Righteous Rumours (The Hero Next Door Series Book 4)

by Rebecca King

  ‘Unwin?’ Ronan blinked at the man. ‘Gorman’s sister is Ursula Unwin?’

  ‘Jesus,’ Roger spat.

  Iggerson didn’t wait around to answer any more of the Star Elite’s questions. Without his guard even prompting, Iggerson shuffled awkwardly through the workhouse, to the delivery yard at the back of the establishment. He climbed into the gaoler’s carriage without prompting and sat in sullen silence to await his fate.

  ‘I have to get back to Geranium,’ Ronan growled impatiently several minutes later when they had searched the ground floor of the building but had found nobody except for Trevor.

  ‘I cannot believe that Gorman has been under our noses all this time and we haven’t seen him,’ Hamish hissed.

  ‘He – Gorman – came back here to kill Lynchgate.’

  ‘I have searched the desk,’ Hamish said as he followed them through the building, to the delivery yard at the back. ‘There is nothing in the ledger. The ledger is an Admissions Ledger. The last person to be admitted to this place moved in here six months ago.’

  ‘Because the bloody place has been turned into a fortress,’ Ronan snarled.

  The men remained stoically silent as they marched through the building to their waiting horses. They stopped only to have a word with Harrison. Now that Gorman wasn’t in the building, and the guards could no longer keep everyone away, Harrison could search the rest of the place for clues and evidence of what the thugs had been doing while the place had been so securely sealed off from the outside world. He could also then gather the evidence of how restricted the occupants had been and what crimes had been committed against any of them that the guards had to face justice for. With Harrison’s promise that he would try to find the workhouse’s financial ledgers first, the men from the Star Elite raced back to the village.

  ‘I cannot believe that we didn’t see Gorman entering or leaving the property,’ Roger growled.

  ‘He probably hasn’t been. He has been hiding in his sister’s house knowing that his sister can go about her business and get information about what everyone is doing whereas he can’t. Nobody would think anything untoward was happening if she went shopping, or to church on Sunday and asked others about what is going on in the village.’

  ‘But why would she draw people’s attention by causing an altercation at church last Sunday?’ Ronan asked. ‘I mean, wouldn’t she have been wiser to avoid drawing people’s attention to herself?’

  ‘Maybe she wanted people to watch Geranium because they would tell her everything that Geranium was up to.’

  ‘And us,’ Ronan said.

  ‘Gorman needs to know what we are doing but isn’t able to leave the house without showing us where he is hiding,’ Roger agreed. ‘His sister would be a perfect source of information.’

  The men, who had raced out of the workhouse as if they hadn’t a moment to spare, all slowed their horses to a steady walk. They rode abreast now that they were out in the open, and unlikely to be overheard discussing Gorman and what they were going to do about him.

  ‘When you think about it, having a sister who lives next to a judge’s house is a rather clever idea. If Mrs Unwin managed to get on friendly terms with Judge Sminter, she might be in a position to lean on him to get her brother a lighter sentence.’

  ‘The connections are all there, aren’t they? Sminter was cousins with Lynchgate, who needed thugs to help him take over control of the workhouse.’ Roger swore and shook his head in disgust. ‘Gorman must know that we left the safehouse tonight.’

  ‘Unwin is no fool, but she is harbouring a fugitive even if he is her brother,’ Hamish said.

  ‘Please, tell me that we can arrest her,’ Ronan pleaded.

  Roger grinned at him. ‘Oh, yes. We are most definitely going to arrest her.’

  ‘How do you want to go about this, boss?’ Dean asked. ‘I mean, if we all appear back at the safehouse, Gorman is going to do his damnedest to find out what we have been up to but will be suspicious when he realises his contacts have vanished.’

  ‘The locals will soon be gossiping about what has happened, especially now that the workhouse occupants have been liberated and are able to go about unhindered again. Their reappearance in the village will be a welcome sight but will warn Gorman that we have removed his control there.’ Hamish yawned widely but was keen to capture Gorman purely so the investigation could be concluded.

