Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2) (23 page)

As she took the first step, a movement caught her attention, and she glanced over in time to catch sight of Dr. Garrison ducking below deck. It wouldn’t have merited her consideration if the petite woman who’d accompanied Annette aboard hadn’t dashed over to follow him.
 

There was something familiar about her.

Keelan stopped and peered more closely. The young lady paused to cast a furtive look about before she descended. For a brief second, her face was visible from beneath her bonnet.

Doreen!

Keelan left a letter for Uncle Jared, telling him he could find his daughter with Mrs. Camsby. When she recalled the doctor’s ramblings the night she’d been kidnapped, her heart stopped. Dear Lord, was Doreen accompanying Annette or the doctor? She sucked in a breath. Both?

She started to follow her cousin, then remembered her prior task. She darted up the steps to the helm, found Captain O'Brien, and quickly delivered Landon’s message. At the captain’s nod, she spun and headed below deck. However, Annette’s irritated expression lifted her mood somewhat.

The hold was dark and reeked of old, wet rags. It was separated into three sections. The cargo was dispersed based on weight and destination. Sounds of a muffled conversation barely rose above the wooden beams encompassing the hold like a giant ribcage. It took a moment to adjust her eyes to the dimmness; the light was thin, coming from a single lantern somewhere near the center of the space.
 

Keelan snaked her way between barrels, bales, and crates, following the
 
low hum of murmured conversation. A high shriek, suddenly cut short, froze her in place. It was followed by a soft
thud
. Heart pounding and fearing for Doreen’s welfare, Keelan crept forward then paused at a familiar voice.

“So ye thinks ye can steal away without paying yer share to Gampo, eh?”

Orvis!

“I did no such th-th-thing,” Garrison responded. “There were no shares. The plan failed. What do you want? Why are you aboard this vessel?” His voice rose to a treble pitch.

“Seein’ as how Gampo couldn’t find the bitch what killed ‘is kin, I was instructed to take his vengeance from yer hide, instead, since ye be the one who paid us to bring ‘er in.” A pause. “Unless ye can tell me where to find the wench. Me bones tell me she’s aboard here somewheres.”

Keelan’s fists clenched along with her jaw. Everett Garrison had been responsible for the kidnapping; her intuition had been right. It made her wonder more about his claim that Doreen had misunderstood his instructions, and had given Papa too much medicine, killing him. Her mouth became dry, somehow, she didn’t think it was Doreen’s fault.

She peeked around a large crate and bit back a gasp. Doreen was slumped on the floor. Orvis had a knife at the doctor’s throat and had him backed up against a wall of crates next to Doreen’s still form. A trickle of blood darkened the floor beneath her cousin’s nose.
 

Keelan glanced around, worried Daniel had met a similar fate. She hoped with all her heart he was up on deck somewhere. She needed to get help. If she left, she might return too late. Orvis looked eager to draw blood. She slipped the dagger from her boot and circled around to the other side of the large crate, hoping to stay out of sight a bit longer and get closer to insure a more accurate throw.

Dr. Garrison raised his hands, palms out. “I don’t know where she went. After she ran from the warehouse, I couldn’t find her either. I’m sorry.”

Orvis drew his eyebrows low. “Gampo don’t take lightly to them what’s backed out on an accord. Them warehouse goods weren’t no easy takin’s like ye said they would be, and in the end, we didn’t get no shares from our labors, neither.”
 

The doctor’s hands shook and his chin trembled. “T…tell Gampo I’ll make it up to him. I—”

Hatch gave an incredulous snort of laughter. “Like I said, he wants it to come outta yer hide,” he sneered, gripping Garrison’s hair with his free hand. His blade flashed and the doctor shrieked.

Keelan froze in terror. Orvis now held a bloody piece of the doctor’s scalp, hair still attached, in his hand. With a dark snarl, he raised his knife again. She jolted into action and moved from her hiding place to get an open shot at the pirate. The ship pitched slightly and shifted her balance enough to cause her shoulder to bump the crate. Orvis jerked his head up at the noise.

He’d seen her. With no other choice, she drew back her dagger, and took the only option she had, which was to go on the attack, or at least attempt to appear threatening. “Move away from them.” Her voice sounded unnatural in her ears.

