Moontide Embrace (Historical Romance) (52 page)

"Where is Liberty?"

Adriane was beginning to realize that Sebastian Montesquieu had lied to her when he had said Judah would be
glad to see her—but why? "Your little house guest has
gone." Adriane's eyes narrowed spitefully. "I thought you
went for more sophisticated women, Judah. This one is hardly old enough to be weaned away from her mamma."

"Did you tell her about you and me?" he asked in a
demanding voice.

"Yes. I told her I was your mistress. Why shouldn't I?
What are a few truths between mistresses."

Judah's eyes were cold with contempt, and they looked
right through Adriane. She shivered as he pushed her away and rushed to the hallway. "Liberty, where are you?" he called. "Liberty!"

As he spun around to face a now-befuddled Adriane, Judah addressed her in a harsh whisper. "Where is my wife?"

The color drained from Adriane's face and she gripped the doorknob to keep her balance. "Your wife! No, Judah, no! I didn't know . . . please forgive me. I did not know that she was your wife. Your cousin told me you would be glad to see me. He even told me you wanted to get rid of the woman who was staying with you, that I should tell her to leave."

"Where is she?" Judah had spoken softly, but his turquoise eyes were burning with anger.

Tears moistened Adriane's as she drew herself up with as much dignity as she could. "It seems I have been the object of a cruel jest, Judah. Can you ever forgive me? I would never have come, had I known you were married."

Judah did not feel inclined to forgive Adriane at the moment, though he suspected that Sebastian had perpetrated the whole incident. He had known Adriane long enough to realize she would never have flaunted their past relationship in front of anyone. "I assume you met my cousin Sebastian and he put you up to this?"

"Yes, but I don't understand why he would use me to hurt your wife. Your cousin assured me you had told him you wanted to see me again."

"I never discussed you with Sebastian. You should have known that."

She reached out to him. "Judah, forgive me. As we were sailing to Martinique, your cousin assured me you had been miserable without me. How could I have known he was just using me?"

Judah's heart stopped beating, and fear for Liberty gripped him. "Did you say Sebastian sailed here with
you?"

"Yes, he did. He told me to come on out here and he
would join us tonight. I believed him."

"Where is Liberty?" he asked, fear nagging at his brain.

"She received a note and rushed off. I believe she said
she was going to the village," Adriane whispered, Her eyes implored Judah to understand. "Judah, you must
believe that I would never have come here if I had known
you were married."

"Where is Hayman?" he asked, too fearful for Liberty's
safety to hear what Adriane was saying.

"I ... he drove your . . . wife into the village."

"How long ago was that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps three hours." Adriane moved
into the parlor, picked up the note Liberty had left there,
and handed it to Judah. "When she got this message she
seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Perhaps if you read — "

Judah grabbed the note and quickly scanned it. His
eyes were wild as he crumpled it in his fist. "My God, it is
from Sebastian —he has Liberty!" He quickly turned to Adriane and roughly grabbed her by the shoulders. "You
had better give me some answers —and quickly. If my
cousin has harmed one hair on Liberty's head, you will
answer to me."

Adriane was in a state of confusion. "Why would your cousin want to harm your wife? That does not make any
sense, Judah."

"You are either an innocent victim or a clever accom
plice. Either way, you are going to give me some answers,
Adriane."

At that moment Hayman's voice drew their attention.
"M'sieu,
come quickly. The mistress has been forcibly taken away. I tried to stop them but . . . there were too
many of them. I followed them to a ship called the
Sea
Serpent."
Hayman collapsed onto the floor and Judah
bent down to him. There were cuts and bruises all over his
face.

Judah sprang into action. "Adriane, I do not know at this moment if you are friend or foe, but I am trusting
you to go to the
Winged Victory
and tell Philippe to have
her ready to sail immediately. Have the ship's doctor come back here and tend to Hayman. Hurry!"

Adriane glanced into Judah's beautiful eyes and saw
unbearable pain. He was desperately in love with his wife,
and she was sorry that she had been used to hurt him. "I
have always been your friend, Judah. Do what you must to find your wife. I will see that Philippe gets your message."

Judah felt as if he had been delivered a mortal blow.
The
Sea Serpent
belonged to the worst pirate to sail the
Caribbean. He closed his eyes, fearing what Liberty's fate
would be in the hands of Abdul Ismar. He realized that
Sebastian had found the way to hurt him most —Liberty.

Urgency was in his step as he raced from the house to
saddle his horse. All the while he was praying that he would reach Liberty before Sebastian did her any harm!

Liberty pulled her bonnet over her forehead as Hayman
helped her from the buggy. The Trade Wind Inn was a
crumbling old limestone building that had known better
days. The women leaning in its doorway were dressed in
soiled, ill-kept gowns. They looked at Liberty suspi
ciously, while children wearing tattered clothing played in
the filthy street. Liberty raised her handkerchief to her
nose, trying not to breathe in the stench. As she glanced
about the dark narrow streets, she shivered.

"Ma'dame,
you should not be here. This is a bad place
filled with cutthroats and pirates. Even the authorities will not come here." Hayman looked about him ner
vously. "Let me take you away. The master would not
approve, and he will be angry with me for bringing you here."

Liberty took a hesitant step toward the inn. She did not know who had sent her the note about Bandera, but it had to be someone who knew them both. Confused by the meeting with Judah's mistress, she was now frantic about Bandera. She had to find out about her sister.