  ‘We have to move quickly before Gorman escapes. I don’t want that bastard running around the countryside.’ Ronan looked at Roger. ‘Do we assume that Gorman killed Lynchgate?’

  ‘I think we must assume that Lynchgate heard our explosions and knew that we had arrived to reclaim control of the workhouse. He has no help anymore, especially with Gorman gone. The guards weren’t trained well enough to resist the force of the magistrate and Star Elite. The Board of Governors hate him. As the person in charge of the workhouse, he would take ultimate responsibility for everything that has happened in the building. With no money in the bank, and his estate no longer a safe refuge, what other choice did the man have? One of the guards might have killed him, but I cannot see why they would want to. The thugs who have ruled that place didn’t work together to protect it very well, or themselves. They scattered to the four winds, each determined to protect themselves rather than the establishment or each other. They aren’t likely to have risked capture to linger in the building and murder their boss. So, unless anyone objects, I think we are going to rule Lynchgate’s death as suicide,’ Roger said quietly, with a rather worried look at Daniel.

  Daniel lifted his brows at his boss and offered him a reassuring smile. ‘You all know that Tabitha really didn’t like the bastard. One can choose one’s friends, but one can never choose one’s family. He tried to kill her. She was glad to see the back of him. It won’t come as any surprise that he decided to take his life rather than face justice for what he had done to her, Muldoon, and those people in the workhouse. I am sure she won’t be too upset.’

  ‘At least you can start your married lives knowing that he isn’t going to appear to sully your future happiness,’ Ronan offered.

  ‘I doubt he will ever be discussed. He certainly wouldn’t have been a part of our family had he stayed alive. Tabitha was wise to choose to leave his guardianship when she was sixteen. I am pleased she did because she was able to distance herself from him at an early age and is therefore able to walk away from recent events relatively unscathed.’ Daniel studied the village up ahead.

  ‘Before we go to the safe house, we have to stop at the Unwin’s residence,’ Roger warned. ‘The job isn’t over until Gorman and all of his remaining helpers are put behind bars.’

  With that agreed, the men completed the rest of the journey in deep discussion about how they were going to bring about the completion of this next and hopefully final part of their investigation.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Geranium felt vulnerable in her night-gown and got dressed as soon as Ronan had left. She then worked her way around the house and lit every candle she could find. She even fetched several candles from upstairs and lit those too, but it did little to ease her disquiet. While she tried not to think about how much it felt like she was waiting for something to happen she knew she was.

  ‘I just hope that if Lynchgate tries to get in he makes a lot of noise. I will be ready for him.’

  When the knock on the back door came, it still had the ability to make her vault out of her seat as if someone had just dragged her by the hair. She was physically shaking with the strength of the fear that slammed into her. At first, she didn’t venture anywhere near the door. While she wanted to ease the shutter open to see who it was, Geranium daren’t allow anybody outside to know that she had heard them because she would then be obliged to answer the door if she knew them. Warily, Geranium backed away from the door. She knew the only way she could find out who had called to see her at two o’clock in the morning was to go upstairs.

  In the bed chamber
directly opposite hers, Geranium crept toward the shutter. Easing it open she craned her neck to see the terrace at the back of the house, and the back door. It was disconcerting to see that there was nobody there.

  ‘But someone has knocked on the door,’ Geranium whispered.

  Heart pounding, Geranium watched the back of the house for several moments, occasionally running a careful glance around the still and silent garden. Although she expected someone to appear, she gasped when she watched Mrs Unwin saunter across the terrace to the back door and begin to knock again.

  ‘Now what would you want with me at this time of night?’ Geranium muttered, a little shocked that it wasn’t Lynchgate on her terrace. As far as she was aware, there wasn’t any connection between the Unwins and Lynchgate.

  I hope there isn’t because I won’t be able to fight both Mr and Mrs Unwin and Lynchgate.

