The Pirate Hunter. Laura Martin

does Del Torres target?’ Will asked.

      Mia took a sip of ale to try to fortify herself for the answer that was to come.

      ‘Mainly merchant ships. He has contacts in most of the ports who feed him information about which ships to target. That’s one of the differences between The Dragon and other pirate ships—when The Dragon engages with a merchant ship you know it is going to be a big payload at the end.’

      ‘How about raiding towns?’ Mia asked. She didn’t want to know the answer, but felt she had to.

      Weston shifted his attention back to her. ‘Land raids are high risk—you get little return for what can sometimes be a big loss of life or capture of men. Del Torres will raid towns, but not often. He normally focuses on the merchant ships.’

      ‘And on these land raids, does he...?’ Mia paused, trying to find the right words without her voice cracking. ‘Does he kill civilians? Does he rape innocent women?’

      Weston looked at her strangely as if she was asking an obvious question.

      ‘He’s a pirate,’ he said simply.

      Mia felt the blood drain from her head and clutched at the table to steady herself. She had known her brother had been branded a pirate and deep down she knew he must do all the atrocious things pirates did, but a part of her had clung to the hope that he’d been nobler than the rest.

      She felt Will move closer and he took her hand in his own under the table. He gave it a reassuring squeeze. Mia wanted to allow her body to sink into his, to feel his protective arms around her, shielding her from the world.

      ‘If you want to see what Del Torres can do, why don’t you take a trip to Savanna-la-Mar?’ Weston suggested. ‘Then you can see first-hand what destruction a pirate raid wreaks.’

      Mia swallowed convulsively.

      ‘Del Torres and his crew raided the town four days ago,’ Weston explained. ‘Think they killed about twenty people, but there’re plenty of survivors to give you the gory details.’

      ‘Tell me about where the ship anchors,’ Will asked quickly, diverting Weston’s attention from Mia and her ashen face.

      ‘Del Torres avoids highly populated areas, especially after an attack. There are some quiet bays on Tortola and Dominica. When the ship needs more provisions or repairs he normally takes it to one of the small harbours on St Vincent or St Lucia.’

      ‘Surely the authorities are on the lookout for The Flaming Dragon even in the small harbours.’

      Weston shook his head and smiled ruefully. ‘Del Torres is a clever man. He pays the right people to look the other way and he never misses a payment.’

      He paused and took another gulp of ale, once again eyeing Mia.

      ‘You look very familiar,’ he repeated again.

      ‘Can you tell me anything more about these bays?’ Will asked, determined to get more information from the former pirate.

      Weston shrugged, ‘I was only a lowly seaman, not privy to any of the plans. They were sheltered, we rode out a few storms in some of the coves. Apart from that I don’t know what else I can tell you. I was only on the ship for a couple of months.’

      ‘Why?’ Mia asked, trying not to glance at the scars on his neck, ‘What happened?’

      Weston grimaced, ‘I got greedy and I got caught.’

      ‘And they let you live?’

      ‘That was a mistake. Del Torres had one of the crew slit my throat, but they did an awful job. Threw me into the sea bleeding like hell, but in no way dead. I managed to make it back to land and someone patched me up. I was at death’s door for a good few weeks.’

      Mia didn’t feel any sympathy for him. He’d been a pirate, happy to kill innocent people. If he couldn’t even stick by the self-imposed rules of piracy, he didn’t deserve her pity.

      ‘Se cosecha lo sembrado,’ Mia murmured.

      Weston stood suddenly, the colour draining from his face.

      ‘What did you say?’ he asked, his voice choking in his throat.

      Mia hesitated, then said again, ‘Se cosecha lo sembrado.’

      ‘Who are you? Are you working for him?’

      People were beginning to stare.

      ‘Are you working for Del Torres?’

      ‘Sit down, Weston,’ Will commanded. ‘You’re drawing attention to us.’

      Weston ignored him.

      ‘Are you working for Del Torres?’ he asked again.

      Mia shook her head, but seemingly the reassurance was not enough for the ex-pirate. He backed away from the table, then, when he had reached the door, he turned and ran.

      Mia and Will looked at each other in amazement.

      ‘What does it mean?’ Will asked her eventually.

      ‘You reap what you sow. My mother used to say it.’