‘Yeah, I can see that, everything’s clearly under control, isn’t it?’ De Corrado said, but she gave nothing away as he went to work.

‘Where’s Shelby?’ said Mackenzie.

‘She should be back at Homeward by now,’ said Ivy. ‘I think it’s best we leave her out of this unpleasantness. Don’t you? Can’t have our naïve little cook getting her values all mixed up.’ She tapped her fingers on the shotgun. ‘Our plans are on the edge of a knife right now. You bungling your way in here doesn’t help us.’

Ahab snuck a glance at Davey. Whatever was going on here, it seemed he was part of her ‘us’. Typical. When it came down to it, the man was weak at heart.

Ivy gestured at De Corrado with her wineglass again, then took a sip. ‘I had planned to kill the detective. But now I figure we might need a hostage to use as leverage, especially if we can’t track down the real Forest Dempsey.’

‘You can’t hope to get away with this, Ivy,’ said Ahab. His mind hummed as he thought through his options. When should he tell them about Kane? That would upset them enough that they’d lose focus, surely?

‘No. You’re right. We’ll need to leave Shacktown. But I have resources. I’m the Dread Pirate Blackbeard, remember? Ask my dimwit son – he’s just had a taste of what my empire has to offer.’

Mackenzie stretched his jaw experimentally and put a hand to the bruising on his face.

‘How did you get off Margot’s Revenge?’ she asked him. ‘Which of my crew do I need to . . . release from their service? I might even have you do the honours —’

‘Speaking of your crew . . .’ said Ahab. ‘Kane is dead.’

All eyes snapped to him.

‘Your man Vance killed him,’ finished Ahab, staring straight at Ivy.

‘You’re lying,’ she said instantly.

‘What the fuck are you playing, Ahab?’ said Davey, some fire returning to his eyes. ‘That’s a sick thing to say.’

‘You gave your man instructions to kill the real Forest if he found him, right? Well, he got it wrong. Kane was with me. Your own grandson.’ He wiped at the tears rolling down his cheeks. He let them see the dried blood on his hand, while the other hand still furiously sawed at De Corrado’s ties. ‘This is what your empire has to show for it! This is what —’

‘No,’ croaked Davey. ‘No! No!’ He stood up. He looked between Ahab and Ivy. ‘He’s lying. He’s lying.’ His eyes had gone so wide Ahab could see the whites all the way around. ‘If he’s not lying, I swear I’ll . . .’

‘He is lying,’ confirmed Ivy, but her face had lost all colour. ‘Vance is not an idiot. He wouldn’t . . .’

‘I need to know. I need to go find him!’ shouted Davey.