  Geranium wondered if there truly was something wrong, and the woman genuinely needed help. If it hadn’t been for the altercation in the churchyard last Sunday, she would have answered the door whatever time of night it was. Now, there was no earthly possibility that she was going to trust anything about that woman, especially because Mrs Unwin was continuing to knock on the door even when it was evident that Geranium wasn’t prepared to answer it. Any polite person would have left by now. Mrs Unwin stayed and continued to pound on the back door.

  Eventually, when she couldn’t stand it any longer, Geranium heaved a disgusted sigh and slid the window up to peer down at the woman.

  ‘What do you want?’ she demanded sharply with a dark scowl on her face. Geranium knew the next few moments would tell her if the older woman was friends with Lynchgate or not. Talking to the woman was the only way she was going to find out.

  ‘My dear, I am so sorry to call upon you so late, but I have a problem. Open the door,’ Mrs Unwin called.

  ‘No. What do you think you are doing behaving so scandalously?’ Geranium shouted. ‘This isn’t the time to call upon people. If you have a problem, send for the magistrate, or get your husband to deal with it.’

  ‘I can’t, dear. Mr Wardle is dead,’ Mrs Unwin snapped.

  Geranium stared at the door. All her thoughts focused on Mrs Unwin’s response. ‘Dead?’ she repeated.

  The Star Elite have made it known that Mr Wardle is missing. They haven’t released the news that he is dead yet - so how does she know about his demise?

  ‘Yes, dead,’ Mrs Unwin replied. ‘Answer this door. I cannot stand out here all night shouting up at you.’

  ‘Well, go and call upon Mr Muldover, or Mr Renton, or any other man in the street. They can help you. I cannot. Now go away.’

  ‘But I cannot call upon a gentleman at this time of night,’ Mrs Unwin protested.

  ‘Go and speak with your husband then and get him to call upon them,’ Geranium snapped. ‘Now, go away and pester someone else.’

  ‘But I must speak with you,’ Mrs Unwin insisted.

  ‘If you don’t go away and leave me alone, I am going to report you to Mr Harrison first thing in the morning,’ Geranium informed her coldly.

  She slammed the window closed and went downstairs. Now that she knew that Mrs Unwin was involved with Lynchgate, she had to make sure that Mrs Unwin wasn’t distracting her. Geranium warily eyed the front door and stopped to listen for scratching.

  I doubt anybody would be foolish enough to break into the house through the front door, but this is the dead of night; the time of day when most people are in their beds and unlikely to notice someone breaking into my home.

  ‘Not tonight, you won’t,’ Geranium growled.

  When Mrs Unwin began to knock again, this time more forcibly, Geranium ignored her and began to walk through the rest of the house. She boldly opened the shutters long enough to peer out of each window and prised the curtains away from the walls so she could look out of the French doors.

  Although she expected to see someone, she was still horrified when she eased the curtain away from the French doors overlooking the terrace and saw a dark figure trying to break the lock. Thankfully, Ronan had tied the doors together with rope before he left so even if the intruder managed to break the lock, he wouldn’t be able to open the doors and get inside.

  ‘But that doesn’t mean that he won’t try to find another way in,’ Geranium whispered as she peered at the face of the man who was trying to break into her house. ‘I don’t know you, but you must have links to Mrs Unwin.’

  The intruder didn’t notice her. When Geranium had taken a good look at his face and tried to memorise as much about him as she could, she then tried to think of what she could do. It was then that she realised she still had the gun in her hand. Cocking it, she pointed it through the curtains, directly at the man outside.

  ‘Break that lock and I will shoot you where you stand,’ she growled, in her gruffest voice.

  The man froze and looked at the muzzle of the gun pointing at his face. He immediately backed away.

  ‘You are related to Mrs Unwin, aren’t you?’ she murmured, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘You are not random burglars who have chosen to try to break into my house now that the Star Elite are away. But what do you want with me?’

  She tried to avoid having to contemplate it, but Geranium began to wonder if the Unwins had something to do with Judge Sminter’s death. They did live next door to Sminter after all.

  ‘Ronan will be able to find out who you are, and what you Unwins have been up to. All I have to do is stop you breaking into my house.’

