised a nest of
rapists, cutthroats and thieves.

Drew stepped toward the railing
and gripped the sleek wood. He addressed Solomon. “You’ll lead a group of men to
shore. I’ll stay onboard and move the
Rapture
to the other side of the
island.”

The quartermaster sighed. “I’m
glad to see you’re being sensible about this. I thought you might insist on
going—”

“If I were sensible, we would
leave her.” Drew squeezed the railing until his hands cramped. “Don’t take any
men to New Providence who had direct contact with the prisoners.”

“What should I tell the crewmen I
take?”

Drew’s gaze never wavered from
the island. “I don’t care. Just find her.”

Solomon moved away to carry out
Drew’s orders.

“Wait.” Drew called Solomon back.
He didn’t want to think it, much less say it, but he had to know what happened
to her. “Search the harbor first. The water is clear enough that you should be
able to see the bottom.”

Solomon leaned on the railing,
inches from Drew. “Felicity wouldn’t jump only to drown. She knew she could
make it.”

That was exactly what Drew feared
most. At least drowning would have been quick. Knowing the hell she would
endure if she fell into the hands of a real pirate almost made him wish they
would find her embraced by the warmth of turquoise water.

***

The longboat carrying Solomon and
the search party rounded the jagged rock marking the deserted cove on New
Providence’s north side. Drew steadied the spyglass. Felicity wasn’t with them.
Solomon still had two more hours of daylight Drew lowered the telescope and
wrapped his arms tightly in front of him to steady himself against the
blackness threatening to overtake him.

Solomon wouldn’t have returned
until nightfall unless he’d found Felicity or her body. Drew lifted the
spyglass again. He searched the bottom of the boat.

Hugh tugged on the back of Drew’s
shirt. “Did they bring Felicity back?”

The angle of the telescope didn’t
allow him to see below the men’s knees. “I don’t know.”

“I want to see,” whined Hugh as
he grabbed for the leather tube.

“No. Go below deck.” Drew
couldn’t breathe. He’d promised himself he’d never feel this way again. His
mother’s death had been beyond endurance. He had been a child alone in the
world. A man wasn’t supposed to be consumed by this kind of suffocating grief.

“I need my papa,” Hugh wailed in
a dry, sharp imitation of anguish.

Drew closed his eyes and groped
for patience for Hugh and strength for himself. Hugh’s tantrum stemmed from his
fear for his father and Felicity. Every man on board knew Drew had sent their
fellow crewmen to the island to search for a woman. They also were acutely
aware of the peril it put them all in. Though the grumbling ceased at his
approach, Drew suspected Hugh had heard all the rumors and speculation.

Drew forced himself to deal with
the matter at hand instead of succumbing to his spiraling mood. Felicity might
not be dead, and Hugh could not remain on deck squalling like a hungry seal.

He bent down and clasped the
boy’s small shoulders.

“Do as I asked. I’ll send your
father down as soon as he returns. That’s an order.”

Hugh curled his lower lip and
puffed out his cheeks, but he did stop making that awful noise. Without
warning, he threw his arms around Drew as far as they could reach.  “I’m sorry.
Did Felicity drown?”

Drew wanted to return Hugh’s
embrace. He wanted to hold him and keep him safe forever. Fifty suspicious
stares burning into his back stopped him.

He gently peeled Hugh off him,
then stood. Drew managed a crooked smile. “Let’s pray she hasn’t.”

Hugh turned with real tears in
his eyes and ran below. A loose tackle, banging against the mast in the breeze,
counted out the minutes it took the longboat to reach the ship. The crew grew
silent. It seemed they held their breath with Drew as the men from the launch
climbed on board. Solomon’s bleak expression confirmed Drew’s worst fears.

Solomon paused in front of Drew.
“Let’s go below.” He headed in the direction of Drew’s cabin without waiting
for a response.

Drew followed in a daze. It took
all his strength to keep his features harsh and his stride angry. He was the
captain, and if he wanted to stay the captain, he’d better not show his
weakness.

When they reached his cabin, Drew
closed the door behind him, wishing Solomon had chosen a different location. He
had avoided the cabin since he found Felicity missing. Her presence overpowered
the room. He couldn’t believe her fierce spirit had been wiped out. He still
felt her. She couldn’t be dead.

As if reading his mind, Solomon
tossed a black shoe on the table. “We found this in the surf. Do you know if it
belonged to Felicity?”

Drew picked up the soggy leather
boot. He’d hated her in black. Why hadn’t he thrown the damn boots overboard
with the rest of her puritanical garb, or tied Felicity to the bed to keep her
from leaving him, or sent her back to Barbados the moment he found her?

“Drew.”

Startled, Drew realized he
clutched the wet shoe to his chest. This was worse than his mother’s death. He
had been a boy and could have done nothing to mend her broken heart. But
Felicity—he had caused her death. Cold fingers of grief reached into his chest
and squeezed his heart. It took all his concentration to listen to what Solomon
was saying.

“She’s not dead.”

Drew’s blood began to pump again.
“Then where is she?”

Solomon reached in the pocket of
his jacket and pulled out a folded square of parchment. “Your friend at the
Fatted Pig gave me this. Some other men came by asking about
El Diablo
,
and the barmaid figured out who you were. She’s quite impressed.”

Drew took the tattered note and
opened it. A blond curl drifted to the floor like a feather. He picked it up,
rubbing the hair between his fingers. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh with
relief or roar with rage.