The butler’s gray eyebrows drew together. “That’s not necessary. I’m not sure if he will want to see you. Perhaps it would be best if you waited—”
Both Kitts and Teach pounced on the man, smothering his cries with a rag and a hastily tied kerchief around his mouth. Teach attempted to secure the butler’s hands behind his back, while Kitts’s soldiers picked up his legs. The muffled sound of their struggle echoed down the hallway as they dragged the butler into one of the spare, dark rooms. Panting, they waited for footsteps, but heard nothing. In the dim moonlight shining through the shuttered windows, the whites of the butler’s eyes showed as he looked frantically between them.
“You two stay here and make sure he doesn’t get loose,” Kitts instructed his men.
“Give us ten minutes to return. If we aren’t back by then, get out,” Teach said. He opened the door cautiously, peering down the hallway. Somewhere in the distance, a door opened and closed. Other than that, there was no sound. “Better yet, give us fifteen minutes. We don’t know who we’ll encounter.”
Teach headed toward the one lighted room, with Kitts on his heels, only to duck into a nearby alcove when they heard voices coming from the back of the mansion. With a house this size, the governor would need a large staff. Teach simply wished they would all retire so that he and Kitts could get this over with.
Once the voices had faded, Teach and Kitts crept forward, glancing over their shoulders to see if they were being followed. A thin strip of light spilled out beneath the door on their right, but there was no detectable movement from within. Teach bent in front of the keyhole, spying a familiar head leaning over the desk.
Teach took the handle and pressed down, his palms sweaty and his breathing fractured as he tried to control it. The door opened noiselessly, and the two of them slid inside.
Webb glanced up, a pistol in his hand and a smirk on his face.
Teach’s stomach dropped.
“You’re back,” Webb said.
“No thanks to you and your efforts,” Teach said. “You’re looking surprisingly well, Governor. Have you started drinking a different brand of tea? Where’s your wife?”
The smile on Webb’s face vanished. “That’s no concern of yours. I sent you out on a fine ship, with plenty of supplies, and how do you repay me? By sneaking into my house like two thieves in the night?”
“We did come through the front door,” Teach reminded him, sparing a glance at Kitts. The man’s face was devoid of emotion. It was impossible to know what he was thinking.
“And? What news do you have for me?” Webb demanded, waving the pistol.
“Easton’s dea—”
“Alive,” Kitts said.
The sound of Teach’s indrawn breath cut through the air like an axe. “Curse your eyes, Kitts,” Teach muttered. The man was incapable of telling a lie.
Webb looked between the two of them, his expression triumphant. “I knew I could count on you, Kitts, which is why I sent you in the first place.”
Kitts stood up straight, his chin jutting forward. Even now, the slightest bit of praise from the governor could affect him. It was enough to make Teach sick.
“If you knew you could count on him, then why did you try to have him killed?” Teach ground out.
“My men are willing to die for me. Just as yours were willing to die for you.” Webb studied Teach as he allowed the information to sink in. “They faced the gallows without flinching, by the way. As I said before, your leadership is to be commended.”
Scorching fury throbbed through Teach’s veins as he pictured the faces of young Matthew and Jack Thurston and the others who’d stayed behind, locked in the fort. All because Teach had been arrogant enough to believe he could handle the governor alone. He’d told Jack he wouldn’t abandon them, yet that’s just what he’d done. “You’re a dead man,” Teach whispered, his voice hoarse.
Webb stood up from his desk and leaned against the corner, the pistol still in his hand. “Idle threats. I’ve half a mind to shoot you here. Did you speak with Easton?”
“Aye,” Teach said. “And he told us how you stole from English ships. That’s piracy and it’s a hanging offense.”
“And you believed him?”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“Because Easton’s a liar and a —” There was a flash of movement behind Webb and the governor stiffened, his eyes growing wide. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound escaped.
Easton stood up from behind the desk, his expression grim. In his hand was a crimson-stained knife that glittered in the candlelight. “I told you he wasn’t to be trusted.”
Kitts shook his head, glaring at Easton. “It took you long enough.”
“It wasn’t as easy slipping past the guards as I thought. I’m out of practice,” Easton muttered, opening the drawers of the desk. “And someone planted rose bushes outside the bloody windows. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me when I crept in.”
“I was too busy listening to Webb tell me how invaluable I am,” Kitts said.
With shaking hands, Teach grabbed the governor by his shirtfront, bringing him close. “Where’s Alastair?” he asked, barely managing to keep a tight rein on his anger. He was tempted to take the knife from Easton and carve Webb up in pieces. Easton had warned him not to expect his men to live, but to hear that Webb had actually gone through with it . . .
Dazed, Webb glanced down. The governor was clearly having trouble grasping that he was bleeding out and would die within minutes. Determined to get an answer, Teach gave the governor a swift shake that rocked the man’s head back and forth on his shoulders. “I’ll ask one last time, where’s Alastair?”
A choked noise gurgled out of the governor’s throat and Teach threw him back into his chair. Easton rifled through the governor’s pockets, withdrawing a small key that the pirate used to open a drawer on the bottom right of the desk. In it was a stack of papers that Easton tucked into the back of his waistband.
“What’re those?” Teach asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m fairly certain they’re valuable. Otherwise he wouldn’t have them locked up. I’m taking them to add to my growing collection.”
Teach was amazed at Easton’s cunning. He seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to second-guessing Webb. It had been Easton’s idea to trick the governor into believing that Kitts was still on his side, and the governor had played right into their hands. Some of Teach’s amazement must have shown on his face, because Easton paused. “When you’ve known men like this for as long as I have, you learn to fight like they do. You can’t expect justice or fairness from them, because they won’t give it to you.”
“We need to leave,” Kitts said.
Teach still hadn’t found out where Alastair was being kept.