Once Upon a Midnight Sea (30 page)

"You want to know if story true." He smiled that sweet, kind smile that had always brought a warm glow to her heart. "What I say not matter. What young Mr. Croix say not matter. Only what you say matter."

"It is true, then." She sighed and turned her gaze over the railing. "My father was a jewel thief."

"Do you believe your father is good man?"

She smiled. "I do."

She turned to Mr. Ling and found him smiling back. "I do too. He help many people."

Indeed, he had. If he had stolen everything he had, at least he'd put it to good use.

"Boat coming."

Her heart leapt. The sight of the shore boat should have filled her with relief, but instead worry plagued her.

Henry rowed slowly into the circle of light cast by the lantern. He was alone.

"Oh no." The breath rushed from her lungs as the boat thumped against Lady Luck's hull.

Henri collapsed into the bottom. His coat slipped away, it had only been over one arm. In the yellow light of the single lantern, the stain on his torn shirtsleeve was black. Blood.

* * *

Adriana swung over the side on the winch rope and vaulted to the quarter boat. The hemp burned her hands as she slid down. "Henri!" She hurriedly fixed each hook to the eyelets so Mr. Ling could winch it up. She grabbed Henri by the collar of his shoreman's coat and pulled him to a sitting position. His eyes rolled in his head.

"Christian..."

"Where is he?" she screamed. He seemed not to hear. "Is he alive? Henri, answer me!"

Adriana and Ollie took Henri under their arms and heaved him from the quarter boat. A nasty gash across his forearm had soaked the makeshift bandage he'd made from his shirtsleeve. Blood dribbled down his arm.

His bloodshot eyes rolled as he tried to focus on them. The old sea captain's face formed a thin smile. "Gilbert, my old friend. I thought I'd never see this day."

"You almost didn't, you old fool."

They set him down on the stern bench. "Henri, where is Christian?" Her voice shook with fear, but she wouldn't let herself believe the worst.

"Captured."

Gilbert sagged to his knees beside Henri. "No, not my son. Not to that hell."

The declaration hit like a clap of thunder. Adriana felt herself drifting away, as though caught in a nightmare from which she couldn't drag herself awake.

"We stumbled over a group of guards. They were upon us before we knew what happened. There was nothing I could do."

"The central camp." Gilbert covered his face with his hands. "Christian, Lord have mercy on you."

A roaring sound filled Adriana's ears and her breath grew thin. This couldn't be!

"I'm going back for him." She turned and stalked across the deck. "Mr. Ling, drop the jolly boat."

"Adriana!" Mrs. Bailey hurried after her. "What are you thinking? By now those guards have alerted the entire force!" The matronly woman caught her arm and spun her around. "You cannot go back there. I forbid it." She stamped her foot.

Adriana pulled against the woman's iron grip. "You cannot stop me. Please do not try, Mrs. Bailey." Her resolve crumbled for an instant and Adriana choked back a sob. "I love him."

Mrs. Bailey's frantic expression faded and she relaxed her hold on Adriana's arm. "Oh, child."

"I love him, and I refuse to leave him behind to what will surely be his death." Adriana wiped the escaping tear as soon as it touched her cheek. "As much as I dread returning to Baltimore and marrying Preston Weiss, I cannot conceive of doing so if I have abandoned the man I love to his doom. I could not live with myself. I would rather die trying to save him."

Adriana looked past her to each of the haunted faces staring back at her. She went to Christian's father and knelt at his knee.

"Mr. De la Croix, I know my father abandoned you when he fled to America, and I know that you suffered terribly for it. But I am not my father, and I will not leave a man behind."

Chapter Twenty-Five

Her shoulders ached terribly, but Adriana rowed with strength she never knew she possessed. The current tried to push her toward the mainland, but thankfully the wind had shifted and was now on her side. The rain had stopped, and an eerie haze filled the sky as dawn crept toward the far off horizon.

She moored the jolly boat in the same cove so not to confuse herself. This time, as she crested the cliff and turned to the right instead, she took ten paces then turned back to map the landscape in her mind. A squat tree with a spreading canopy would suit her needs perfectly. She took off her necklace and looked at the beautiful settings for the last time.

Confident she could easily find the cove again, she turned and set off at a run.

* * *

They were speaking French. How odd it sounded, after all this time in Adriana's company.

"That story is about as believable as the legend of Kilcairn's ghost." The guard grabbed him by the hair and wrenched his head up. The other men cackled with malicious laughter. They delighted in torture.

The cracked walls of his surroundings swam in and out of vision, then disappeared completely as the guard landed another blow to the head.

"Talk, now, or we'll send you off to the work camp."

Christian struggled to steady his vision. The coppery taste of his own blood filled his mouth. "I told you, one of our ships was seized by pirates and we set out after it–”

"Who is
we
?" the guard demanded. "You and the old man? Spill your guts, or I'll do it for you."

His French was horrible. By his accent, Christian could tell he was British. As confusion barreled over him, he lost hold of the story Adriana concocted. It had sounded so plausible as she'd said it, but he sounded like a gibbering fool as he tried to recount it.

The world around him spun as he was struck again. His shoulder hit something hard. Chalky dust filled his nostrils. The floor. He'd been knocked over. He struggled against the ropes binding his hands to the back of the chair.

Booted feet crossed his line of vision. "Lift him up."

He reeled with dizziness as he was shoved upright again. A fist connected with his jaw. A flash of light, then darkness.

