On most mornings this close to midday, Diver would have been at the wharves already. But this was Sunday, and the shipyards at which Diver labored tended to work their men on Saturdays and give them Sundays off. Reaching Diver’s door, Ethan knocked, waited, and after some time knocked again.
“Diver!” he called. “Are you in there?”
“Aye, hold on,” came Diver’s voice from inside. The door opened, revealing Ethan’s friend, shirtless and barefoot in a pair of breeches. His dark curls were tousled and he squinted against the daylight.
“What time is it?” he asked, frowning at Ethan.
“Almost midday.” Looking past Diver into the room, Ethan saw the bare back and long red hair of a woman in Diver’s bed. “Late night?”
That coaxed a grin from him. “What do you want, Ethan?”
“I have a business proposition for you. I need help, and I think you’re the only one who I can trust with this.”
His eyes went wide like those of a boy who had just been given his first musket. The look was half joy, half amazement. “You’re serious,” he said.
“Aye. But we need to get started now. And,” Ethan added, looking past him to the woman, “we can’t discuss it in front of anyone.”
Diver nodded. “She’ll be dressed and out of here in five minutes.” He started to close the door.
“Is that Katharine?” Ethan asked, stopping him.
“What?” Diver’s face went red. “Oh. No, it’s not. I told her I never wanted to see her again. This is Deborah. I’ll introduce you before she leaves.”
Ethan didn’t think there was any need. Chances were Diver would be with someone new by week’s end, and he would never see Deborah with him again. But he kept that to himself and waited patiently outside the room while the two of them dressed. True to his word, Diver introduced Ethan to the girl as she was leaving, presenting Ethan in a manner befitting someone of great celebrity. Deborah smiled at Ethan, kissed Diver’s cheek, and left, hips swaying as she descended the stairs. Diver stared after her in a way that made Ethan wonder if he was wrong to dismiss the girl as he had.
“You like this one, eh?”
“Aye, I do.”
“Good for you, Diver. It’s about time.”
Diver looked at him. “What is?”
“Nothing. Forget I said it.”
His friend looked down at the girl one last time as she stepped out onto Devonshire. Once she was out of sight, he turned to Ethan again. “So what’s this all about?”
“Inside,” Ethan said.
Once they were in the room, with the door closed and a pot of water warming on the stove, Ethan began to relate to Diver all that he had learned about the pearls and Gant’s role in their theft.
When he finished, Diver let out a low whistle. “Well, I never liked Simon Gant. I was scared to death of him, if you want to know the truth. But going up against Sephira…” He shook his head. “You’ve got to admire him for that. I wouldn’t have the nutmegs.”
“I prefer to think that you’re too smart,” Ethan told him. “But we’ll leave that discussion for another day.” He had been sitting back in an old wooden chair, but now he leaned forward, the chair creaking as he rested his elbows on his knees. “When was the last time you dealt with smugglers?”
Diver hesitated. Under most circumstances, Ethan knew, he would have claimed to have given up such activities, knowing that Ethan wouldn’t approve. But he seemed to understand that on this day Ethan needed to hear the truth. “It’s been a while now. Since last winter at least.”
“You still know people, though, right? If you needed to find something, or sell something?”
“Of course,” the younger man said. “What is it you want me to do?”
“If you had pearls to sell, and you didn’t know where they had come from, or if you knew but didn’t want to answer any questions about them, where would you go to sell them?”
“The Crow’s Nest,” Diver said right off. “That’s still the best spot.”
Ethan shook his head. “They’re not there. And at this point I’d wager that Dunc wants nothing to do with them. Where else?”
Diver ran a hand through his curls, his brow furrowed. “That’s hard to say. I might have to think about it, and get back to you.”
“No time for that,” Ethan said. “I’ll trust you to find the right place.”
“You’ll trust me…? I don’t follow.”
“I need you to find a buyer for those pearls.”
“But I thought you didn’t have them.”
Ethan grinned. “Well, that’s where this gets a little dangerous. I don’t have them. Neither will you. So you’re going to have to use some caution when you speak of them. Maybe say that you have a friend who’s trying to sell the pearls. If you want to imply that it’s me, go ahead. Just don’t use my name, or anyone else’s for that matter.”
“The men who are likely to show interest in these pearls are going to want to know more about them than I’m guessing you want me to tell.”
“I’m sure,” Ethan said. “But I’m not as interested in attracting potential buyers as I am in drawing the attention of Simon Gant. So here’s what you’ll say: You don’t know much about where these pearls came from. Only that they’ve been here in the city for several years, and that they had been lost for a while, but recently turned up somewhere in New Boston. If anyone asks for more information than that, tell them you don’t know.”
“Several years in the city, found in New Boston.” Diver nodded. “That’s easy enough. What else?”
Ethan closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face, brow to chin. “It’s not easy at all, Diver. Understand what it is I’m asking of you, what it is I’m getting you into. If I’m right, Gant has already killed a shipful of men simply to protect his stake in this shipment. He nearly killed Mariz with a conjuring. He beat me senseless and did the same to Dunc, all because of these pearls. He’s going to hear what you’re trying to sell, and he’s going to come looking for you. And because he stole these from Sephira, we’re going to be drawing her attention, too. She’s been hunting the man all through Boston, and she won’t stop until Gant is dead or she has the pearls.”
Diver stared at him, puzzlement furrowing his brow. “Well, now it sounds like you don’t want me to help you.”
“I do. I can’t think of any other way to lure Gant out from wherever he’s been hiding. But I want you to understand the danger in what I’m asking you to do. Once you start this, you can’t stay here. Chances are Gant and Sephira’s toughs will come here to search your place, and they won’t be gentle about it. If you’re here, they’ll hurt you. Or worse.”
“So, I won’t be here.”
“Is there somewhere else you can stay? With Deborah maybe?”
Diver’s cheeks reddened again. “Aye, maybe. I’ll find a place. Don’t worry about it, Ethan. I can do this.”
Ethan laid a hand on Diver’s shoulder. “I know you can. But just the same, I’ll be keeping an eye on you, and on them. If anyone contacts you, tries to set up a meeting, you let me know, and I’ll be there with you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Can’t you find Gant on your own? Your way, I mean.”
“I can,” Ethan said. “But he’ll feel a finding spell. He’ll know someone’s looking for him. He might even guess that it’s me. I don’t want to give him that kind of warning. I’m sure that he’s looking for these pearls, and I’m sure that he’ll want to find them as quickly as he can and then get as far from Boston and Sephira as possible. I’m hoping that we can make him a little careless.”
“What if this doesn’t fool him?” Diver asked. “What if it doesn’t fool Sephira, either? What if one of them already has the pearls, and they know that I’m making it all up?”
“They don’t,” Ethan said. “I’m not sure of much, but I do know that if the pearls had been found Gant would be long gone and Sephira would be hunting him down instead of sending Nigel and his buddies all around the North End.”
Diver weighed this. “Then it sounds like I should get started right away.”
Ethan stood, patted Diver on the shoulder. “My thanks. I’d like to tell you that there’s a hundred pounds sterling waiting for you at the end of this if it works, but there’s not. I’m getting paid ten pounds. I’ll give you four, but that’s about all I can offer.”