Chapter Thirty-Seven

Early the next morning before the sun had risen Jane met up with Barry, Tommy, and the three of them made their way quietly back to the boat and back out to Spiritus. Jane would move Spiritus to another location and the three of them would take it easy until night returned, by then Miguel would have had a whole day to fish out pirates looking for a ship to work aboard. The three of them would then sort out the diamonds from the rocks and take only the most experienced in sailing, fighting and weaponry. Jane was in a foul mood still and spent the day alone in her cabin not wishing to be disturbed by anyone; she kept herself busy getting shipping manifests and paperwork up to date until she could not sit still any longer and went to eat an early dinner. They set out again late at night and she rowed them ashore once more. Jane had been distracted since last night and did not realize she was making a grave mistake because if she had been paying closer attention to her surroundings as she usually did she would have at least felt or noticed something was not right. She would have paid attention to what her senses were trying to tell her, and that was that they were being followed and watched. Jack and Benjamin had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time and Jack Thatch's luck had been increasing exponentially ever since Charles Vane's hanging and he was immensely happy the bastard was dead. Since that fateful old day the captain had swung, Jack had begun to think big. He found he was not satisfied just walking away and leaving all the spoils to Jane and was mighty angry that Orpheus had fallen into her hands and even more furious that she would get the payout for the bitch she had kidnapped. He had been under Charles Vane's orders and had helped Jane against his better judgment. But now he was watching the two Rizzoli's and Barry Frost snooping through the streets of Havana and had thought to himself why the fuck not. Yes the tables were turning and would continue to turn until he had what he wanted, Orpheus, Maura's coin and Jane Rizzoli's head on a pike. All he had to do was wait for Jane to finish her business and then follow the bitch back to her hideout, then he would take great pleasure in torturing her, killing her, before 'rescuing' Maura and taking her home to daddy. He would bargain his way to riches and would be the proud owner of two ships. he had already stolen a ship back in Boston to make his way to Havana for other business but since finding Jane Rizzoli he had convinced his crew to go after her and get back what was taken from them plus much more. He was not going to let that pussy fuck woman make a fool of him and made plans to hunt her down and take his revenge, it was as though the sea gods were agreeing with his injustices and granting him the opportunity to seek his revenge. He was currently the new captain of a beautiful brig called Sonata, which they had repainted and renamed Devil's Due.

Now that he had so easily stumbled upon the pirate heading into a house last night Jack had sent two of his smartest men to hire the toughest, most savage pirates they could find, he was not taking any chances now that he had found Jane. Jack and Benjamin followed the duo from a distance to a rundown neglected warehouse along the waterfront, remained outside in the darkness until they emerged roughly three hours later, and headed back the way they had come from. They followed them until the three had disappeared into thick forest and watched over the next few hours as groups of men in twos and threes came from the city and headed into the forest, they were hard looking men and Jack knew he had made the right decision in hiring more pirates himself. It would be a fierce fight when the time came but he would be ready and he and his men would be the ones to be victorious. Jack and Benjamin slipped away stealthily to Devil's Due and sailed around the cove to await Jane's sailing. He had painted the hull black, the sails were black and there were no lanterns lit anywhere aboard the ship, his crew was not even allowed to smoke. Any bit of light could potentially give them away at night and during the day they would have to drift back right out of sight of keen eyes. But the sea gods were still in Jack's favor and they made the three-day journey to Jane's hideout without being spotted. It was time to take what was his.

J&M

Jane and the heavily laden ship of new crew members made it back to Hermes late afternoon on the third day of sailing, Miguel had done his part of finding Jane crew members and she was well satisfied with her choice of pirates and impressed when they were tested on their various skills in the warehouse in Havana. Now she was docked at her island and her, Barry let down the boarding plank, and she stepped off the ship.

She hollered loudly to get all the pirates attention, "Alright men this be me island. Feel free t' wonder around but stay away from three things, me house, th' cottage on th' hill an' a lass by th' name o' Maura. If I be seein' any o' ye near her without me permission ye will regret 't I swear on me mother`s grave," She said sternly.

"Tomorrow mornin' all o' us will get a start on buildin' houses fer ye all, until then as ye know ye be stayin' in th' ship. If ye want, ye can stay on Orpheus. Okay I be off."

The new crew cheered Jane as she strode down the dock and they began leaving the ship. Jane knew there would be some confrontations between the men adjusting and working out their own order of things but it was normal and expected. As long as there was a general respect between them, they worked well as a group, under pressure and did not let petty issues between them dictate outcomes Jane would be pleased. She strode up to her house with two sacks of her belongings over each shoulder including her cigars and rum courtesy of Miguel. As she strode through her gardens she found herself glancing up at the cottage briefly looking for a sight of Maura and got angry when she realized what she was doing, however, she had been on edge on the return trip home and had spent quite a bit of time pacing restlessly around her cabin or above deck. But she never got restless like this to return home, there was an excitement in her stomach that she was not used to and could only attribute it to being able to see the woman again, for that was the only difference on her island, Maura's presence. Dropping the sacks of goods in her ship room she pulled out a wooden box of cigars, took one out, cut, lit it, and breathed deeply of the spicy smoke. Jane set about getting herself a bath ready and after lazing in it for over an hour, had dinner and retired for an early night; she needed to catch up on her sleep in order to be ready for building tomorrow.

J&M

Maura had been sitting atop the cliff in the comforting afternoon sun reading one of Jane's books when Spiritus had sailed into the cove. She was concentrating wholly upon the book, which to her delight was all about medicine, and different natural remedies, she had stumbled upon it in Jane's study the day before when she had asked Vince if she could borrow more books. She had not noticed Spiritus sail in and dock and gasped with surprise as she glanced up to rest her eyes for a bit. A nervous agitation settled in her stomach from the thought of being able to see the captain again and against her will she searched out the small figures hoping for a glimpse of Jane but they were all too small to distinguish. She stood up, brushed off her dress and went to the top of the incline just in time to catch Jane striding across the gardens. Her breath hitched as she watched and Jane glanced her way a few times but it was apparent she didn't see her. As Jane went into her house Maura suddenly wrestled with the idea of going down to see her, perhaps to welcome her back but decided against it, she knew if the captain wanted to see her she would come up to the cottage. As it turned out the captain did not want to see her, and Maura fell asleep late that night feeling unexplainably sad.