“Well, there was something I wanted in here,” he replied. He put a hand on her head as he held her close for a moment, and Poppy told herself that everything was going to end well now. “Gracias a dios te encontré. We’ve got to get out of here. I clonked Rowe on the head when he came back up the tunnel.” He wagged the gun that had belonged to Rowe. “And I heard Spargo leave. But soon this cave will be swarming with smugglers.”
“I’m tied up,” she said.
He nodded. “Pull up your skirt and then cover your ears.”
Poppy raised an eyebrow but complied with the order. Carlos lifted the gun and fired. The rope pulling at her ankle suddenly went slack.
“Oh, my Lord. You shot the rope in two?”
“I’m in a hurry. Now come on. Someone will have heard that and they’ll come to investigate. Let’s be ready.”
* * * *
As Carlos guessed, the sound of a gunshot from inside the cave was enough to bring one of the smugglers in to investigate. But he didn’t think it would be quite so fast. Nor did he dare hope that it was Spargo himself who rushed in, pistol in hand.
“What the hell is going on here?” Spargo yelled. He stopped short on seeing Carlos. “You! For some random sailor, you tend to be underfoot.”
“Thank you,” Carlos said, as he lifted his own gun (well, Rowe’s gun). “Since we can all kill each other very easily, I suggest we don’t. Spargo, you return to the beach. I’ll be taking the lady back to the house.”
Poppy had wrapped her arms around him. She said nothing, but he could hear her heart beating in her chest, and he felt her rapid breath on his cheek.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured. His fear of the caves had somehow evaporated. He knew what he had to do now, and that made everything simple.
“She can’t go anywhere,” Spargo said, shaking his head once. “She knows too much.”
“So my mother often said,” Poppy muttered.
“Shush, darling,” he told her, covering a smile.
Carlos heard a distant shout, and he prayed it meant what he’d been waiting for.
A moment later, a man came running into the cavern, yelling for Spargo. “Sir, we’ve been betrayed! There’s a cutter sailing into the bay! It’s got to be HM Customs! And the Seadragon can’t fire cannon because no one’s on duty for it. We’re all unloading the crates!”
“Well, get someone on the cannons, you idiot!”
The underling ran off before Carlos could stop him.
Spargo snorted. “No one can run things without me. But it doesn’t matter, the Agustina’s out there too. They’ll take care of the cutter.”
“They won’t,” Carlos said bluntly. “Agustina’s orders are to keep the Seadragon from leaving the bay.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“Because I’m the captain of the Agustina, and that’s what I told her to do.”
“You’re the captain? You must really want those guns, eh,” Spargo said, still not quite understanding the situation—which suited Carlos very well.
“I want the guns, and I want the girl. Now we’re all going to walk out to the beach. Because if you want me to give a different signal to the Agustina, you’ll need me out there, alive and amenable. Understand?”
“Aye,” Spargo said, glaring at Carlos. “Let’s go.”
“It’s a trick,” Poppy whispered. “He’s going to kill both of us the moment he gets the chance.”
Carlos raised the gun a little, pointing it at Spargo’s head. “Drop your gun to the ground…away from you. Do it now, or I’ll shoot you.”
“Wait! Don’t do it.” He dropped it, then put his hands up. “I’ll tell my men to stand down. On my honor, I’ll let you both go as soon as the shipment’s unloaded and my men can get clear of the beach.”
Poppy looked very suspicious. “And how do we know you’ll keep your word?”
