In Like Flynn by Lauren Smith

Author:Lauren Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781952063800
Publisher: Lauren Smith

CHAPTER 13

Admiral Charles Harcourt finished reading the letter aloud in front of the young midshipman who had delivered it to him. It had come from one of their more reliable spies in Sugar Cove. He set the letter down and weighed his options. “Interesting.”

The young man who had carried the letter into Charles’s office stood even straighter at attention, if such a thing were possible. “What are your orders, sir?”

“Well . . . it seems we are to sail for Saint Kitts.”

“Sir?” the young man asked, confused. “But the letter said that Lieutenant Flynn—”

“Yes, our man relayed Lieutenant Flynn’s directions, but he also said he’d heard on the docks that the Sea Serpent is bound for Saint Kitts.”

“Does that mean you think Flynn lied to us, sir?”

Charles shook his head. “Flynn is our man, through and through. He wouldn’t try to misdirect me, not for some pirates.” Even as he said it, one worry niggled at him. Flynn had seemed to bond to the young Holland woman enough to want to protect her. Could this have somehow changed Flynn’s allegiance? Surely not.

Then again, he had seen firsthand how a woman, especially a clever, beautiful one, could change a man’s destiny. His own daughter had done that by saving Dominic Greyville, one of the Caribbean’s most notorious pirates, from the gallows. Who was to say it could not happen the other way and just as easily doom someone?

The midshipman was still trying to puzzle it all out. “So Flynn didn’t lie . . .”

“No, but if they are taking a different course, then the pirates may be onto him. He could very well be in danger. All the more reason for us to make haste for Saint Kitts.” Charles scribbled a few letters and then handed them to the midshipman to deliver to the four captains with ships currently docked at Port Royal. Thankfully the crews weren’t on shore but had recently returned to their ships within the last few hours. They would be ready to leave quickly.

They would sail for Saint Kitts within the hour. Weather permitting, they could reach the island at the same time Flynn and the pirates did. Perhaps Thomas Buck would be among them. If only luck would grant him that. He looked over his charts to consider the best possible route to take.

A few minutes later, the door to his office burst open and Captain Waverly stormed in.

“Is it true? You’re going after the Holland boy?” Waverly’s dark eyes blazed with cruel excitement.

Charles frowned. It was his duty to uphold the law, but there should be no thrill or joy in condemning another man to death. Souls who wandered off the path of lawful behavior were to be mourned and pitied, not salivated after like a hound treeing a terrified fox. And Waverly was nothing short of a sadist.

“We are pursuing a possible lead,” Charles answered carefully, but Waverly seemed quite able to read him.

“It must be some lead, Admiral, if you are mobilizing every ship in port.

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