Page 186 of Storm over the Caribbean
With great effort, I exercised patience. He was right. It was a bad idea to look at sensitive information out in the open. Besides, it wouldn’t be long now. It wouldn’t be long until I finally got my hands on the bastard who’d tried to introduce my family to full-time deepsea diving.
It was amazing what proper motivation did for one’s exhaustion. Where, before, I’d had difficulties keeping up with Mr Rikkard Ambrose, now, I was easily keeping stride. We quickly left Hamilton and once more found ourselves on the path down to the beach.
Close! So close! Soon, I’ll know, and they shall pay!
Marshalling the rest of my strength, I sped up even more, approaching the beach at a fast pace—that is, until we reached a narrow bend in the path, and a dark-clad figure with a military haircut and pitch dark eyes stepped out from behind a rock, blocking our way.
Mr Ambrose stopped in his tracks.
“Lachance.”
“Rockface.” The Frenchman sneered. “If that truly is your name,Monsieur.”
My husband’s eyes narrowed infinitesimally. He shifted ever so slightly, positioning himself between the other man and myself. Something I would normally have taken issue with—but not now. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”
The Frenchman’s sneer twisted even further. “Not just mine.” And he snapped his fingers.
In a blink, figures appeared from behind the trees on both sides of the path. Men with guns and dangerous looks in their eyes.
Mr Ambrose’s eyes narrowed another fraction of an inch. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“It is an amusing little story, really,mon ami.” Striding over to an oak tree, Lachance leaned against it, leisurely crossing his legs. “I believe I hired you to protect my employer’s ships,non?”
“Indeed.”
“In fact I paid you quite a bit of money for the task,n'est-ce pas?”
“A sufficient amount.”
“Then why, pray, when a man was washed ashore on this island a few days ago, did he claim to be part of the crew of a merchant ship belonging to my employer? A ship that, according to him,you personally sank?”
Fight and Hunt!
“Why, pray, when a man was washed ashore on this island a few days ago, did he claim to be part of the crew of a merchant ship belonging to my employer? A ship that, according to him, you personally sank?”
I glanced sideways at Mr Ambrose. How the heck was he going to get us out of that one?
“Because I did.”
Ah. Apparently he wasn’t.
Lachance stiffened. “What! Why?”
“For more money.”
Was today Be-Suicidally-Honest Day? If it had been Mr Ambrose’s intention to stun Lachance and his cronies into silence, he had certainly succeeded. Nothing could be heard except for the sound of the sea and the chirping of the crickets in the background. By the looks on the faces of Lachance and his subordinates, they had been expecting a long and elaborate explanation in order to escape imminent death. If so, they were to be severely disappointed.
“Pardon,mon ami?” Lachance’s fingers were twitching, slowly moving in the direction of his gun. “What did you say?”
“Did I not speak clearly?” Mr Ambrose cocked his head. “For. More. Money.”
Another moment of silence. Then…
“My apologies,Monsieur. I had simply assumed that you would be at leastslightlyreticent to admit stealing from your employer. Apparently, this is not the case.”
“Indeed,” Mr Ambrose responded. He did not seem in the least worried about pissing off the men with guns. In fact, he seemed to be actively trying! Why the heck…?
Oh.
