Ocean Storm (Queen of Piracy Duology #1)

Chapter 23: How did they find us?

On the next day, I went to the port to wait for Dirk. A part of me told myself he wouldn't show up at all. It wasn't impossible that Bosch would leave without me since I didn't know a thing about him yet. What if he was the one plotting against me? Could Dirk be a disguised Navy officer? God, the possibilities freaked me out! I know what you're thinking... yes, I do have trust issues. I wasn't even trusting my friends a lot anymore after the Navy had ambushed me in Tortuga. Of course, there was a chance they just happened to run into Dirk and me on the island, but I didn't believe in coincidences very much. Probably someone had told the British we were there. To make things worse, the snitch could be from either Ocean Storm or Dirk's vessel. A traitor among my crew... could that be? No, it was too insane to be true. Perhaps I was too paranoid, I didn't know. The only thing I knew for sure was that the British hadn't accidentally found Bosch and me. I observed the sunrise as I imagined what could've been taking place without my knowledge inside my own ship. Dirk approached me from behind.

I chuckled, "I thought you wouldn't show up."

"I'm a man of my word. Of course, I'd come!" Dirk frowned as if what I'd said didn't make any sense. "Especially after what happened yesterday between the damn Navy and us."

"Makes sense. So, now that we'll work together, we should know more about each other..." I walked closer to him while raising a brow. "What happened after our fight in that merchant ship?"

Dirk sighed and looked away, seemingly trying to remember something. I pressed my lips together, afraid that he'd say something impolite since I was the one who had almost killed him. Besides, I couldn't know for sure if he was part of the Navy's scheme... Who knew? Maybe that Brit had tried to kill Bosch just for show! I was overly suspicious, I know, but one can never be too careful.

"My quartermaster and I had been leading a mutiny before you threw me off the fluyt. We couldn't take the work conditions anymore," Dirk turned to me and bit his lower lip for a second. "That's why I told you that day I wanted to be a pirate on my own terms."

Dirk already had a plan in motion! That was why he didn't want to join me...

"Got it. How did you survive the..." I gulped once he glared at me. "You know what I mean."

"I swam to the vessel and screamed as loud as I could. My quartermaster saw me and threw some boarding axes. I caught them fast and climbed back to the ship."

I scowled while rubbing my chin. Something in that story didn't sound right. I remembered that Lacroix had taken everyone who surrendered to uncle Ruben, so how wasn't Dirk found? What about the rest? That was so weird...

"Once I arrived, we hid with thirty other sailors in their room. We only left when your crew was gone," Bosch continued, appearing to have read my mind. "The fluyt wasn't that damaged, so we kept it until we stole a nice galleon a few days later. We still sail in that galleon and its name is White Shark."

"That was a good strategy. I'm impressed," I nodded and smiled. "I've never met someone who managed to escape pirates so efficiently."

"Thank you," Dirk blushed and gazed downward for an instant. "Honestly, you... sort of... inspired me to take that action."

I raised and curved my brows. Had I actually inspired Bosch? What the hell did that even mean? All I did was inviting the redhead to join me and then I threw him into the sea... I couldn't see how that was an inspiration. My curiosity to find out why he'd said that was huge.

"Am I going crazy, or did you just say I inspired you?" I tilted my head to the side while laughing. "I'll need to hear that again!"

Dirk scowled and pursed his lips, "It was nothing! I'm not going to say that twice!"