“I know it’s an imposition, but if you’re free, I really need your help.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“No. Jac, I can’t give you too many details on the phone.” Abigail paused. “Jac, I just came home … Momma’s dead.”
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry.” Jac searched but couldn’t find anything else appropriate to say.
“Jac, I suspect it wasn’t from natural causes. But that’s not the only reason I called. I’ll e-mail you pages from something I found. I need your expertise to tell me if it’s real, and maybe your help. Give me your e-mail address, and I’ll send you some images. I can give you some information now. Got something to write on?”
Jac excused himself, holding his hand over the receiver while he searched the desk. “Peri, I need something to write on.”
Peri opened a cabinet, extracted a pad, and handed it to him. Jac had found a pen in a drawer.
“All right, Abi, go ahead.”
“Abi … Abigail?” Peri said.
Jac wrote a page of notes, gave Abigail his e-mail address, said he would call back later, and hung up. He swiveled his chair, looked out the window, and stared through what seemed like several panes of liquid glass forming in his eyes. He gazed past the beach until his eyes fixed on a wispy haze floating across the sun—a giant red ball beginning its daily dip into the endless sapphire carpet of the Pacific Ocean. Nature’s end-of-day performance calmed the raging fire that had reignited his inner turbulence.
“Are you all right, Jac?” Peri said.
Silence.
“Jac?”
Another endless moment passed.
Jac’s thoughts turned to the one memory he always avoided—his affair with Abigail coupled with the guilt he carried for not being able to save Reg. The army psychiatrist had told Jac after the incident that caused Reg’s death that he was suffering from post-traumatic survivor’s guilt syndrome. Jac hadn’t told the shrink all the facts.
“Jac! You okay?” Peri was worried. He’d never seen his friend this upset.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Jac mumbled. “Just phantoms.”
“Phantoms?”
Jac leaned back in the chair.
“I met Abigail Chance twice. The first time was at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when she visited her husband, Major Reg Chance. Reg was my friend and commanding officer in Special Ops. We became close after saving each other’s bacon on more than one occasion.” Jac fixed his eyes on Peri’s. “I’ve met only two men, other than my father, with whom I felt a close kinship. Reg was one brother, and Peri … you know …”
Peri smiled. “Yes, Jac, I know and—”
“Peri,” Jac cut Peri off before he could finish his thought. “Let me get this off my chest. It’s time I tell you about my guilt.” Pausing, he looked up at the ceiling gathering his thoughts. “It was March 2003. I was getting dressed and picking up my gear in our ops tent before heading out on a routine patrol in my gunship when our top sergeant found me. He said Reg had taken off ‘balls to the wall’ after receiving a radio call that a Marine unit was caught in an ambush holding off at least twenty fedayeen.”
Jac was having difficulty with his emotions. It was the first time he’d told anyone other than his commanding officer and the inquiry board what had happened on that ill-fated day. He choked up several times, and his eyes became glassy as he recounted the events. When he finished he stood up and looked out the window. “I feel that I have an obligation to fulfill. I can’t stop feeling guilty. I should have saved Reg’s life.”
“Are those the phantoms you refer to?”
“Yeah … the phantoms are the ghosts that fill my mind whenever something triggers my memory of that day.”
“I’m sorry, Jac. But you need to resolve this with Abigail.” Peri stared into Jac’s eyes. “It sounds to me like both of you need to talk this out.”
“Yeah … we tried when I got home. There’s more, Peri.” Jac turned toward the window. “I crossed the line with Abigail.” Abigail’s face haunted his mind. “I guess I should tell you about my affair with Abigail.”
“You had an affair?”
“Yes, but Reg knew about Abigail and me long before he flew off without me on the mission that ended his life. Abi and I didn’t want the affair to happen. And it shouldn’t have happened. But I fell in love with Abigail. I’m to blame for Reg’s death, and I live with a guilt that’s eating my soul.”
“Go on, Jac,” Peri said.
“It began one day when Abigail came to the base to shop at the PX. She stopped by for a visit with Reg, and after leaving his office, she sought me out to ask me to meet with her alone. She said it was very important, and she didn’t want me to tell Reg. I could see that she had been crying.” Jac paused to clear his throat. “The next day she called and asked me to meet at her house. And when I asked her what it was all about, she said she couldn’t talk about it on the phone. She sounded worried. When I arrived at the house, she showed me to the kitchen, poured me a cup of coffee, and sat down across from me at the table. When started to cry, I tried to calm her down, and when she finally did, I asked her again what was going on.
“She told me that Reg was avoiding her. When I asked what she meant, she said that, ever since they were married, Reg had always been affectionate. In the morning, before he left the house, he’d give her a hug and a kiss. But that had stopped over the past three months. Now, he got up in morning and left the house before breakfast, saying he’d catch breakfast at the base. He told her he had meetings, and he got more distant every day. I told her Reg was under a lot of pressure since they’d given him command of a special unit. I tried to defend my friend’s behavior. She said that was why she’d called me. She hoped I could help her understand what was going on.
“I told her that lately we’d been so busy training I hadn’t had much time to hang out or talk with Reg. She said that the worst thing was that, whenever she approached him to talk, touch him, or give him a kiss, he would say he was busy and would push her away. She said they hadn’t made love for over three months.
