Fortune's Flames (26 page)

“It must have been done tonight. Otherwise Dan would have noticed that tear and he’d have mentioned it to me,” Mary remarked.

“I know. I think it was cut and the squirrels were shoved inside. Someone could have stood on the railing to do that. I’ll close and lock this window; then I’ll make certain no others are within our trickster’s reach.”

“New strategy to frighten us, Jared?” Maren inquired angrily.

“More like a taunting or a warning, love,” he replied absently as he went from window to window. “But the doors and lower sashes are sealed, so no one can get inside to harm us. All our nemesis can do is pull pranks like this one.”

As Mary watched Jared and Maren, she realized where Jared had been when she could not locate him
earlier. She did not know whether to be delighted or disappointed, but she knew she could not judge them. If Dan desired her, she would yield to him in a moment. Life was too short to be miserable, and Dan had recently shown her just how empty her life had been. She hadn’t realized how much she missed a man’s company, his touch, his affection. She had been friendly with Dan for years; now she wanted more from him. “Now that the excitement’s over, I’ll turn in again. Good night,” she said.

“Good night, Mary,” Jared and Maren replied in unison.

Jared put out the lamps and then escorted Maren upstairs. “I should go to my room, love, even though she’s probably guessed our little secret.”

“Only part of it, my beloved husband,” Maren teased.

“Don’t get modest on me and reveal our real secret to her.”

“I won’t,” Maren replied. Then she hugged him and kissed him before returning to her room and to her mussed bed.

Monday passed peacefully at Lady Luck. Jared and Dan checked every window and door, and secured those that were accessible. That evening, Maren spent only a short time downstairs with the patrons, and later Jared sneaked into her room and they made passionate love for hours before he returned to his own suite.

On Tuesday, with Dan’s help, Maren and Jared slipped into Eric’s townhouse to search it. Dan remained hidden outside with a pistol, ready to fire a warning shot if Marc returned unexpectedly from the shipping firm. Maren didn’t know of any hiding places in that residence, and finding nothing suspicious, they were both disappointed.

Dan was nervous when they joined him outside. He asked, “Did you find anything incriminating?”

“Nothing,” Jared replied thoughtfully, “but I didn’t expect to. Eric is too clever to be trapped so easily. What we need is probably locked up in the bank and there’s no way we can get to it.”

“What now?” Despite his question, Dan seemed more relaxed.

“We’ll have to keep an eye on Heath and Samuel Lewis, and on Evelyn Sims.”

“Evelyn Sims?” Dan echoed quizzically. “Why?”

“I think she’s in on this scheme too. Hopefully she’ll break soon.”

Dan considered that disclosure, and said, “I’ll watch her closely.”

“Thanks,” Jared replied. “We need your help to catch this lot.”

That night, Maren and Jared lay curled up in her bed after making love. They had discussed their problems, and Maren wished her husband would talk about himself, about his family in Savannah, but she did not press him.

As he was rising to leave, he murmured tenderly, “One day we won’t have to sneak around to be together. Just be patient, love.”

Early on Wednesday Kerry Osgood appeared and asked to speak privately with Jared. While Kip waited in the kitchen with Mary, Jared then told Maren that he had to leave for a few days.

“A friend of mine sent news of a supply shipment we must seize,” he added. “I’ll have to take my ship out, but I’ll be back before Sunday.”

“A raid? On a British ship? One this close to us?”

“Yes, love. But don’t worry. We’ll be careful.”

“Do you have to be the one to go, Jared?”

“The
Sea Mist
is the best ship for such an attack. Another ship and captain will be helping me, and between the two of us, we can take this vessel easily. I have to do this, Maren. This ship is carrying ammunition and guns to be distributed to Indians and renegade slaves. I can’t allow those weapons to fall into such hands. Think of how many innocent people could be slain.”

Maren knew his mission was unavoidable. She hugged him tightly and pleaded, “Be careful, Jared.”

“I’ll talk with Dan, tell him to have Ned and Harry hang around here while I’m gone. And Dan can sleep in my room so you and Mary won’t be alone at night. I’m sure Mary and Dan will enjoy being together.”

Maren half smiled at his mischievous remark, but Jared added a warning, “If Eric returns, don’t go near him and don’t be alone with him. Stay with people we trust. Don’t leave the house. Understand?”

