Page 65 of Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas

Max slid his long, sharp sword into his waist-belt with only a mild grimace. “Enter.”

Shrug opened the door. “Cap’n, the cabin ye requested ’tis ready.”

Max adjusted the sword to sit lower on his hip.

“That’s quite a sword,” I said.

“’Tis a saber. Rowan prefers them.” He strutted the room showing off the saber, then grinned. “Shrug, find nourishment for Miss Jennifer. Then stand guard, protect her, until we can be properly acquainted.”

“Protect me from what?”

“Miss, yer the only woman on a ship with a hundred men.”

I rolled my eyes but stopped when I saw the stern set to his jaw. “I can take care of myself, thank you.”

Max belted on a gun, making another small grimace. Peter Pan had transformed into a man right before my eyes, and I didn’t like it. Not. One. Bit.

He walked over to me and eyed me with an alarming resolve. “You’ll take heed, and so weel I.”

Twenty-Two

Shrug shoved me into a cabin not as large as Max’s but still roomy for an eighteenth-century ship. I wondered whose cabin I’d commandeered.

The stray stocking forgotten in the corner and the drawer of the chest not fully closed gave the room a recently vacated feel. A full bookcase, small gateleg table, two chairs, a chest of drawers, and a mahogany washbasin with a mirror lined the walls. A long hammock stretched under a square window hatched open to allow in a salty sea breeze.

Shrug watched me with only a moderate amount of disgust as I checked out the cabin. He backed toward the door, never taking his eyes off me.

“Could you please send my manservant with some food?” I wasn’t hungry. The meal at the tavern rolled around in my gut with every crested wave, but I needed to speak to Ace and tell him what I’d learned about Marco.

Shrug stopped his reverse shuffle and stared at me like fetching food was not in his job description.

“The captain asked you to bring me something to eat, and I’m hungry.” I crossed my arms and returned his stare.

“Aye, witch. Ye be eatin’ all our grub and drinkin’ all our rum. Curs-ed woman.”

“I’ll try not to eat all the food.” I couldn’t promise the rum because after my lucky but fake healing incident with Max, correction Captain Smith, I could use an adult beverage.

He slammed the door, then the lock clicked into place.

Locked in the cabin, I figured out how to use the bathroom in the bucket provided, Gross! I combed through all the drawers, chests, and books hoping to come up with a plan and finding nothing. I climbed into the hammock and studied the dim, stir-crazy room. I needed to get out of this cabin.

Finally, the lock clicked, and Shrug opened the door, allowing Ace to enter.

“Your personal pirate chef has brought you sustenance.” Ace held up the plate of food and a mug as rusty as the cabin’s door hinge. He gave me a sympathetic smile.

“Ace. Thank God!” I tumbled out of the hammock, landing with a smack on the wood floor. “I’m all right.” I popped up, showing Shrug, who leered at me from the doorway, I was fine.

Shrug slammed the door, startling Ace.

“Bloody ’ell, that man has a bad attitude.” He set the plate and mug down and hugged me tight. “Girl, I worried that Captain Sexy had his way with you. I couldn’t get free to help. That is, if you wanted my help.” Ace pressed his lips into a naughty smirk. “They’ve got me under watch by Black, brawny, and smarter than I suspected.”

“You mean the Jamaican guy with the leather rope necklaces and blue eyes?” The rather large man I’d seen on deck earlier.

Ace grinned and nodded wildly. “Guess what they call ’im? You’ll fall off your chair.”

I raised my eyebrows at Ace, waiting for the name that had him stirred up like a calorie-counting coed in a candy shop.

“Black Bard. Isn’t that a sexy pirate name?” Ace squealed like he’d won the pirate booty call lottery.

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