“What could be more important than a murdered Runner?”
“The box he came here to find.”
That cursed box. Susan’s tired hands fisted briefly at her sides. Hadn’t she risked her life enough for one day?
“You must take it tonight. We’re running out of time.They’rerunning out of time.” He floated away from the bed, toward the door. “And they know it.”
“How would—Oh. Right.”
Somebodyhad recognized the Runner for what he was, and eliminated the immediate threat with a sharp blade to the ribs. The Runner’s presence at all, however, indicated that there were others who suspected, who knew of his visit, and would be coming to investigate and take permanent legal action against the pirates. They would not be content to sit and wait.
“No doubt the scarecrow did it,” she muttered angrily. She wouldn’t have been half surprised to see a shovel rising from the Runner’s chest instead of a mere knife.
“Who?” Dead Mr. Bothwick blinked, then laughed. “You think the butler did it? Unlikely. Murder is one of Ollie’s favorite treats. He would never delegate such a task to an underling.”
“Perhaps you don’t know him as well as I do,” Susan began, then paused. His statement had been off-the-cuff and perfectly matter-of-fact. Perhaps Dead Mr. Bothwickdidknow the giant’s mind much better than she. Which could only mean...
“You’re a pirate?” Incredulity was quickly replaced by a sense of betrayal. No wonder he’d been able to “investigate” the others. “Youarea pirate!”
“Was,” he corrected reluctantly. “And I never enjoyed it.”
“Oh, as long as you didn’t enjoy it. That makes it all right.” She swiped at him angrily.
He flashed backward, out of arm’s reach. “I tried to do the right thing at the end, didn’t I?”
“I don’t know.” She crossed her arms and added uncharitably, “I don’t see that you did much of anything.”
Dead Mr. Bothwick swirled above her head. “I gathered evidence, which I need for you toplease go retrieve.Now, before they take the box somewhere inaccessible.”
She glared up at him. “Like where?”
“Like the ship! Like the bottom of the ocean! It doesn’t matter where, so long as we get it first.”
“Why wouldn’t they just destroy the evidence?”
“They can’t. It’s locked inside the jewelry box.”
“Why wouldn’t they just destroy the box?”
“Theycan’t.It’s forged from iron.” He floated through the door, then poked his head back in through the wood frame. “Listen to me. The strongbox is indestructible, not unsinkable, so if we could please move this conversation from your bedchamber to the dining room—”
“Why the dining room?”
He sighed dramatically. “If you would take your meals somewhere other than your room once in a while, perhaps you would have noticed the box in plain sight on the mantle.”
Her hands clenched into fists. “If you would take your head out of your arse once in a while, perhaps you would notice nobody in this house has offered to dine with me.”
“Miss Stanton, could we please—”
“I can’t believe you lied about being one of the pirates!” She would have guessed long before, if she hadn’t foolishlytrustedthe man she’d come to love.
“If we must hash over the details, I was actually a smuggler, not a pirate.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Wepaidfor the goods we took from France.”
“Paid, as in ‘giving aid or comfort to an enemy of the Sovereign,’ thereby committing high treason punishable by death?”
