Chapter Thirty-Eight
SO DO WE JUST grab them as they come on deck?” Jeremy asked.
“That would be ideal except ever since they started making attempts to get at Jack and I’ve had to fight them off, they’ve become wary of me and Mort. They never trusted me, but now they are fully alert, watching and waiting for me to try something. They might entrench themselves down there in the crew’s quarters if any of their mates don’t return, and we definitely don’t want that to happen. They’ll have cover, weapons, all our food, and they can hold my helmsman hostage. As long as they have him, they can sail the ship without me.”
“So we have to get all of them up here. I see three of them now.”
“Take a stroll with your guards,” Damon suggested. “They’ll stay close to you for the sake of appearances. The pirates need to think you’re only up here for exercise. They should steer clear of you after you took down so many of them in London. Then again, they are an aggressive bunch of thugs and might want a little payback, so be careful.”
“Or I can knock a few out just on principle. I’m due some payback as well.”
Damon grinned. “Feel free to knock out as many—actually, don’t. That could backfire on us. If it looks like you want to fight, they might shoot you before you reach them. Lord Percival, on the other hand, won’t concern them.”
Percy quickly squared his shoulders and tried to scowl. “Did I just get insulted?”
“D’you think you could knock one out if you took him by surprise?” Jeremy asked his friend.
Percy made a fist and stared down at it before he shook his head. “You know that ain’t my cup of tea, dear boy.”
“I can,” Jack volunteered. “Never mind objecting, you know I can.”
“You could,” Damon allowed. “Except that would put you too close to them. All it will take is for one of them to get their hands on you, Jack, and the rest of us will lose. You stay right where you are.”
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Jeremy headed down to the main deck with Percival and the guards.
“Is he going to start something?” Damon asked.
Jacqueline grinned. “Possibly, but more likely, just make them a little nervous. Are we going to do this today?”
He shook his head. “No, today we plan, and before we do anything, I need to lock Mr. Thomson safely in my cabin. We won’t make much headway afterward if he gets injured or captured.” Damon brushed back a lock of Jack’s hair that had fallen over her face. “So . . . we’re back to separate beds?”
She glanced around to make sure her brother was still walking on the main deck, then put her hand on Damon’s buttocks and squeezed. “What do you think?”
“So you lied to him?”
“Course I did. He’s being a hypocrite. He never denied himself any woman who cast her eyes his way before he married, and that was pretty much any woman who crossed his path. For him to deny me the same sort of pleasure is absurd.”
“He was being protective and I’d expect no less.”
“Are you going all noble again?”
He gently caressed her cheek. “As long as you want me, I’m yours.”
She smiled brilliantly. “That was rather sweet—”
“What was?” Jeremy asked as he came up behind her.
She swung around to complain, “I thought you were getting some exercise.”
“I was passing out nasty looks in preparation.”
“For?” she asked.
“Our foolproof plan.” Jeremy glanced at Damon. “Tell them to send up two of their men to fight me—hell, make it three. Say the crew is due some entertainment.”
“That’s not a bad idea, but challenging two should be enough.”
“No, three. They have to think they can win, or the others won’t come up to watch.”
“You’re assuming they will all show up, but what if they don’t?” Jacqueline reminded Damon, “I thought you wanted to secure your helmsman first to keep him safe?”
“That won’t be necessary if this impromptu fighting match that they can wager on lures all of them up here. But if it doesn’t, we won’t proceed beyond the fight and we can try again tomorrow. They might not be happy when your brother wins, but they shouldn’t interfere. And at least we’ll be able to count two or three of them sore or disabled for the next round.”
“There are still fifteen of them,” she told Jeremy. “How are we getting rid of the rest?”
“I’m going to be clumsy so a few of my swings will go wide and take out a few of the onlookers, and I’ll keep it interesting so their eyes stay on me and won’t be watching what the rest of you are doing.”
“With the pirates gathered around your brother,” Damon added, “we can take down the ones on the fringes before the others notice. It’s a good plan.”
It was, yet she couldn’t help thinking about what would happen if they failed. They’d probably be killed and she’d be . . . She shuddered.
Noticing her expression, Jeremy chucked her chin. “You see any flaws in this plan?”
“No, but I’ll need a weapon.”
“You’ll need to lock yourself in the cabin,” Damon said adamantly.
“Not a chance! And before you disagree, they will expect me to be by your side as I’ve been all week. If I’m not, they will be suspicious and then nothing will go as you wish.”
“She’s right,” Jeremy said. “Just try to stay out of the way, Jack. If even one of them gets their hands on you, it’s all over.”
“Exactly my point,” Damon said. “You can stay on deck until the fight starts, but then you have to get behind a locked door. If you don’t agree to that, Jack, then I’m not delivering Jeremy’s challenge.”
She glared at Damon for a moment before she mumbled, “Fine, I’ll use the latch on the door. But you’re going to miss my help.”