Savannah Heat Read Online Free PDF Page B

there’s a gentle bone in Salena’s body.”
    “Maybe not,” Ham said softly, “but in that department she certainly isn’t lacking.”
    Morgan’s gaze fixed on the young lieutenant. “I expect you and your men to act with restraint when it comes to Miss Jones. She’s a lady, even if she doesn’t behave like one.”
    Hamilton Riley grew serious. “You’ve nothing toworry about from us, Major, but what about the crew?”
    “I’ll deal with them.” Morgan came to his feet. “I’ve got a few last-minute details to attend. I’ll be back before dark. Whatever you do, don’t let Silver out of my cabin.”
    “No, sir. You can count on that, sir.” Riley started to salute, but Morgan’s hard look stopped his hand in midair.
    “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
    Silver waited until dusk began to fall before setting her plan in motion. But all day long she had fanned the low flames in her tiny corner fireplace, carefully adding a chunk of coal now and then to keep it going. No one had brought her food or answered the pounding on her door when she’d demanded it, as she’d been sure someone would.
    Trask was being more careful this time.
    But very shortly now Trask and his men would have no choice.
    Silver watched darkness fall outside the small windows above Morgan’s wide bed, the fading sun lighting the horizon to a soft orange glow that slowly disappeared. Dressed in the cabin boy’s frayed breeches and shirt, she knelt before the fire, added the last of the coal from the tin bucket beside it, and blew until hot red flames licked the grate.
    Taking bits of a rag she had found and torn up, she dipped them in water and dropped them carefully atop the fire. Smoke began to curl and billow, then roll across the floor as the cloth began to burn but couldn’t quite catch flame. She added more damp cloth and fanned the fire until the room filled with thick white smoke and she began to cough.
    “Fire!” she yelled, covering her nose with a handkerchiefand banging on the cabin door. “Somebody help me!” Fanning the smoke beneath the bottom of the door, Silver banged more loudly. Footsteps sounded on the ladder, a key grated in the lock, and the door swung wide.
    “Good Lord!” The slender young lieutenant she had seen the night before stepped into the room, tried to see her through the heavy smoke, but couldn’t. “Miss Jones, where are you?” Then he felt the cold steel muzzle of the pistol she stuck beneath his chin.
    “Don’t move,” Silver warned. “Not a single, solitary muscle.”
    Riley coughed several times, but the smoke had already begun to dissipate through the open doorway. “Please, Miss Jones. The major’s going to be furious if you’re not here when he gets back.”
    “To hell with the major. The man’s an arrogant pain in the neck. I hope he’s so mad he chokes on his fancy gold epaulets.” Silver moved closer, careful to keep the gun steady against the young man’s neck. “Start walking, Lieutenant, and don’t do anything foolish. You may rest assured that I will not hesitate to pull this trigger.”
    Hamilton Riley swallowed so hard the muzzle moved up and down against his throat. “What about the fire? Surely you don’t want the ship to go up in flames?”
    “There is no fire. Now very carefully, Lieutenant, move through the doorway. If anyone tries to stop us, order them to stand aside.”
    Riley nodded, and they walked into the passageway. Several crewmen who had answered her alarm backed up the ladder to the deck while she and the lieutenant moved along the hall. They’d gone through the main salon and gotten as far as the ladderwhen Morgan Trask’s steel-edged voice stopped them cold.
    “Going for a stroll, milady?” He stepped from behind a door that led into a storage space.
    Silver tensed. “You might say that,” she answered coolly, though she was far from feeling cool.
    “We thought the cabin was afire, Major,” the lieutenant tried to explain.