Chapter 20

Jack ran a hand over his face, but he knew he had to deal with the cargo on his deck; with a few enemies from the other crew and Villanueva, all of them abandoned; and, of course, with the adorable little girl singing softly in the water.

He looked over the railing "Miriam! Stop!" he shouted to where he could see her. This one was half trembling and when she stopped, he knew that he had to pull her out fast from the water. He gazed at her "Grab the rope!" He threw the rope fast and pulled her out of the water just as the crew seemed to recover their senses. Before they could get a good look on her, he threw her his coat. This one seemed to relax a bit "Ye better dry off before you catch a cold or somethin'." He turned to the crew "Are ye all fine?"

Most of the crew nodded, while Jack removed their restraints; he then went to steer the ship to starboard to get out of the dangerous parts of those waters. Later, he left the helm to Gibbs, with a little pat and helped his crew lock up the enemies, including Villanueva, who seemed to groan when being moved.

When they were locked up and the rest was protected, James seemed to stare at him straight in the eye and Jack knew a conversation was coming… Jack bit his lip a little, but went to his cabin, followed closely by James, and led Miriam away from where she was sitting, already dry and with legs again. The moment he closed the door, James abandoned his calm appearance.

"What the hell…? How could you keep this a secret?!" He shouted to Miriam.

This one hid behind Jack's coat, using it as a shield and almost crying, shaking her head.

"James, ye better calm yourself. Ye're scarin' the lass…" Jack tried to say.

"I'm scaring her?" He turned to look at him "Jack, she's a damn… A mermaid!"

Jack took a deep breath at that and changed his way of speaking "Yes… I realized that. It won't help at all getting angry." He turned then to the girl "Is there any reason why you didn't tell us that?"

"Why do you think so?" She almost spitted, half crying "Mum forbade me to! And for a good reason! They always react the same, right? And, if not, they want something from my 'kind', be it my voice, my tears or both."

"Was your mother…?" he asked but she shook her head "I imagined it. Just half mermaid… Well, definitely it has helped as a distraction and you saved my crew, Miriam, so thank you."

This one nodded a bit, relaxing for a second, but James interrupted.

"You can't be serious… She could be dangerous! Don't mermaids supposedly drown men?" he asked, almost astonished.

"As you might remember a bit, I avoided that by tying up everyone to the mast and Miriam is only half mermaid… Her power towards people isn't the same as the rest like her, believe me, I would know." he explained, kind of laughing.

"Of course you would." James huffed "You know what? Very well… Let's leave this matter and never put Miriam to sing or in the water anymore."

"I agree with that." Miriam mentioned in a low voice "It's not like I want to be hunted for what I am…"

"And, speaking of her supposed power… How did it affect everyone except you?" James asked.

"They pull your desires and mine is freedom to roam the seas, which I mostly have…" Jack shrugged "I've already met some of her kind and I imagined that it wouldn't affect me. Although, if she had been a mermaid completely, I probably wouldn't have been so lucky."

James seemed to take a deep breath and exhaled; he passed a hand through his hair and let his shoulders drop and shook his head.

"... I should have known that it was too much to ask that you would think before acting, captain Sparrow." he proclaimed and turned then to Miriam "Please, get out and take something to eat or whatever."

Miriam looked a bit hurt about that, taking a look at Jack for a second, but got up and left them alone. Jack sighed a little, sadly.

"... We have the goods, Villanueva and part of his crew." Jack stated, trying to break the ice.

"We should question him about Vane." James declared, letting the topic slide "Do you think he'll tell us something?"

Jack shrugged and sipped from one of his bottles "It depends how scared he is of Vane, but he has nothing left to lose"

"Oh, really?" James frowned.

Jack raised his head "Someone stole his piece of eight which means that he's no longer pirate lord and, if we add that to his profession, there's only one end for a man like him."

James sighed at that, knowing the answer "A short drop and a sudden stop." he said in a low voice. Jack nodded "Then, we'll need to convince him to speak somehow."

"If ye're speakin' of torture, ye're goin' to do that alone, mate." Jack mentioned with a tense smile on his lips, changing his way of speech again.

"I wasn't going to…" James seemed to ask for patience, almost annoyed "Can we not argue about this? It's not like it's the first time that you catch a pirate for the Crown since you signed, Jack. Please, don't tell me that you're now questioning yourself."

Jack scoffed "It's not that and ye know it." He sighed "It's the first time I've had to face the inner circle… It's just strange to be on this side again, knowing that I don't precisely agree with many of the things that ye and the Navy tend to think."

"Stop putting me at their level, Sparrow!" James got up, growling "I'm not them! Haven't I shown it many times already?!"

"Oh, I don't know!" this one answered, also getting up from his seat "You still act as if the world could be divided between pirates and your people! As if the Navy was a saint and the only sinners in the world were the pirates!"

James was almost fuming, but he realized that Jack was also trembling of rage and seemed to close his eyes, trying to calm himself down.

