"I've given you all my reasons. Neither one of us walks out of this room without risk, but there are no guards waiting to ambush you on the other side of the passage. I promise you."

"Why?"

Her father closed the distance between them and grasped her arms. "Foolish girl, I'm doing what you asked. I'm loving my daughter." He pulled her into his arms and embraced her. "I'm a bitter, hardened old fool who's only sorry it took me so long."

Jocelyn gasped as the truth of those words finally hit her. "I-I love you, too."

He stepped back and held her cheek. "Now go."

Without another word, her father left them. Jocelyn was quick to change.

Ric waited at the exit. "It'll be a squeeze. If I can move this stone, we should be able to get through. I'll leave first. Count to thirty. If you don't hear gunfire, follow me." He pushed at the rock with his foot.

Jocelyn grabbed his sleeve. "You believe he's lying?"

"No." He gave a grunt as he dropped to the floor and used both feet to push at the stubborn stone. "He's told the truth."

"How can you be sure?"

One final shove with his legs and the rock shifted. "The pistol was loaded."

Light rain soaked through his shirt as he pressed back against the wall of the fort. Ric was under no illusions. Beauchamp hadn't opened the front gates and bid them au revoir. There was no guarantee they would ever make it to the harbor alive, let alone find the Devil's Pearl, sail through the narrow neck of the harbor, and flee unscathed.

One pistol. One shot. That's all he had. He'd faced those odds before.

Jocelyn's hand was warm in his. The rain was turning her hair into dark spirals that dipped over wide eyes. How was it whenever he looked into those eyes, he became invincible. He kissed the backs of her fingers, checked to make sure the path was clear, and slipped along the wall to their next hiding spot.

The timing of their moves between passes of the guards worked until they made their way to the furthest concealed point. Somehow, they had to make it to the road leading away from the fort and blend into the early morning foot traffic.

"We have to split up," he whispered. "We'll be less noticeable." Reaching down, he scooped a handful of mud and placed it in her hand. "Put some of this on your face and shirt."

"Where should I wait for you?"

"Do you think you can find the Devil's Pearl?"

She nodded. "It's moored. We'll have to swim."

"Don't take any chances, understand? I'm right behind you. Head down, don't look back." He kissed her. Mud and all she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Now he had to get her off this damn island.

Chapter 31.

Ric flopped over the rail and hit the deck of the Devil's Pearl like a hooked tuna. Reaching over he grabbed for Jocelyn and pulled her aboard. He pressed his back against the side of the ship while he examined the pistol. Between the rain and the swim, even with it held on top of his head, he'd bet his last gold piece the powder wasn't dry anymore.

"Are you okay?"

Jocelyn sat panting next to him. "You swim too fast."

"I thought we were in a hurry."

"Right. At least the rain has stopped. The sun will be rising soon." She pushed the dripping hair out of her face and pulled the clinging fabric of her top away from her breasts. "Well, Captain, we've made it this far, now what?"

"Now we get to sneak an entire ship out of a bottleneck harbor under the nose of your father's men."

"You make it sound as if it's a difficult thing to do."

He laughed. "Near impossible."

"We've beaten 'impossible' this far."

"We've been lucky." He peeked over the gunwales. "This is going to take some skill."

"We've already stolen this ship once, we're experts."

"Our best chance is to get lost in the crush of ships coming and going. If we can thread the Pearl between two, we might make it. I want you to raise the anchor while I set the sail. The winds in this bowl are tough to read, but the tide's heading out. At least that will work in our favor. The last thing we want to do is try to sail through here at full speed."

Jocelyn nodded. "Tell me what to do."

"Pray your father hasn't set the alarm in motion and when I tell you, I want you tucked down out of sight."

Ric raised the sail and eased it into the wind. He'd keep the Pearl quiet and close to the rim of the cove and wait for an opportunity to draft one of the larger ships moving out of the harbor. If he came in close enough, the guns mounted on shore wouldn't fire for fear of hitting one of their own, but there was always the risk of being fired upon by one of the French warships.

A huge forty-gun galleon lumbered at half sail into the sheltered cove. This was their chance. He'd wait until she was midway through the pass, and cut in close to slip by her.

He met Jocelyn's worried gaze before nodding and mouthing, "Now."

Manning the tiller, he lowered the sail and slowed the Pearl to a crawl.

Cannon fire erupted overhead. The galleon was close to their starboard and took a direct hit. Splintered wood and rigging rained into the harbor. More blasts sounded, this time from the high banks gating the harbor. The galleons rear guns returned fire.

In the chaos and smoke, Ric strained to see who was attacking. He looked toward the fort, but their huge cannons had yet to fire.

The galleon took another hit close to the water line, then another. Men shouted and scrambled over the decks. Their cannons returned a vicious blast.

Ric was too close. If the galleon went down it would take them down with it. Who the hell was firing? An answering shot clipped the top of the Pearl's mast. Rigging snapped and the yardarm pitched to one side.

Ahead the huge warship began to list to port. Whoever was firing had taken out their main mast and crippled the massive beast. Ric needed to get past them before the ship sank and blocked the entrance to the harbor completely.

The air split as the guns from the fort erupted on the hill. Alarm or not, they weren't firing at him. He cut the sloop hard to port. Its sail catching the smallest amount of wind, it scrapped through.

Rounding the high banks, he saw the ship that was attacking the harbor as another full round of cannon fire burst from her deck. Her red sails burned bright in the glare of the rising sun.

"Holy shit, it's the Scarlet Night."

"What? They were supposed to be days away." Jocelyn poked her head up to look as another blast rocketed over their heads. She covered her ears and screamed. "Are they trying to kill us?"

