The Pirate and the Puritan (41 page)

“Let’s go. The others are
waiting.”

He grabbed her arm and turned her
around. “He’s not dead. Just resting.”

She tried to pull away, but he
brought her closer by wrapping his arms around her waist. “We have to hurry.”

“It’s all right. Sam took care of
the guards at the backdoor.” He leaned forward and had the audacity to try to
kiss her. Really, he thought too highly of himself as a womanizer.

“Sam?” She turned her face to the
side, avoiding mouth-to-mouth contact at all costs. When she realized who Sam
was, she also learned he could hurt her more than he already had. “Samantha
Linley!”

“Be quiet. Sam’s having an affair
with the officer in charge of the prison. They’re upstairs right now. You met
him at the Linleys’ party. He makes sure the back door is unlocked and
unguarded for their meetings.”

Felicity stared at Drew, too
shocked to speak. Was this a common occurrence for him? Did he expect her to
take up with one of his crew after he was done with her? “It’s amazing she
finds the time.”

“They meet on Tuesdays when
Philip is engaged elsewhere. She made special arrangements for tonight, but we
have to hurry.” He tried to push her toward the cell door, but she stepped out
of his reach.

“I didn’t realize you two were
still so close, but I suppose I should have after our last conversation.” Her
throat tightened. She swallowed down the emotion.

He turned and grabbed her
shoulders, holding her in front of him. God, but it looked like he intended to
try and kiss her again. She tried to jerk from his grasp but he held her still.
“I’m not exactly sure why Sam helped me, but I think it might have something to
do with her feeling a little trapped herself. Though, I wasn’t too surprised
when she stopped by my cell on the way to see her soldier. Sam thrives on
stirring her husband’s temper. She brought me some food and told me when the
back door would be unlocked. Nothing more.” He squeezed Felicity’s arms and
lowered his voice. “Things were done with Sam and I before I ever met you, but
even when we were together, neither of us had any illusions about love.”

Felicity shoved him hard. She had
no wish for him to stare so earnestly into her eyes and tell her of his
shortcomings again. “I have no desire to hear about your relationship with—” He
stopped her by putting a finger over his lips. “
Shh
. Don’t want to wake
up the others.” He paused. “Or maybe we do?”

He reached down and scooped up a
handful of keys. “We’ll let the others go, too.” He pulled a few keys off the
ring and tossed them to her.

She scrambled to catch them.
“They are killers and God knows what else. Besides, we don’t have time.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her
from the cell. “It’ll give us more time. It will be a diversion.”

She didn’t want to do it. Damn
him. How could he go from woman to woman so callously? Linley? And why had he
accepted Samantha’s help to escape and not her own? “No. I won’t release them.”

He strode to the nearest cell and
tried different keys in the lock. “Oh? So your father was a killer, was he?”

She scooped up the file from the
dirt. By the time he found the right key, she could open all the locks. Let him
free all the prisoners. Let him sleep with whomever he pleased. All she wanted
to do was get out of there and then remove herself from his company
permanently.

She shoved Drew aside. The
nearest prisoner stood by the door, not asking questions, just eager to be
released. She sprung the lock in seconds.

Drew squeezed her shoulder and
whispered much too closely to her ear, “I knew there was a reason I liked you
so much.”

Tears sprung to her eyes, but she
distracted herself and him by quickly opening the rest of the cells. He might
like her, but he’d never love her. Apparently, he liked Samantha Linley also,
and who knew how many others. He probably didn’t even notice who filled his
bed. It was a wonder he kept the names straight.

When she stumbled, Drew pulled
her down the long corridor and up the stairs. The freed prisoners, even the
bundle of clothes that sprouted legs and a shaggy head, followed without having
to be told. Felicity wanted to jerk away from Drew. His touch was torture.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t navigate the stone steps with his speed unless he
helped her. She wondered if Samantha melted at Drew’s slightest caress as she
did. Damn him for being such a thorough lover.

At the top of the stairs, Solomon
held the door open for them. “A cart’s waiting.”

Drew hauled Felicity up the last
steps and into the alleyway.