“Yes, Captain Hawk,” she replied merrily to relax him. She had known this moment would come, but she hadn’t expected it to come so soon. She dreaded being parted from him and she feared for his life. She gazed longingly into his eyes.

Jared seized her and embraced her. “I can’t stand the thought of leaving you at a time like this, but it would be more dangerous to take you with me. Damn it, Maren, it’s hell to be torn in two. Be careful and alert, woman, or I’ll tan your hide.”

“Return by Sunday or I’ll hire a ship and come looking for you.”

“I’ll bet you would, you brazen wench.”

They kissed and then Jared went to meet with Dan. After he told Dan of his sudden departure, the two men made plans for Maren’s safety before Jared left with his first mate.

After lunch, as Jared had instructed, Dan went to find Ned Jones and Harry Peck to hire them to guard Lady Luck during the day. In case there might be trouble during his absence, he left a pistol on the kitchen table within the women’s reach, for he wanted no problems while he was responsible for Maren’s safety.

A well-mannered sailor delivered a note to Maren only fifteen minutes after Dan rode away. He waited patiently while Maren read it aloud to Mary: “‘Didn’t sail yet. Need to see you. Come with John to the dock. He’ll protect you. Hurry.’”

“You think something’s wrong?” Mary asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Maren
went to get her parasol and bonnet.

While she was upstairs, Mary asked the young man, “Is there a problem at the dock?”

He smiled charmingly and shrugged. “I don’t know, ma’am. I was just ordered to escort Miss Maren to him and to protect her.”

Maren returned and left with the neatly clad young sailor. They rode in a carriage to Eric’s warehouse, where the sailor helped her down and told her Captain Hawk awaited her inside. When Maren hurried into the wooden structure and called his name, she heard a muffled reply from the room in which her parents’ belongings had been stored. She rushed into it, and the door was slammed behind her. Whirling about, she found herself trapped by two men. There was no lock on the inside of the door, but one wasn’t needed. The men stood between her and escape.

“John will guard the front door until one of us finishes and relieves him,” the burly man said. He grinned lewdly as he leaned against the door. “Scream if you like, me beauty; no one will hear you in here. Fact ’tis, I like me a fighting woman.”

Maren backed away as both men stepped toward her, but she was finally halted by a stack of crates. The men laughed wickedly when she screamed for help several times.

“This is one job I’m gonna enjoy,” the second man said as his lecherous gaze assaulted Maren.

“I knew that, Davy, that’s why I included you and John. We’ve been paid to take as much of her as we
can hold, but I would have accepted this job for free. Ol’ Cap’n Hawk won’t even recognize her after we’re finished. He’ll be wanting a new partner to chase.”

“You’re a devil, George. You’re too rough with your wenches.”

“I’m a hungry devil, Davy. Let’s stop jawing and git to eating.”

Maren knew she couldn’t flee past the men and get away, and she silently scolded herself for falling for this treacherous ruse. Perspiration broke out over her body and her heart beat rapidly. Her eyes widened in alarm and her breathing became constricted. If there had been only one man, she could probably have fought him off, but two burly sailors with bulging muscles and stout bodies… Terror seized her.

“Someone will be searching for me soon,” she warned. “Let me go.”

“No one knows where to find you. Anyway you’ll be used up before they do.”

“Jared Morgan will hunt you down and kill you if you harm me.”

The two men glanced at each other. Then they chuckled as if she had told an amusing joke.

Maren was petrified. Was there no way she could save herself? She glanced about for something to use as a weapon, resolved to fight to the end, but before she could spy anything, two pairs of rough hands grabbed her. Maren screamed again, provoking more chuckles from her attackers who made no attempt to cover her mouth or to silence her. Their behavior told her that screaming was futile, only a waste of energy.

She struggled with them as one held her hands and the other fumbled with the buttons on the back of her dress. Twisting about and berating them, she tried to pull free from one and to prevent the other from undressing her. Suddenly her head darted forward and she savagely bit George’s hand.

He yelped and shoved her backward. The wind was knocked from her lungs as she struck the wall, and he immediately jerked her toward him. Grabbing her by the hair, he slapped her hard across the face, dazing her. “We’re wasting time being gentle and nice. Let’s rip it off, Davy. It’s more fun to tussle with a naked woman.”

