"I brought you bread and cheese as well, but we've no time for a lover's meal. It will be dawn soon. I have to get you away from here." She struggled with his weight as she tried to lift him to his feet.

Ric choked on the flood of rich wine he squeezed from the wineskin with both hands. For a moment, his stomach threatened to refuse it, but the alcohol was beginning to clear his head and take the chill from his bones.

"Jocelyn..."

"Yes, love, it's me. Can you stand?"

"I think so." When he tried, his knees buckled from days of misuse, but Jocelyn caught his arm and steadied him. He stared at her in the pale wash of moonlight. Perhaps he was still dreaming. Dressed in a stunning gown her bare shoulders fairly glowed in the light, with errant spirals of her hair framing her face, she was the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen. "You are so beautiful," he sighed.

"And you are so dead if you do not find your feet and start moving." She tugged at him.

"Where are we going?"

"Not we...you. You're leaving Tortuga. Tonight."

Perhaps he truly was mad. Or perhaps she was. There was only one way he knew to get off Tortuga, and that was feet first and only as far as a gibbet. "How do you suggest I leave?"

She tugged at him to follow her. "First I'm getting you off this rock and away from the fort. There are only so many places they could have moored the Devil's Pearl. You'll steal the damn boat for a second time and slip out of the harbor before they discover you're missing. The Scarlet Night--"

"Is gone. Tupper's twenty-four hours were over forty-eight hours ago."

"Then you'll find her." When he wouldn't be tugged, Jocelyn got behind him and pushed.

He stumbled ahead. "It's not that simple."

"Then you'll lose yourself in Port de Paix until you can get away."

Ric stopped and halted her by grasping both her shoulders. "Even if we make it off the Dovecote, we'll never make it out of the fort."

Her chest rose and fell with each quick breath. "You'll die if you don't."

Ric cradled her cheek and whispered in the dark. "There are worse things."

Jocelyn's eyes went wide with fear before she gripped the front of his shirt in her two fists and shook him. "I will not watch them hang you, do you understand me? I've spent the past two days and nights searching for you. It was only by chance I heard some of the men laying bets on how long my bastard father would keep you in this horrible cell.

"I figured another day without water and he could save his rope."

She dropped her forehead onto his chest. "You don't have another day. He gave the order for you to be hung at noon unless you told him where the Scarlet Night was anchored."

He kissed the sweet softness of her hair. "I wouldn't tell him even if I knew."

Jocelyn raised her head, and ran trembling fingertips across his throat. "And you'll die a few inches taller." Her gaze held his. "For two days I've walked this blasted fort. I discovered another way out."

"And you believe I'll leave you after all that's happened?"

"It was always the plan," she insisted.

Ric gave a short laugh. "To hell with the plan."

Jocelyn shook her head. "No. If I go with you, he will hunt us down. No port would be safe for us. No sea wide enough. If it is just you, yes, he'll lose face, but the fierce crew of the Scarlet Night has already taken an eye, what's a bit more?"

He didn't laugh at her jest. "What about you?"

"I'll be the dutiful daughter and do as he wishes. I'll marry the man he has chosen for me, and in time, I'll become one of the richest women in France. Every day, I'll take a little bit more from him." She lifted one shoulder. "Not all pirates steal from a boat, you know."

Ric ran a finger over the bow of her breast. "How do I live knowing another man will have you?"

"Have you seen Vice Admiral Lesauvage?"

He dipped into the shadowed valley between her breasts and made her tremble. "No."

"I promise you, he will never have me." She kissed him then, as if sealing her pledge. "Come, we can't wait any longer."

Ric followed close behind her, trusting she knew the way, ducking into shadows, dodging the patrol. The ladder leading away from the Dovecote had already been lowered. "The guard is lazy bringing supplies up from the fort," Jocelyn explained. "He's lazy, but quick. We need to hurry."

At the base of the stone steps, she headed off to the right. Ric caught her skirt. "The gate is in the other direction," Ric hissed.

"We'll never make it out of the gate." She tugged at his hand. "I found another way."

Instead of fleeing from the depths of the fort, Jocelyn led them deeper into the maze of corridors and hallways. He strained to hear anything other than the sound of the blood rushing in his ears. Any moment he expected to hear the warning bell toll or turn a corner and run into the guard. While he didn't care about his own neck, if they caught Jocelyn, her father would have no option but to charge her with treason.

