Danielle stayed in the cabin explaining the plan to Danny and Sean, who’d been shocked to learn that Cross the cabin boy was a woman. Meanwhile, Grimaldi and Rafe went to the quarterdeck where Grimaldi had apparently proceeded to beat the hell out of poor Rafe. Danielle had winced when she’d seen him. She was nothing but glad that Daphne wasn’t here to witness her husband’s bleeding and bruises. The man must love his brother indeed to take such a beating.
After that unpleasant task was through, Danielle, Rafe, and Grimaldi had dressed all in black. Along with a small band of men trailing them, they silently made their way across the Spanish docks hiding in the shadows. They stole one by one toward The French Secret.
“It’s every man for himself,” Grimaldi whispered. “Wait until the watch turns his back. You’ll have about thirty seconds to get onto the ship before he turns again.”
The watch stood on the foredeck. He carried a sword strapped to his back and a pistol in his hand.
First Grimaldi, then Rafe stole aboard the ship, perfectly counting the man’s time. It was Danielle’s turn next. She kept to the shadows, her breath roaring in her ears, her heart pounding. She waited for the watch to turn his back for a third time, then bounded across the gangplank. Once safely on deck, she pressed her back to the foremast.
Rafe and Grimaldi nodded to her. Both were hidden in the shadows against the bulwark. Sean and Danny and the other men would come if needed. For now, they remained hidden among the crates on the dock.
Rafe’s task was to fool the guards if they were to discover their prisoner had escaped. Grimaldi’s task was to wait with Rafe on the main deck and come when and if he was needed. Danielle’s task was to find Cade. She knew the ship. She’d been on it before.
She stole across the quarterdeck and past the mainmast, making her way toward the hold. She crept down the ladder on soft-soled boots, descending into the dark, dank hold. She stole past the crew’s quarters, pressing her back to the wood. Snores filled the air. A door slammed open down the corridor and she pressed her back to the wall, hard, her breathing coming in fitful spurts.
“I’m just goin’ ta take a leak, ya blighters,” she heard an Englishman’s voice call. Soon the man was in the corridor coming toward her. She slipped behind another open door and held her breath. The man passed her, continuing up the ladder to the deck and Danielle expelled her breath, trying to calm the pounding of her heart.
She continued down the corridor, pausing to listen outside the door of the room the man had left. From the sounds of it, a card game was in full play. Bottles clinked and much raucous laughter erupted from the room. There was no help for her. She would have to pass by and hope she wasn’t seen. She peered inside, her eye barely showing at the side of the door. Thankfully, the two other men in the room were not facing the door. She waited until they broke out into more laughter at some jest one of them had made and she flew across the space. Not waiting to hear if she’d been seen, she continued her flight to the end of the corridor and down yet another ladder to the bottom of the hold.
A single guard lay sleeping outside the small locked cell. She took another deep breath. Was that where Cade was being held? For all she knew, Baptiste had more than one prisoner aboard. “Cade,” she called in a loud whisper. The guard stirred in his sleep.
“Danielle?” Cade’s hoarse voice replied in a similarly loud whisper.
Danielle pressed her hand to her chest. She’d found him. Merci dieu. She eyed the guard. This time, he stirred more and his eyes fluttered open. She didn’t have time to waste. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Then he stood and turned to her. There was no help for it. She would have to fight him to save Cade. She whipped her knife out of the back of her breeches and tossed it at the man’s skull, handle first. It hit exactly where she’d meant it to, squarely on the spot on the side of his head. He grunted and crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Cade’s surprised, bruised face appeared behind the grate in the door.
“Grim?” he called. “Are you there?”
She stepped out of the shadows, retrieving her knife. “I’m alone.” She pulled off her black cap to reveal her face.
“Danielle, where’s Grim? You could be hurt. You must get out of here.”
She shook her head. “You still don’t believe I’m a spy, do you? Shut up while I do my job.” She pulled a pin from her hair and knelt in front of the lock. Now that he couldn’t see her face, she took a deep breath and shuddered. She didn’t want to contemplate the bruises she’d glimpsed in the dim light from the one lantern hanging from the bulkhead.
Cade’s fingers gripped the bars of his cell. His knuckles were white. “To the left,” he instructed. “Push it up and over.”
Danielle rolled her eyes. “You’re not in charge now. I know what I’m doing.”
She fiddled with the lock for a few more seconds before it gave way and the door swung open. Cade stepped out of the cramped space, pulled her against him, and kissed her. “Let’s go!”
“For the record, it was to the right,” she announced smugly, trying not to let the horror she felt at the sight of his bloodied face show on hers. It felt so good to be held in his arms again.
“Where’s Grim?” he asked.
“With your brother.”
Cade paused. “Rafe’s here?”
“It’s a long story. Follow me.” They hurried away from the cell toward the stairs. “And by the way,” she said as they went. “I’m the Black Fox.”
“What?” Cade’s voice was completely shocked.
