Yes, she’d find out soon enough that he was lying. But not tonight. And not before she left for London. For the life she deserved.
“I would make you miserable then, wouldn’t I?” Her voice wavered and she gave a soft sniff.
He nearly groaned as he fought the urge to draw her close, to comfort her. To tell her the truth.
She could only ever make him happy. Happier than he had any right to be.
He didn’t answer, and it seemed he didn’t have to.
“I understand,” she said, her voice high and tight as she turned away from him. “I won’t bother you any longer.”
Days later Caleb was more miserable than he’d ever been.
Someone really ought to have warned Roger.
“The captain’s not coming then?” The young upstart was far too cheerful for Caleb’s liking.
Caleb glowered at the man, who didn’t seem to realize how close he was to being beaten to a pulp.
But a deal was a deal. And Roger had spilled his guts in Caleb’s cottage just a little while ago, providing all the information he knew in a seemingly endless monologue as Caleb listened and tried his best to pay attention.
More often than not, his mind drifted to Abigail.
Abigail, who would be making final arrangements for London right about now. Abigail who would be on her way to her aunt’s place in Thermon in the morning, and from there to London.
Abigail, whose heart he’d broken.
He flinched at the thought. No. Not broken. Likely he’d just bruised it, that was all. And better a bruised heart now then a resentful one later. That was what he kept telling himself, at least.
“What’s next?” Roger asked. “Where do I go to get on the ship?”
Caleb sighed and gave him the instructions. It wasn’t difficult to find a position for a man who knew his way around a ship. He’d be leaving this coast with the money in his pocket and no name or connections to speak of, but considering the alternative was Newgate or the end of a hangman’s noose, Roger seemed delighted with his lot.
“You’re not going to try and find this pirate queen, are you?” Roger asked.
Caleb met Roger’s gaze with a glare. “Don’t see why I’d tell you my plans.”
“No, I suppose not.” Robert’s smile was far too smug as he got up out of the seat and made for the door. “Tell the captain...” He stopped and his eyes narrowed in thought. “Tell him I didn’t mean any harm.”
“I’m sure that’ll make him feel much better about his right-hand officer betraying him and holding his daughter at knifepoint.”
Robert gave a huff of wry amusement. “Yes, well...if anyone can understand falling prey to his wife’s persuasive personality, it would be Captain Jones, I’d imagine.”
Caleb didn’t answer, he was too keenly aware that the captain in question was listening to every word from the other room. He hadn’t wanted to deal with Roger directly. For several reasons, Caleb imagined, but not the least of which was that he wished to keep his hands clean in this matter.
It was bad enough he was going along with Roger’s extortion, but if anyone were to find out he’d met with Roger himself, it could spell serious trouble for the captain.
Robert flashed him a rakish grin. “Easy to see which daughters took after her, eh? That Rebecca has every officer at the fort dreaming of her. And just give Hattie time. That girl will be quite the catch.”
Caleb moved forward, herding Roger toward the door, but Roger didn’t seem to care that he was being shoved outside, too caught up in his own musings. “Now Minerva and Sally, they didn’t get the beauty so much as the brains. But Abigail...” He arched his brows and shook his head.
He wasn’t looking at Caleb, and if he were, he would have stopped speaking. More likely, he would have soiled himself in fear at the rage that covered Caleb’s features.
“Now Abigail is quite the pretty package. Beauty and brains, and—hey!” Roger flailed in his arms as Caleb lifted him by his throat.
“You don’t get to say her name,” he growled.
Roger nodded frantically and then fell to the ground with a gasp when Caleb released him. He half stumbled, half ran toward the rocky shore and whatever cave he’d been hiding out in.
Roger would be gone soon enough, and without a middleman, the pirates would have no reason to come ashore in Billingham.
Well, no reason except the Jones girls. If what Roger said was true, and it was their mother behind all this, there was a chance she wasn’t done with them yet.
But for today...
Caleb let out a weary sigh. For today, Roger was gone. That was good enough. And come tomorrow, maybe his sanity would return. Maybe he could eat and sleep and take a blasted breath without thinking of the way Abigail’s eyes had shone with tears just before she’d walked out of his life.
He went back into the cottage and shut the door. “I suppose you caught all that. Don’t need me to repeat it, do you?”
The door to his bedroom opened slowly and Captain Jones came out, looking far worse for the wear. He’d noticed it when the older man had first arrived, but taking him in now, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy. His typically clean-shaven face was covered in scruff, his eyes red-rimmed and tired, and his clothes rumpled as though he’d slept in them.
“I heard enough,” the captain said as he sank into the seat Roger had deserted at his table. “Thank you for handling the matter.”
Despite the fact that the sun was still out and he had no idea if the captain was a drinking man, Caleb reached for a bottle of brandy and two glasses, setting them both down on the table before the captain.
“I look that bad, hmm?”
Caleb grunted. “It’s
