Read Online The Pirate by Katherine Garbera - Free Book Online Page B

live,” one of the pirates said in his thickly accented English.
    He backed out of the room and closed and bolted the door.
    â€œIs everyone okay?” Laz asked.
    â€œYes. Other than being scared no one has been hurt.”
    â€œIs everyone accounted for?” Laz asked Hamm.
    â€œEveryone on the crew except Fridjtof,” Hamm said.
    â€œOur group is complete,” Bob said.
    One of the women was crying quietly and one of the other men comforted her.
    â€œJust sit tight. We’ll figure out what they want shortly. Hamm, I need you.”
    Laz walked away from the group of hostages and over to a remote corner. “Did you get a message to Savage?”
    â€œYes. Got it off just as they entered. I also rigged the radio to blind transmit any outgoing or incoming messages to Savage.”
    â€œGood. I didn’t see Samatan in the group on deck.”
    â€œHe wasn’t with the group belowdecks either. We might have to settle for this lot,” Hamm said.
    â€œNo way,” Laz said. “We’re not settling for anything less than the big prize.”
    â€œAnd what prize is that, Captain?” Daphne asked.
    He turned to see her. She had stunning eyes, he thought. They were bright blue and definitely communicated her anger. Earlier he’d thought that the anger was directed at the pirates, but now he saw it was directed at him.
    â€œTaking back our ship,” he said to her. “Why don’t you go back over with your group while my first mate and I discuss the situation.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t trust you, Captain. I think you are working with the pirates and would sell us out for the cargo of this ship. So I’m going to stay right here until you answer a few questions for me.”
    Laz shook his head. “This isn’t the time to answer questions, Daphne. We need to work on a plan to get us all out of this hold and capture the pirates.”
    â€œI can help with that.”
    â€œReally? How? Do you have some skills we don’t know about?”
    She shook her head. “My ex-husband is a Senator and I think I can get him to call for Special Forces to come and rescue us.”
    Laz shook his head. He knew that Special Forces wouldn’t come because the Savage Seven were already here. And this was their job. They were going to capture the pirates and bring down their king.
    â€œI’m afraid you are going to have to rely on me and my crew for right now. Go back to your people.”
    He turned away from her and waited tensely until she left.
    Â 
    Samatan was known by many different names to many different people. He’d grown up under the dictator in Mogadishu Somalia. He had cut his teeth as a Strongman—an enforcer for local mob bosses—in the north and learned early on that he couldn’t rely on anyone but himself to make his way.
    The city was now a mass of warring clans, which Samatan used to his advantage. He knew exactly how to motivate his men, and if he lost one or two on a pirate raid there were always more men to replace them. That was one thing that Somaliland always had—an endless supply of men and boys willing to do whatever they had to in order to survive.
    He knew the world saw him and his kind as terrorists, but he didn’t care. The civilized nations of the world never realized what life was really like. William Blake said it best: “A dog starved at its master’s gate predicts the ruin of the state.” Somalia was like that. And each year it seemed to get worse.
    No matter how many tankers he captured and ransomed, no matter how much money he brought back to his clan, he couldn’t really make the lives of his people better. But he tried. He wanted to see youths growing up with all their limbs and without the scars that he bore.
    But tonight that was something he didn’t have time to think about. He was patrolling. He seldom went on raids anymore. He saved his presence