Page 8

Eight

I woke the next morning to the smell of buttermilk pancakes, bacon, and fresh coffee, but without Caiyan’s arms wrapped around me. I didn’t have to roll over to know his side of the bed was empty. And I didn’t have to get up to know he was gone.

My right ring finger felt heavy. I squinted at the ruby ring Caiyan had given me. A promise that there was more than a night of lust-filled, multiple orgasm, mind-blowing sex to our relationship. I gave a sigh of relief that he’d slid it onto my right hand before he did his disappearing act, and not my left. We were not ready for a walk down the aisle, not even close.

I glanced at the clock—eight a.m. Caiyan didn’t waste any time hightailing it out of here. He was the unofficial spokesperson for the Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am club. I couldn’t blame him for not waiting for Jake to arrest him, but a simple see ye later, lassie would have been nice.

My cell rang on the nightstand. I checked the screen and groaned. Jake. Did the guy have ESP?

“Good morning.” I tried to sound chipper, but my tone wasn’t convincing even to me.

“Is McGregor gone?” Jake didn’t beat around the proverbial bush.

“I’m feeling much better, thanks for asking.” I huffed the words into the phone.

“Sorry, is he gone?”

“Yeah, he’s gone. Why are you calling and not here trying to slap cuffs on him?”

My emphasis on the word trying made Jake grumble. “I’ve got my reasons. Aaaand, Angel says hi.”

I smug-smiled at the phone and wished Jake could see it. He wouldn’t waste a warm bed and a snuggle with Angel to arrest Caiyan. The WTF didn’t know who or what Caiyan was searching for, but Jake knew it was important.

“You’d rather follow him on the travel screen and hope he leads you to something valuable than have him in custody.” I knew the WTF could see Caiyan’s initial jump, but I’d heard from Al that the cagey Scot removed his key shortly after arrival, so they had no idea if he was double jumping.

Jake ignored my supposition. “Did he tell you of his plans?”

“If you mean, did I procure top-secret information from an AWOL defender while in the throes of passion? The answer is no.” I placed the phone on speaker and sat it on the nightstand. “Caiyan isn’t a make-out-and-tell sort of guy, but after last night, I feel tons better.”

“Jeez, Jen.” Jake’s tone meant he could have gone all day without hearing about my sexy time with Caiyan.

“If you would tell me where he’s jumping, maybe I’d have more leverage with my interrogation.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stretched like a satisfied cat after a night on the prowl.

“You know that’s classified information.”

“Caiyan seems distracted with whatever he’s tangled up in. I’m sure it’s challenging for him without Brodie’s tracking skills, but he’s not sharing.”

“Can’t you withhold sex in exchange for the truth?” His words were followed by an “ouch.” The phone muffled, then Jake’s voice cleared. “Sorry. Please disregard my question.”

“What did she throw at you?”

“Her book.” He paused for a moment. “It’s one of those lengthy historical romances…in hardback.”

I chuckled at my best friend and his girlfriend, whom I adored and hated to lie to about her brother’s whereabouts. I stood and shrugged into a sweatshirt. “I’m worried about…Long John Silver.”

“We’ve got a month to figure it out, but honestly, I’ve never felt so disconnected from a mission.” He was pacing now. I could hear the shuffle of feet on carpet.

“You want to come over and look at the chest?” Please don’t bring Angel.

“Yeah, Angel has a flight to catch. I’ll be over after I drop her at the airport. Unless you want to run her home?”

“No thanks!” Angel spouted from across the room. “I’ve got luggage, and I value my life. I prefer not to have every cell in my body ripped through the air like spotty Wi-Fi.”

I disconnected and pulled on a pair of shorts. After brushing my teeth and twisting my hair into a clip, I went downstairs, hoping Gertie’s pancakes lived up to the stomach-growling aroma.

Gertie stirred a bowl of pancake batter and be-bopped around the kitchen, listening to a tune via headphones, her first batch of pancakes already cooling.

She stopped bopping when she saw me and slid her headphones to rest around her neck. “Mornin’.”

“Good morning.” I eyed the stack of thick, Betty Crocker-cookbook-picture-perfect pancakes plated next to her. “You went food shopping.”

“I went out early this morning. It was my turn to buy groceries. Brodie called. He was bucked off a Bronc yesterday and refractured his leg. It’s not bad, but the Doc’s taking him off work for two more months.”

“Two months. He won’t be back in time to find Marco.”

Gertie paused pouring the pancake batter and sent an encouraging half smile. “Jake will send someone else with you.”

