Chapter 44

T HEY ARRIVED MUCH SOONER THAN G AbrIELLE HAD EXPECTED, the very next day. They docked on the island of Anguilla late in the afternoon. Colonized by English settlers from St. Kitts back in the 1600s, Anguilla wasn't far at all from her home, which could have been reached before dark.

One of Drew's crew told her Anguilla was one of his trading stops, so she figured that was why Drew picked it, since things there would be familiar to him, whereas St. Kitts might not be on his usual route.

She never did summon up enough nerve to broach again with Drew the question of whether he was going to let her men go. If he'd said no, that would have ended their truce right then and there. And besides, she figured, now that he'd agreed to help, he would be foolish not to make use of all available men, particularly those willing to go above and beyond in their effort to free Nathan.

Regardless, she was almost holding her breath, standing there at the rail, waiting to see the hold opened and if her friends would be marched off to a dungeon or given their freedom. She'd been forced to come up with a few alternative courses of action, just in case.

Since it was a British-controlled island, and Drew wasn't the least bit British, there was a slight, though very slight, chance that she could turn the tables on him, if it came to that. Richard could sound like the veriest English nabob if he had to, after all. And the English authorities would be inclined to believe one of their own before they would an American. But she was praying it wouldn't come to that. The last thing she wanted to do was land Drew in jail when her truce with him was still in effect.

She'd reason with him before that, rail at him, bribe him, cajole him, even throw the contents of his desk at him again if necessary. She just needed at least one plan in case everything else failed.

And then Richard strolled over to say, "What rotten luck, to be let out now. I was losing to Bixley at whist. Needed a few more hours to break even at least."

She was too thrilled to see him standing there without a guard to immediately grasp what he was saying. But as soon as she'd given him a relieved hug, she realized he was actually complaining about being set free, and sounded quite serious about it.

"You were given cards to pass the time?" she asked.

Richard chuckled. "We've had all the luxuries we could have hoped for, chérie. Cards, dice, some of the best damn food I've ever eaten, and still hot, straight from the galley. Nathan needs to steal Anderson's cook, he really does. We were also given hammocks, and, you won't believe this one—even a bath."

"How'd you manage that?"

"Well, there was an old tub down there. Ohr asked for enough water to fill it. He wasn't really expecting he'd get it, but damned if the buckets didn't get lowered to us, one by one." He laughed with the memory. "We drew straws for the order of us all using that single tub. I didn't do too bad, got it second."

She'd worried herself sick and they'd been having the time of their lives? A vacation was what it sounded like! Drew could have told her, the bloody sod. So could her friend, for that matter.

She slapped Richard's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that when you were let out for that dinner?"

He shrugged. "I thought you knew. These Americans, they weren't treating us like prisoners, well, other than the lock on the hatch, which Ohr was determined to break, by the way, until I was able to assure him you were fine with the new arrangements."

And it had obviously looked like she was doing fine at that dinner that Richard was brought up to join; she hadn't told him differently that night. But it was just as well her friends hadn't tried to escape, since it looked like they weren't going to be carted off to a dungeon after all.

"Where is Ohr?"

"Right here," Ohr said at her back.

She swung around with a glad cry and threw her arms around him. "I was so worried! And I was afraid to ask about you. I didn't want to bring you to Drew's attention."

Richard chuckled at her. "I don't think we were far from his thoughts, Gabby. He even brought us up on deck one day, determined to find out who had bruised his cheek late one night."

She went still, hearing that. "He did? And what did he find out?"

"Nothing," Richard replied. "Told him I was sworn to secrecy."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you'd done it," she allowed, recalling her own curiosity. "I'd wondered about that bruise myself."

"He's treated you honorably?" Ohr asked, looking too serious by half. She didn't doubt for a minute that if she gave him the wrong answer, he'd go right for Drew's jugular the moment he saw him, and he might not even wait that long.

So she said, "Very much so, after we figured out that what he did in England wasn't intentional. He even offered me marriage."

She really shouldn't have added that, since both men were now staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate with the response she'd given Drew. And since she still wasn't sure about the results of that unexpected conversation with the captain, she ought to just tell them that she'd refused him. Of course, if Drew ended up mentioning it to one of them, that they were engaged…

But she couldn't go far wrong with the truth, so she continued, "I refused him. He didn't like that answer and probably considers us engaged." And then she shrugged. "I might reconsider, but I would rather not decide until after Papa is free."

"Nice to know I still have the option to run like hell."

Gabrielle winced at the sound of Drew's voice. Was everyone going to sneak up on her today?

Drew sounded as if he was joking, but he probably wasn't. He'd made that offer, for whatever reason, without much conviction, and got adamant about it only when she'd given him answers he wasn't expecting.

She turned around to see his grin, and before she could make a reply, his arm slipped about her waist. That was a clear indication to her friends that they were more to each other than she'd been letting on.

But before she could correct that impression, Drew added, "Shall we adjourn to the inn to formulate our plans? I already have a perfect one in mind, but I'd like to hear what you think of it."

And just like that, he took full command of the rescue and had Richard and Ohr's support. And later, when they heard his plan, those two were all for leaving her behind and out of Pierre's grasp. Which probably would have been just what happened—if James Malory hadn't shown up.