Page 39 of Storm over the Caribbean
He cocked his head. “Who, pray, said I wished to relax?”
Good point.
“So, where are we heading first?”
He sent me an icy glare. Ah, so apparently, he wasn’t in the mood to talk about this.
“Or, if you don’t want to talk about that, we could chat instead about why your father, whom you’ve had nothing to do with for over a decade, is suddenly after you,” I happily suggested. “And why he’s sending you letters that contain words such as ‘heir’, ‘duty’ and ‘marriage’. Sounds like averyinteresting subject.”
Apparently, that was the right thing to say to make him talkative.
“Caribbean,” he stated, his voice cool. “We’re heading to the Caribbean.”
“Oh, I approve!” I nodded firmly. “Summer, sun and sandy beaches.”
He cast a glance at me. Surely it was only my imagination it seemed rather displeased?
“This. Is. Not. A. Holiday.”
“Oh, I know that!” I told him, since it was clearly obvious. “If it were a holiday, you wouldn’t be here.”
That got me another of those icy looks of his. I didn’t really let it bother me, though. Judging by the way his eyes were raking my body, he couldn’t betooangry with me.
But then his gaze suddenly changed and his eyes met mine, something ominous flickering deep within them.
“Pirates.”
That one word of his made me shut up immediately. Some people might romanticize pirates, but I was married to the man who was the world’s biggest target for pirate raids, and who very much did not appreciate the fact. Some of the reports I had read were rather…disturbing.
Suddenly, his overprotective behaviour earlier made much more sense. If he intended to go pirate hunting, taking his pregnant wife along for the ride was probably pretty much the last thing he wanted to do.
Not that that would discourage me.
“During the last few months,” he explained, “my vessels travelling on trade routes through the Caribbean have fallen victim to an increasing number of pirate attacks. Slowly but surely, I am being driven out of the area, and my competition is taking over.”
Glancing over the railing, I inspected the two heavily armed ships that had been accompanying our yacht ever since we left the harbour.
“So…that’s why they are here?”
“Indeed.”
“Still…” My brow furrowed in doubt. I wasn’t an expert on pirates, but I was fairly certain that the more dangerous specimens could not be taken down with two ships alone. Fend off one or two raiding ships? Sure. Take on an entire fleet? No way! “Going to hunt pirates? Just the two of us? I know Karim is on the other ship, but you didn’t even bring any men except the sailors. Not that I don’t appreciate your confidence in my spiffing gunslinging skills, but this seems a bit risky.”
“Not exactly. You see, while my trade ships suffer from pirate attacks, the vessels of my competitors seem to suffer from no such misfortune.”
“Ah.” I nodded in understanding. Suddenly, it made a lot more sense that Mr Rikkard Ambrose, a man with a fleet of hundreds of ships at his command, would send me out to charter ships from someone else.
“Ah indeed, Mrs Ambrose.” His eyes darkened, sending a chill down my back. “Add to that the fact that, ever since the United States Navy has grown due to the Mexican–American War, they are supposed to have nearly eradicated piracy in the area…”
I nodded again. “I smell something fishy, as the man with a fish up his nose said to the fishmonger.”
“Superfluously flowery phrasing aside, you are correct, Mrs Ambrose.”
“So…” I glanced at the heavily armed ships again. “Those are not there for the pirate hunt, but just to protect us until we reach our goal, I gather. What then?”
“We’ll take a little trip to one of the main islands. Stay quiet. Keep our ears to the ground. After all…” Something dark and icy glittered in my dear husband’s eyes. “All men need to eat. Even pirates. Once we find out where those scum get their supplies from, we can follow them to their hideout and then…”
His hand clenched into a fist.
