The Treasure Hunters (5 page)

“What do we do?” Eden asked.

Ruby looked at them before taking a
deep breath. This was it. She walked over to the plank that led the way onto
the deck.

“We find the captain,” she said.

As she reached the top deck, a man
suddenly appeared and Ruby reacted without thinking about it since her nerves
were already strung tight. She leaned over, grabbed a wooden rope spoke and
swung her arm. The attack caught the man unguarded in the head, dropping him
onto his back. Another man, a big beefy black man, melted from the darkness to
come at them.

“Hold it!” Ruby cried, wielding the
spoke. “Wait! We just want to talk to the captain!”

The injured man pushed to sit up. He
held a hand to the back of his head. “Well, as soon as my head clears I’ll be
happy to talk. Jesus!”

Mortification swept through her.
Great.
Just great.
The black man
walked over to the captain and helped him to stand. Fog covered the moon,
casting an eerie glow upon them. Ruby couldn’t see the captain’s face, so she
didn’t know how upset he was with her. She could only hope he gave them a
chance to talk.

“What the hell are you doing on my
boat?” he demanded. His British accent was deep and smooth, and it sent shivers
racing over her skin.

“We want to hire you.”

“Excuse me?”

“We need to leave England and we
have a business proposition for you.”

The captain studied her, and
although she couldn’t make out his features, his forceful appraisal had her
belly clenching. Finally, he nodded at the black man, who then

 
disappeared
once more,
back into the foggy midnight. The captain waved them to follow him and he led
them into the galley. He lit a match and lit two lanterns, and that’s when Ruby
got her first glimpse of him.

She was vaguely aware her mouth dropped
open. Before her wasn’t the typical scruffy-bearded, dirty boat captain. This
man was young.
And handsome.
More butterflies
fluttered in her stomach. He had short black hair that looked like he’d been
running his fingers through it in aggravation. He needed a shave, but Ruby
rather thought his slight whiskers enhanced his looks rather than detracted. Although
he looked tough, he had kind eyes––blue maybe, or green. It was hard to tell in
the muted lantern light. He was tall, muscular, and when their gazes met her
heart stuttered in her chest.

“My name is Sin,” he said,
introducing himself, although his gaze stayed locked upon her.

“Literally or
figuratively?”
Merridie asked dryly.

He winked at her. “Captain Sinclair
Dardon
. Who are you, and how may I help you?”

“I’m Ruby Talcott, and that’s
Merridie Morgan and Eden
Cariker
. We need passage to
Africa,” Ruby said, ignoring the odd excitement gripping her insides. Now was
not the time to get distracted by a pretty face. Oh, but that was easier said
than done, especially once he turned those hypnotizing eyes back her way.

“Why do you think I can help?”

“The registry office has you listed
as heading to Africa this morning. We just need a ride.”

“I’m not a passenger ship.”

“We won’t be passengers,” Ruby
insisted. “We can earn our way.”

The way his gaze traveled up and
down her body had her blood heating up and leaving little doubt to what was
going through his lascivious mind.

“This isn’t a whorehouse either,”
he stated.

Merridie and Eden gasped and it
took everything inside Ruby not to slap him. Her fists curled into tight balls.
She couldn’t afford to lose her temper. They needed him.

“That wasn’t what I meant,” she muttered
through clenched teeth. “We can do chores.”

Merridie hit Ruby in the arm.

“Listen, ladies––”

“We can pay!” Eden blurted, her
words ringing loudly through the room. “We have a map.”

“Eden!” Ruby snapped.

“What type of map?” Sin asked.

The three girls stood silent,
staring at him, and Sin sighed.

“Hey, I’m not a bad guy,” he
finally stated. “You say you have a map of something and I have a right to know
what it’s about, if you want to hire my ship.”

Ruby stared at him but he stared
right back, equally hard and unblinking. And there it was again, that zing that
made her knees weak. She knew she was attracted to him, but this was something
else.
Something
electric
.
And although it scared her, they needed him. It became a mantra streaming
through her brain. Without another thought she reached inside the bag and
pulled out the map. She gave it to Merridie, who rolled it out on the table.

