Free Duke by Day, Rogue by Night by Katherine Bone Page B

mutiny on his hands.
    â€œThen that will have to do,” he said.
    â€œOne other thing, sir.”
    â€œYes?” he asked.
    â€œWe, ah, well, sir, we pulled Frink from the drink. He’s aboard, sir.”
    â€œFrink?” Percy swallowed a heavy lump in his throat. He hadn’t killed the man? “How?”
    Ollie’s hands began to move as he talked. “Seems that after you fought the captain, he recovered long enough to swim away from the ship before it sank. Our men pulled him aboard, but didn’t recognize him at first. They threw him in with the lot of ’em in the hold. Didn’t want to bother you earlier in the night. Thought you might like some privacy with the girl. But this morning the captain made a ruckus. I need to know what you want us to do with ’em, sir.”
    The ramifications were horrendous. With Frink on board, his captaincy, his control over the other men was at risk. With the captain in the hold, Constance’s life was in jeopardy. But with Frink alive, he still had the potential connections he needed to find the man responsible for Celeste’s death.
    â€œLeave him be for now, Ollie. He can’t do any harm to us in chains.” At least that was his most prevalent hope.
    â€œWill do, Cap’n.”
    â€œWhat about Guffald?” he asked.
    â€œThat conniving cuss has been through worse. He got a good knot to his noggin’, a few cuts and bruises, nothing serious. The sawbones has patched him up.”
    â€œWhere is he?”
    Ollie smiled. “He’s with Collins’s men.”
    â€œUnderstood.” Percy frowned. Something didn’t add up. But what, he couldn’t be sure. He’d fought with Guffald in the worst of conditions. The man was a member of Nelson’s Tea. However, Henry had not been privileged to the information that Percy had while working undercover for nearly a year. Now was not the time to plunge Henry into his methodical scheme. Not with a personal vendetta on the line.
    â€œWhat about Collins?” he asked, his hand on the knob to his cabin door. “Was the sawbones able to patch him up?”
    Ollie’s eyes fixated on the boards beneath their feet. “Succumbed to his wounds, the captain did. Not a good sight, sir.”
    What more could be said? He’d done his best to save Collins. They’d each made a pact in the event of certain death at the hands of the enemy.
    He lifted his gaze to meet Ollie’s misted eyes. “Understood,” he said. Captain Collins had been one of the best nautical minds under the British flag. He would never forget the man’s painful expression, his concern not for his own wounds but for Lady Constance, the woman lying in his bed. “Tell the men he’s to receive a proper burial at sea.”
    Ollie nodded. “The word has already been given, sir.”
    â€œYou’re a good man, Ollie,” he admitted, slapping the man on the shoulder. “What would I do without you?”
    Pride lit up Ollie’s eyes. “You’d be at the bottom of the locker, I wager.”
    Percy smirked. “At least I would have had a delectable wench to keep me company.”
    â€œThat is true,” Ollie said. His second in command breathed deeply, furrowed his brows and then cleared his throat. “Been meaning to ask you, Cap’n. What do you plan to do with Danbury’s niece?”
    â€œGood question, Ollie.” He tapped his chin. “We’ll return her to her uncle as quickly as possible. Until then, I’ll keep her in my cabin, away from the men. No one is allowed near her, understood?”
    â€œAye. But who will keep her away from you, sir?” Ollie suggested.
    Halfway through the door, Percy glanced back over his shoulder. “God only knows, Ollie. God only knows.”
    Ollie grinned. “If you get tired of trying — ”
    â€œSimon’s niece is off limits,” he reminded