Busbee, Shirlee

by Lady Vixen

  Nicole nodded; then realizing Allen couldn't see her, she said, "Yes, but don't let us waste time talking. I've come to free you."

  In the inkiness of his cell Allen smiled. Bless the child! How calmly she said that—as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

  "Nick, I don't mean to discourage you, but I'm chained and the cell door has a very stout lock on it."

  "Bah! Who cares? I'm armed, I have a pistol in my pocket. I'll think of something," she said with more confidence than she felt. Yet at the same time Allen's being so near made her feel certain that their luck was changing. Leaning her back against the bricks of his prison and watching for signs of discovery, she called up to him, "Who has the keys? Do you have a guard?"

  "No. The only guard is old Manuel, and he's in the room at the front. He has the keys to the cell, Nick, but I'm afraid it's Saber who possesses the key that will unlock my chains." Allen's voice was bleak.

  Damn the man! Was he infallible? The full import of Allen's words sunk in. Saber was here! Her whole body stiffened with apprehension. After the first shock subsided she willed herself not to be terrorized. Saber was only a man, not the devil he resembled. He did make mistakes —her being here was proof of that. Even so, it was with increased suspense that her eyes pierced the darkness. The thought of Saber standing hidden in the night and watching her was unnerving, but she discarded it with a stubborn shake of her head. She wasn't a namby-pamby creature to jump at shadows.

  "Are you certain, Allen? Wouldn't the keys stay with the old man?"

  Allen frowned. Slowly he said, "You could be right, Nick." It was true, a separate key had been used to lock his chains, but there was no reason to believe it had not been added to the ring of keys that were hung in the jail's main room. He had assumed Saber would keep it. Yet Nick's query made more sense and he knew Saber had not planned on Nick escaping. He smiled grimly. Saber had underestimated young Nick rather badly.

  Still smiling faintly, he said, "There's one way to find out, Nick. You'll have to get the keys from old Manuel. Can you do it?"

  Nicole's jaw jutted in a stubborn line. She'd get those damned keys if it killed her! Optimistically she whispered, "Don't worry, if worse comes to worse, I shall shoot off the chains. Give me a moment, I shall think of something." And she did. Boldness had served her purpose in fleeing Saber, and if it had worked once, it would work again.

  Discipline was lax on the island, and old Manuel's position as jailer was merely for appearances and because it gave him something to do. The few times the jail was actually used, it was common for the prisoners to have their cronies come to commiserate with them. It was not uncommon for old Manuel to hand the visitor the keys and let them show themselves in and out. No one had ever taken advantage of that laxity, mainly because while the prisoners might grumble, they were in awe of Lafitte. Jean was fair, and they knew better than to cross him.

  From her visits to Grand Terre as a member of Saber's crew, Nicole knew that discipline was almost nonexistent. She walked calmly to the front of the calaboose and entered. She was uneasily aware that the old Spaniard might have been warned to watch out for her, but she thrust those cowardly thoughts aside and spoke boldly. "I've come to see Allen Ballard from La Belle Garce," she said crisply. "Where is he?"

  The old man, sleepy from his nightly rum, waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the keys. "Help yourself. He's in the last cell on the left."

  Her blood pounding like thunder in her temples, Nicole took down the keys, her fingers trembling with the elation of success. As nonchalantly as possible she walked down the narrow hall to Allen's cell and fumbled through the keys, trying to find the one that would open the door. Her hands were shaking so badly that she wasted precious seconds before at last the door swung wide. With her heart leaping in her breast, she ran to Allen. For a long moment they stood staring at one another, and then with a cry of distress at his haggard and bruised appearance, Nicole threw herself on his chest, her arms hugging him tightly. "Oh, Allen, your poor face. What has he done to you? Was it very bad?"

  Allen gave her a warm smile and whispered into the soft hair that brushed his lips, "It's nothing, Nick. And now that you are here, everything will be fine."

  Nicole hugged him again, her eyes swimming with tears of emotion; as naturally as a sister bestowing a kiss on a beloved brother, she pressed her lips sweetly to his. Unfortunately, to the tall bearded man who suddenly materialized in the open doorway, it had all the appearances of lovers reunited. His lips drew back in a growl of outrage and bright yellow fire gleamed in the gold eyes.

