Chapter Ten: Confessions
The sun set over Nanjing like a warm, radiant jewel. Chinese junks dotted the ocean horizon, returning to neighboring Shanghai to conclude their business for the day. Landing two hours ago, Joe and Polly met Jolly Roger at her safehouse, a nondescript pagoda built on a cliff. Searching the grounds, they found Jolly in the back yard, looking out across the ocean. A bottle of whiskey dangled in her fingers and a lit cigarette fell seductively off her lips.
"Jolly," Joe said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Everything okay?"
She winced away from his touch as if she had been stabbed. Flicking her cigarette into the ocean, she took a swig from her whisky bottle and turned to face him. She'd been through hell, to say the least. Thin, winding rivers of mascara ran down her cheeks. The flesh around her left eye was swollen and stained a painful purple black; staying true to her piratical roots, she tried to conceal the abuse with an eye patch stamped with the emblem of the City of Lost Souls. Joe's heart sank as his eyes traced the thin lacerations raked over her neck and forehead, crusted over in dry blood.
"Jesus, Jolly," he said in shock. "What happened to you?"
She staggered toward him, her breath hot with alcohol.
"Nothing I can't handle. Follow me, Sullivan. It's time we had ourselves a talk."
Inside the pagoda, Jolly's servants prepared the trio a modest meal and fresh coffee, which Jolly greedily gulped down. After she had eaten her fill and sobered up some, she recounted her tale.
"King Blackbeard the Third is the ruler of Xantari, an island in the South Pacific. It's a highly industrialized country, and they're making a killing right now selling weapons to both the Axis and Allied powers. What no one knows though is that Xantari is also a nation of terrorists and murderers, not to mention the heart of the world's most ruthless criminal empire."
"And this Blackbeard, he's in on it?" Polly blurted, excited by the prospects of a sensational story.
Jolly shot her a glance, offended by Polly's intrusion. She took a sip of coffee and spoke directly to Joe.
"In on it? He's the biggest cutthroat of them all! They say he's a direct descendant of Blackbeart the pirate. I don't know if I believe it myself, but I've heard enough about his reputation to know that it doesn't matter either way. He's as evil as they get, Joe. Not the kind of man you mess around with."
Joe propped his elbows on the table and ran his hands through his hair.
"So he's a royal bastard. Fine, but what does this have to do with you and Rock?"
"I messed with him, Joe," she replied, lowering her head in shame. "When I heard that Blackbeard was developing a devastating new breed of weapons to unleash on the European war front, I sent spies in to learn about his plans. I wanted to sell the information to both sides, hoping they'd deal with Blackbeard before he and I came to blows...business and all.
"Against my wishes, they stole plans to Blackbeard's weapons. Don't you see, Joe? It was my spies that Rock intercepted over the Pacific! Whatever those plans contained, they were important enough for Blackbeard to send an entire fleet of airships after. Rock was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they killed him for it. I've killed my husband, jeopardized my city, and now Blackbeard's hunting me down!"
Joe clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth in rage as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
"Not if we hunt him down first," he said decisively.
Stay tuned for Chapter Eleven: Castles in the Sky