Easton strode to the window, but ducked back inside when a shot was fired and the ball narrowly missed his head. Splinters of wood flew where the shot embedded itself in the paneling. “We’re going to have some difficulty.”
Just then, a voice trickled in from the hallway outside the door. “Governor Webb, is all well?”
The governor’s eyes were still opened, but his chest was still. He wouldn’t be answering in this lifetime. Kitts waved furiously at Easton to be quiet, but Easton shrugged his shoulders and called out, “Aye. Leave us!” His voice was a rough imitation of Webb’s.
Teach was both fearful and furious. He’d clearly underestimated the governor and so much of the situation. Picking up the pistol the governor had held, Teach discovered it wasn’t even loaded.
More footsteps shuffled in the hallway. “Governor Webb, are you quite sure you’re all right?”
Before anyone could respond, the door flew open. Six soldiers burst in and quickly surrounded Kitts, Teach, and Easton, stripping Easton of his knife. They led the three men from the room, down the hall, and into the courtyard, where even more soldiers waited. Some soldiers held torches, while the rest were armed with muskets and cutlasses. Pelham stood before them, robed in a dressing gown, his powdered wig slightly askew.
“Governor Webb is dead, Lord Pelham,” one of the soldiers said. “They used this.” Easton’s knife glinted in the torchlight, still stained with Webb’s blood.
“The three of you are charged with the murder of Nicholas Webb, the proprietary governor of Nassau,” Pelham said.
“Technically, I killed Webb. These two men were innocent bystanders,” Easton said.
Pelham snorted. “I would hardly call them innocent.”
“And I would hardly say you know the true meaning of the word. How I wish I could say it was a pleasure to see you again, Lord Pelham. Gentlemen, may I introduce you to a man whose hands are even dirtier than mine.”
“Easton,” Teach muttered under his breath. The pirate was not exactly helping the situation.
“Webb doesn’t deserve your loyalty,” Kitts said, addressing the soldiers surrounding them. “And neither does this man. Don’t be fooled by anything he says.”
“Like you were fooled by Easton?” Pelham sneered. “My men tell me you were a soldier under Webb. And now you’re a pirate. How does it feel to be a traitor to the Crown?”
Kitts tried to school his normally expressive face into an impassive mask, but not before Teach saw a flash of emotion, something between shame and resentment. “I have no trouble sleeping at night,” Kitts said.
Pelham ignored the comment, his eyes turning to Teach. “What about you, Drummond?”
The world tilted on its axis. Teach had not expected to hear that name again so soon. Pelham licked his lips, obviously enjoying Teach’s shock. “Ah, you’re surprised I know your real name. You shouldn’t be. I told you when I first saw you that you looked familiar. It took me a while to figure it out, but I’ve dealt with Richard Drummond in the past. In fact, I supported him when he wanted to build the Deliverance. Does your father know the path you’ve chosen?”
Teach went cold, then hot. “I suppose you’ll be only too happy to tell him.”
“On the contrary. I think it would be best if you told him. Take him,” Pelham said, motioning to the nearest soldiers. “Line the others up against the wall. If anyone asks, they were covered in Webb’s blood and caught escaping.”
“What? No trial?” Easton asked as they pushed him to the side.
Pelham smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “These islands are lawless. A firm hand is required to rid it of pirates.”
“The men of the Deliverance were not pirates,” Teach said.
“No. According to Webb, they were mutineers. You no doubt saw one of them as you came in. What was the name of the little one?” Pelham asked, looking around at his men, but no one responded. “Was it Matthew? He’s the one we placed in the cage. I haven’t been out to the docks lately. Is there anything left of him? Or have the birds done their job?”
No! Teach’s pulse skipped a beat, and he clenched his hands into fists, the nails digging into his palms as he pictured Matthew’s body slumped against the side of the cage.
“The big one, Jack, put up quite a fight as we took the little one away. Because of that we simply decided to hang the others. They deserved to die. And so did your other friend Alastair Flynn. Webb told me all about how you and Alastair helped a murderer escape from the fort. Troubling news, to be sure.” Pelham’s shrewd eyes watched Teach’s every move. “But I need Alastair. More importantly, I need his ships.”
“There are other merchants,” Teach ground out, wondering at the man’s obsession with Alastair.
“True. But they don’t have Alastair’s extensive knowledge of these islands. It took some convincing on my part, but he’s come around. I simply found a price Alastair was willing to pay. Family can be such a motivating factor in one’s decisions.”
Teach shut his eyes, picturing his hands closing on Pelham’s throat and choking the life out of him.
“Steady,” Easton whispered.
Pelham made a tsk. “You need to choose your friends more wisely, Edward. A father is cursed because of a bad son.”
Teach blinked against the black dots swimming in his vision. Those black dots coalesced into figures scurrying into the courtyard. “If anyone’s cursed tonight, I dare say it would be you,” Teach said, grateful for the steadiness of his voice.
For the first time since he’d confronted them, Pelham frowned. “Why?”
“Because you’re surrounded.”
Pelham and his men turned, just as Teach’s and Easton’s men opened fire. Several of the soldiers fell to the ground, their own muskets going off haphazardly.
Teach grabbed the cutlass of a downed soldier nearest him, as Kitts and Easton did the same. The soldiers who hadn’t been hit started toward them. Kitts hesitated, and Teach lunged, barely managing to block the sword thrust at Kitts’s side.
Kitts gave him a grateful nod, before raising his own cutlass and fighting off the oncoming rush of soldiers. The clash of steel on steel rang throughout the courtyard. Teach and Easton fought back to back, lunging and parrying with their swords.
“We have to go,” Easton said, his breathing labored. “Before more soldiers arrive from the fort.”
Not until I finish Pelham. Using his size to his advantage, Teach took the legs out from under his opponent with a vicious swipe of his cutlass. The man fell on his back, hitting his head and stirring no more. Teach attacked the next soldier, and the next, cutting through them like a knife through butter. His rage gave him added strength as he stalked his target.
“Teach!” Easton called.
Jerking around, Teach saw Easton motion to the docks, but Teach wasn’t ready to leave just yet.