"On the far side, closest to the mangroves, it looks as if the outer wall took a hit, or the stones shifted. There are several loose rocks. We can get out there without raising an alarm and replace them without anyone knowing. If we stay to the wall at the point, we can get lost in the morning's traffic bringing the daily supplies to the fort." Jocelyn stopped. Her breath coming in short gasps.

"What is it?"

"I can't remember which way we go here. Let me think." She turned and looked back the way they came. "I think we may have come too far."

"Are we lost?"

"No." She pointed before dragging him into an alcove. "Shh."

Ric heard them, the guards, coming down the corridor. Their boot heels rapped on the stones. Jocelyn was holding her breath. Pressed close, he could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. He wished along with the wineskin, and food, Jocelyn had remembered to bring him a blasted weapon. If felt like he was standing naked on the deck of the Night waiting to have his arse shot off.

As the men passed, Jocelyn closed her eyes as if by not seeing them, they'd not see her. She waited only long enough for the sounds of boot heels to fade around the next corner before she pulled at him again. "This way, I'm certain."

Looking back over his shoulder, Ric followed close at her heels. "Bloody hell, woman. Where the hell are you taking us?"

"Not far now." Jocelyn rushed a few more yards down the shadowed hallway before stopping at a door. She pointed to a scratch by the floor. "This is it. See there? I marked it. The way out is through here."

They pushed into the darkened room and closed the door. "We made it..." Jocelyn panted. "I found these quarters after discovering the breach in the wall. I haven't seen anyone use these rooms. Perhaps they're waiting until they fix the wall." She raised the wick on the lantern hung next to the door.

"Bonjour, Jocelyn..."

Chapter 30.

A wave of ice-cold panic crashed over her as she gasped, "Pere..."

Her father stood on the far side of the room with a pistol in his hand. "A bit early for you to be scurrying about, don't you think?

"H-how could you have guessed?" She took two strides toward him. Her legs turned to liquid. Ric reached for her arm and pulled her back.

"You're a bright girl. I knew you'd end up here eventually." He used the pistol to indicate Ric. "With him."

Ric still held tight to her arm, but she managed to place her body between him and her father's gun. "You can't stop us. W-we'll fight you if we have to."

One corner of her father's mouth tipped in a smirk. He angled his head as if to see around her. "Did she bother to bring you a weapon when she delivered you from hell?" He directed his question to Ric.

With little effort, Ric moved her behind him as if he was the one to be the shield for them both. "No, sir, she did not."

Her father tsked. "Your second mistake, Jocelyn. The first was imagining I wouldn't notice all those long walks you've taken over the last two days and nights. You've hardly slept since your meeting with Lesauvage."

He laid his pistol on the table next to him. "I thought at first you were trying to escape, but then when you discovered this small chink in the armor of this fort and didn't leave, I guessed at the rest. I issued the order to have Captain Robbins hung to play your hand. Although, you had me worried, Jocelyn, I assumed you knew about my 'Little Hell.'"

"I only found out about it tonight after dinner."

He nodded. "Just in time. Speaking of which, I'll need you to stand against the wall there and be silent for a few moments. We're about to have company. I'd rather they didn't see you."

No sooner had he said it, there came a knock at the door. He waited until she and Ric were in place before he opened it.

"Good evening, sergeant. Is all well?"

Jocelyn could only see her father's back from where she stood. What the hell was he up to? She shot Ric a nervous glance. She didn't understand. If he was going to seize them, why didn't he do it?

"Admiral Beauchamp, I'm sorry to disturb you, sir. I believed this area to be clear. Thought I heard voices."

"No one here save me. Insomnia. I've gotten in the habit of coming here to catch up on my reading. Perhaps you heard an echo."

"Perhaps. Is there anything I can get for you, sir, before I continue my rounds? A brandy? Warm milk?"

"Nothing. Thank you."

"If you think of anything, I'll be making one more pass before my watch ends."

"Thank you, sergeant."

He closed the door. Looking at them, her father held a finger over his lips as he continued to listen at the door. "He's gone."

"What are you playing at?" Jocelyn hissed. "You could have turned us over to the guard. Sounded the alarm. Why didn't you? Is this yet another form of torture for you?"

"I am playing at nothing, Jocelyn. How do I explain this to you? I've been doing a lot of thinking since you dropped back into my life. You're not the only one having sleepless nights." He indicated the chairs along one wall. "Please sit." When they refused, he gave a small shrug and continued. "When I sent for you, I had this grand illusion of what life might be for us. We could be a family again, at least until the wedding. Because regardless of what you believe, Jocelyn, you are my child. My only daughter. In my heart, I truly do love you."

