Howe stared at the captain a moment but Cloud would not meet his eyes. Then he turned abruptly and hurried down the hallway, away from the cell, not totally unaware he was trying to escape the man he held prisoner.
Cloud’s laughter reverberated in the cell. Howe had called him arrogant. Maybe he was. Maybe he was just confident enough to believe there was a way out—at least for the truth. Howe did not know about Landis. He was not aware someone existed who might be able to sort through this before morning. It did not matter to Cloud if Landis was unable to stop the execution. It only mattered that he exposed Howe and the others—and that he should not die in the service of men he despised.
He closed his eyes and thought of Alexis. Howe can’t wear this mantle forever, Alex. I’ve seen what kind of warped loyalty he hides beneath it. I know it exists. Someone else will discover it, too. And when they do you’ll know I did not die for nothing. I knew what might happen when I freed you. I warned you this afternoon when I held you in my arms. I held you tightly, knowing I might never hold you again. I didn’t know what I was fighting then, only that something was terribly wrong and you could not be a part of it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I clung to the fact that my trial would free me even while I clung to you. I hoped for that but was aware it might not happen. What Howe has told me makes it more difficult to accept, but I can, knowing that you’re out of his reach.
Amber eyes suddenly mocked him. Cloud’s eyes flew open. Aloud he pleaded, “Don’t do it, Alex! Don’t come after me! You don’t know…you can’t suspect what you’ll be walking into.” He wondered why he felt the conviction so strongly that she would come when that possibility had never occurred to him before. He tried to dismiss it, but with his eyes open or closed he saw her face, her chin lifted defiantly, her mouth set determinedly, and her golden eyes blazing with fire fed by anger.
“What!” She flung the word out into the space of her cabin, into the faces of the men sitting at the table around her. She stared at the men one at a time.
Frank Springer sat at the far end of the table, holding his glass of wine stiffly, as if he were torn between bringing the glass to his mouth or crushing it in his hands. Harry Young leaned casually in his chair; the sign of tension was in his narrowed eyes. Mike Garrison sat rigidly. His only perceptible movement was a slight twitching of his jaw as he clenched his teeth. John Landis sat at her right, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. He hardly seemed aware of the others as he stroked his beard with one hand while the other gripped the arm of the chair.
Kurt Jordan, on her left, turned to her. His clear blue eyes that had been highlighted with excitement a few hours ago were tinged with a sadness he could not hide from her now. “I thought you would want to hear it from them, Captain Danty,” he said softly, letting her know he would have spared her hearing it at all if it were possible.
“You were right, Mr. Jordan,” she answered firmly. “Mr. Landis, repeat what you just said. I won’t raise my voice again.”
“Holler all you want,” he said. “We’ve been doing it for hours.”
“Yes, well, it hasn’t helped you or Captain Cloud. Repeat your statement.”
“I said Senator Howe and the others have been using us. I said the captain is going to hang, not for freeing you, but for something else.”
“But you don’t know what.”
Landis shook his head. “We couldn’t get near enough to the stockade to find out what’s going on. And now we’ve got ourselves a new captain, Walter Franklin, and orders to shove off in the morning. It’s all very hasty.”
“Their orders are to find us,” Jordan supplied. He had heard the entire story when he and some of the crew had gone in search of Landis. Landis and the others had insisted on telling Alexis personally. Jordan had agreed to it. They were risking their lives by coming aboard theDark Lady,and Jordan knew it was not a trap they intended.
Frank broke in. “We’re to be kept out of Howe’s way while he’s taking care of the captain.”
“What proof do you have that Howe is behind your orders to sail? How do you know he is trying to prevent you from getting to Captain Cloud?” Alexis felt in control again. She was prepared to listen to everything they had to say. She had never thought for a moment it was going to be easy to get Cloud out, but the little information she had already gleaned from Landis told her it was going to be more difficult than she had expected.
“I’m waiting, Mr. Landis,” she said, settling back into her chair. “How have you come by this information?”
Everyone’s attention focused on Landis. He drew in his breath and began the story he had told once to his mates and repeated for Jordan. For the first time he allowed himself to hope.
“I went to the captain’s home this afternoon. I wanted to find out how he was bearing up since you were taken prisoner and no longer in our custody. It was then he told me what he had done. He was far from unhappy about it. He said he had put you aboard your own ship and that you were safe miles away. He even jokingly criticized me and the crew for not being aware that your ship had docked. I told him we weren’t much concerned about your crew after you were taken away from us.
“I tried to convince him that we should go after you but he told me about the meeting you had with Howe and the others and I realized he was right. When going after you was out of the question I thought I could get him to leave the house instead of waiting for them to pick him up. He refused to leave. He said he would be able to expose the false charges against you at his trial and get the answers he wanted concerning Howe’s peculiar use of you. He thought possibly he would be exonerated. He said he did not want to tell you that. He wanted to prepare you for the worst.
“While I was at the house the guards came for him. He made me hide and swear not to admit I knew what he had done. I guess he figured if things didn’t work out the entire crew would be in danger. Since he was waiting for them at the door, they didn’t bother to search. I stayed hidden in the study with an ear pressed tight to the door. I heard Tanner talking to the senator. I was a little surprised to find Howe present. That is not usual. The captain was taken away, but Howe and one of the guards remained in the entrance.
“The guard asked Howe a strange question. He asked him how they were going to get Tannerintothe stockade. Howe answered that it had all been taken care of. They were to give the guards at the prison these papers. He must have handed them over to the man, who apparently looked at them because he started laughing. He said, ‘You really have thought of everything. This certainly isn’t what the captain expected to be tried for!’ Then his voice was kind of troubled and he added, ‘You know, Senator, Captain Cloud is well known. His superiors aren’t going to believe this.’ Howe said something like, ‘Let me worry about it. You’ve been paid. So have others that matter. The ones who haven’t will find out too late.’”
Landis paused to sip his wine. Over the rim of his glass he observed Alexis who had leaned her head back and shut her eyes. Her face was drawn and pale.
“It still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, Captain,” he continued. “We don’t know why Howe is bringing these false charges against the captain. Maybe he knows Tanner would have gotten free on the matter of releasing you. The only thing we can figure out is Howe doesn’t want him free. We can’t go to anyone. We don’t know who’s been paid and who hasn’t. There doesn’t even seem to be enough time to find that out. It could be the President himself who issued these orders.”
“I don’t believe that,” Alexis said, opening her eyes. She leaned forward in her chair. “He couldn’t be so much of a fool that he would set out to destroy one of his ablest commanders.”
“I agree with you,” Harry interjected. “In fact I’ll go further and say Madison knows nothing of what’s going on. But his ignorance isn’t exactly in our favor.”
“Harry’s right,” Mike said. “Madison probably doesn’t know we were assigned to capture you. That’s what Mr. Landis meant when he said we had all been used. Howe and his friends wanted you for some purpose that we can’t guess. They used us to bring you to them. If that’s the case then they can’t let the captain tell what has happened at his trial. He may not even be allowed a trial of any kind.”
“Why put him in the stockade?” she asked. “Why not…” She could not finish.
“We don’t know why he’s still alive.” Landis helped her. “But we do know that he is. A few of the men have been slipping away from the ship from time to time and they’ve been able to learn he’s still there. Captain Franklin is a little disconcerted by the crew’s wanderlust, but he’s so excited with his new command I don’t think he knows what’s going on.”
Landis’s attempt at levity was not lost on Alexis but she could not force a smile. “You don’t think there’s much time, do you?”
