Isabella stayed closed to Pierce,whenit became apparent that he was on her side. But when he would have led them away from the safety of their current cover, she tugged on his sleeve. “I can’t leave here without...” She paused, realizing that it wasn’t a good idea to say Ridge’s true name, even if this man seemed to be a friend. Until sheknewforcertain, she had to be on her guard, so she offered Ridge’s pseudonym, “One-Eye.”
Her companion glanced at her in surprise. “You know him?”
She gasped, feeling her hopes surge. “Yes!I came here on board theMalice.”
“It doesn’t seem like him to put a woman in danger.” He frowned.
“It’s not as if he had much of a choice,” Isabella returned. “I sort of became a stowaway on his ship.”
One eyebrow quirked upward.“Indeed.”
She might have imagined it, but she thought his lips twitchedas well. “Have you seen him?” she prompted. “He came here with another man, his first mate. He’stall with black hair—”
“Not as yet.” He hesitated, as if unsure how much to reveal to her as well. “I was looking for them when I stumbled across you.”
This time it was Isabella’s turn to frown. “How is it that you are able to move about freely, when the rest of the British prisoners are forced to remain in guarded camps?”
“I was allowed out on good behavior,” he said evasively, which made Isabella shake her head.
“You escaped, didn’t you?”
This time Pierce stared outright at her, and then he tilted his head back and laughed. “You miss nothing, do you? I can certainly understand how One-Eye has tolerated your presenceon board his vessel.”But then he turned serious, “Don’t forget what I told you.If anyone asks, you are undertaking a prisoner transport. But let me do most of the talking. I have a certain rapport with most of the soldiers. Keep your head down and out of the light when possible. You need to hide that hair of yours.”He glanced at her backside. “I’m still not sure anyone would mistake you for anything but a female, but you could try for a bit of a swagger.”
Isabellanoddedas he led them out into the open while she tightened her grip on the fallen soldier’s rifle. “Where are we going?” she whispered.
“To the captain’s quarters. If someone is wishing to offer a parley, they are taken there first to speak with Capitaine Francois Caron.”
Isabella’s heart was pounding the entire time they made their way across the yard, sure that at any moment someone would see through their ruse. While she had to comport herself a certain way in London, it was a far cry from strolling through enemy territory where the sight of so many French uniforms and weaponswasenough to make itdifficultto swallow.
Pierceinformedherin low tonesthat they werenearingthe office of the captain, but about that time, two soldiers came around the corner.
As theystopped just short ofcollidingwith each other, with years of polite decorum screaming in her head, Isabella spoke before she could tell herself that it was the wrong thing to do. “Pardon me.”
She cringed as one of the soldiers stopped and whipped his head around. “Excuse moi?”
Time itself seemed to stop as the man who spoke up walked back to her. Her lungs were robbed of breath,and her heart lodged against her ribs.Dear God, this is it.She never thought she would die so young, and in France of all places, butit appeared that her end was nigh.
When the soldier grabbed hold of her arm and put his face right in front of hers, Isabella’skneesweakened and she slumpedin relief. Gone was the eye-patch, but even if he had still been wearing it, she would have known those stormy, dark eyes anywhere.
Stormy, as innotpleased to see her.
“Isabella?” he hissed.
She swallowed. “Hallo?”
“I don’t believe this!” hesnapped. “What thehellare you doing here?”
“She came to rescue me.”
Ridge whipped his head around again, this time pinning Isabella’s escort with a firm look, although his jaw went slack. “Rutherford?”
“Indeed,” Pierce returned with a grin thatIsabellawas quite sure Ridge didn’t appreciate. “I daresay the Home Office has recruited some rather lovely agents in my absence.”
Isabella was more than a little puzzled, but before she could ask anything more, Logan interjected,“I daresay I hate tointerrupt this little…reunion, but perhaps we could continue this discussioninthe safety ofbeing aboardtheMalice?”
With the hot glareRidge shot Isabella, it was clear that there was going to be more than a mere“discussion”taking place when they returned. At the moment, he looked angry enough to throttle her.“Lead the way, Montgomery,” heordered.
With Ridge taking up the rear of their little quartet, the tension began to mount even higher as they made their way toward the entrance of the compound. But even then, Isabellawas well aware thatthey were far from freedom. The entire harbor was swarming with French soldiers who would like nothing more than to send a few British spies to their maker.