“Maybe Campy, or god forbid, Gerry.” I scowled at the thought of time traveling with Gerry.

“Is Caiyan still upstairs recouping from last night’s bad behavior?” Gertie lifted an accusatory eyebrow.

“Caiyan’s gone. He left before dawn.”

“Damnation that Scot. I’m makin’ a second batch.” Gertie plunked the batter bowl down hard on the counter.

“Jake’s coming over to pick up the slack.”

Her face brightened. “Jake loves blueberries. I’ll add some.”

She sprinkled a few plump berries into the batter while I helped myself to a cup of coffee. I added sugar and cream, took a sip, and sighed a long “Mmmmmm.”

“Are you OK?” Gertie poured the pancakes out on the griddle, first glancing my way, then concentrating on her breakfast creation.

“Yes, I mean, I think. I guess so.” I pressed my lips together until I could form a complete sentence. “It was a shock finding out Marco…” I could barely say the word, and when I did, it came in a whisper. “Died.”

“Agreed.” Gertie turned toward me. “At least you can save him.”

“If we can find him.”

“You will. You care about Marco too much to let him die.”

“It would be easier if Caiyan would help.”

“Did you ask him?”

“Yeah. He promised he wouldn’t let Marco die, but he’s on some secret mission. He can’t tell me the details.”

“Why the hell not? He’s all about empty promises and romantic gestures like stealing that ring from Berlin.” She tipped her head at the ruby ring on my finger. “Then he goes all ghostly or gaslights you. The guy has got to decide what he wants. This Jekyll and Hyde thing is making you crazy.”

“Agreed. Can we talk about something else?”

“You mean like the treasure chest?” She smiled wide and flipped the pancakes. “Hope you don’t mind. I looked at it earlier.”

“What did you find?”

“The chest is legit, as far as I can tell. You’d have to take it to an antique dealer and have it dated, but it feels real.”

She removed a tray from the oven and tonged crispy bacon onto a plate.

I snatched a slice and settled at the table with my coffee. The treasure chest sat in the center. I took a long drink of my coffee. I wanted to be wide awake before I opened it again. “Did you find anything else?”

“I found a photo of the coin. It’s a Spanish Reale from the 1715 fleet treasure, also called a piece of eight. It’s probably worth something in today’s market, but you should check with an antique coin trader to verify.”

I opened the chest and held the silver disc in my hand. It was heavier than a normal coin, about the size of a half-dollar, and showed signs of sea wear. “What do you know about Long John Silver?”

She moved back to the griddle and started another round of pancakes. “He was a pirate who sailed the seven seas looking for his long-lost love. She supposedly ran off with another pirate. He lived during the golden years of piracy and was on a ship called, get this, the Sea Storm .”

“Gertie.” My head jerked her direction sloshing my coffee. “That’s the name written on the paper in the chest.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t find anything else about it. Silver got caught in the attack by Woodes Rogers, the famous English sea captain. Rogers chased the ships that escaped the blockade of the Nassau harbor under the notorious pirate Charles Vane.”

“Charles Vane?” The pirate whose ship Sasha boarded.

Gertie’s top-bun bobbed along with her head. “Silver killed Rogers in the scuffle and was arrested. Charles Vane fled and left Silver to take the heat.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“I googled him last night.”

“Rogers never became Governor of Nassau?”

“Not likely since he was dead.”

“How did Silver get caught?”

“Sorry. Google didn’t know. It was rumored that he found part of the lost treasure of the Spanish Fleet and left it to an unknown smuggler before he was…you know.” Her tongue slipped out of her mouth, and she pulled on an imaginary rope, tilting her head like it had a hangman’s noose.

A wave of nausea threatened to send my bacon back.

“Do you think Sasha is on a treasure hunt?”

“She’s definitely hunting something. And Marco is hunting her.” My heart squeezed. “Gertie, I feel terrible. I should have talked him out of staying. Talked him out of searching for Sasha.”

“How you gonna do that? Marco’s a big boy. Much too big for you to push around. Even if you knocked him out, how would you get him in your outhouse?”

“Good point.”

A knock sounded on the door. “Hello?” Jake’s voice called from the front of the house.

“We’re in the kitchen,” I hollered back.

He entered and headed straight for the coffee. “What have y’all found out about the chest? If I know Gertie, she’s already examined it, googled Long John Silver, and has more information than my stream of classified intel connections.”

Gertie grinned, and her chest puffed as she explained what she’d told me.

