Free Buccaneer (Dane Maddock Adventures) by David Wood Page A

here, and each step carried her deeper into the darkness, a fitting twin for her mood.
    The stairway emptied into a square room. To her left, a heavy oaken door barred the way. Suits of armor stood sentinel in each corner and, to her right, arched windows flanked a floor-to-ceiling tapestry depicting a scene from the Battle of Ager Sanguinis. She glided behind the tapestry and her hand went aut omatically to the trigger stone .
    The door swung open on silent hinges, revealing a jarringly bright room. Built in an octagonal shape, it was thoroughly modern, from the soft, blue carpet, to the fluorescent lights, to the high-definition television set high on one wall. In contrast, a medieval-looking rack of weapons lined the wall to her left: swords, long knives, a mace, a morning star, and staffs of varying lengths and thicknesses.
    Jacob stood watch over a handcuffed man in his late twenties, who scowled at her when she entered. Morgan looked him up and down. He was tall and solidly built, and the scarring on his knuckles indicated he ’ d done his share of fighting. Dark stubble dusted his shaved head and cheeks. He wore sagging blue jeans, jack boots, and a West Ham United football jersey.
    “ So who is she, then? ” he growled. “ Why ’ d you bring me here? ”
    “ Why are you here? ” Morgan echoed. “ That is an excellent question, for which I shall give you an honest answer. ” She accepted a black leather portfolio from Jacob, opened it, and flipped through the contents.
    “ Richard MacKenzie, originally from Liverpool, late of Falmouth ” she read. “ You came to our attention because you beat your girlfriend two weeks ago. ”
    “ Them charges didn ’ t stick, now, did they? ” He grinned, his crooked, beige teeth gleaming like jagged fangs in the artificial light. “ If you ’ re one of them bizzies you can just bugger off and let me go on my way. ”
    “ You set a car on fire during the riots, ” she continued, “ and you have an impressive list of criminal offenses. ”
    “ That ’ s not all that ’ s impressive about me, blondie. ” He moved his hips suggestively.
    “ I do not see here that you have a job, or have ever held one. ” She cocked her head and waited for a reply.
    “ See now, I ’ ve worked here and there. ” His smug grin flickered. “ It ’ s hard, you know. Not many jobs to be had. ”
    “ You have never held a job for which you earned a salary or paid income taxes. ”
    “ So what if I haven ’ t? That ’ s not a crime now, is it? ”
    “ You are a parasite, Mister MacKenzie. Britain has provided you with support for your entire life, yet you repay her by preying on good and decent people. ”
    “ Most of them wasn ’ t decent, Miss. No more than me, anyhow. ” His grin was back.
    “ Give me one reason I should let you leave here alive, Mister MacKenzie. ”
    His face turned beet red and he trembled, not with fear, but rage. “ Bollocks. You ain ’ t going to do nothing to me. ” The man was either too arrogant or too lacking in imagination to understand he was in her power.
    “ Let us try again. If you ceased to exist at this very moment, give me one example of how Britain would be the worse for it . ”
    “ Piss off! ” If his hands had not been cuffed, Morgan was sure he would have attacked her right then and there. Good!
    “ Nothing, then? Because I can think of several ways in which your death would improve our country immensely. ” She sniffed. “ Not the least of which would be the absence of your foul stench. ”
    “ Let me go or I ’ ll... ” He glanced down at his handcuffs.
    “ What? You ’ ll hit me, like you did to your girlfriend? ” She nodded to Jacob who produced a key and removed MacKenzie ’ s cuffs. “ That is exactly what I want. ”
    “ What? ” The confusion in his eyes was comical.
    “ I want to fight you, Mister MacKenzie. You may use any of the weapons you see here. ” She nodded to the rack. “ I shall be