Lafitte smiled brightly and bowed his head. “I am honored that even though you knew I might be here you still came.” Then, with the slightest edge of mockery in his tone, he added, “But somehow I have the impression that if the USSHamiltonwere to follow it would not be me they were after.” He turned and left her alone, but not before he was able to catch surprise in her eyes.
Alexis searched through Samuels’s wardrobe and found nothing that would do. She finally gave up and stripped off her wet clothes, wrapping a sheet around her shivering form. She had just finished when she heard Lafitte at the door. “Come in,” she answered, laying her clothes on the wide window bench.
“Ah, Alex,” he murmured appreciatively at the sight of her profile outlined by the sun’s rays through her white covering. “Most suitable attire indeed.” Only thirty, Lafitte had a discerning eye for objects of value.
Alexis turned quickly and saw he was only teasing her. His dark eyebrows were raised and they matched his mocking tone. His eyes gleamed brightly, but not rudely, alternating from blue to green as the light caught them. He was not much taller than she and slightly built, making Alexis think this could hardly be the man who was such a terror in the Caribbean. She thought of her own goal and realized she would make an equally unlikely terror. It amused her and she laughed.
“I did not mean to be amusing. Rather complimentary.”
“You are not quite what I expected, Monsieur,” Alexis explained, taking a seat.
“And you are hardly the sort of fish one usually finds in these waters.” He took a seat opposite her, folding his arms across his chest. “I believe it is time you begin your story. There is much I do not understand.” He watched her face carefully as she began her explanation. The amber eyes captivated him as did her tale. There was a common ground in the revenge each of them sought.
Alexis told Lafitte briefly about her home on Tortola and how she arrived there. She explained the deaths of her parents and Pauley and Travers’s part in all of it. His face was grim as she mentioned being whipped by the captain. She misunderstood his look and offered to show him her back.
Lafitte was genuinely angered by her suggestion. “That will not be necessary,” he said coldly. “I am quite capable of determining the truth without absolute proof.”
“Then you are an exceptional man.”
“And you are an exceptional woman, Alex. I do not believe you lie.”
Alexis smiled at the statement. “I do not want to disappoint you, but I have been known to shade the truth.” He seemed satisfied with her remark. As Alexis continued her story she began to understand how this man, different from Cloud in many ways, was capable of commanding his men with the same ease. “I was taken aboard theHamiltonby Captain Cloud and the first officer, John Landis. Their intention was to take me to Washington and give me medical attention for my wounds, but I managed to do well on my own under their care. I asked to be returned to Tortola but I was refused.” Alexis went on to explain how she had worked for Cloud. The incident when she had climbed the rigging in her dress was not left out and she saw it amused him. She mentioned the mishap while she was fencing and how Harry and Mike had taught her to use a pistol. “The captain of theHamiltonwas aware I wanted to leave and he knew I would escape if given the chance. His crew was a bit more encouraging than he—that is why no one stopped me when they saw I was ready to jump.”
Lafitte nodded in understanding. “And where was Captain Cloud when you made your escape? Surely he did not change his mind?”
“No, the captain did not change his mind. I had to persuade him.”
“Shading the truth?” he asked slowly, bright eyes narrowing slightly.
“I knocked him out.” Her voice was soft, but her eyes were hard.
“You are very determined, Alex,” he noted when her expression gave nothing away except that fact. Still, he thought, there was something she was not saying. He could only guess as to what it was but the next few minutes gave him his answer.
“I have been told that before,” she stated flatly.
“By your captain?”
Alexis’s eyes flashed gold ice for a second, then she composed herself. “By Captain Cloud and a few others. You imply in your question there was something between the captain and myself. I do not know where you got that impression.”
“He would not let you go, you told me that much.” His mouth formed the slanted half-grin, delicately taunting her.
“Because he thought it was too dangerous and that I did not know my own mind when I said I wanted to kill Travers,” she said quickly.
“If that is what he told you, then he is also guilty of shading the truth. For if he did not realize you know exactly what you want then he must have been a fool.” He saw her eyebrows rise slightly. “Or,” he continued, “he must have loved you very much.”
“Captain Cloud loved me, Monsieur Lafitte. He was not a fool.” She lowered her voice to hide the trembling as she spoke. “In the end he proved his love in the only way I could have accepted it. He allowed me to hit him and gave me my chance to escape.”
“You know this?”
Alexis nodded. “I am sure he knew what I intended.”
“And you did not hesitate?” Lafitte asked quietly.
“Only afterward. Only for a moment. Just to say goodbye.” She waited to see if he would comment, but he said nothing as he continued to observe her. The mocking grin was gone and she saw he understood. She pressed on to her present problem. “There is nothing more to say except I have escaped one ship and seem to have found myself in a similar predicament on this vessel.”
“In what way, Alex? I do not intend to hold you prisoner. You are my guest. I would not have picked you up otherwise.”
“Then you will return me to the island?” She could not hide the hope that crept into her voice.