Jake sat at the table, looking dumbfounded. “It’s amazing that you found more information online than my associates with top security clearance.”

“What can I say.” Gertie lifted a shoulder. “I’m an exceptional Googler.” She plated pancakes and bacon, then brought them to the table and placed them in front of Jake and me.

Jake sliced a pat of butter that melted as soon as he topped his stack, then covered it with syrup. He took a bite, gave Gertie a chef’s kiss, then looked at me. “Now tell me what you know about Silver.”

“My history of Long John Silver is much different than Gertie’s true crime story. He was a fictional character in a book titled Treasure Island .” I took a drink of my coffee. “Fast food fish restaurants are named after him.”

Jake thought for a few minutes while he chewed his bacon, washed it down with coffee. “Why Hamilton?”

“I did a research paper on Alexander Hamilton in sixth grade.” I swirled the syrup across my pancake as I recalled the details from my paper. “His parents weren’t married. His father deserted him, and his mother died. After that, he was sent to America by benefactors who believed he had potential. He married into money but constantly took pro bono cases during his time as a lawyer. He died in a duel and left his family penniless.”

Gertie clicked her tongue as she slid into the seat next to me, topped her pancakes with my Mamma Bea’s homemade sugar-free apple butter. “Alexander Hamilton was the richest man of his time. He inherited a fortune from his grandfather. He financed the entire American Revolution with another wealthy merchant.”

I looked at her with my sorry-to-tell-you look. She glanced at me and then Jake.

“Oh, jeez. What did Marco do?” She threw her hands up. “Are we gonna have to tell that man at the wedding that the box he’s been protecting all these years is a roadmap to losing his fortune?”

“I’m not positive if Marco staying in the past affected Alexander Hamilton’s family,” Jake said.

“Didn’t you hear the man?” Gertie snapped her hands to hips. “His great-grandpappy died protectin’ that box in the war.”

Jake made a calming motion with his hands. “We need to wait until the next moon cycle, then go back and find him.”

I leaned in and snagged a slice of bacon off Jake’s plate. “You’ll send me, right?”

He slumped against the back of his chair and huffed out, “Yes.”

My head snapped around so fast I got dizzy. “Really? You’re not messing with me, are you?”

“I guess you heard about Brodie?” When I nodded, he huffed. “You’ve been there. You know where Marco was going. What ship he got on. And most importantly, you’ve seen Sasha.” He looked distraught at the thought.

I was going on my first mission. I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face like a giant Smiley. Gertie and Jake looked at each other. Their faces reflected the concern over my happiness.

“Well, don’t be so excited for me. I’ve been trying to get my own mission for years.”

Gertie pushed back from her plate. “It’s not that I’m not excited for you. I worry, that’s all. The Golden Age of Piracy was a dangerous time. Pirates are dangerous. They’ll kill someone just for looking at them wrong. There’s no law, no order. You’ll be totally off the grid.” She looked at Jake like do something .

He shook his head, then shoveled in the last of his pancakes. “I’ve got my hands full. Everyone else is assigned to other brigands. If it makes you feel better, Ace will accompany her.”

“Ace?” I stared slack-jawed at Jake. “Ohmigod, he hates any time without indoor plumbing. He’ll be more of a hindrance than a help.”

“Ace can fire a gun and hit his target. He also excels at fencing and isn’t half bad with a broadsword.”

“I can do that.” I slunk down in my chair. “Sort of.”

“Your last target practice, you put three rounds in the wall before you hit the target sheets.”

“I said, sort of.”

“We’ll practice.” Gertie straightened in her chair. “We have a month, right? I can teach her to shoot. Uncle Durr has a collection of antique guns. I saw one of those flintlock pistols pirates used. Jen can practice in the country, where it’s safe.”

“She’s had antique firearms training,” Jake said. “For this trip, she’ll need to learn how to use a cutlass.”

“Hello, I’m in the room. Gertie, thanks for the offer, but I’ve been trained with a flintlock pistol. And as for the cutlass, I can use my feminine wiles to stay away from those.”

“Oh, crap. She’s doomed.” Gertie’s tone rang playful, but I worried she might be right. If I couldn’t get Caiyan to spill his secrets, how would I sweet-talk a pirate?

I rinsed my plate, refilled my coffee, and headed back upstairs.

“Where are you going?” Jake asked, already examining the contents of the chest.

“Upstairs to scour the internet for information. This is my mission. I want to be prepared.” I turned and squinted one eye at Jake, giving him my best pirate face. “Aaargh!”

His face drew up in alarm. “For starters, don’t do that.”