Chapter 45

"I S THIS EVEN ACCURATE?" James asked, looking over the drawing Bixley had scribbled to give them an idea of what Pierre's stronghold looked like.

No one answered him for a few moments. They were all in shock that he was even there, and James hadn't offered any explanation for his presence yet. Looking rather dashing and even piratical with a flowing cravat tied loosely over his full-sleeved lawn shirt, high black boots, and no jacket, he made Gabrielle remember the time the Anderson brothers had let it slip that James was an ex-pirate. Seeing him now with his darker tan from the ocean crossing, his hair windblown, she no longer doubted it.

Drew finally exclaimed, "What the devil are you doing here, James!?"

The look James turned on Drew was quite intimidating. It certainly had Richard slumping lower in his chair to try to avoid James's notice. Gabrielle cringed as well.

"I'm here at your sister's behest," James said in a calm tone. "She worries about you. Bloody well can't imagine why, but she does." And then he tapped the drawing on the table again and repeated his question, "Is this accurate?" And they guessed, at least Gabrielle did, that he must have overheard them discussing some of their plan before he joined them.

Bixley hesitated in answering the question, but then nodded. "The fort was recently refurbished."

There were many more questions. Having James Malory asking them was making Bixley think long and hard about every word out of his mouth before he gave any response. Malory seemed to have that effect on people—including Gabrielle. This was the James Malory she'd first met, the one who'd so frightened her, not the one she'd ended up liking toward the end of her stay in London.

She would have been biting her nails if she wasn't trying very hard not to look guilty. She was dreading the moment when his questioning turned to her, and it would. She was sure of it.

But so far he hadn't asked her a thing. He'd merely looked at her hard, then looked just as hard at Drew sitting next to her on the sofa in the gathering room at the inn, and obviously came to his own conclusions about why they were there together.

Unfortunately, James hadn't come alone. Georgina walked in only a few minutes after him. She was hatless, her brown hair braided down her back. And she was wearing a skirt and a loose comfortable shirt that was belted on the outside and was so big on her it might well have been one of James's shirts. She looked marvelous, as if she had thoroughly enjoyed the sea voyage.

She took one look at the couple on the sofa and said, "Well, this is a relief. Both present and accounted for. So there weren't any pirates involved after all?"

Richard, that rogue, grinned and raised his hand to draw Georgina's attention to him before he remarked, "I wouldn't say that."

Georgina had merely glanced at her husband and asked, "Does he count?"

"Most definitely," James replied, then added, "Though he'll wish he didn't."

Richard didn't say another word after that, realizing that James was no longer talking about pirates, but Richard's interest in his wife. Georgina realized that, too, but she merely tsked on her way to her brother for a hug.

It had taken a few moments for Drew to get past his new amazement, but now he demanded, "What the devil are you doing here, Georgie?"

"You really have to ask, when one of your crew showed up to warn us The Triton had been overrun by pirates? Or was that not the truth?"

"It was true, but you didn't think I could handle that on my own?"

She actually blushed slightly. "Well, certainly, but that wasn't my only concern. Gabby disappeared, leaving a note that her father was in trouble. We gathered she might be with you, but since she is our responsibility, we couldn't just guess about it, we had to make sure."

Gabrielle was the one blushing now. She hadn't expected ever to see the Malorys again, so hadn't expected to have to deal with the guilt she felt for the way she'd sneaked off.

"I was desperate," Gabrielle tried to explain. "Having just learned that my father had been in a dungeon for nearly a month, and it might take that long again before I could get him out."

"We understand, Gabby," Georgina said.

She might have said more, but James, studying the drawing again, said to Bixley, "High walls and a gate?"

Bixley nodded again. "Pierre keeps it locked, and manned, too."

"Bloody hell," James mumbled, but then in a resigned tone added, "Very well, I haven't climbed any walls in a while, I suppose I'm due."

"You're due for no such thing," Georgina countered, and moved over to stand next to her husband. Then she suggested, "Why don't we just blow those gates up? Our ships can get close enough, can't they?"

It was beginning to sound like Malory was taking over the rescue operation. Gabrielle wasn't surprised that he would put himself in charge. He was a man who wouldn't just participate, he'd command, organize, give orders, and shoot down any objections. And he wouldn't bother to ask if his help was needed.

James tapped the drawing now and dryly asked his wife, "Did you fail to note these cannons on the walls, m'dear?"

She glanced down at the drawing, said just as dryly, "It's an old fortress. Those cannons are probably ancient and unusable, wouldn't you think?"

"No, ma'am," Bixley put in before James could give his opinion. "Pierre refurbished that place. It's like new, well, aboveground it is. He did no work on the old dungeon, other than to make sure the doors would lock tight."

Georgina said "Bloody hell" as well and moved over to the group of sofas to sit next to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle felt the need to elaborate on Bixley's information and told James, "According to Ohr, Pierre added a few more enemies to the count when he turned rogue. It forced the other captains in the alliance to change locations. They didn't like that. It had been a really nice settlement they'd built up over the years that no one knew about. Most of them were even calling it home. But they didn't trust Pierre not to give away its location, so they moved out."

"Would any of these other captains help with this endeavor?" James queried.

"They might. But it would take a while to locate them and—"

"And time is of the essence," James cut in, but not unkindly. "I understand your concern for Nathan when you don't know his condition or how he's been treated all this time. But we have two ships now to pull this off. You can stop worrying."

"He says that all the time," Georgina whispered beside her. "You'd think he'd know by now that it doesn't work, especially since I'm here for that very reason. A woman won't stop worrying until there's nothing left to worry about. Well, at least that goes for me."

"And me," Gabrielle agreed.