Solomon closed the door behind
them and they all rushed to climb into the bed of the wagon. Unruffled as
usual, Solomon didn’t even blink at the extra ten passengers. After the last
man had climbed aboard, Drew lifted Felicity onto the cart.

“Stay here,” he said, then
sprinted around the cart to talk to Solomon, who held the reins of the two
nervous horses.

Felicity sat up on her knees so
she could see over the bodies crowded around her. Solomon’s stance warned her
he wasn’t happy with whatever Drew was telling him. Both he and Solomon swung
their gazes in her direction, giving her the distinct impression their argument
had something to do with her.

A light flared, then steadied in
a window above them. Wooden shutters were closed against the night, but the
lantern light seeped through the slats, throwing more attention on them than
they needed. Solomon jumped into the driver’s seat and Drew sprinted back to
her. Felicity slid against the man next to her, making room for Drew.
Apparently, whatever they had been discussing wasn’t as urgent as their immediate
need to be away from the prison.

Drew pushed Felicity’s head down
while he tried to draw the tarpaulin over her. “Obey Solomon. I’ll see you on
the ship.”

She grabbed his wrist, preventing
him from covering her with the dirty canvas. “No. Come with us.”

The shutters from above swung
open, banging against the building. Both their gazes jerked to the window. A
man hung over the edge. With the light at his back, they couldn’t see his face,
but blond hair hung around broad, naked shoulders.

“Bloody hell!” his curse echoed
in the alley.

Drew used the moment of surprise
to wrench free from her grasp and step back “Go, Solomon.”

“Get in the cart,” Solomon’s
hoarse words sounded as desperate as Felicity felt.

Drew took a few more steps away
from them. Felicity reached out her hand to him. “Please. Get in the cart.”
Instead of the shrill demand she had intended, her voice sounded weak with
fear.

He shook his head and continued
walking backward, watching her as if he were trying to memorize her features. A
shaft of moonlight fell on his face, and she realized his left eye was
blackened and his lip cut. He’d been beaten since she last saw him.

“I lied in the prison. I do love
you.” A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth that wasn’t swollen. “I hope I
get the chance to make you believe that. If not…” He let the sentence he
suddenly seemed unable to complete drift off. “Either way, I’ll make sure
you’re safe.” He tore his gaze away from hers. “Go, Solomon!” he said through
gritted teeth, then turned and ran down the cobblestone alley.

She sat on her knees, too stunned
to do anything but watch him go. To turn to Solomon and demand he do something
meant she’d have to take her eyes off Drew. That he’d said he loved her only
gripped her heart with the renewed force of pain. Hearing those words wasn’t
worth watching him run away.

The door to the prison banged
open, forcing Felicity to dart her gaze in the direction of the sound. The slap
of reins against horseflesh, followed by wheels crunching sand on cobblestone,
drifted over her in unnaturally slowed time. She could no longer see Drew, and
hoped neither did the half-dressed man now standing in the middle of the alley.

He paid no attention to her or
the cart pulling away, but kept his gaze on the place where Drew’s white shirt
had last been visible in the thick night. After a few half-hearted paces while
pulling a red coat over his bare shoulders, he turned again to the cart.

Felicity fell back on her heels
when a wheel hit a rut in the cobblestone. The urge to slip off the cart, while
she still could, had her gripping the wooden side in indecision. The soldier
turned back to the prison and Felicity knew he would sound an alarm. Why did
Drew run away on foot? He’d surely be captured unless she could stop the
soldier from alerting the others.

Before Felicity could do
anything, Samantha Linley slid through the open door. Her dark hair swayed
around her shoulders and the silk of her cream-colored gown caught the light
from the window. She blocked the soldier’s way and kept him standing in the
alley with a deep, long kiss. Perhaps she would gain Drew only a few more
minutes, but that might make all the difference.

Darkness enveloped the cart as it
drew farther from the prison. Only the couple’s shady silhouette remained
visible until they abruptly parted. Samantha rushed in the direction of the
cart. At first Felicity feared she was coming after them, then she thought she
might be trying to warn them. When it came to Drew’s life, Felicity would take
any ally she could, even one as questionable as Samantha Linley.