“I was stunned. Abigail is beautiful, intelligent, loyal, and was in love. I envied Reg. She didn’t deserve his treatment of her. I wondered if I should get involved. Reg was my best friend. I knew I couldn’t confront him; he’d know Abigail had put me up to finding out what was wrong.
“I told her I’d feel him out a bit and see if I could find out what was going on with him, and I’d let her know. She said she thought he was having an affair. I didn’t know what to say.
“She went on to say that the day before she’d found several large withdrawals over the past three months from their bank accounts, and when she’d confronted Reg, he’d flown into a rage, saying he had earned the money, and it was his to spend any way he wanted. He said she had no right to spy on him, refused to talk about it, and stormed out of the house. That’s why she was at the base the day before, hoping she could make peace with him. She said she even apologized, but Reg told her to leave. He said he was busy and had to go to an important meeting.
“Peri, two days later I tried several times to talk to Reg, but he was avoiding me. So when I managed to corner him the next day, I decided to get right to the point. I told him he was my friend and asked why he was avoiding Abi. I told him she was really worried about him. He swore and told me to stay out of his business! He said she shouldn’t have come to me. Then he said something that struck me as being odd. He stared deep into my eyes, and his expression changed from anger to sadness. He said, ‘Jac, take care of Abigail, because I can’t anymore.’
“I was confused and asked him what the hell that meant! He just walked away. That afternoon I went to the house to meet Abigail. When she answered the door she was sobbing and rushed into my arms. I comforted her until she was able to talk. She told me that Reg had come home the previous night in a rage, packed his clothes, and
said he was moving into the bachelor officer quarters. He wouldn’t talk to her.”
“Up to that point, nothing had happened between us. I was trying to be a good friend to both of them. But when I told Abigail what Reg had said earlier, things began to change between us. I started talking to her to bolster her ego and give her courage to go forward. Abigail told me her grades were failing, and she was going to quit medical school. I talked her out of it and told her I would talk to Reg again. But when I tried, Reg got angry, pulled rank on me, and said he didn’t want to hear another word or he would have me transferred. That was the day he ended our friendship. I was still his friend.”
“Jac,” said Peri, “did you ever find out what was bothering Reg?”
“No, he died before I could get to the bottom of it.”
“Go on, Jac.”
“Then one day, the relationship between Abigail and me changed. Our friendship changed into something more. I remember it now as if it was yesterday. I reached out and took her into my arms to only comfort her, but when she turned her head to look up at me, I kissed her, and she kissed me back. And it began. I kept thinking, what the hell did Reg mean when he said ‘take care of Abigail, because I can’t anymore’? That question has bothered me and kept me up many nights over the years. Now I feel I be might be closer to an answer with Abigail’s call for help. Maybe she’s found information that will lead us to the answer.”
“It’s a two-way street, Jac. Time is the great healer, and both of you have grown up.” Peri smiled. “Jac, it sounds to me that both of you need resolution.”
“You’re right, Peri. But when I came home with Reg’s body, she told me it was her fault, and our relationship was over. I left after the funeral. I tried to see her over the years. Her mother and I became close, but Abigail never called me or wrote to me. She had moved on. And, I guess, so had I.” Suddenly, he thought, Oh my God … Nikki!
Jac wiped his eyes and stood up. “I think it’s time we get back to our dinner guests. I have a story to finish. Oh, and … Erica’s waiting for you!” Jac managed a grin.
“What am I going to do, Jac? She wants to spend the night. And, frankly, I don’t think I can handle her. She’s insatiable!
“Just tell her we have a new venture. Give her a rain check to ravage you some other time.”
“Thanks, Jac. Brilliant idea! You know, I’m nothing but meat to her.”
“I know … you’re like a big rump roast.”
Both men laughed.
“Peri, ask Carlton to book us airline reservations for tomorrow morning. And send flowers appropriate for a dear friend who suffered the loss of her mother.”
“Where are we going?”
“Winchester, Virginia. It’s in the Shenandoah Valley.”
“Yes, but …” said Peri, his look of concern having been replaced by a puzzled expression.
CHAPTER 12
Malibu, California
Later that evening
After their guests had departed, Jac and Peri collapsed in their plush leather chairs in front of the fireplace in the oak-paneled study. Between them lay a pile of printouts of the digital images Abigail had taken of Anne Bonney’s diary.
“Jac, according to what I’ve read so far, Anne and her partner, Mary Read, hid their share of the booty on some obscure island other than the one they were living on,” Peri said.
“Right. See, here?” Jac took a page from the stack and handed Peri a magnifying glass so he could read the fine handwriting. “It says they rowed for several hours.”
“Does it say from where?”
“No, and it doesn’t say what direction, but I’m hoping there are other references that will help us ascertain a direction. Abigail said she also found what looks like half of a map gouged into a piece of leather in the strongbox, and it shows the outline of an island. The map’s faded and has begun to crumble. I told her to put it in a plastic bag, suck the air out, and not to handle it until we arrive.”
