Page 55 of The Swan Syndicate
“Stay put. I’ll be right back.” Lando handed him the binoculars and crawled away.
Beckworth resumed his watch with the glasses, taking in the men on the beach and those watching from the ship. Was this the last of their cargo, or did they have more stops to make? If they were working their way north, then chances were likely the meeting spot would be north, but not a guarantee.
He watched for another five minutes before he heard the snap of a branch and froze. It might be Lando, but it was rare for the big man to make a sound while on surveillance. When he heard another rustling of feet stirring up forest debris, he put the glasses away.
The sound of a flintlock being primed made him turn. A man, not more than twenty feet away, pointed a pistol at him. He should have moved when he heard the twig break.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
“Just someone out for a ride.” Beckworth stood and shifted his weight to his left foot, rubbed his hands together, and shrugged. “I must admit, I’m a bit of a curious sort and saw a wagon head down this path. I thought there might be another dock I wasn’t aware of.”
“Unfortunately, your curiosity has gotten you into some trouble.”
Now that Beckworth had time to get a look at the man, he was one of the men at the pub. Not good. And he appeared to be smarter than the average sailor. Probably the second mate or perhaps Cheval’s muscle. Neither he nor Lando had considered there might be a fourth man. He might have been returning from town on another errand and it was just their bad luck.
Beckworth spread his arms wide. “If you just let me on my way, we’ll just call this a misunderstanding.”
“I wish I could do that, but you don’t appear to be the trustworthy type.”
That hurt. He’d shared his best smile. “I assure you, I’m known to be quite trustworthy.”
The man seemed to consider it for a moment, but Beckworth knew it was a ruse. The man was going to shoot him. No doubt about it. So, without hesitation, when Lando swung his rifle, slamming it against the man’s head, Beckworth dove to his left.
The man pulled the trigger as he fell, but the shot went wide in the opposite direction of Beckworth, who rolled and came up in a crouch.
He glanced up at Lando. “How did you know?”
The big man shrugged. “Just had a feeling.”
They looked down at the man.
“Someone will be coming,” Lando said.
Beckworth checked the man’s jacket and pulled out a piece of paper from an inside pocket. “Look at this.” He passed the paper to Lando, who took a few seconds to look it over before handing it back. Beckworth folded it as he’d found it and tucked it back in the pocket then tugged the jacket in place.
“Shall we leave him alive?” Lando asked.
Beckworth nodded. “Let’s go.”
The two ran for their horses. They didn’t mount but walked the horses north of their position, taking the long way around before mounting at the main road. They raced the horses toward town, though the wagon would never be able to catch them.
They slowed as they approached the first buildings.
“He’s seen your face.” Lando turned down a street that led to the stables.
“And he knows there were two of us, but we could have been anyone,” Beckworth said.
“Was he at the pub?”
“Yes, and he’s likely to remember when he has time to think it over. Worse case, they change their plans. If they assume we ran before checking pockets, they might consider themselves lucky, though they’ll be more cautious.”
“Let’s see what Jamie makes of the map.”
19
Stella stared at the ceiling from the bed in their cabin. After preparing everything Cook needed for lunch and resorting the pantry, which had gotten out of order, she’d collapsed on the bed and fallen asleep. When she woke, the ship creaked but was otherwise quiet.
When the knock came, she jumped up and, with two long strides, pulled the door open. She startled Fitz, whose fist was raised to knock again.