"I have no intention of going home until I have completed my business here. You may come in and wait with me," Liberty said, acting far braver than she felt at the moment.

The common room of the inn was dimly lit, and smelled of stale rum and unwashed bodies. As Liberty's eyes adjusted to the poor light she resisted the urge to bolt for the door. More than a dozen unsavory-looking men occupied the tables. With their dark, swarthy faces, they were exactly the types Liberty had always envisioned pirates to be. She realized that every eye was trained on her, which made her even more nervous.

A plump woman with stringy black hair approached. As she wiped her hands on a soiled white apron, her glance revealed her contempt for the well-bred Liberty. "If you be Liberty Slaughter, they want you up them stairs," she said with an undefinable accent.

Liberty smoothed her leather gloves over her fingers. "I do not intend to go up those stairs,
Madame.
Please inform the person who wishes to see me that I will be waiting for him by my carriage."

The woman placed her hands on her hips, and gave Liberty a scathing glance. "I am not here to do your bidding, you fancy piece. If you want a message delivered, do it yourself." With that, she turned away, leaving Liberty to stare after her.

Amid several hoots and suggestive remarks, Liberty felt Hayman's hand on her arm. "We will go now
Ma'dame?"

"No ... I have to go up those stairs." She moved back into the shadows so the leering men could not see her.

"Will you come with me, Hayman?"

"Oui, Ma'dame.
If you are determined to do this thing,
I will not allow you to go alone."

The boards creaked as Liberty ascended the stairs. Every eye in the common room was trained on her, and
she had to keep reminding herself that she was doing this
for Bandera.

At the top of the stairs all was in dark except for the
light that streamed out of an open doorway at the end of
the long corridor. "I do not feel good about this,
Ma'dame"
Hayman said, moving closer to Liberty, so he
could protect her if need be.

"We will not enter the room, and we will leave as soon
as I have the information I came for," she assured him.

Liberty felt, rather than heard, the men who came out of the shadows and grabbed her and Hayman from
behind. A scream escaped from her, and she struggled to
free herself. Hayman was fighting with his assailants, but
Liberty saw him knocked to the floor and he did not rise.

Suddenly, a gloved hand was clamped over Liberty's
nose and mouth, shutting off her breathing. Then some
thing came down hard on her head, and she felt herself falling into oblivion. Just before she lost consciousness,
she heard a familiar voice that sent chills down her spine.

"Bring her in here, and don't hurt her," Sebastian ordered. "We will gag her before taking her aboard."

Liberty awoke to the swaying motion of a ship, and it
took her several seconds to remember what had happened. Her eyes roved over the cabin, and she sat up
quickly when she saw Sebastian smiling at her. His foot
was propped on a chair, and he was slapping his leather
gloves against his thigh.

"So, you have come back to us. Welcome aboard the
Sea Serpent."

Liberty slowly stood up on shaky legs. She was fright
ened, but she didn't want Sebastian to know it. "What do you think you are doing, Sebastian? Where is Hayman?"
she demanded.

"All in good time, Liberty. First of all, I want you to meet Captain Abdul Ismar. Captain, my sister-in-law, Liberty Slaughter. Did I not tell you she was beautiful?"

Liberty's mind was still groggy, but she recognized the
captain's name. Abdul Ismar was the pirate that had killed Judah's father and had kidnapped the American ship captain and his family! She stared at the man's
swarthy skin and dark eyes. She had thought he would be
much older, but very little gray laced his dark hair and
mustache. He was dressed in red leather boots and trousers, and looked every bit the pirate he was. As his dark
eyes moved over Liberty, a smile played on his thick lips.

"You were right, my friend. She is a rare jewel. I will
gladly pay the price you asked."

Liberty could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. "Sebastian, what is the meaning of this? You had better take me ashore at once!"

"Alas,
ma chere,
I cannot do that. You see, my friend
here has plans for you." Sebastian crossed the cabin and
stared down into her face. "What a pity, Liberty. It could
have been so different if only you had shown me the slightest kindness."

She was revolted by his nearness. When he reached for
her hand, she clasped both of them behind her. "I never
liked you, Sebastian. Your uncle and I could always see through you; we knew your real character."

Sebastian's face reddened, and he drew back his hand to strike Liberty, but it was caught and held fast by Captain Ismar. "No, no. Do not damage the merchan
dise. My buyers would not appreciate any bruises on her
pretty face."

Liberty felt all the life drain out of her. She looked
from Sebastian to Captain Ismar. "You cannot mean that
you are going to ... No, it cannot be!"

A slow smile curled Sebastian's lips. "You catch on
quickly,
ma chere.
The good captain here belongs to the
Barbary pirate brotherhood. He will see that you are
placed in good hands." Sebastian grasped Liberty's chin
and made her look into his eyes. "Who knows, with your
beauty you may end up in some sultan's harem."

Liberty spun away from Sebastian. "Do not put your
filthy hands on me again, Sebastian. You are more barbaric than your pirate friend. Judah will kill you for this."

"I expect him to try. Oh, Judah will come after you all
right, because we have left a trail he can easily follow. But
that will be his undoing. My friend here has long fancied
himself the captain of the
Winged Victory.
He wants to see my cousin hanging from her yardarm."