  "Touching!" Saber snarled.

  Nicole and Allen both froze. Her hand clutching the pistol in her pocket, Nicole whirled to face Saber, who loomed just inside the doorway, his feet spread apart and his bearded face very black in the dim light.

  Allen sensed her intent and entreated, "Don't, Nick! The sound of a shot will bring a crowd. You won't be able to escape."

  Sarcastically Saber murmured, "Are you sure you don't mean she wouldn't have time to free you!"

  Allen threw Saber an angry glance, but it was Nicole who snapped, "Shut up, Saber! Or I will shoot you."

  Mockingly he bowed. "Your wish, madame, at the moment, shall be my most fervent desire."

  Eyeing him wrathfully, Nicole kept the pistol aimed at his heart and commanded, "Step over there, against the wall."

  His mouth twitching with what could have been anger or, disconcertingly, amusement, Saber complied. With a bored expression on his face, he asked casually, "Do you intend to chain me like the good Allen?"

  A curt nod was his answer. Nicole approached him cautiously. Saber's docile air didn't deceive her at all. Keeping the pistol on him with one hand, while she attempted to chain him with the other, was going to be awkward. She scowled at Saber and then cast a hopeful look at Allen. It would be wiser to free Allen first, then the two of them would have him at their mercy. But to Nicole's dismay none of the keys fit the locks of Allen's chains.

  "If you had only asked, my dear, I could have saved you the trouble," Saber said smoothly. "The key you want is reposing on the bureau in my room at Lafitte's." She glowered at Saber as he lounged carelessly against the wall, apparently completely at ease.

  "Be quiet!" she muttered tightly as she walked toward him. There was only one solution. She must chain Saber herself and then shoot Allen free. They would have to move quickly after that to escape the curious mob that would surely gather. It was not what she would have wished, but it seemed to be their only chance.

  Standing in front of Saber, she said softly, "If you make one move that is not to my liking, I shall shoot you dead. Do you understand me?"

  Watching her closely, Saber nodded his head slowly, his eyes, hard and speculative, locked on her white, determined face.

  "Put your left wrist in the shackle directly above it," Nicole commanded. "Do it carefully, Saber, and remember that I would enjoy killing you."

  But Saber only crossed his arms over his chest and said coolly, "I have no intention of doing anything so damned silly. Go ahead and shoot—if you dare!"

  Nearly stuttering with rage, she shouted, "G-g-goddamn y-you, Saber, do as I tell you!"

  "No," he replied calmly, unmoved by her actions.

  Observing Nicole's face, Allen warned anxiously, "Be careful, Nick. He's deliberately goading you."

  With an effort Nicole attempted to swallow her rage. But it was useless, the flame in her hair spoke of a truly ungovernable temper, and seeing her enemy before her, mocking her dilemma, she suddenly lost all caution. Storming at him, she dragged furiously at the arms that were folded over his chest and cried, "You will do as I say—even if I have to force you myself!" Forgetting her injury, she raised the pistol and struck him a vicious blow across one cheek.

  A moan of pain came from her as her injured wrist betrayed her, but it quickly became a scream of fury as Saber exploded into action. Snaking both arms around her, he trapped her in a less-than-gentle em
brace. Allen surged helplessly against his chains as they struggled in front of him, while with horror Nicole felt the pistol slip from her agonized grasp. She was caught like a vixen in a snare and she knew it. Her chest was pressed tightly to Saber's and his arms crushed her. Pride forbade that she beg and common sense told her it was useless to waste her strength. Damnable, damnable temper, she thought with self-disgust. Why had she let it possess her to the point of near insanity? Closing her eyes in contempt of her own foolish actions, she cursed herself for being the hotheaded nitwit she was.

  "Do we cry quits, Nick?" Saber asked quietly.

  Her eyes flew open; hating him and trying for some of his own arrogant coolness, she drawled, "You're asking me? How odd! In the past you've always commanded."