"Ah, he's no good to us like this."

"Let him alone, or he'll never talk."

"He'll talk, all right. If he knows what's good for him."

The butt of a rifle punched his stomach as hard as the kick of a mule. The breath rushed from his lungs. The ropes bit into his wrists as Christian bent forward. Swirling flashes of the clay floor rushed across his vision.

"Easy Mick." The voice sounded tinny, far away. "You won't get him to talk if he's dead now, will you?"

* * *

Adriana found the small administration building exactly where Gilbert told her it would be. Light glowed in its windows. The clouds had returned, snuffing out the pre-dawn light and bringing with them a steady drizzle. Cold water penetrated her clothing and leeched the warmth from her bones.

She crept closer, trying to negotiate an angle to see in. The building was nestled in thick jungle foliage and the only clear area was the path directly to the door.

Voices rose inside. Thankfully, despite the damp weather, the window to the right of the door was open. She had to get a look inside. Her entire body quivered with fear as she considered the ten steps it would take to complete the path. The door could burst open at any minute, and Adriana would find herself in the merciless clutches of the guards.

Adriana took a deep breath and whispered a silent prayer. She hurried up the path to the door and slipped through the brush at the side of the building and hunkered below the window, finally letting her breath out with a heavenward prayer of thanks.

When she peeked inside, what she saw nearly stopped her heart.

Christian sat tied to a rickety chair in the middle of the nearly bare room. Four men stood around him, three of them taking turns beating him as the third, a bear of a man with a face like a bulldog, demanded information.

Christian couldn't answer; he was nearly unconscious.

The burly man stopped and gripped a handful of Christian's hair, wrenching his head up. Adriana covered her mouth to smother a gasp of horror. Christian's face was horribly bruised and blood ran from a gash on his forehead.

"You won't get any more out of him tonight," one of the guards said.

The huge man growled with anger and dropped Christian's head back against his chest. "Gray, stay here with him. I'm going to St. Joseph for the colonel." He pointed at the remaining two men. "Go take a head count of the prisoners."

"It's raining."

The leader stopped on his way to the door. "Now!"

Adriana held her breath as the man stalked out and past her. The two guards emerged next, but stopped just outside the doorway. If one of them happened to glance to the left...

For long moments they spoke French. Then one of broke into English, prompting the other.

"Roche 'aint the boss of me."

"He won't seem so high on himself when that old uncle of his in parliament dies."

Her pulse throbbed in her ears as she held herself as still as a statue.

"I stay in this hell-hole just waiting for that day so's I can see the look on his face. He thinks he's going to be promoted to sergeant."

"Ha! That will take an act by God. Eh, let me have some of that." He took a bottle of amber liquid from the other and drank a heavy swig. "Colonel Harris don't like him any more than you do. That promotion ain't never going to come."

They laughed between themselves. "We'd better go take that count. I don't know what this bloke is doing here, but I'll bet we find somebody missing."

"I'll take that bet. Ten franc."

"You're on. Let's start with the south side where it ain't so windy. Maybe this blasted rain will let up by the time we get to the cliffs."

They started away and Adriana let out a sigh of relief. When their footsteps had completely disappeared, she stood and approached the door. She had never been so frightened in all her life, but there was no turning back. If she couldn't get Christian out of this, she didn't want to live either.

She opened the door and stepped inside the candlelit building. Two wall lamps cast pools of sallow yellow light on the horrific scene. A single candle on the table against the wall caught the wind and danced, sending demon-like flurries skittering over the walls.

The guard standing over Christian looked up, and shock filled his face.

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Here now, what's this?" He looked her up and down as if his eyes were deceiving him. "Who're you? How'd you get–”

Adriana held out her hand. He froze, mouth open, as he saw what she held in her palm. She remained silent, sure that if she spoke, her voice would fail.

The guard's eyes flashed over with cold light.
Greed
. His gaze stuck to the twinkling sapphire. The meaty paw that had been drifting toward the pistol on his belt relaxed.

"There are five more like it between here and the cove where my boat is tied. They are yours, in exchange for his life. Each stone is three carats weight with an accent of diamonds, just like this one. Enough for you to leave this place and never work again."

"How do I know it ain't glass?"

Adriana's entire body shook with terror. "That is a gamble you must wager with yourself."

He tipped his head back and considered her. "What's to stop me from taking it and keepin' you both?"

"You want all six stones."

"You could be lying about those."

She jerked the chain from around her neck and tossed it over. The guard eyed her warily before stooping to pick it up. Adriana watched his eyes flick over the six broken fastens that had secured each sapphire.

"You do not have a lot of time to decide," she said, fighting to keep her voice calm while her heart galloped. "If you do not let us go, Roche will surely take that from you."

That seemed to convince him. "Where are the other five?"

"Untie him."

After a second more hesitation, the guard pocketed the sapphire. He pulled a vicious knife from his belt and for a moment held it high in a threatening manner. Then, grumbling to himself, he cut the ropes. Christian sagged forward and collapsed on the floor.

"Pick him up." Adriana backed toward the door. "Leave that knife on the table. You shan't need it."

The guard eyed her warily before laying it on the narrow table against the wall. He hoisted Christian to his feet and pulled his arm over his shoulders.

They stepped into the damp jungle. She angled around to the man's right and snatched the gun from his holster. He sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes lit with panic. Adriana threw it into the bushes.