“I’ll explain later.”
They raced up the first ladder, Danielle leading the way. They flew past the door where the men still sat playing cards. Just before they scaled the stairs near the captain’s cabin they heard footsteps running above them. “It could be Rafe and Grim,” Cade whispered.
“Or it could be the crew,” Danielle whispered back. “In here,” she ordered. In a flash, she had the captain’s door open and pulled Cade after her. She shut the door noiselessly and they pressed their backs against the shadowed bulkhead on either side of the door.
Footsteps sounded on the ladder, then the door to the captain’s cabin was flung open.
Danielle held her breath. It was Baptiste. He stopped two paces into the room, his breathing heavy. He smelled like wine and old sweat. He surveyed the room. He held a pistol in his hand. If Danielle had been alone with him, she would have attacked right then, but she couldn’t risk Cade being hurt. What if the captain fired a round before she was able to subdue him? If they were lucky, beyond lucky, Baptiste would back out of the room and continue his search of the ship. One endless moment passed. Two.
Danielle closed her eyes.
“I hear you breathing,” Baptiste said just before he whirled around and trained the pistol on the door.
They were not lucky.
Cade stepped out of the shadows, his hands raised. “Don’t shoot.”
“You are not alone.” Baptiste’s eyes darted back and forth. “I know zis. Who else is—”
This time Danielle stepped out of the shadows, her hands raised above her head.
“Damn it, Danielle,” Cade muttered under his breath.
Danielle kept her eyes trained on Baptiste and his pistol but her words were for Cade. “You don’t think I’m going to allow you to get shot alone, do you?”
The barrel of Baptiste’s gun swiveled back and forth between them and the Frenchman backed up a few paces into the cabin to secure his position, holding both of them at bay. “Danielle?” he asked. “Danielle who?” His eyes narrowed.
“Why don’t you put the gun down so we can formally introduce ourselves?” Cade asked, the hint of a smile on his cracked lips. “Perhaps ring for tea.”
Baptiste’s lip curled in a sneer. “So funny, Captain Cavendish. It will be a pity to kill you.”
“I’m certain you’ll find a way to live with it,” Cade replied, still grinning.
Baptiste cocked the pistol. Danielle braced herself, ready to jump in front of the bullet to save Cade. More footsteps sounded on the stairs outside the cabin and Danielle and Cade turned in time to see Rafe and Grimaldi fly into the room. Grimaldi held a pistol, too. He quickly trained it on Baptiste. Baptiste’s eyes narrowed and he glanced between the brothers, clearly confused. “There are two of you?”
“Seeing double?” Rafe smirked.
“Put zee gun down,” Baptiste ordered Grimaldi.
Grimaldi’s eyes were hard pieces of coal. “Why should I?”
“Because you have more friends here for me to kill.” Baptiste sneered.
Grimaldi’s lips twisted. “You only have one bullet. I’ll kill you as soon as you fire. I’m willing to bet my life on the fact that I’m a much better shot than you are.”
Another sneer from Baptiste. “Your own life, perhaps. But which one of your friends here would be worth it for you to lose?” He waved the gun at all of them.
Grimaldi cursed. His finger gripped the trigger.
“Don’t do it, Grim. He’s bluffing,” Rafe growled under his breath.
“Am I? Captain Cavendish, or whatever your name is, do you want to be zee one to find out for certain if I am?”
“Shoot me, you son of a bitch,” Cade ground out.
“No!” Danielle yelled. She stepped toward Baptiste. “You can only get out of here safely if you take one of us with you. Take me.”
“I don’t want you,” Baptiste scoffed. “I want zee man who started all of zis. I want le Renard Noir. Now which one of you two bastards is it?” Baptiste waved the gun at the twins. “Admit it and I will let zee rest of you go.”
Cade and Rafe exchanged uneasy looks.
“Come now, brothers,” Baptiste taunted. “Which one of you will betray zee other to save himself?”
“If you want the Black Fox,” Danielle ground out, “then you’re going to have to kill me.” She ran for the window and vaulted onto it.
“No!” Cade made a move to follow her but Baptiste’s gun brought him up short.
“Danielle, don’t!” Cade shouted.
Danielle remained perched on the edge of the window. Baptiste had barely spared her a glance.
“Let her go,” the Frenchman said. “We don’t need her.”
“You couldn’t be more wrong, you bastard,” Danielle said from the window. “For I am the Black Fox.”
“Don’t jump,” Cade called to Danielle. “You can’t swim.”
Baptiste swiveled around, a look of equal parts confusion and horror on his face. “Quelle?”
Danielle glared at the Frenchman. “The night I stole your map you said to me, ‘I want to see the face of the man who would steal my secrets.’ Do you remember? Well, here is the face of the woman who did it. Take a good look.”
Danielle turned her gaze to Cade. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. Then she vaulted from the window.
“No!” Cade shouted. “Danielle, I love you!”
A splash was his only answer as Baptiste went racing for the window.