Sin bent over it to inspect it, and
Ruby got a sniff of his masculine scent.
Fresh.
Salty.
This was a man who spent his life on a boat. It
aroused her, made the flutters in her body go haywire, and her pussy clenched. She
shifted her weight, letting her nether lips rub together and press a little
against her sensitive nub. It did nothing to quell the excitement fluttering
through her.

Suddenly, he looked up and pierced
her with a hard stare. “Is this what I think it is?”

Ruby nodded. “We’re going after it,
if that answers your question.”

“Not really. But you have my
curiosity.”

Eden reached out and fingered the
map. “What kind of paper is this? Almost looks like leather.”

“Well, it’s not human skin, but it
is leather,” Sin answered.

Eden snatched her hand back, her
face twisting with disgust.

 
“
Ew
!”
Merridie squealed.

“It’s probably only pig or––”

“Yes, I think we get it,” Ruby
interrupted.

“This map is the first bit of
evidence I’ve seen acknowledging Vouleigh’s legendary treasure,” Sin said.
“If it’s real.”

“
I
think it’s real,” Ruby said.

“Where’d you come across this
interesting tidbit?”

“I work,
er
,
worked
in a shipping warehouse of
unclaimed merchandise. Two men tried stealing it tonight. So I stole it from
them.”

He crossed his arms and studied
her, although she had a hard time lifting her gaze from his muscular forearms.

“Should I ask what you did to
them?”

Ruby shrugged.

 
His lips pursed. One minute went by, then two.
Merridie fidgeted next to her as the captain silently contemplated the map.

He took a deep breath. “Okay. Count
the
Paradise
in.”

Ruby felt her mouth drop open right
before elation swept through her.

“Wait,” Merridie said. “What’s your
take in this?”

“Divided fifty-fifty, of whatever
we find,” he said.

“There’s three of us and one of
you,” Merridie stated, putting her hands on her hips. Trust Merridie to be a
shrewd negotiator.

“It’s my boat,” he replied. “Plus,
I have Asia.”

“That’s a pretty big continent,”
Eden stated.

“I meant my partner upstairs, the
one standing guard,” Sin replied.

“So,” Merridie said. “If we find
nothing, you receive nothing.”

Sin’s eyes darted toward Ruby, and
she saw something dark and carnal flash across his face. Her palms turned
sweaty as her heart began to pound in her chest.

“Understandable,” he finally
murmured.

“Why…” Ruby cleared her throat and
tried again. “Why would you take those odds?”

“Questioning me now?” he asked,
amused for a moment. And then he lost the levity in his voice.
“Talcott, as in Talcott Shipping?
I’m guessing you’ve come
to England in hopes of finding something better after the crash. Am I right?”

Ruby reluctantly nodded. His words
made her sound desperate.

“You’re not the only ones who lost
everything. It’s called trickle-down economics. English businesses invested in
American trade were the first to slide, and I didn’t stop until I hit the
bottom.”

“Why should we trust you?” Merridie
asked.

Sin didn’t seem to take offense at
her abrupt question. “I’ve got the boat and you’ve got the map. I have to trust
that you’re not wasting my time.”

The girls stared at him and all Sin
did was lean back casually, folding his arms as he waited. It was a standoff,
until Eden began to giggle.

“I like the name of your boat,” she
said airily.

Sin cocked his head, as if not
quite understanding what she meant. Yes, it took a while to understand Eden’s
simplistic look on life.

“Eden in
Paradise
,” she clarified, waving around.

Ruby and Merridie tried to fight a grin
but the air had been so thick with tension that the giggles escaped before they
could help it. Luckily, Captain Sinclair
Dardon
did
the same. One good thing about Eden was her ability to break the ice.

 
“We leave when the tide comes in,” he
announced.