Jocelyn crossed her arms over her chest. He was saying the words she longed to hear her entire life and yet they didn't have the effect she'd always imagined? Perhaps because she didn't believe them. Was he toying with them like a cat tortures a mouse before it pounces?

Father continued. "You were right, however. I did abandon you, and not only because you were a child, and there was no way to care for you and be a soldier at the same time. It was too difficult seeing you. Even as young as you were, you reminded me of her. Lynnette. To look upon you and see your mother in your eyes was too painful." He rubbed a hand over his eyes. If he were lying, he was a master at it. God help her, Jocelyn started to believe him.

"I thought I was doing the best thing by keeping you at the abbey all those years, but in truth, it was cowardly. After your mother's death, I didn't want to remember. I did everything I could to block her from my mind. I poured myself into my work, my career. I stayed away from you thinking it would help me heal. I believed I was over the pain of her loss.

"When I got word that you'd been lost to me, I'm ashamed to admit I felt free. Free from the guilt of not being a proper father I've carried all these years."

Ric said nothing, but reached for her hand.

Her father threw his arms wide. "Then you appeared. A great blessing, and a great curse. Seeing you nearly split me in two. You are the very image of her. Exactly the way I remember her. Young and beautiful. Vibrant." He closed his eyes and held up a hand as if to wipe away her image from this mind. He hung his head. "I can't have you here. You can't possibly imagine how difficult it is. Death by a thousand cuts. I die a little each time I see you.

He turned away from her. "I thought Lesauvage was the perfect answer. He saved my life when we were both midshipmen. I owed him. He comes from wealth, power. I thought I could send you off again. It would be a good life for you. But the man is a vomitous toad. He confirmed that the other night. I can't force you into a lifetime with him." He shook his head.

"I loved your mother as she loved me--with all of her heart." He turned back to her. "We didn't have the perfect life, but I believe we had the perfect love. It created you after all."

Her father swept a hand toward Ric. "You love this man. I saw it the first day when you fought for him. Begged me for his life. I saw you look at him the exact same way I remember Lynnette looking at me. As if there were no other person in the room. As if you carried your heart in your eyes.

"It made me crazy. And to make it worse," he jabbed a finger at Ric, "he is my sworn enemy. I have battled with him and the bastards of the Scarlet Night from the first day I landed here." Anger raised his voice as he appraised Ric. The muscle in his jaw tightened as he seemed to struggle against it. He met her gaze and took a long breath. "But you love him. I know if I kill him, I kill any feelings you could ever have for me. I might as well hang you both."

Was that his plan? Jocelyn held tight to Ric's hand. "S-so where does that leave us?"

"You claim I've never gaven you a gift. You're right. So I'm giving you one now. I've decided to bestow upon you something I've never given you before. A choice." He pointed to a small bundle on the table. "Those are the clothes you were wearing when you arrived. You've discovered the weakness in this outer wall. The Devil's Pearl sits on the east side of the harbor. You have thirty minutes before the guard returns, and I sound the alarm."

Ric shook his head. "How do we know this isn't some trick to get us out into the harbor and have your guns blow us out of the water?"

"Why would I go to so much trouble? If I wanted to, I could shoot you right here."

Jocelyn was still trying to process what she was hearing. She crossed to the table. True to his word there were her breeches folded neatly atop her shirt and belt. She fingered the fabric before turning back to her father. "If I leave, you will be disgraced."

He held her gaze. "Not so. If you choose to don those clothes and leave with him, I will claim you were an impostor sent to infiltrate and destroy our hold here. My beloved daughter, Jocelyn Angelique Beauchamp died on June seventh in the earthquake that destroyed Port Royal, Jamaica."

"And if I decide to stay?"

Her father lifted one shoulder. "He'll hang, and you'll marry a toad."

He then turned toward Ric, picked his pistol off the table, and handed it to him. "The next time we cross paths, Captain Robbins, you will have a weapon, and be my enemy once more. There will be no leniency for you or the Scarlet Night after this moment."

Ric took the pistol and studied it before slipping it into the waistband of his breeches. "I understand."

"We live in dangerous worlds, you and I. Watch out for her the best you can."

"Aye, aye, Admiral."

Jocelyn's thoughts raced at what lay at her fingertips. A chance. Standing before her father, she realized he'd given her a choice, which truly was no choice at all.

"Time is fleeting, Jocelyn. What are you waiting for?"

She shook her head. "I'm trying to decide if I trust you."