  Smiling down into her upturned face, he was surprised to feel something next to admiration for her. With wry amusement he said, "What a little cocklebur you are! Do you never stay where you are put?"

  Not deigning to answer him, Nicole stared mutely at the hard mouth above her. She wasn't about to cross verbal swords with him.

  "Saber, hear me," Allen demanded from across the room. "You wouldn't listen earlier, but you must see that it is only just that you return Nicole to her family. Take her to New Orleans and place her on the first ship that sails for Jamaica—from there she can easily find passage to England. I have the money to pay for it, as well as enough to hire a woman to act as companion to her. What differences lie between you and me are between you and me. She has nothing to do with it. I beg of you, man, let her go!"

  Saber's face went icy, the gold eyes staring with dislike at the chained man. "Let her go! Have your wits gone gathering? Why should I? What would I gain by it?"

  Allen's own face was tight, the flesh stretched thin over his handsome features as his mind worked frantically on some inducement that would appeal to the man. He had nothing to offer and appealing to Saber's better nature was useless—Saber had no better nature!

  Nicole herself put an end to the waiting uncertainty. "Don't plead for me, Allen," she said softly. "What is done is done. It was none of your doing." She tossed her head back defiantly and added, "I shall make my own future and it won't be one that was bargained for with the likes of Saber." She glared up at her captor, despising him with her eyes.

  Saber grinned at her and murmured, "You think not?" Flicking a taunting glance at Allen, he drew Nicole closer to him, and bending his head, he trapped her unsuspecting lips with his own. As if aware of the sick rage that filled the other man, he kissed Nicole deeply, his mouth seeking the sweetness from between her lips.

  Nicole made no resistance to his searching mouth, surmising that he was doing it to torment Allen and to remind her of how completely she was his. The kiss gave her no pleasure—she endured it, and when it was over a shudder of relief shook her.

  Saber frowned at her reaction, but released her with a careless shrug. Picking up the dropped pistol, he tucked it securely in the wide leather belt at his waist. Turning to Nicole, he searched her thoroughly, his hands purposefully lingering on her breasts and thighs, caressing her openly. Humiliated to the core of her being at such obvious intimacy in front of Allen, diamond-bright tears sparkled in the depths of her eyes. Saber's movements were not without reason. He was driving it home to Allen in the cruelest way possible that Nicole was his. The picture of Nicole kissing Allen was etched in acid on Saber's brain, and its memory made him want to take her now on the filthy floor of the cell in front of the other man. As if by possessing her before him, he could prove his ownership, like a small boy taunting, "See, she's mine!" But when he glanced at Nicole's rigid face, the feeling left him, and for the first time in half his lifetime, he let consideration for another human being sway him from his own desires. The sight of her face, with her emotions so clearly defined, made the thought of further degradation insupportable.

  Without a word he pocketed the knife he found, as well as the gold coins and the jewelry. One hand clasping her arm, he guided her in the direction of the cell door. Reluctantly she obeyed the commanding pressure on her arm. It was so reminiscent of the scene of yesterday morning on La Belle Garce that a ripple of mirthless laughter broke from her.

  "No, I'm not about ready to dissolve into frenzied weeping," she said as he glanced at her sharply. "I merely found it amusing that this is the second time in as many days that you have managed to gain the upper hand."

  A glimmer of sardonic amusement in his gaze, he murmured, "You are rather stubborn. You seem to have the ridiculous idea that you can outmaneuver me. For shame, young Nick, you should know better!"

  Incensed, she opened her mouth to join battle, but then recollecting past arguments, she turned away.

  Saber grinned, his eyes dwelling appreciatively on the fiery glints in the dark hair. Then as he looked back at Allen, his grin faded and he remarked, "Cease your worry for her. As you can see, I meant what I said earlier —I have Nick's future well in hand!"

  Silently, for there was nothing he could say, Allen watched dismally as Saber locked the cell, and with him pushing Nicole in front of him, they vanished from his sight. Dejectedly he slumped against the wall. Poor Nick! He should never have listened to her in the first place. The instant he had discovered her sex he should have sent her packing. And now it was too late. She was as much a prisoner as he and he was powerless to help her. Gad, what a plucky thing she was though; he remembered with sudden affection her determination to free him. Belatedly he realized that it would have been wiser if he had sent her to his supervisors with the news of his capture. At least she would be free, and his confederates would instantly set in motion plans to secure his release. Twice Saber had managed to outfox them, and he wondered wearily if it would always be so.

