Wade left Julianne alone in his cabin and locked the door. Though he suspected she would stay asleep in his bed where he had left her, he needed to be certain. A lot had changed on his ship in the last half-hour. He didn't need to lose her, too. He pocketed the key and stared at the door for just a moment before walking away.
Part of him still couldn't believe this was the girl he had met just hours before. Part of him still couldn't believe that Rupert had betrayed him. Part of him couldn't believe that he had new information about the treasure. His treasure. Wade knew one thing for certain: he needed a drink. Another one. Already.
He walked to the kitchen and hollered to old Buck to get him a glass of whiskey. The cook didn't bat an eye at the request and quickly poured his captain a glass of their best liquor. Wade drank the alcohol, allowing the liquid to burn its way down his throat and into his belly.
Buck stood by, waiting for Wade to finish the drink. Then he poured another. As Wade lifted the drink to his mouth, Buck finally spoke.
"What's troublin’ ye, Captain?" Wade had known Buck for as many years as he'd been a pirate. The ol’ cook had been one of the first men to join Wade’s crew. He trusted him, perhaps more than he should. Wade had trusted his first mate implicitly. That had been a mistake.
"Rupert tried to kill me." Buck dropped the knife he was holding and it landed on the floor with a loud clatter. Wade didn't look up as he finished the second drink, his eyes plastered firmly to the wall ahead of him. He was quickly turning into a drunk, he knew, but there was nothing he could do about that now.
"Come again, Captain?" Though Buck was the cook, he prided himself on knowing everything that was going on around The Dark Lovely. If he hadn’t known about Keel’s intentions, perhaps it had been a hasty decision on the first mate’s part. While most mutinous pirates had some sort of plan before killing the captain, it was possible that Rupert Keel simply saw an opportunity and he decided to take it.
"Rupert tried to kill me," Wade repeated, still not looking up.
"Where’s he now?"
"Dead."
"You killed ‘im."
"No."
Buck looked confused.
"Then who killed ‘im, Captain?"
"The stowaway killed him." Buck dropped another utensil, again letting it land on the floor loudly. He jumped at the sound and glanced at the fork he had dropped. He scurried to pick it up, but Wade was hardly paying attention. He knew Buck would be worried about being replaced. There was no place on a ship for someone who couldn’t work and there was definitely no place on a ship for someone who couldn’t work well. The idea of replacing Buck hadn’t crossed Wade’s mind.
Then again, he’d never thought of replacing Rupert, either.
"We gots a stowaway?" Now Buck’s furry brow wrinkled in confusion. Wade could practically hear the old cook thinking. Since when did the ship have stowaways? They cleaned the ol’ boat to bottom on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. The crew was excellent at making sure that all hands were accounted for on deck. Both men knew there was no missing food. How could a stowaway have sneaked past them?
"Afraid so," Wade held up his glass, motioning Buck to pour him once more. Buck obviously wasn't sure it was a good idea for the captain to get completely drunk, but he also knew that it wasn't his place to refuse him. He poured the whiskey.
"Tell me more," Buck said, taking a seat at the table. He pressed his hands flat across the thick wooden surface. He had spent many years working at this particular table and many nights drinking with Wade. Never, in all their years together, had the men ever dealt with something like this.
Wade sighed heavily. He didn’t want to deal with this, but then, he was a captain. He had to. This was his ship and these were his men. If there was to be a mutiny, he needed as many bodies on his side as possible. He didn’t believe Buck would betray him. That was the problem with betrayal, though. It never came from your enemies. Enemies you could trust to go for the throat. You never expected it from your friends.
Wade told Buck about going to port, about meeting Julianne, and about his return to the storage room.
“Rupert said he had information about the lost treasure. He wanted to talk to me alone, he said, and it seemed as good a place as any.”
“It’s quiet down there,” Buck agreed. “Private. You know, Rupert used that room for his indiscretions.”
“I’m well aware,” Wade said dryly. Only three people had keys to the room, but he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Rupert took women to that room or that he occasionally “loaned” his key to other pirates to use the space. The men didn’t get much privacy. They took it when they could.
Wade finished telling Buck about the murder attempt, but he still didn't know what to do next. And as a captain, not knowing was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Buck just stared at him, a look of bewilderment on his old face. Even his wrinkly skin couldn’t hide the shock in his eyes.
"She was hiding here this whole time?"
"Aye."
"And you fucked her?"
Wade nodded.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Captain, but this ain't no hen frigate. We can't keep a woman on board, ‘specially not a pretty one. What are ye gonna do?"
That seemed to be the question of the hour, now didn't it? What was Wade going to do? Logically, he should hang both Nelson and his sister. Logically, he should kill them to send a message to his crew. He should, but then, logic was rarely involved when it came to Wade's cock. And for some reason, it liked Julianne very, very much.
Wade thought of the way she had danced for him, of the look on her face as she watched him. Her hips had swayed slowly in time with a song only she could hear, and Wade had loved it. He had been mesmerized by her beauty, but especially by her eyes. They were wide and bright. She had a smile that was full of life, and an air of joy surrounded her. It seemed that Julianne’s privileged upbringing hadn’t sucked away her ability to enjoy the simple things in life. She didn’t know how lucky that made her.
He didn’t have to kill her, but he couldn’t keep her: not as a stowaway and certainly not as his lover. If the men knew how deeply he cared for her, it would give them something to use against him, and pirates weren’t the most trustworthy of folks. They stayed as long as they were paid, and as long as there was food, and as long as the sailing was good, but if they could use the captain’s woman as a bargaining chip, they would do it.
And the Saucy Devil wouldn’t stand for that.
Wade slammed his empty glass down on the table and looked at Buck.
"Here's what we're going to do."