Ric shouted over the din. "I bloody well think they're trying to save us."

"They're not doing a very good job of it."

"They can't see us. They're too busy blocking the harbor so no one can give chase." Ric scrambled to bring the small sloop out of range. He searched the deck for an idea. He had to find a way to signal Tupper.

"Jocelyn, come back here and man the tiller," he called.

She rushed to the back of the ship and took hold. "What are you going to do?"

Before answering her, Ric had to make sure the French had only found the hidden wine aboard the Devil's Pearl. He reached his hand deep into the forward coil of rope. "You're not going to like it, but I can think of no better way."

Minutes later, Ric joined Jocelyn in the stern of the ship. "You're right, I don't like this at all," she grumbled.

He tossed her a sack of gold coins. "You can buy a thousand red dresses with that."

"But I wanted that one." Her eyes rose to the top of the broken mast where Ric had shoved the splintered wood through the bodice of her beautiful claret gown. Its skirts billowed out in the breeze like a great red flag. If Tupper didn't see the billowing skirts, she was blind.

"I didn't even get to try it on," she sighed.

"I liked you better in green." Ric shielded his eyes and watched for any returning signal from the Scarlet Night. He didn't have long to wait. "There. They lowered the black. They've seen us." He pulled Jocelyn into his arms and kissed her. "I'll never use the word impossible around you ever again."

"Remember that when I convince Tupper to let me sign on to her crew."

The Devil's Pearl came alongside the Scarlet Night. A rope ladder dropped and soon Jocelyn and Ric stood in the exact spot they'd left days before. This time, however the decks were full of all manner of men. There had to be twenty new crewmen.

MacTavish, Summer, and White helped them aboard and slapped Ric on the shoulder then shook his hand, welcoming him back.

Tupper shouted the order as Leviticus flapped his wings wildly on her shoulder, "Set every inch of cloth we've got. Let's make her dance across those waves, boys. We're headed for the Windward Passage." She ran a hand over the crow's back to settle him before turning to them. "Good to have ye back."

"I thought we had an agreement." Ric planted his hands on his hips. "You were leaving in twenty-four hours whether I was back aboard or not."

Tupper scoffed at him. "Who's the Captain of this ship? I wasn't about to leave my best forward gunner hanging in a gibbet." She pointed the stem of her pipe at the small welcoming party. "We were set to come get you. Summer and White's been brushing up on their parlez-vous's. Then heard word they were gonna make you swing at noon. Had to step things up to save yer sorry arse. Put a cork in that bottle neck of a harbor and cleared them a path. If we hadn't seen your red, they'd be dragging you out of there now. How'd you manage to get away?"

Ric's gaze met and held Jocelyn's "Beauchamp had a change of heart."

"Didn't know he had one." Tupper raised an eyebrow.

"Evidently he did for at least thirty minutes." Ric replied before scanning the deck. Activity hummed as the ship began its leap through the waves. "Where did all these men come from?"

Tupper shrugged. "Here and there. Of course we lost half dozen when I told them we were planning an attack on Fort de Rocher. They thought it was bad enough fighting for a woman captain, but a crazy woman captain was more than they signed on for." She jerked her chin in Jocelyn's direction. "Didn't expect to see the lovely Jocelyn Beauchamp back aboard, however."

Jocelyn shook her head. "I'm glad to be back, but I'm afraid Jocelyn Beauchamp is dead."

Tupper's eyebrows pushed toward her hairline. "Is she now? Then who might you be?"

"You've a name for everyone else on this crew." Jocelyn swept a hand across the deck. "You'll have to come up with one for me."

Tupper folded her arms across her chest. "What makes you think I want another woman on my ship? I hear its bad luck."

"You've been pretty damn lucky today."

"I suppose." Tupper narrowed her gaze and headed back toward the galley.

Jocelyn followed at her heals. "Then how about taking a chance? I know my knots. And I can steal a sloop. Pretend I'm a man. You could call me Jo."

"If I was to sign ye on, I'd be taking the cost of a new skiff out of your share. I'll call you Beau."

"What about Jo Beau? I like the sound of that." Jocelyn missed a step. "Wait a minute...a new skiff? That leaky thing I took was hardly new, and I brought you back the bloody Devil's Pearl."

Tupper spun on her and pointed toward the sloop with her pipe. "She's missing the top of her mast."

Jocelyn gasped. "Whose fault is that?"

"I wasn't shooting at you." The two women squared off. Tupper lit her pipe and puffed a cloud over Jocelyn's head. "Get yourself some breakfast, then report to my quarters. If yer to be a member of this here crew, you'll sign the Articles before eight bells."

"Aye, Captain." When they entered the galley, she called out to MacTavish. "I'm done with knots, but I could use a pistol lesson or two."

Ric and Tupper watched her argue with the Scotsman about fitting her for a sword as well. "There's one more thing I need you to do for me before eight bells. Actually, make it two."

Tupper shot him a glance. "Haven't I done enough for ye today? I saved your bloody fool neck from that one-eyed French bastard."

Ric looked back at Jocelyn. He'd never wanted this life for her, but now that she was here, he was going to do it right. Take care of her the best he could as he'd promised the one-eyed French bastard who gave him the greatest gift he'd ever known. "I'd like you to marry us."

Tupper said nothing. She pulled on her pipe and puffed a perfect smoky ring. "And what's your second request?"

"I'll be needing a bed."

Epilogue.

The Night's Price, formerly known as the Devil's Pearl, set sail and pulled away from the Scarlet Night for the last time.

"But they need us. Tupper said it herself. You're her best gunner, and I--"