Hands pulled at Maren’s garments, and as she heard the material of her day dress give way, horror flooded through her. It was torn from neck to waist in front and back, but she fought anew with an energy born of desperation and fear. Then the one called Davy locked her arms behind her back, and he nibbled her bared shoulders before tracing a slobbery path up her neck and over her ears.

Meanwhile the man called George gripped her chemise and parted it easily, baring her silken flesh to his wild eyes. He tugged the shredded garment off her torso and pulled its remnants down her imprisoned arms, exposing her body from the waist up. “Look at these beauties, Davy. They’re just begging to be sucked.” As George’s hands closed over Maren’s breasts and kneaded them not too gently, his face became flushed and, as his lust increased, his breathing
became erratic. He shifted from foot to foot, his tight breeches strained now. Then he bent forward and his mouth engulfed one peak.

The noises he made as he ravenously feasted on her nipple made Maren nauseous. As humiliation consumed her, and anger and hatred, she raged against her lack of strength to battle these brutes, berated fate for allowing this evil to befall her. Her abduction had been perfectly timed. Someone had known she would be defenseless and receptive. How had he known about Jared’s sudden departure? How had he learned that Dan would be away? She suddenly realized the timing was a little too perfect…She threatened her tormentors, but when they paid no heed, she decided she must somehow endure their abuse.

“It was real smart of you to send that baby-faced John to fetch her,” Davy said. “Ever’body trusts his innocent look and his charming ways. Wonder why our new boss didn’t want the first piece of her?”

“He said he don’t like virgins. He wants us to train her good for him. We’re supposed to take her to him after dark. When he’s done with her, he’ll dump her body in a well someplace or in the ocean.”

As he had been instructed to do to fool Maren, Davy said, “I thought you said he was going to burn her up in here and lay the blame on Eric James—git rid of both of them at one time.”

“He changed his mind. Said it would look too suspicious to point the finger at James while he’s
gone. Mr. High-Farting James will get his later. All we got to do is have fun with her before delivery time.”

Maren listened to their grim and vulgar words even as she desperately tried to think of a way to escape them. But nothing came to mind, and she felt helpless, trapped, and stupid. She should have suspected this was a trick. Howard Heath had threatened to pay pirates to “have fun” with her, but she had not taken the threat seriously. If she survived such brutal ravishment, how would Jared feel toward her afterward?

Jared… she had revealed Heath’s threat to her love! Her problems had all begun after his unexpected arrival, and he had plenty to gain from her death, especially since Eric’s takeovers were illegal and her property could be recovered…. No one else could have known about his abrupt departure in time to plan this sly attack. And the broken step and the squirrel incident were pranks pulled by someone inside Lady Luck.

No, Maren’s heart protested, her foe could not be Jared. It was someone insidiously clever and evil, someone who’d been watching them, someone who was prepared to act on a moment’s notice. But who? And what if this enemy had lured Jared away? What if her beloved husband was in grave peril too? Maren’s panic increased.

When George raised her skirt and petticoat and slid a filthy hand between her thighs, she clamped them together tightly. But he put painful pressure on
her sensitive flesh and tortured her muscles until he was able to wedge his leg between hers to prevent her from closing her thighs again. He then ran his dirty fingers back and forth over her most feminine region. “Lordy, it feels real hot in there, Davy. She’s probably gonna set this thing afire when I stick it in ’er.” He stroked himself through his breeches and mumbled crude remarks as he fondled Maren’s most private area.

“Git on with it, man. Mine’s a-burnin’ too,” Davy pleaded.

George took his hands from Maren in order to yank off his shirt, but as he was removing his pants, the door opened and everything went crazy. Dan shot George as he tried to pull up his pants. Then he pointed his pistol at Davy. It was a Ducksfoot pistol, a favorite with sailors for it had several barrels which could be fired separately or collectively. One shot had taken down George, so several bullets remained.

“Release her, you bastard,” Dan ordered coldly. His hazel eyes gleamed with fury. He had no doubt that this assault, and the step and squirrel incidents, could be credited to Howard Heath and Evelyn Sims. As soon as Samuel Lewis returned from Baton Rouge, he would warn the lawyer to control those fools! Obviously his little talk with Howard on Monday night hadn’t deterred the man. Still, he couldn’t figure out how those two idiots had thought up such a cunning plot, unless they had help from…Surely not!