Samantha abruptly darted between
two buildings lining the alley, a space barely visible in the dark, and
Felicity spotted the glint of metal off the unlit lantern on Samantha’s waiting
carriage. A flash of insight tightened Felicity’s chest. Was that how Drew
planned to escape—hide in Samantha Linley’s carriage?

The wooden cart driven by Solomon
careened around the corner and onto Broad Street. Felicity slipped under the
canvas tarp not wanting to be spotted on Barbados’s main thoroughfare. She
huddled against the other prisoners, her heart still pounding in her ears. The
urge to peek from underneath her cover to see if Samantha’s carriage pulled
into the street tempted her. Knowing that Drew’s best chance for escape lay
with Samantha Linley, filled Felicity with a stomach-churning combination of
hope and dread.

He’d said he loved her before he
left, and everything in her wanted to believe him. When her habitual doubts
tried to raise a damning chorus, all she had to do to snuff them out was recall
the look on his face before he disappeared down the alley. He’d sacrificed
himself for her safety more than once, and if he wanted to try to prove to her
that he truly loved her, she’d give him all the time he needed. And though it
was the hardest thing Felicity had ever had to do, she stayed hidden because
Drew asked her to, and she trusted her heart while knowing full well there was
a strong possibility she’d never see him again.

Felicity trained the spyglass on the
crowd surrounding the scaffold. The soft roar reaching her on the deck of the
newly painted
Rapture
confirmed they were eager for a hanging. She hoped
they would be disappointed.

When her father tried to wrestle
the telescope from her, she slapped away his fingers and scowled. Drew’s
continued absence tried her sanity. Her father would just have to wait.

He rubbed his knuckles and
returned her glare. Time in gaol had roughened his soft temperament. “Give it
here, daughter. I’m just as anxious as you to know what’s going on.”

Grudgingly, she handed over the
leather tube. They were all on edge. “We should do something. Perhaps I should
go down to the dock to—”

Solomon’s baritone voice was as
firm as his solid presence behind them. “No one leaves the ship until the
captain’s return.”

As hard as she tried, Felicity
had been unable to pry any information from Solomon after they’d returned to
the ship. Her pleas for answers regarding Drew’s disappearance were met with
monosyllabic grunts, though she suspected he knew much more than he let on. The
only explanation she received was that Drew had had unfinished business.

Scanning the growing crowd from
the deck of the
Rapture
only increased Felicity’s fear. What had been so
important that he had had to leave her? He said he loved her and wanted to make
her believe it. Being by her side in the flesh would have been proof enough. He
didn’t need to run off on some mysterious errand. She feared he’d left to save
them from being caught with Barbados’s most-wanted fugitive and had decided to
get back to the ship on his own. Had he failed? Why was there a crowd around
the scaffold if he’d escaped?

With her naked eye, she could
barely distinguish the wooden scaffold from the blur of people gathering for
El
Diablo’s
hanging. The excited buzz wafting over the distance seemed to
promise the entertainment would take place as scheduled. “I can’t bear this. Do
you know for sure that he wasn’t recaptured, Solomon?”

Solomon’s tone held the familiar
calm that at the moment tempted Felicity to shake him. “A good strategist does
not waver from his plans at the first tingle of doubt. All will be well.”

Having Drew in her life however
briefly was a gift. Discovering that he truly loved her had been a miracle. But
she’d gladly give up the latter just to know he was safe.

“I see something!” Her father’s
voice held all the panic Felicity felt.

She yanked the spyglass away from
him, raising it to her eye before he could grab it back. Immediately, she
spotted Drew, and her worst fears tightened her throat like a noose. Watching
Drew hang would kill her as well. “There he is!” She pointed with her free
hand. “They’re leading him to the scaffold. Solomon, please, do something.”

“May I see the telescope, Miss
Kendall?”

She didn’t respond. Her gaze remained
riveted on the scene below. A blindfolded man, flanked by a guard, was led in
chains to the scaffold. The dark, shoulder-length hair teased by the trade
winds told her more than she wanted to know. As if that weren’t proof enough,
Drew wore the same stained clothes he’d had on at his capture and their escape
last night.