Blood Memory: The Complete Season One (Books 1-5) (61 page)

“And, pray tell, why would I want to do something like that?”

“Because if you don’t, it’ll be too late.”

Terry chuckled. “The first rule of negotiation is to have something somebody wants, Jordan.” He took a serrated knife from his pocket. He closed one eye and stared down along the edge. It was razor sharp. “And what could you possibly have that I can’t just take?”

“How about your life?”

Terry blinked, and then the
scar stretched. “And I thought you didn’t have a sense of humour.”

“If you don’t let them go, we’re all going to die on this boat.”

“We both know you wouldn’t risk killing them.” He stabbed the knife toward Anne and Jess.

“You were going to have them as drug-addicted sex slaves. I’m sorry Anne, Jess, but I’m guessing you’d prefer death to that.”

The guards darted looks at one another, then settled not on Terry, but the man holding Jessie.

Licks of fire drifted up over the windows
. Smoke entered the cabin. It became very warm.

“He’s bluffing,” Terry said. “Don’t believe him. This is a trick.”

The vice-like grip on Jessie relaxed. Her feet lowered to the floor. The man holding Anne let her go too.

Terry levelled the knife at the guards. “Pick them back up, Phil, Barry.
Now
.”

There was an uncomfortable moment. Barry stepped forward. “No, Phil. Don’t.”

“Barry?” Terry said, agog.

“You’ve led us into enough bananadrama, Ter. You don’t pay us enough to die.”

“What? No!” He jabbed the knife toward Jordan. “He’s lying! He is
lying
!”

“Ter, put the knife down. We don’t care if he’s lying.
You’ve had us hunting them for weeks. We’ve had enough of your petty grievances.”

“But… But I’m Terry. One of the greatest traders of the Seven Seas.”

Barry took the knife. “Today you were, not tomorrow. Let him go.” The guards released Jordan. “Phil. Escort Terry outside, will you please.” Phil took Terry by the arm and marched him up the stairs. Terry gave Jordan a broken look. As the other guards filed out, Barry said to Jordan, “I hope we shan’t be seeing you again in these waters.”

Jordan
shook his head. “You won’t.”

When Barry left,
Jordan embraced Anne and Jessie with all the affection he could muster. Jessie coughed. The smoke was becoming thick.

“Shouldn’t we get off before we, I don’t know, burn to death?” Jessie said.

Jordan smiled. “There’s not much chance of that.”

Set up under each porthole was a bucket with a pipe to syphon the smoke into the cabin. Jordan had started a fire in each one, and as the flames grew, it gave the impression the boat was alive with flames. Jordan kicked the flaming buckets overboard.

“I think I’ve come up with a good name,” Jessie said. She wrote the name on the back of the boat. “What do you think?”

Anne and Jordan appraised it. They smiled. “It’s perfect,” Jordan said.

“This isn’t just a name for the boat,” Jessie said. “It’s the name of the new chapter of our lives.”

Anne unconsciously touched her stomach. Her smile looked distant and faraway.

“Are you okay?” Jordan asked.

“Yes,” Anne said. “Yes, I think I am.”

And as they set off, drifting out to sea, they waved goodbye to the land they’d temporarily known as home.

The boat’s name, printed black on white in unpretentious lettering seemed to glow in the sun’s heat:

‘HOPE TOMORROW’

END OF SEASON ONE

OF THE
BLOOD MEMORY
SERIES

Blood Memory
has only just begun.

Blood Memory: The Complete Season
Two
is
being written as we speak.
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Perrin Briar is an English author and teacher, known for his popular 
Blood Memory
 
series and black comedy
Keeping Mum
.
Before writing he worked as a TV researcher, teacher, stock counter and chocolate factory worker.

You can email him at
[email protected]
or tweet at
@perrinbriar
. He loves corresponding with fans, so don
’t hesitate to contact him if you have a question!

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Published by Briar Patch Publishing.

Cover design by Alisha at www.damonza.com

Editing by Gary Smailes at www.bubblecow.com

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