“Good.” Peri puffed his Cuban cigar, held the smoke in his mouth, and slowly blew out a perfectly formed ring of smoke above his head. “There must be a million islands in the Caribbean.”
“Yep, but not all are true islands. Some are just overgrown rock outcroppings dotting the island coastlines. Let’s hope the gouged outlines in the map are fairly accurate.”
“Once again, it seems we’re dealing with that proverbial needle in a haystack.”
Jac leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Yeah. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be a challenge, and we wouldn’t be interested.”
“Right …” Peri picked up a diary page from the stack, pondered it for a moment, and after blowing out another perfect circle of smoke, said, “Jac, what else do you know about these lady pirates?”
“I know they weren’t ladies. They were cold-blooded killers and even more brutal than the men they sailed with.”
“Really?”
“The Bible intimates, metaphorically, in the story about Eve handing the apple to Adam, that the female of the species can be deadlier than the male.”
“That’s true. The female black widow spider mates with the male then kills him and wraps his body in a silk cacoon to later feed to her babies when they are born,” Peri said.
“Oh, and another fact I found mention of—according to the pirate code—”
Peri interrupted, “Code? I thought that was just a myth.”
“Apparently not. Anne actually mentions the code in her diary. Says it was universally followed by all the freebooters. Women weren’t allowed to join the pirate band or share in the loot. Women were considered to be wenches, or whores.”
“Anne and Mary got past this code?”
“Yeah, because they dressed as men, fought harder, and killed more viciously than any man. The other pirates were so afraid of them, they were not about to take up a challenge or assert their masculinity.” Jac took a swig from his vodka while Peri swirled the brandy in his snifter, savoring the bouquet.
Peri closed his eyes. “Jac, when did all this take place?”
“From seventeen eighteen through seventeen twenty-one,” Jac said as he leaned back and sunk his head into the back of the soft leather chair. “Anne had just turned seventeen when she dressed as a man and joined the pirate crew of the notorious dandy captain, Calico Jack Rackham. They had a history on land, and some accounts say Anne had his child. After it was born, she left it with a family in Cuba.”
Jac paused to take a sip of his drink and a puff on his cigar.
“Jac, we know a lot about Anne, but what about Mary? Did she dress like a man too? And how did she wind up on board Calico Jack’s ship with Anne?”
“Peri, I read that Mary Read had a history of dressing like a man. She was born Mary, but her mother began to disguise her as a boy after the death of her older brother, Mark. Mary’s mother did this so she and Mary could continue to receive financial support from the paternal grandmother. They fooled her for many years. When Mary got older, she assumed the identity of a man and fought in two wars before marrying a Flemish lieutenant. After he was killed in battle, Mary once again dressed as a man and sailed to the West Indies. On the voyage the ship was taken by pirates, and rather than die, she joined them. She took a pardon from the king and became a privateer and proved herself as a man by killing a shipmate who challenged her. That ended when she joined in a mutiny and wound up in Jamaica. There, she boarded the ship of Calico “Jack” and, as the story goes, it was a while before either Anne or Mary found out the other was a woman. But Calico knew, and he had his cake … and ate it too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Anne wrote in the diary that Calico fathered offspring from both her and Mary, more than once.” Jac took a sip of the smooth vodka and rolled it around in his mouth before easing it down his throat.
Peri looked at Jac, concern on hi
s face. “What happened to the children he fathered?”
“That’s a good question and a mystery. Nothing is mentioned in the diary. I suppose they could have been adopted by families in the islands.” Jac looked up at the wood beams in the ceiling. “I can’t imagine either mother allowing another fate.”
“I can’t either. They may have been cutthroats, but when a woman goes through childbirth, something happens and she becomes overwhelmed by instincts to protect her progeny. She feels what it is to love,” Peri said.
“The ladies looted several ships before they were caught, and their biggest prize was a Spanish merchant loaded with gold and jewels. Later, Anne and Mary were taken into custody. They endured a long trial, which amounted to nothing more than the judge’s passing death sentences on the individual pirates. Calico Jack was the only one who argued his own case. He couldn’t offer any evidence that would exonerate him, and he was also sentenced to hang. Interestingly, the ladies didn’t say a word in their defense, and were also sentenced to hang.”
“Obviously Anne was spared.” Peri sat up, shrugged, and reached over to take another diary page.
“Yes, she and Mary were spared,” Jac replied, “but only temporarily.”
“Temporarily? How so?”
“There are several versions of what happened after they were caught. The true story, contained in their trial transcript, tells that, when Anne and Mary were brought before the tribunal, they ‘pled their bellies.’”
“Pled their … what?”
“Their bellies. It meant they were pregnant at the time of their capture. The court didn’t want to exact justice on the innocent babies,” explained Jac. “But the rest of the crew, including Calico Jack, didn’t have that luxury, and were hung. The ladies were granted a temporary reprieve to deliver their children before the sentence would be carried out.”
“Did they escape?”
“Not exactly … Mary died in prison before the sentence could be executed.” Jac gave a grim smile. “No pun intended. Some accounts say she contracted pneumonia and died during childbirth. Another said she survived for a few days, but was so weak from the stress of child birth and pneumonia that she succumbed.”
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