The man who approached her was slightly scrawny and sallow, with a scruffy three-day beard and a haunted look in his brown eyes. He wore a typical sailor’s gear of a waterproof jacket and a dark woolen hat, and a net bag swung from one callused hand.
“Oh, good,” he said. “You’re awake.” There was relief in his voice as he knelt down in front of her. “I was worried I’d given you too much chloroform. You’ve been out for ages.”
Bethany craned her neck to look up at the crack of sky revealed by the open hatch. “What time is it?” she said, her voice raspy. Her mouth felt as though she had been crawling through the desert, and despite her best efforts, she felt a surge of gratitude when the man handed her a bottle of water.
She grasped it the best she could between her bound hands and managed to get some of it down her throat without spilling it. But she’d be damned if she’d say thank you.
“You. You were the one who grabbed me,” she said, when she had enough saliva to speak. She recognized the familiar odor of fish mingled with cheap cologne. “You son of a bitch.”
“Hey,” he said, holding up a hand as if to keep her from attacking him. As if she could. “It wasn’t my idea. Red made me do it.” A pout rendered his homely face even less attractive. “It was another one of his brilliant ideas.” An eye roll accompanied this statement, but he looked over his shoulder at the hatch as if to be sure he wasn’t overheard.
“Who the hell is Red, and why on earth would he have you kidnap me? I haven’t done anything to either one of you.” Yet.
Her captor just shrugged his narrow shoulders. “Red, he’s, well, he’s my partner. We’re treasure hunters.”
“Partners, huh?” Bethany raised an eyebrow. “Sounds to me more like he’s the boss and you’re the flunky, if he’s the one giving the orders.” She figured she’d better learn as much as she could as long as this guy was willing to talk.
He straightened up, scowling at her. “He doesn’t give me orders. I told you, we’re partners. He just, well, he’s kind of um, forceful. So sometimes it’s easier to do what he says.”
“Red wouldn’t happen to be a big man with a weird haircut and gold earrings in his ears, would he?” she asked. “If so, I think I met him. Not impressed.
“Yeah, well you should be,” the man said. “He can do things you would never believe. And he’s going to make us both rich.”
“Sure,” Bethany said with mock patience. “With this imaginary treasure of yours.”
“Ha. Shows what you know.” The man looked over his shoulder again. “We’re this close to finding his lost pirate treasure.” He scowled again, dark eyebrows drawing together. “But your damned boyfriend is getting in our way, so Red figured that if we grabbed you, he’d have to leave us alone.” He started walking back toward the hatch. “You’d better hope your guy does what he’s told. Red is a bloodthirsty bastard, and he doesn’t have much patience when his plans don’t go the way he wants them to.”
On that cheerful note, he scrambled back up the ladder and shut the hatch with a thud. Bethany could hear the sound of a bolt being thrown.
As if being tied up wasn’t enough, they had to lock her in. Apparently they had more faith in her ability to escape than she did. She thought of the way Red had looked at her across the bar, as if she were an object, not a person, and shuddered. Maybe she was going to have to prove them right. She sure as hell wasn’t going to sit down here and wait for Alexei to do something this Red didn’t like, since that was almost a guarantee that sooner or later, that’s exactly what would happen.
She didn’t like her odds if it did, either. She took one more swig of water and then started looking around for something to use to cut her ropes. Barring that, she’d settle for a weapon of any kind. Unfortunately, she doubted her captors had been kind enough to leave a nice sharp knife lying around, so she was probably going to have to improvise.
*
Alexei pulled the motorcycle into the driveway so abruptly it skidded on the gravel, probably only staying upright because at heart it was a magical steed and not mere metal and gears. He slammed in through the back door, startling Beka into dropping the book she was reading at the kitchen table, and let loose with a string of Russian curses which thankfully, she couldn’t understand.
“He took her. The bastard took Bethany.” Alexei handed Beka the note. “I found this under her windshield.”
Beka read the few, not very helpful words and visibly restrained herself from hugging him. Just as well, since he probably would have exploded at the smallest touch, no matter how well intentioned.
“Who took her?” Beka asked. “The note isn’t signed.”
“It has to be Blackbeard,” Alexei said with a growl. “Or the man calling himself that. I’m pretty sure he is the one behind the kraken, and I got right in his face the other day. Laughed at him. Bethany was there. I thought I was being so clever, baiting him into showing his true colors.” He sagged, leaning against the doorframe so hard, the whole house groaned. “Now he’s taken her, and it is all my fault.”
“Blackbeard?” Beka said. “As in Blackbeard the famous pirate?”
Alexei nodded. “Impossible, I know. But he was appearing to the local sailors as the ghost of Blackbeard, and I don’t know what else to call him.”
Beka raised an eyebrow. “Actually, it might be more possible than you think. I found out some interesting tidbits in the Otherworld, although it took me a lot longer to chase them down than I expected.” Her normally cheerful expression took on an unusually grim tinge.
“First, somebody better tell me where the hell my daughter is and what the devil has happened to her,” Calum said, rolling into the kitchen. He was still wearing his pajamas and his forehead was damp with sweat, but he’d gotten there under his own power.
“How did you get out of bed by yourself?” Alexei asked, once he’d closed his mouth.
Calum scowled. “Apparently all those damned exercises you’ve been making me do finally paid off,” he said. “Now, what the hell is going on? Where is Bethany?”
Alexei and Beka exchanged glances. There was clearly no way they could keep the truth from him, no matter how much they might want to, and besides, she was his daughter. He deserved to know. Alexei braced himself for the recriminations he assuredly deserved.
“She’s been kidnapped. Grabbed outside the bar after she closed up, as far as I can tell,” Alexei said as Calum wheeled himself up to the table. Alexei sank into a chair, telling himself it was so that they could all be on the same level, and not that it was because his legs wouldn’t hold him up any longer.
“The door was locked, and I found these on the ground next to it,” he said, tossing her keys onto the table in front of Calum. “The truck was still parked in the lot, and this note was under the windshield wiper.” He pushed it over so Calum could read it.