Instead of doing as she demanded, the pirate gave her a distorted grin that was more like a grimace, considering his face was still swollen and discolored from their earlier engagements. Everett stumbled to the side as Orvis drove the blade into his torso.

“No!” she screamed.
 

Orvis whirled, pulling a second blade from his belt and strode toward her. “I’ll have yer eyes fer fish bait, boy.”

In a panic, she threw her dagger, but it went wide, slicing off a piece of Orvis’s left ear. He flinched but barely broke his stride. Behind him, Dr. Garrison struggled to pull out the blade buried between his ribs. Finally succeeding, he pushed himself away from the wall and staggered toward the pirate. Orvis grinned at her and raised his blade as he moved closer. Behind him, Everett lurched forward and with a desperate heave of effort, buried the dagger in Orvis’s back.
 

The pirate fell face down and didn’t move.

His strength expelled, Garrison began to collapse.
 

“Dr. Garrison!” She ran to help him but sank with him to the floor under his weight.
 

Doreen stirred and pushed herself to a sitting position. Her eyes were wide, and she numbly swept her gaze from side to side until she found Garrison crumpled in a heap on the floor.

“Everett, my darling, what happened?” Doreen whimpered as she crawled toward them, oblivious to the blood dripping from her temple and nose.
 

The doctor had his hand pressed against his ribs; blood was still streaming between his fingers. Keelan ripped off her vest, wadded it into a ball, and gave it to him to press against his side.

He didn’t look up from his task. “The knife grazed my ribs, that’s all. I need my medicine bag and some bandages,” His words were choppy and pained. He glanced at Keelan. “It would help, boy, if you would press this wound firmly. I’m finding it hard to apply enough pressure on my own.”

“Yessir,” Keelan replied and quickly replaced his hand with hers. For all he’d done to the people she’d held dear all her life, she couldn’t ignore his injury. The doctor had just saved her from being attacked, and probably killed.
 

Doreen teetered to her feet. Keelan pressed harder to stop the blood from seeping and glanced at her cousin. “Make sure you have someone inform Captain Hart or Captain O’Brien what’s happened.”

Doreen’s head snapped around in her direction. Keelan stilled.
 

She’d forgotten to lower her voice.
 

Did Doreen recognize it? She quickly directed her gaze back to the doctor. The exchange between Orvis and Dr. Garrison had reaffirmed the decision to travel in disguise had been a good one. The pirates continued to seek her. She couldn’t risk for another to recognize her like Simon had. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt Doreen’s stare boring into her back.

Her cousin paused a long moment before she responded, “I will.”

Dr. Garrison had pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and was pressing it against his wounded head. Keelan wiped the blood from his eyes with the corner of it.

Two emotions warred in her chest. First, anger at Garrison, who’d been in league with the same pirates feuding with Landon, and his shipping company. He’d conspired to steal from Landon and Captain O'Brien, and kidnap her. The second was a grudging gratitude. If Dr. Garrison hadn’t prevented Orvis from attacking her, she’d be dead. She’d panicked and it had almost cost her life. She glanced at the still, facedown form of Orvis Pike lying a few feet away.

He grimaced as he readjusted the handkerchief. “Thank you. If you hadn’t distracted him, I’d probably be dead, and so would Miss Grey.” He glanced toward his side where her hand pressed. “Can you tell how deeply the blade went in?”

Keelan lifted her hand long enough to peek. “It went in at an upward angle under your ribs.”

He closed his eyes. “Not too much damage then, only pain. I can instruct Doreen—Miss Grey, to dress it. I will need whiskey and bandages.”

“I’ll see you get them,” she replied.

The sound of running feet interrupted their conversation, and Daniel’s voice rang out in the dim light, “Mahdi, where are you?”
 

“Over here!” she called.

Conal, Landon and Daniel rounded the large crate near her.

“Are you hurt?” Landon’s gaze swept over her body as she stood.

Keelan shook her head. “Dr. Garrison’s been stabbed.” She related the earlier conversation and events.
 

Landon’s mouth was set in a firm line, and his eyes glinted with anger as she finished. “We’ll lock the doctor in the rear hold until we reach Harbour Town.” He gestured to Orvis and murmured to Conal, “It’s doubtful he boarded the ship alone. Until we find his cohorts, tell Johnny, Remus and Henry to be extra vigilant around the newest hands we hired and report any suspicions to us.”

