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is that what you had in mind for Grigg?”
    “I want to kill him, yes, but in a fair fight—with my bare hands.”
    Burdis actually laughed. “Look at yourself, man. D’you really think that would be
     a fair fight? I’ve nothing against revenge. I feel the need for it m’self occasionally.
     But I’ll have Mr. Grigg caught and hung long before you can get your hands on him.
     He is my next quarry, after all.”
    “And I’ll be dead before you catch him.”
    Burdis refilled Nathan’s glass before he replied, “You misunderstand why I’ve brought
     you before me. I’m going to give you the opportunity to thank me one day.”
    “For what?”
    The commander opened a drawer to retrieve a clean, unfolded piece of paper that he
     set in front of him. He tapped it. “This is a full pardon already signed, an opportunity
     for you to start over with a clean slate. But it’s conditional, of course.”
    Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “Is this some joke?”
    “Not a’tall. This document will remain with me until you fulfill the terms, but it’s
     a legitimate offer.”
    “You want me to catch Grigg for you without killing him? You really think I could
     resist the temptation if I get my hands on him?”
    “Forget about Grigg! I told you, assure you, I’ll see him hanged for you.”
    For the first time, Arnold Burdis didn’t look or sound so cordial. Nathan was done
     with second-guessing him, other than to say, “You sound angry.”
    “I am. My man guarding your ship was killed, left floating in the water where your Pearl should have been.”
    “You’ve lost my ship!?”
    “I didn’t lose it,” Burdis growled. “It was stolen, and, no, not by Hammett Grigg. We caught one
     of the thieves. Nicked as they were sailing away, he fell into the water and was recovered.
     We gave chase, of course, probably would have caught them, too, if we’d known their
     direction. We searched up and down the coast, while they did the unthinkable, sailing
     straight out to sea and beyond.”
    “Who were they?”
    “They’re not Englishmen, but they’ve been stealing English ships for some ten years
     now, just so sporadically, and never from the same harbors, that no one linked the
     thefts. At first they were just taking the vessels offshore and sinking them, but
     then they decided to have their revenge and make a profit at it.”
    “Revenge?”
    “It’s a couple of Americans who bear a grudge against us for the last war we had with
     their country, which orphaned them. They were just children at the time, which is
     why they only got around to getting some payback a decade ago.” A folded note was
     tossed at Nathan. “Those are the particulars I got out of their man. My superiors
     don’t give a rat’s ass about this crime ring targeting our harbors. They only want
     you and your ilk. But I don’t like having my toes stepped on, and these thieves did
     that when they killed one of my men and stole my prize right off my docks.”
    Nathan raised a brow. His prize? “Tell me you’re not asking me to bring my ship back to you.”
    “No, if you can recover The Pearl , she’s yours again, but good luck with that. They refit them with new paint, new
     names, then auction them off to their unsuspecting countrymen, who actually think
     they are legitimate shipbuilders. And they’ve gotten away with this for years. But
     you’re going to end it. It won’t be easy getting the Yanks to do you any favors, but
     you’ll need to figure out a way to get the authorities over there to work with you
     in closing down that operation. That’s my condition. I want a letter from an American
     official stating that the thieves have been arrested and put out of business.”
    “That’s all?” Nathan rejoined drily.
    The commander’s eyes narrowed with the warning. “Don’t even think of running away
     once I give you your freedom for this task. As I mentioned, I found out more’n I expected
     to about you, including that