  He knew he had made no mistakes. He had been so careful, and he doubted that Nicole had given away much. But then she knew really nothing to confess. Allen was struck by a new thought and his eyes brightened— there was no proof of his activities, of that he was certain. Yet against Saber's high-handedness, he was defenseless. Saber had not even accused him of any crime! But the man was a law unto himself and few, if any, questioned his actions. Even Lafitte was known to overlook certain of Saber's transgressions. And so Allen's unhappy thoughts went—concern for Nicole, regret that he had not acted sooner, speculation about Saber.

  Nicole, with Saber her jailer, once more was not precisely in the most pleasant frame of mind herself. Her wrist was paining her fretfully, and she wondered if this time she had truly broken it. About Allen she could do nothing, at the moment. She spared him a second's regret and then turned all her energies into maintaining as self-reliant a front as she could in the circumstances. It gave her a great boost of satisfaction to appear blase and insouciant as she entered Lafitte's home beside Saber. Not for the world would she have betrayed the uneasy flutter in her throat or the knot of trepidation in her stomach. Her back was ramrod straight; her head was held high; and her eyes were gleaming with challenge. She wasn't beaten, but had merely suffered a slight reversal—that was all!

  Having been only a cabin boy, Nicole had never been inside Lafitte's mansion, so it was with a great deal of lively curiosity that she noted her surroundings. After having glanced with penetrating thoroughness at the profusion of impressive gilt-edged mirrors that lined the walls, the innumerable intricately inlaid tables, and the hanging crystal chandeliers, she decided that Lafitte had tastes bordering on the vulgar, and her lip curled with disdain.

  Observing her reaction, Saber smiled slightly and said, "It is a bit overpowering, isn't it? Jean feels that it is what is expected of him. But it is also a not-so-subtle way of reassuring his prospective buyers that he is perfectly capable of supplying their demands. Proof of that is all around you."

  Having come to the conclusion that it would be best if she treated Saber as something highly distasteful that had to be endured, Nicole schooled her features into an expression of utmost boredom and shrugged her shoulders to imply that su
ch things were beneath her and that only good manners, of which Saber would know nothing, kept her in his company. Saber's amused laughter did little to soothe her already rasped emotions, and she turned her back on him.

  It would do no good to hurl abuse at him, and it was foolish to think that another physical attack would be successful. She was too much of a gambler not to know when luck was against her. She sighed, thinking that luck had truly deserted her lately. She knew that her feelings were still too raw from this latest catastrophe for her to think calmly and clearly. And with Saber one needed to be very calm and collected! Her only defense at the moment was indifference. Where temper had failed her, perhaps icy aloofness would prevail. Unwisely she glanced over her shoulder and caught him in an outright grin. Her eyes snapping with displeasure, she asked nastily, "Something amuses you?"

  His splendid white teeth gleaming against the blackness of his beard, Saber replied provocatively, "Yes, you do! I swear I can't remember when, outside of bed naturally, a wench has given me as much enjoyment as you have."

  Nicole's strangled gasp of rage was lost on Saber as

  Lafitte, an expression of pleasure on his face, entered the room and said, "Ah, you have returned, mon ami. You departed so suddenly after the message arrived that someone was skulking around the calaboose that I wondered if you would return this evening."

  Catching sight of Nicole's tall, slender form, he halted just inside the room, his black eyes taking in her set face and rigid stance with open speculation. For a moment she was subjected to a thorough and unnerving appraisal, and then Lafitte looked at Saber murmuring, "But yes! One sees how it was done. She is tall for a woman, and in those bulky clothes, her shape would have been hidden. How old did you say she was?"

  Blandly ignoring Nicole's wrathful face, Saber replied, "Eighteen and a few months, I believe. And of course, the hair being scraped back was also in itself a bit of a disguise. Freed it's an entirely different story. See what I mean?"