Miss Minerva's Pirate Mishap by Maggie Dallen (to read list .TXT) 📗

a month ago, when he and his men had first gotten wind of the new pirate ring and the smuggling operations they’d established on these shores. And now...? Well, if he believed in superstitious nonsense, he’d say that this last mission was cursed.

A sudden stillness at the surrounding tables was the first clue that Marcus’s first mate had arrived as planned. The tension was palpable even before a shadow fell over Marcus and he looked up with a grin.

There was intimidating and then there was Caleb Calhoun. The man gave new meaning to the word brutish, especially for these small-town villagers who likely didn’t see many pirates about, despite their proximity to the sea.

Caleb looked every inch the criminal, even if he wasn’t one. Not quite. Rather, not anymore. Semantics were everything when it came to the law and which side one fell of it.

Large as a giant and broad as an old oak tree, Caleb made a striking impression even with his hat tipped low and moving soundlessly through a crowd. It was likely the scars along his broad jaw and the nose which had been broken too many times that made people look twice. Removing his hat to reveal too-long dark hair and dark skin, Caleb gave him a nod and a scowl as he sank down in his seat. The nod was more civility than Marcus was used to from his old friend.

“Thought you said we’d be back at sea by now,” Caleb growled.

Ah, now that was more like it.

Marcus took another swig of ale. One day on land. That was what he’d said. It was what he’d believed. If it hadn’t been for that little imp with the fiery eyes and the feisty fists, he would have been back at sea by now.

“This ain’t no place for us,” his second-in-command added, glancing around with open suspicion at the townsfolk who’d gotten over their stunned silence at the sight of Caleb and were now laughing and talking nearby.

Caleb lifted his upper lip in a sneer as the fellows closest made the mistake of staring a second too long.

Caleb wasn’t one for staying in one place too long, and it was clear to see why. He looked upon everyday people—good people—as though they were a different species.

Marcus grinned at his old friend. He supposed he felt the same, to a degree, but he also knew that his time was running out. One day in the not too distant future, he’d need to leave his life of adventure behind. Settle down. Marry. Maybe even have a child or two. A proper family like his brother and sister.

He jerked back in his seat at the idle thought. That was a first. He’d never let himself think too long on what the future held in store before. Typically those thoughts only led to low spirits and a temper to match.

“What’s wrong with you?” Caleb muttered.

Marcus shook his head with a rueful laugh. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

It was only...the moment he’d thought about family and a home, he’d had a startling flash of Minerva’s face, of all things. Min, her father had called her. Fitting, he thought with another grin. She was rather miniature in stature. But no less fierce for it.

“What do you look so pleased about?” Caleb demanded. “We’re supposed to be gone by now.”

Marcus nodded. “I know, I know.”

“You said we’d be on and off of these shores before anyone even spotted us,” Caleb added.

Marcus let out a weary sigh. That was what he’d said. It was what he’d believed.

“What happened to the buyer?”

“Scared off,” Marcus said. No need to add that he’d let an adorable little lady botch his last mission.

Caleb grunted. “So, no more information on how this smuggling operation links to the pirate leader we’ve been after.”

Marcus shook his head, his smile gone now as his original frustration returned.

Smuggling was one thing, but the fact that these smugglers were working with pirates who were part of a small mastermind ring of thieves was something else altogether.

The fact that this new leader was expanding his crew and his alliances was alarming, but the fact that he felt safe enough to make connections among the British navy? That was unsettling. This person had nerve, and intellect, by all accounts. That was what made him a threat. Enough so that the crown had taken note, which was how Marcus and his crew had gotten involved.

“We’re out of our element, mate,” Caleb said as he reached for the full glass a server set before him.

Marcus nodded. They certainly were. And though he wasn’t quite certain if Caleb was referring to this town or this investigation, it didn’t matter. Both were equally true. Marcus had sent his men to a town farther inland—no need to cause even more alarm here in Billingham by having a crew of ill-mannered, unkempt sailors roaming around. But he and his men weren’t used to staying in any one town for long, and Marcus was sure he and Caleb weren’t the only ones growing restless.

It was equally true that this investigation wasn’t their normal sort. When Marcus first faked his death and created a new life for himself, he had done it for one reason—to help abolish slavery.

Under the guise of piracy, he and his men on the Night Raider had preyed upon the cruel monsters on the sea. The ones who dealt not in gold but in human beings. He and his men had no qualms stealing from those pirates, along with freeing their slaves, and so, in a sense...Marcus and his crew were pirates.

But they were also pirate hunters. And as of two years ago, when his brother Alistair and his wife stepped in to keep him out of harm’s way when he and his crew became known to the British admiralty, he’d donned another guise. A privateer.

His brother Alistair had already been operating a privateering enterprise, and so it hadn’t been too difficult for him and his wife to obtain the proper papers