Beaver Hat backed down under the threat of the pistol. “No need for that. I’ll help the Frenchie.”
“Good.” Greatcoat nodded, still pointing the gun at his companion. “You’d better get to it. You-know-who will expect us to be ready to leave as soon as he returns.”
Beaver Hat turned and scurried in the direction the three had come.
Greatcoat and the other man sat on an old log. Greatcoat pulled out a flask, drank deeply, and passed it to the other. Ethan noticed the silent smuggler had a fresh bruise that would become a black eye in another day.
“I could do without his mouth.” The man with the black eye drank from the flask and handed it back.
“Won’t have to work with him much longer,” Greatcoat answered, voice still gravelly. “Be out of here tonight if all goes as planned.”
His companion nodded. “Let’s just hope you-know-who took care of his end. We don’t need any more meddling farmers.”
A reference to Skerrit, Ethan thought, glancing at the girl beside him. Her features were blank, giving no sign she understood the discussion.
“Can’t blame him for complaining.”
Ethan looked back at the smugglers.
The silent one touched his bruised eye gingerly. “Don’t like working with them Frenchies myself. Wouldn’t do it except I need the blunt.”
“Gagnon’s not so bad.” The smuggler drew his coat closed and drank from the flask again. “I’ve seen worse. Bad business across the water. Bloody bunch of barbarians if you ask me.”
Beside him, the girl had begun to shiver. She was frightened, and he didn’t blame her. When her teeth began to chatter, he pressed his hand over her mouth. If they were very quiet and moved slowly, they could back out of the shrubbery without the smugglers seeing.
But they had to go now before much more was revealed. The less the girl knew, the better. Devil take him! He was so close. Heknewthese were the smugglers.Knewthe man had gone to unearth the arms they’d be smuggling to France. He had them. But his first responsibility was to see the girl safely home.
The girl squirmed, twisting her head under his hand. Ethan clenched his jaw. He scowled at her, angry at having to let the smugglers go. “Come,” he mouthed silently. He removed his hand from her mouth and again put a finger to his lips.
She glared at him. He ignored her, releasing her waist and backing out of their hiding place. He’d escort her home and return. If he was lucky, he’d see the man he really wanted—the smuggler’s superior.
Ethan had known from the first someone besides Skerrit was involved. Someone funding the operation. Soon he’d know the man’s identity.
The girl watched him, the expression on her face confused and irritated. He pulled at her arm until his mouth brushed her ear. “Stay low and follow me,” he whispered. “Don’t make a sound.”
“But—”
He gave her a warning look. She pursed her lips, and he crawled backward, out of the undergrowth. She followed.
They backed into a clump of trees that sheltered the clearing, then he took her arm and pulled her toward the area where he’d hobbled Destrehan. A few yards away, he could hear the smugglers laughing, unaware they’d been observed. Ethan and the girl were, hidden from sight by the trees, but the smugglers were still too close for Ethan to relax.
He tugged her arm. “Let’s go,” he murmured.
“Wait!” she hissed. She shook free and squared her shoulders, facing him. “I want to know who those men were and what they were doing.”
“Not now,” he whispered, nodding at the clearing. “I’ll fetch my horse and take you home.”
She gave him a withering look. “Don’t you owe me an explanation? Something more believable than the story you told last night.” She walked away from him—heading the wrong way.
He gritted his teeth, took two steps, and turned her around. “This way.” He nodded his head toward Destrehan.
She glared at him, pushed the recalcitrant ribbon out of her eyes, and started off again. “Lost a shoe,” she muttered. “And he expects me tobelievethat?”
Ethan almost reached out to strangle her but checked the impulse. She’d obviously figured out his lie last night and wouldn’t accept half-truths and vague explanations for what they’d seen today. He didn’t have time for this.
She swung around and looked over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”
Ethan glared at her. No wonder the girl had been praying. She would need divine intervention to keep him from killing her.