Even though they had been working 'together' for a certain time, neither of the two had in fact spent the time with the other if it could be avoided… Each of them had done their part in their works and practically had ignored the rest, which included any feelings that they had had as enemies. They had been working towards the same goal, but it couldn't be said that they had talked about their differences or that they had tried to fix them… They had just buried them underground, in an attempt to hide them.

"This won't help any of us." James admitted "We need to end this mission and we need this information."

Jack seemed to relax his muscles, even as he pursed his lips "I know." he grabbed the keys to the cell and went towards the door "Let's go talk with Villanueva."

As they passed, they could see the crew putting everything in order. Jack only stopped once to tell Gibbs to steer the ship to Port Royal and they went downstairs.

For obvious reasons, they had separated Villanueva from the rest of the crew and it was something convenient for the interrogation. With a nod, James pulled out his sword, in case the prisoner would try something, and Jack opened the cell. Without a word, they forced out Villanueva and took him to the Captain's cabin, putting him in shackles when they sat him, to which this one almost grumbled.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

Jack glanced at James briefly and indicated with a hand for him to speak.

"Information." James answered "We've heard that you perhaps have something about Vane and with whom he's working that could have given him free rein in Port Royal."

"About Vane? No, no! I know absolutely nothing! Nada!" he shouted, desperately.

"I can sense that ye're already friends." Jack noted.

"Friends? Last time, that piece of crap stole my booty, almost destroyed my ship and killed most of my trusted men because I revealed, while I was drunk, something about him!" he confessed "I won't say anything!"

"Frankly, mister Villanueva, I don't think he'll be able to catch you." James replied, scoffing "In fact, the noose appears to be the closest destiny to your death."

"And since I have nothing left to lose, I have to tell you everything?" he huffed and spit on his face "You're wrong!"

James closed his eyes and passed his shirt to clean himself. He took a deep breath, approached Villanueva, piercing him with his gaze; this one tried to escape, and leaned back on the chair as much as he could.

"What if…?" Jack mentioned, making the others glanced at him. Jack ignored the looks, as he kept inspecting his own cabin non-stop "What if ye could win somethin' if ye gave this information?"

"What?" James and Villanueva questioned at the same time, though it was difficult to say who was more surprised.

"Well, ye see…" He pulled out a bottle of rum from his cabinet, served three glasses, and took them to the table "This information that we need is of great interest for our dear governor of Port Royal and if ye would tell us, we might be able to persuade said governor to be generous to ye."

Villanueva narrowed his eyes, not entirely convinced, but he seemed to be thinking about it, pursing his lips "You're just a privateer, Sparrow… How would you convince someone like him?"

"Come on, Villanueva…" he said, smirking a bit "How do ye think I even got this position?"

James looked about to explode, but Jack shot him a quick warning glance before turning his full attention to Villanueva, releasing one of his hands to offer him a glass.

Villanueva seemed to laugh a bit as he stirred the liquid and drank the contents in one gulp "Let's suppose that I'm in the mood for sharing…" this one mentioned and Jack smiled "You just need to know the person Vane is working with?"

"Well, and any more information would be greatly appreciated, as ye well know." he replied.

"Sparrow…" James seemed about to rise to his feet.

Jack stepped on his foot and this one bit back a groan "Just a bit of information and I speak with our dear governor, what says ye to that?" he said to the other.

Villanueva tilted his head a little and smirked "... Very well, Sparrow, you have a deal." They shook hands and Jack made a little move so the other would keep talking, pulling out his gun and aiming at him with his left hand, as he served him more liquid in the glass with the other. Villanueva smirked at that "Not very trusting, eh?"

"It must be the profession… Now, please…" Jack smirked back.

The other shrugged "Well, then I admit I don't know much… Just that the person Vane is working with has enough power and has great acquaintances with our last enemies in that damn battle."

"The East India Company?"

"Sí, exactly… And that person must be quite popular in that circle if he has that kind of help." he nodded "Now, if we're done already…"

After taking him to the cell again, James practically dragged Jack to this other's one cabin, closing the door hard. Jack almost jumped because of the noise and tried to pull himself out of that situation, only for James to stop him, making him sit in his own chair with a huff.

"What. The. Hell. Were. You. Thinking?" He emphasized.

"I got the information, didn't I?" he pointed out.

"Yes, by making a deal with him!" he replied.

"Come on, Jamey, I never said I would do as promised, did I?" Jack smiled.

"That's even worse." he replied, shaking his head. He breathed out twice "Who do you think Villanueva was talking about, assuming he's telling the truth?"

Jack let his back lean against the seat and looked at him, seriously "I have almost an idea who he's talking about… But, we would need proof."

"Does that mean that someone is trying to incriminate the commodore?" James frowned "Why?"

"No idea… Although I almost guess that he simply is an easy way out." Jack shrugged.

James raised an eyebrow at that "And who do you think is guilty, then?" And he laughed a little "The secretary?"

Jack smiled "Oh, come on, former commodore… Of our three suspects, there's only one that has a lot of power in Port Royal, that can secure a ship and that could also have acquaintances with the East India Company…"

"Benjamin Holland." he admitted.

"Aye, our luvely admiral." Jack winked at him.