Read Stormy Persuasion for Free Online

reason, and he wanted no more of it.
    “Do I even get a trial?” he demanded.
    The commander swirled his brandy and sniffed it before he looked up curiously and
     asked, “Do you have a defense?”
    “I’ll think of something.”
    A tsk. “You’re far too glib for your situation. Admirable, I suppose, but unnecessary.
     Has it not occurred to you that I hold your life in my hands? I would think you would
     want to rein in that sarcasm, at least until you find out why I’ve summoned you.”
    A carrot? It almost sounded as if he wasn’t going to be hanged today. But it raised
     his suspicion again. If this wasn’t his trial, the commander his judge and jury, then
     what the hell was it? And he’d been caught red-handed. He had no defense and they
     both knew it.
    He sat back. “By all means, continue.”
    “I am successful in this job because I make a point of finding out all there is to
     know about my quarries, and you are something of an anomaly.”
    “There’s nothing peculiar about me, Commander.”
    “On the contrary. I know you’ve been involved in other lines of work. Lawful ones.
     Quite a few actually, and you mastered each one, which is an amazing feat for someone
     your age. Couldn’t make up your mind what to do with your life?”
    Nathan shrugged. “My father died and left me his ship and crew. That made up my mind
     for me.”
    Burdis smiled. “So you think smuggling is in your blood? I beg to differ. I already
     know about you, Tremayne, more than I expected to learn. Privilege of rank, access
     to old records.”
    “Then you probably know more’n I do.”
    “Possibly, but I doubt it. Moved quite far down the proverbial social ladder, haven’t
     you? Did all the women in your family marry badly, or just your mother?”
    Every chain rattled as Nathan stood up and leaned across the desk to snarl, “Do you
     have a death wish?”
    The commander immediately reached for his pistol, cocked it, and pointed it at Nathan’s
     chest. “Sit down, before I call the guards.”
    “Do you really think one bullet would stop me before I break your neck?”
    Burdis let out a nervous chuckle. “Yes, you’re a strapping behemoth, I get the point.
     But you have an earl in your bloodline, so it was a logical question.”
    “But none of your bleedin’ business.”
    “Quite right. And I meant no offense. I just found it a fascinating tidbit, who your
     ancestors are, a bit far back in the tree, but still . . . D’you even realize that
     you could be sitting in a chair like mine, instead of the one you’re in? It boggled
     my mind when I realized it. Why did you never take advantage of who you are?”
    “Because that isn’t who I am. And you ask too many questions of a man you’ve already
     caught.”
    “Curiosity is my bane, I readily admit it. Now do sit down, before I change my mind about you and send you back to your cell.”
    There was that carrot again, alluding to a different outcome to his capture than the
     obvious one. Nathan drained the brandy in front of him before he dropped back in his
     chair. He could handle at least one glass without losing his wits. Bleedin’ nabob.
     Nathan still suspected he was being toyed with, and now he guessed why. His lordly
     ancestor probably ranked higher than the commander’s did. Why else would the man want
     to sit there and gloat?
    “Are you going to tell me who your informant was?” Nathan asked once more.
    “He was just a lackey, but can’t you guess who he works for? I have it on good authority
     that you’ve been searching for the man yourself. He must have thought you were getting
     too close to finding him.”
    Nathan stiffened. “Hammett Grigg?”
    “Yes, I thought that might be clue enough for you. The same man suspected of killing
     your father.”
    “Not just suspected. There was a witness.”
    “An old grudge finally settled between the two men, was the way I heard it.”
    “My father was unarmed. It was murder.”
    “And