****

Ruby stood on deck as the early
morning light began to trickle through the clouds, chasing away the night. Merridie
and Eden had collapsed hours earlier and still slept, but she’d been too
restless to relax. She hoped to God she wasn’t making a mistake trusting
Sinclair
Dardon
. Merridie’s words rang through her
head, that she was the cause of their misery by bringing them to England with
her. But what could they’ve done? Wallowed in New York, where the memories were
overwhelming? Merridie didn’t need reminders of Robert and Eden sure as hell
didn’t need to remember her father killing himself in front of her. She hadn’t
worn white since that awful day.

“Can’t sleep?”

Ruby jumped and turned to face him,
placing a hand over her speeding heart. After a few seconds, however, it still
hadn’t slowed down and once again she was wondering why.

“No,” she murmured.

Sin walked closer to her and she
saw that his eyes were, in fact, hazel––a beautiful brownish-green color, startling
against his tan face. He still hadn’t shaved that layer of scruff on his jaw
and cheeks yet, and his raven black hair brushed the edge of his collar. A tad
too long perhaps, but it only enhanced his rugged good looks.

He held out a blanket. “You’ll
catch your death.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking it
from him. “But I’m used to the cold. New York City is frozen in the winter.”

Still, despite her words, she draped
the wool over her shoulders.

“This is a beautiful boat,” she
commented. “A ’28 schooner, twin masts, polished deck. I loved seeing her sails
unfurl to catch the wind.”

“I’m impressed you know what a
schooner is. The
Paradise
is the last
thing I own,” he said looking around his boat with a sad smile. “I won her, you
know.
A game of chance that went my way.”

“I grew up around the dock yard,”
she murmured. “My father didn’t have a son so he taught me what he knew. Boats,
sailing, shipping––you name it.”

“Days in deportment, evenings
hauling in the fish?”

“Something
like
that. Now it’s just staying afloat until we find that treasure.”

“We’ve got a good breeze now, so
barring anything unfortunate, it shouldn’t take us that long to reach the
Sweeny Islands,” he said. His beautiful eyes still watched her, perhaps a bit
too long.
A bit too caressing.
Her mouth was bone dry
and she licked her suddenly parched lips, which had his gaze lingering on her
mouth. “Of course, the treasure might not be there anymore.”

“It has to be.”

He cocked his head. “You’re driven.
An adventurer at heart.”

“Not really,” she said. “I’m going
to show those morons who sold my company that a woman can make it.”

“I invested in your company,” he
stated, shocking her out of her dazed euphoria.

Ruby blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Talcott Shipping. All my
investments were tied up in it.”

“Oh.” Her shoulder sagged and for a
moment the past month and a half crashed down upon her. “When my father died,
he left the majority of the shares to the
share holders
.
I had an insignificant amount because I’m a woman. The president, Mr.
Densey
basically sold the company in a panic.”

He nodded in understanding. “The
company folded three weeks after that.”

“I know,” she whispered. “It was
dismantled and sold off. Even if I wanted to salvage my father’s company,
there’s really nothing left.”

“Then why go on this treasure hunt?
For money?”

She glanced to the area where she
knew Merridie and Eden were sleeping.
“For them.
My
father gave me a trade, but them? They don’t know anything except the life they
had. If we come back empty-handed the girls have nowhere to go. We can’t go
back to my family now and they have none.”

“They don’t seem like weaklings to
me,” he stated. “Well, maybe the blonde.”

“Eden sees the world in an innocent
light,” she told him. “She watched her father blow his brains out. Merridie’s
fiancé decided the engagement ring was better pawned than on her finger. They’re
resourceful girls, but completely out of their league without the comfort they
were born to.”

“Do you think bringing that wealth
back is going to make all the hurt go away?”

“Yes,” she said firmly.

“And what about you, Ruby?” he
asked softly. “What are you looking for?”

“I told you,” she answered. “I want
to prove that a woman can run a business. That I’m just as capable as any man.”

“Listen, I was born in a shanty on
the lower east side of London,” he said. “I watched my mother slowly die from
god-knows what disease she acquired off the rats that lived with us. Having
wealth after having nothing made life easier, but it never erased my memories.”