Page 71 of Bargaining with the Devil

Pereira pushed to his feet. “Let me have a quick word with Eva first, and then I’ll accompany you.”

“Whit can I do for ye, gents?” Bairden asked as they entered the inn.

“Three pints to start.” Blackmore laid some coins on the scarred wooden bar. “The dark, I think.”

“Aye.” Bairden set to work pulling the taps and then leaned back once he’d handed over the ale, looking them over. “It appears tae me ye hae come for more than that though.”

An astute man, was Bairden. Hopefully ’twould make their work a bit easier.

“Aye, we have,” Blackmore said easily. “Information, if you’re willing to share it. It’s of a sensitive nature though and requires confidentiality.”

“Mebbe I’d best lock up for a few minutes?”

“If you would.”

They’d agreed that Blackmore would do most of the talking initially, both the explanations and the questions. Blackmore had lived in this community for going on two years now, whereas he and Pereira stood out as the outsiders they were.

Once they were assured of privacy, Blackmore was upfront about having formerly worked for the Foreign Office and that he and Pereira still did. Then he laid out the situation for Bairden.

Bairden absorbed it before nodding. “Well, I suppose I’m no’ much shocked tae hear it. Ye hae always struck me as a canny one, an’ ye hae been closemouthed about a fair bit o’ yer history. Ye say Miss Muir is in grave danger?”

“Aye. Myself, Mrs. Blackmore, and Rachel too. Once Lymington learned Miss Muir was here, it was likely a quick leap to my name too since I was involved in the case that brought down Lymington’s brother.”

“I’d truly hate for any harm tae come tae your family. I’ll help ye wi’ whatever I can, although I might no’ know much, mind.”

“I deeply appreciate any information you might have. And I’ll stress here at the outset that we don’t work for Customs, nor are we required to report to them. We’ve received information from them, but the three of us make our own decisions.”

Diplomacy was Blackmore’s tack; himself, he’d spell it out a bit plainer. “Lymington is our sole interest along with what that means for Miss Muir and the Blackmores. As far as free trade goes, well, ’tis not a bad thing where I’m from.”

“Irish, are ye?” Bairden asked.

“Aye, from County Dublin. We’ve no quarrel with free traders here so long as that’s their only concern. ’Tis Lymington who’s threatened Miss Muir.”

Bairden took a moment to consider before responding, “I’ll tell ye whit I ken, but if asked⁠—”

“It didn’t come from you,” Blackmore interjected. He hefted his pint slightly. “We’re just three friends, three former soldiers from the Peninsular campaign, enjoying your ale.”

Bairden smiled. “So ye are, and payin’ me well for it. But as for whit I can tell ye, there is still an outfit bringin’ things ashore regularly in th’ Port O’Warren area.”

“Do they ever use Heston Isle? We—that’s Miss Muir and myself—had a run-in with Lymington on Heston. I saw him being rowed out to a lugger, after. ’Twas three or four men, but not being from here myself, I can’t say if ’twas Lymington’s men or locals.”

Bairden scratched his chin. “I’m no’ tellin’ ye this, mind, but aye, th’ caves there are still used some. No’ by men livin’ directly around here anymore, no’ sae I ken it. Ye say ye and Miss Muir had a run-in there?”

“Lymington shot her, almost point-blank,” he said bluntly. “’Twas a glancing blow only because I knifed him and spoiled his aim. He meant to kill her. Two seconds later on my part and he’d have succeeded.”

Bairden’s expression suggested disgust now along with concern. “An’ ye believe he learned who she was from someone local?”

“He said as much.”

“He’s crooked, but that seems likely to be the truth,” Blackmore added.

Bairden picked up a cloth and began wiping the bar. Looked more like a man needing to do something with his hands while thinking than a man doing actual cleaning. “I don’t want tae think that anyone here would betray yer kin, Blackmore,” Bairden said after a minute. “But I cannae be sure, o’ course.”

“There is an excise captain named Lees,” Pereira said, speaking up for the first time. “He is assigned patrol along the Solway, and Customs is of the belief he is less than honest. Does that name mean anything to you?”

“We believe he has something to do with putting Lymington together with men locally,” Blackmore added. “Which means he has a connection of his own. Someone he trusts.”

“Or someone in his debt. Someone under his control,” Pereira interjected.