Page 66 of The Swan Syndicate
“No, I’m afraid I have no contacts there, but I hear it’s good for the cargo business.”
“Perhaps I can help introduce you on one of your next runs.”
“Perhaps so.”
“Shall I walk you back to your ship?” MacDuff asked.
Before she could answer, Lando responded. “That won’t be necessary, sir.”
When MacDuff turned to him, Stella was relieved to see Michelson and the sailor from the inn directly behind Lando.
Lando nodded with deference to MacDuff. “You understand, sir.”
MacDuff gave the three men a thoughtful look then waved off his bodyguard, who’d taken a step closer. He kissed Stella’s hand and gave her a wicked grin. “At least I don’t have to worry about your safety.”
She reached into her pocket and took his hand, turning it over to run a thumb over his palm. Then she placed a swan in it. “Something to remember me by.” She winked. “Until next time.”
His laughter followed them as Lando took her arm and strode back the way they’d come. Michelson and the sailor remained behind them as they disappeared into a crowd of sailors.
“Are you alright?” Lando asked.
“Yes.” She couldn’t stop shaking as he slowly scanned behind them before walking her up the gangplank to the deck of theDaphne.
Lando didn’t stop until they’d reached the galley where Jamie, Fitz, and Beckworth waited. Beckworth jumped to her side as soon as Lando released her arm, and she leaned into him, welcoming his embrace as he led her to a chair.
“Well?” Jamie asked.
She took a deep breath, shaking off the last of her tremors. “Like shooting thugs in a barrel.”
22
“Two days doesn’t give us much time.” Jamie stared at the chart spread across the navigation table.
“What are you thinking?” Beckworth leaned over the table as he reviewed the ports between where they were and where they needed to be in two days. There wasn’t much to work with, and he had no contacts on this side of the coast.
“MacDuff will want to see the cargo, and he’ll push Stella to show hers first.”
“I don’t suppose you’re carrying anything that can pass muster?”
Jamie smiled. “Not currently.”
“I know someone who might have what we need.” Fitz rested his hip against the table and nudged Lando. “Do you think Parsons might have something?”
Lando gave a non-committal shrug. “He’s probably our best option, but we’d have to go south before we head back north. It’s a gamble, but he’s usually got something in that old barn.”
“We’d only need one crate,” Michelson offered. “Some flintlocks, maybe a few cannonballs.”
“A sample of wares.” Beckworth nodded. “If we have to show ours first, we don’t want to show them a warehouse, just a single crate of what we have to offer.”
“Heading south might confuse the men who’ve been watching theDaphne,” Fitz said.
It didn’t surprise Beckworth that MacDuff would have been spying as they’d been. “Do you think they’ve seen Stella aboard?”
“Aye. MacDuff probably has several men watching the ships.”
“If we head south, he might think we’re headed for hidden cargo.” Jamie nodded his head. “If we leave now, we can make it by mid-day tomorrow. If Parsons doesn’t have what we need, he might know where we can get something to satisfy MacDuff.”
Fitz scratched his beard. “And if we catch the wind right, we should make Tenby in time for Lady Swan’s meeting.”
