Hidden Cargo by Robin Lloyd

Author:Robin Lloyd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 2023-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

January 19

Townsend took Hodge down below into his cabin and sat him down on the chair by his small chart desk. He put his gun down on the desktop, within easy reach. The early morning sun shone through the portholes onto the man’s face. This was the first time Townsend had observed Hodge up close. He had a thin and tense face with a bramble of side whiskers and a fuzzy beard. He could see the man was no dirt floor redneck, but his cold, light blue eyes suggested he had no hint of a heavy conscience about anything.

Hodge had now collected himself enough to start demanding his rights.

“You got no right to board my ship. I’m a cotton man, I am. Legal and fair cotton merchant. Just look at my manifest. Go inspect the cargo hold.”

“Shut your fart catchin’ bone-box, Hodge. I have my orders from Navy headquarters in Key West to question you and your crew so you keep your filthy gullywash to yourself.”

“This is a foreign port, damn ye. Yankee law don’t apply here.”

“It does in your case, Hodge.”

This was intentionally vague, and not quite accurate, but Townsend had never been bothered with exaggerating when it suited his purposes.

“Why don’t you start by telling me what you were selling to that Spaniard in Casa Blanca?”

“Don’t know what yur talkin’ about,” he said defiantly, his eyes gleaming with resentment. Hodge took out a plug of tobacco and put it in his mouth. Townsend could see that the man’s teeth were yellow with tobacco stains.

“Last night . . . What were you selling? What was the package, damn you?”

Hodge didn’t say anything.

Just then de la Cruz appeared in the doorway. “You need to see this, Cap’n.”

“What?”

De la Cruz pointed toward the bosun’s cabin, which was adjacent to the captain’s quarters.

“He’s in there. We found him in the anchor chain locker on top of some piles of chain and rope.”

Townsend holstered his gun and walked over to the other cabin. He saw a man he knew, but hardly recognized. Levi Jacobs was lying prone on his side. Townsend gasped at the sight of Jacobs’s face. His eyes were hollow and haunted, his body bony and gaunt. From the swollen eyelids, Townsend could see he’d been beaten. There was no sign of his spectacles.

“Is he alive?” he asked de la Cruz.

“Aye, sir. He’s breathing, but not speaking.”

“Jacobs, can you hear me?” Townsend cried out. He shook the man’s shoulders gently. Jacobs moaned and rolled to his other side, but it was clear that he was only semi-conscious. Townsend felt a sinking sensation come over him as he realized that Jacobs must have been the reason why Hodge was in Casa Blanca.

“See if you can get liquids into him, de la Cruz, and tell Metcalf to bring that medical book we have up forward in the chest.”

Townsend stormed back into his cabin and pounded his fist on the desk.

“What have you done?” Townsend asked. “You were trying to sell an American Navy veteran, a freedman as a slave! You will pay for that.

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