The Captain's Beloved

33 - Titles that Lead to Trouble

Despite Jules's association with sailing vessels, I felt fairly sure I was not in the company of the royal navy. And my second clue came when I tried to move and realized my hands and legs were bound. A gag had also been tied around my head and mouth, which made it difficult to breathe without sucking in the stench.

When my vision finally acclimated to the dark, I made out the shape of a porthole, which appeared to be the only source of light. I had no idea where my captors were, but I did not have to think hard about who they were. No doubt, Captain Boucetta was behind this. And if he had managed to remove me from the embassy and secure me in this vessel, I did not want to speculate what methods he undertook to keep Jules from stopping him.

I spent the next few minutes trying to wriggle out of my ties. As I shimmied about, the cot beneath me shook, scraping the floorboards. I stilled but heard no signs of life. Surely, I had not been left on a ship without a guard. Were they so foolish to think that bindings could keep someone from finding a way to escape? Did they believe me helpless because I was female?

After a good amount of struggling, my efforts seemed fruitless. The bindings were made of strong twine wrapped many times. I needed a sharp edge to cut them. But first, I had to get myself out of the cot.

Feeling like a fish out of water, I scooted to one side of the bed frame. When it started to scrape again, I stopped to listen. This time, I heard a nasally whistle, like a constable on the chase. Sadly, I was unable to shout for assistance. Using one elbow, I pushed my body upright. This position caused some discomfort, given that my legs were tied tightly at the ankles. How in the blazes was I to walk once I had placed my feet on the floor?

It was at this point I realized my slippers had been removed. So had my gloves. It likely made the job of binding me easier. What might my captors do should they find me attempting to flee? My breathing had become erratic, and I had begun to sweat from all the wiggling. But it did me no good to wait for some new indignity to be done to me.

I swung my feet over the side and began to rock back and forth until the momentum catapulted me up and out of the cot. And that was where everything went south, including my bottom, as my bound feet could not hold me upright and I teetered and tottered and fell back onto the cot. My landing splintered the frame, and my head came down on the opposite edge with a hard thwack. I squeezed my eyes shut and stars blinked against my lids like painful pricks of sunlight.

The next thing I knew, I was being hauled up by my ties, and brought face to face with an unshaven man reeking of everything foul. "Thought ye'd outsmart me, eh?"

The smell and the sudden motion threw my stomach into a fit. I wanted to tell him that I was about to be sick on his boots, but the gag got in my way. All I could do was plead with my eyes and deliver my garbled message through the cloth bindings on my mouth.

"If ye fink I'm gonna untie that gag so ye can scream yer head off, ye better fink again."

I fought the bitter taste welling on my tongue and the tightness in the back of my throat. I most assuredly did not want to vomit with a gag on my mouth, but the energy it took to maintain my composure had my knees going weak, and I collapsed forward onto his chest. While this was not pleasant in the slightest, it did cause him to sit me back down on the cot.

"Watchit there, girlie." He chuckled as he squinted at me through the dim. "Those that ain't used to opium can suffer some nasty effects."

"Opheeum?" I attempted to speak around my gag, but it only made my jaw hurt. How long had I been bound this way?

He laughed again. "Yep. T'were a clever plan Boucetta had to set himself up wif a new vessel."

So, I was right about Duncan being behind this. And it sounded like he had worked it out ahead of time. But that didn't make sense. If this was his plan to get the stolen pendant back, and I didn't have it, why kidnap me? Was Odette helping him with his plan? Did she tell him I had given it away? She had only learned this minutes before Duncan joined us. How had I been drugged so cleverly?