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Alex yawned He caught the others staring at hirew up here I learned all this stuff in school," he said

"Yeah, but were you listening then?" Victor asked

"This is important," Sheridan said i the American Revolution, the French helped the US Unofficially, the Spanish helped the French give us help Before he was a pirate, José Gasparilla was in the Royal Spanish Navy He knew these waters from his military experience, and he continued his career as a pirate until he died in 1821 Rumor has it that before his ship could be taken, he cast hihts tied to his feet--one of his favorite ways to do aith prisoners But shortly before his death, he heard of the Marie Josephine" He paused dralish ship, despite her name," Genevieve said into his silence

"Yes, and Gasparilla was loyal to Spain Unless, of course, there was a good Spanish ship to be attacked" He laughed, then continued "At any rate, he heard that the Marie Josephine was nearby, having taken a late exchange of prisoners to Cuba, and heading back to jolly old England laden with the ransom that had been paid," Sheridan said

"He probably felt he had a right to steal it," Marshall said with a shrug

"Exactly!" Sheridan agreed

Thor was startled when Genevieve disagreed "I don’t think that was it at all Gasparilla had fallen in love with the captain’s daughter, Anne, who had ed to travel with her father and the prisoners to Cuba, because she wanted to be with a young Spanish noble He and Anne had both been Gasparilla’s prisoners previously--that’s how they’d lish, who then o, their own prisoner Rued to becoain to remain with Aldo And Aldo, who should have been safely in Cuba, had stoay on the ship so he could remain with his beloved Anne Gasparilla, however, had also fallen in love with Anne when she was his prisoner He had returned her to the English because of the ransom, and his fellow pirates wanted the money He, however, wanted her back That’s why he went after the Marie Josephine"

Alex snorted "Gen, that’s nuts Let’s see…all that ransoold--or a woman Come on! Women would have been a dime a dozen to a pirate"

Genevieve waved a hand in the air dismissively "He wrote letters about his love for her," she clai

"Your university," Genevieve said Everyone was staring at her "Hey, Iin the library about the Marie Josephine, Gasparilla, the stor, and that’s when I found the letters"

"Come on, you can’t put a romantic spin on pirates," Victor teased her "They were dirty, nasty thieves"

"You should have read the letters," Genevieve said "Even a nasty, dirty pirate can fall in love"

"He could have had tons of women," Victor insisted

"Yes, but she was the one he wanted Who knohy someone falls in love Or maybe it was only an infatuation The one he couldn’t have Anyway, he wrote about her in those letters, and he said he was in love"

"Leave it to a girl," Victor countered, rolling his eyes and sighing

Genevieve laughed "Leave it to a girl to beat the pants off you," she countered lightly

Thor sensed caroup knew one another well, that there was a deep underlying friendship between theood crew, but they didn’t alork together Zach and Lizzie were totally reliable, but they were too close as a married couple to bond with anyone the way Marshall’s people were bonded, even when they were teasing and testing one another He’d thought he liked it when business was business, but there was so an actual family relationship between Marshall’s divers, and it not only appeared to be fun, it clearly worked

"Hey, baby, please don’t beat me up," Victor said in h" He paused, grinning and sliding closer to her on the bench to set an ar things in the water"

Genevieve shook off his arm and smiled sweetly in return "Eat shit and die, Victor"

"Hey, hey! Knock it off, all of you This is serious business," Marshall said

"Hey, I meant it," Victor protested innocently "She’s the best Ouch, Gen! That wasn’t nice"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she said, staring at hiht with laughter, then narrow on a dare "I did my ho in our archives," Sheridan said Thor had the feeling thethe letters immediately on his return to the university

"If Gen says they’re there, they’re there," Victor said, suddenly dead serious