Conal nodded grimly. “There’s less than ten new hires, I’d figure. I’ll have them move their hammocks together. Easier to keep track of them when they’re off duty.”

“I’m here! I’m back. I have the medicine bag,” Doreen’s voice warbled up and down as she scrambled around the crates. Her face was blood-stained and her hands shook as she brushed a handful of hair away from her eyes. She shouldered her way between the men, dropped to the other side of doctor’s prone form, and let out a shaky breath. “I’ve been assisting Dr. Garrison for the past several months. I know what to do.”
 

Doreen removed a clean cloth and a whiskey bottle. She nodded to Keelan to remove her hand and when she did, Doreen doused the wound, causing the doctor to suck in his breath. A strong odor of spirits wafted in the closed air of the hold. Doreen immediately pressed the clean cloth over his wound. “Continue to put pressure on it,” she instructed Keelan, without glancing at her. Keelan complied and Doreen rummaged through the bag again.
 

Garrison flicked his hand toward the bottle. “Whiskey. To dull the pain,” he said hoarsely before squeezing his eyes shut.

Keelan reached for the bottle, but Doreen stopped her.

“Wait, I have something better,” she mumbled, still rooting through the bag. “Ah, here it is.”

She pulled out a small, unlabeled brown bottle and scooted closer to Dr. Garrison’s head, which she gently put on her lap, as if handling thin glass. “Everett, drink this.” She put the bottle to his lips, he opened his mouth, and took a gulp. His eyelids flew open.

“That…wasn’t whiskey! What did you give me?” the panicked pitch of his voice bounced off the wood hull.

Doreen’s eyes shone with tears. “Don’t fret, darling. It’s the pain medication you purchased for Uncle George. The bottle you told me would take away the worst pain.”

His face paled further. “No…”

Doreen stroked his forehead, and reapplied the handkerchief to his head wound. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and dripped from her jaw. “You said it was terribly expensive and only for severe pain, but I can’t allow you to suffer like this. I care too much for you.”
 

Everett Garrison’s face contorted as he struggled to speak. “That’s…not…”
 

He convulsed and Doreen let out a startled cry. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

Garrison arched and thrashed, jerking away from her. Keelan grabbed the bottle from Doreen’s grasp and sniffed. It wasn’t whiskey or vinegar. Her chest constricted as she put together all the pieces.
 

Dr. Garrison hadn’t just given Papa the wrong medication. He had instructed Doreen to administer poison to Papa the night he died. But why?
 

The same realization also dawned across Doreen’s face. “Dear Lord!” she cried. “Why? Why did you have me give this to my uncle?” Her eyes were wide with shock and terror.

“He killed my Rachel. My love,” he choked. “She and my family…were on the ship he sank….” He fumbled with the pocket of his coat and withdrew the tattered letter Rachel had written, accepting his marriage proposal. His hand trembled so badly, the letter almost fell apart. He pressed it over his heart. “My Rachel needed to be…avenged.”
 
An odd gurgling sound emanated from his throat. He gasped and convulsed again then his chest stilled.

“Oh dear God, please forgive me! Forgive me!” Doreen wailed, covering her face with her hands.
 

“It’s not your fault,” Keelan said softly, kneeling beside her. “You thought you were helping him. You didn’t know.” Doreen collapsed into her arms and Keelan held her even as tears welled in her own eyes. “You didn’t know.”
 

Keelan scurried through the hatch as fast as her quaking limbs would take her.
 

She jumped up the steps and on to the deck. She had a desperate need for fresh air to clear her head. Her mind screamed in torment from the brutal realizations pummeling her. She paused at the rail and gulped in several deep jagged breaths.
 

She’d had her suspicions, but deep down she didn’t want them to be true.

Garrison!
 

They had trusted him. Papa had helped and encouraged him to develop his practice. He’d preyed on them and their charity.
Garrison
killed Papa and hired pirates to kidnap her. Those actions had nothing to do with infatuation as she had errantly surmised. She had known the man for several months prior to arriving in Charleston. He had played the part of an awkward physician with ease. She shuddered.