Rapscallion

'One way to find out,' Pepper said. He threw Morgan a penetrating look.

'There is?' Morgan said. Then he smiled as Pepper passed him his pistol. 'Now, why didn't I think of that? There you go, Captain. Be my guest.' Morgan held out the gun.

'What is this?' Lasseur said.

'Your chance to make things right. If you are who you say you are, then he's played you for a fool. Are you going to let him get away with that? Go on, take it. Kill the son of a bitch.'

Lasseur hesitated. Then, slowly, he took the gun. Croker looked sceptical. He took out his pistol and trained it on Lasseur.

'Kill me,' Hawkwood said, 'and they'll only send someone else.'

Morgan laughed. 'They'll be too bloody late.'

'They'll hunt you down, Morgan. You'll be in a world of trouble.'

'Funny, that's what that navy lieutenant said. I've forgotten his name already. Remind me, Cephus.'

'Sark,' Pepper said.

'No, not him. The first one.'

'Masterson?'

'That's the one! Kept telling us that, if we killed him, the navy would only send someone after him.'

'They did,' Pepper said. 'They sent Sark.'

'And look what happened to him!' Morgan grinned at Hawkwood. 'I'm guessing they sent you to look for the other two - am I right? Wonder why they sent a Runner? Perhaps the navy's out of lieutenants. God, you'd have thought they'd have learnt by now, wouldn't you?' He turned to Lasseur. 'II you're going to do it, Captain, now's the time. Might as well put the poor bugger out of his misery.'

Lasseur faced Hawkwood. His expression was as bleak as a winter sky.

He raised the pistol and fired.

CHAPTER 18

'You're telling me he's been gone for twelve days?' Jago asked.

James Read nodded.

They were in Read's office. The Chief Magistrate was seated at his desk. Jago was standing with his back to the window. It was late in the evening. Outside, darkness had fallen, reflecting the mood in the room.

'Not exactly a lifetime. The captain's a grown man. He can look after himself. When was the last time you had word of him?'

'The last positive news was six days ago, though not from Hawkwood directly. We received a dispatch from Ludd advising us that Officer Hawkwood and the privateer, Lasseur, had escaped from the ship.' Read paused and then said, 'Ludd informed me that they left rather a lot of chaos in their wake.'

Jago was about to retort, No change there, then, only to be forestalled by the look on the Chief Magistrate's face.

'What sort of chaos?' he asked guardedly.

'Five dead, including a child.'

Jago stared at Read aghast. 'What?'

'I'm led to understand that the child - a young boy - was in severe jeopardy. Hawkwood and Lasseur went to his aid. They were forced to defend themselves against serious assault. At least that's the explanation that was given to the ship's commander. Captain Ludd is still ascertaining the facts. It seems the commander, a Lieutenant Hellard, chose to deal with the incident in a manner that went beyond the boundaries of Royal Navy discipline, as it applies to the treatment of prisoners of war. He is to face a Board of Enquiry and is unlikely to emerge unscathed. If he thought that commanding a prison hulk was the lowest depth he could plumb, he is going to be sorely disappointed.'

Jago, still shaken, looked pensive. 'And that's it? That's all you know?'

'There may be more.'

'Meanin' what?'

'Ludd also reported that, on the night of their escape, there was an incident on the opposite coast. A place called Warden. A force of Revenue men supported by a small company of dragoons intercepted a landing party. In the melee that ensued, several men were wounded. One of the Revenue men was watching through a spyglass. He couldn't be certain, but he thought there were two members of the smugglers' gang who stood aside and appeared to play no part in the landing of the contraband, and when the shooting started they did not seek to conceal themselves ashore, but instead hurried to board the smugglers' boat as it pulled away. He also said that, unlike the rest of the smuggler crew, they seemed to be unarmed. He thought that was . . . unusual.'

'And you think it was the captain and the Frenchie?' Jago said, looking doubtful. 'Any of the smugglers caught or questioned?'

'Unfortunately, it was the smugglers who emerged victorious. They were able to call up support; as a result it was the Revenue who were forced to retreat.' Read pursed his lips. 'I know it's not much to go on, Sergeant. In fact, it might be nothing at all, but it's the only lead we have.'

Interesting that he still calls me sergeant, Jago thought.

He suspected it was the closest Read would come to granting him the courtesy of a title. He doubted the Chief Magistrate would ever address him as 'Mister'. Mister inferred respectability, and Jago suspected that, while James Read was willing to overlook the more nefarious aspects of his commercial activities in the interest of quid pro quo, the magistrate wasn't yet prepared to accept Nathaniel Jago as a fully paid-up member of legitimate society.

'If you ask me,' Jago said grimly, 'it sounds like a complete bloody mess.'

Read nodded, thin lipped. 'From all I've heard so far, I'm inclined to agree. It adds up to a very unpalatable brew, especially if one takes into account the fate of the two naval lieutenants I told you about: one dead and one missing.'

'So, what is it you're asking me to do, exactly?' Jago asked, not a little warily.

Read steepled his slender fingers. 'I know you to have knowledge of that part of the country. Certain avenues are open to you that would be inaccessible to the authorities. I'm hoping you can use your contacts to discover Officer Hawkwood's whereabouts and perhaps pick up his trail.'

Jago's eyebrows rose. 'You don't want much, do you? You do realize that if it was him getting on that boat, he's probably in France by now? I've got contacts all right, but they ain't that widespread.'

'I take your point, but we cannot be sure that it was him. It's possible that Hawkwood, along with Lasseur, is still in the locality, in which case it's also possible that he is in difficulty and unable to send word.'

Jago sighed and then nodded. 'All right, suppose I do go looking and I find him. Then what?'

Read lowered his hands. 'I'm prepared to leave that to your discretion.'

Jago fixed the Chief Magistrate with a jaundiced eye. 'That's mighty trusting of you. I take it this doesn't mean I'm on the payroll?'

Read allowed himself a wry smile. 'That suggestion was put to me in the light of your assistance during the William Lee affair. I'm told you found the idea humorous, as it would represent a considerable drop in your earnings?'

'Aye, well . . .' Jago shrugged, 'just thought I'd ask. You do realize, if you'd come to me in the first place, you might have been able to save yourselves a deal of bother.'

'In hindsight, you may well be right,' Read conceded. 'At the time we considered that the fewer people who knew of Officer Hawkwood's assignment, the better. We -'

'What you're tryin' to say is that you thought there might be a conflict of interest on account of my occasional dealings with the import trade,' Jago said.

'There was that possibility, yes,' Read agreed solemnly.

'But now that his nibs' assignment has gone tits up, it's because of those dealings that you'd like me to help