  Geranium glanced at the clock. It had only been an hour since Ronan had left her. It would be many more hours before he returned.

  If he ever does.

  ‘It is going to be a very long night,’ she moaned. ‘At least I know now why Ronan decided to leave me his gun.’

  Geranium dreaded to think what she would have felt if she hadn’t had the weapon. She didn’t like to even hold the thing, but it was reassuring to have some sort of defence against both Unwin and the man. Now that they knew she had a gun, they would leave her alone, wouldn’t they?

  Her answer came in the form of the sound of shattering glass in the library. Geranium cried out and raced into the room to watch the man try to kick the shutter open. Geranium glanced wildly around the room and tried to remember what Ronan had told her to do to reload the weapon. She raced back into the sitting room, snatched up the small pouch of pellets and shoved them into her pocket before cocking the weapon. She then returned to the library and watched the shutter shudder and jolt against the force of the man’s heavy boots. Her hand shook alarmingly, but Geranium bravely pointed the gun at the shutter. Mentally praying that she wouldn’t hit him, Geranium braced herself and fired the gun.

  The loud blast of the weapon made her cry out and stagger back. Her hand ached from the jolt of the weapon as the bullet left the barrel. The acrid stench of sulphur hovered over her like a sinister cloud. Geranium heard a cry outside and surged forward to see if she had hit him. Slamming the shutter back, she immediately saw a small smear of blood on the window frame.

  ‘Get out here,’ the man snarled when he saw her. He lunged out of the darkness, his face a twisted mask of vile fury that made the creases on his face deeper, and his pursed lips cruel. His dark eyes were black soulless orbs of hatred that glinted evilly at her amidst a thin face that was almost macabre. He was clutching his blood-stained hand to his chest but wouldn’t be defeated.

  Geranium had no idea if there was another bullet in the gun. She stared down at it, but the man was already punching the shattered frame of the door to try to get inside. Lifting the gun, she pulled the trigger again. To her horror, it clicked but there was no loud blast. Stumbling backward, she tried to quell her panic and remember how Ronan had told her to reload the weapon. Shaking out the bullets onto the table, she picked one and dropped it into the gun. By the time she whirled to face the window, the man already had one leg into the house. Pointing the gun at it, Geranium stared at the leg and
pulled the trigger.

  A scream escaped her when a fine shower of blood flew into the air. The thin material of the man’s trousers tore, revealing the ripped flesh of the wound the bullet had just created. A wave of sickness threatened to overwhelm her at the sight of it, but Geranium didn’t hesitate to reload the weapon again.

  The intruder was swearing loudly. Although he removed his leg from the room, he was still directly outside the damaged doors. Geranium looked at him only to see Mrs Unwin standing beside him. Rather than appear upset, or worried, Mrs Unwin was livid, and just as malevolent as her relative.

  ‘He is your brother, isn’t he?’ Geranium had no idea why she felt the need to ask that.

  It wasn’t as if Mrs Unwin had ever been any friend of hers or was likely to be decent enough to answer her question with any civility or honesty. Further, the evidence was before her, in Mrs Unwin’s facial features which were a feminine version of her brother’s.

  Mrs Unwin didn’t appear to have heard her. ‘Get out here. Now,’ the arrogant older woman snarled as if she had every right to order Geranium about.

  ‘This is my house,’ Geranium snapped coldly. ‘I don’t have to do anything you tell me to do. You are nothing more than a common career criminal.’

  Her eyes slid down the length of the man still trying to find a way into the house. He was studying the door and looking at the window frame beside it as if trying to understand why it hadn’t broken beneath the force of his thumps.

  ‘I said, get out here. Shut your mouth,’ Mrs Unwin growled.

  Geranium snorted at her but didn’t deign to answer. Instead, she levelled a gaze on the man that was so scornful it truly felt as if it came from someone else. When her eyes met those of the would-be intruder, she stared boldly at him and lifted her brows.

  ‘I will just shoot you,’ she snarled, lifting her gun for emphasis. Her gaze slid meaningfully to Mrs Unwin. ‘I will just shoot you both.’