Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite Book 1)

by Rebecca King

  When Aaron and Angus hauled him to his feet and used Geraldine’s bonds to tie his hands behind his back, Reuben once again adopted the shy persona that had fooled so many people.

  “Oh, knock it off,” Vanessa snapped in disgust. “You are fooling nobody with any of that now. You are going behind bars where you belong and that is the end of it.”

  Reuben glared at her, until Justin stepped in front of her and nodded to his colleagues.

  “I think he should be made to wait for the gaoler’s cart in front of the altar. At least there he can pray for forgiveness. Niall, can you go and fetch the doctor?” Justin said.

  The men helped the women out of the crypt, and up the narrow stairs toward sunshine and freedom.

  Geraldine, clinging desperately to Jemima’s hand, began to cry again when she saw the altar.

  “She will be all right eventually,” Justin assured Vanessa. “She just needs to let the tears flow. They will heal her.”

  “You sound as though you know from experience,” Vanessa whispered, looking up at him with something akin to adoration in her eye. She made no apology for it, it was how she felt. “Does it heal people to let their emotions flow?”

  “It has to. Going out of my mind with worry for you has resolved a lot of problems I had, I can tell you that much,” he assured her gently. “I have been a fool. A blind, arrogant, fool.”

  “None of this was your fault,” Vanessa assured him.

  “That isn’t what I am talking about,” Justin replied. “God gave me something precious; something I wasn’t even aware I was looking for until it arrived in my life and made me reconsider everything I thought I knew. I have tried to deny it, ignore it, and avoid it, but I confess I am beaten.”

  Vanessa, who was still struggling with doubts and insecurities, stared at him helplessly.

  “You are the something precious God gave me,” Justin whispered, easing her into his arms. “I didn’t realise just how important you have become to me until you were no longer there. The thought of having to spend life without you was one of the most awful things I have ever had to contemplate. I don’t ever want to feel that way again. Ever. So, from now on it is going to have to be you and me, together. I insist on it.”

  “You insist on it?” she murmured.

  Justin nodded slowly.

  “But you are leaving soon,” she moaned, dreading the moment when she would have to wave him goodbye.

  “We have to discuss that, but not now, Vanessa,” he murmured.

  “But you have to go back to London,” she said quietly. “Don’t you?”

  She read the answer in his eyes.

  “I could come with you,” she whispered, her heart in the gaze she levelled on him.

  “I don’t want you to make any decisions right now,” Justin replied reluctantly. “You have had a shock, and a fright. Don’t go rushing into anything you may regret later.”

  With her hopes dashed, Vanessa stared at him and struggled to hide her disappointment. She wanted to tell him that she would follow him anywhere but daren’t risk embarrassing herself – not now. While he hadn’t rejected her, he hadn’t encouraged a deeper connection with her either. She wasn’t sure what to think.

  He doesn’t need me, Geraldine does, Vanessa thought sadly.

  Vanessa knew she had had a lucky escape. Her ordeal, while horrifying, had been brief, nowhere near the several weeks Geraldine had been down in the crypt, all alone, with only bones and Reuben for company. Vanessa wanted to cry at the thought of what her sister had endured and made a promise to herself right there and then that she would help her recover.

  “Justin?” Niall murmured. He smiled apologetically at Vanessa. “Sorry, mate, but we have got to go. There has been a report of another kidnap.”

  Justin glared at his colleague.

  “This morning, I am afraid,” Niall added before Justin could tell him to go away. “It can’t be Reuben.”

  “Good God,” Vanessa whispered. “Will it ever stop?”

  “But it was Reuben who took us,” Geraldine added.

  “Well, someone else has gone missing, and the circumstances around the disappearance bear all the hallmarks of Reuben’s work,” Niall replied. “That said, this missing person lives in Derbyshire, so it can’t be Reuben who took her.”

  “So there is someone else snatching people?” Justin mentally groaned and shook his head in disbelief. He looked helplessly at Vanessa.

  “You have to go,” Vanessa urged him with a reassuring smile. “This is your job. Just go and find those missing people. I know you can. We will be all right.”

  Justin nodded grimly. There was so much he wanted to discuss with her, but now was not the time or the place.

  “I will be back as soon as I can,” he assured her.

  Vanessa doubted it but didn’t argue with him.

  “We will be fine,” she said when he looked at her hesitantly. She wondered if he was going to order her to stay at home again.

  “Just stay safe,” Justin whispered.

  Without saying a word, he hauled her into his arms and kissed her. Right there and then and in front of everybody. It was brief, but no less shocking for its impact on Vanessa, who was left staring helplessly after him as he stalked out of the church.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  One month later

  Vanessa took the last candle-stick off the mantle and placed it in the packing trunk, then carefully slid the lid into place. A workman immediately stepped forward with a hammer and nails and hammered the lid down.

  “Is that all, Miss?” he asked cheerfully.

  When she nodded, he carried the case out of the house and slid it onto the back of the cart with the rest of their belongings.

  Her father appeared in the doorway. “That’s the lot,” he murmured. “Are you ready?”

  Vanessa looked at him. She struggled to know what to say.

  Graham sensed her hidden fear and stepped into the room.

  “It is the best for all of us, my dear,” he assured her gently. “It is time we all moved on. Geraldine is adamant her divorce from Curtis is the right thing to do. There will be a scandal, of course, but only with the locals around here. She still can’t bring herself to even look at the church. I, for one, have been trapped in this house for far too long. It is time I moved on.”

  Vanessa looked down at the bare floor beneath her feet.

  “I thought we were all in agreement this is the best thing to do for all of us,” Graham murmured gently.

  “We did, but now that the reality is here, it is far harder than I ever imagined,” she whispered.

  “I know. Curtis has signed the paperwork for the purchase of the farm now, so it is all his. Now that the money is back in the bank, Geraldine is free to come with us. The house in Framley-by-the-Sea is all ready for us. Your Uncle Gerrard has even arranged for a housekeeper for us. All we need to do is get there.”

  Graham opened the door to the hallway and stood beside it meaningfully.

  Vanessa nodded and finally followed her father to the door. She was tired. Last night, she had found it difficult to settle her mind enough to rest, but it hadn’t been because she had been plagued with nightmares. Her thoughts had focused solely on Justin. She had wondered where he was, what he was doing, and if she would ever see him again. Leaving the house seemed to confirm that her future didn’t lie with Justin after all. While she had left her direction with Weeks, she doubted Justin would bother to try to find her. He had returned to his life in London, and that was that.

  Minutes later, she climbed aboard the carriage and sat beside her sister. She knew the villagers had been told they were going, but they too were still reeling from the shock of what had happened. As a result, their waves and smiles as Graham and his daughters rode past could only be described as muted, but no less emotional.

  “It’s the right thing to do,” Vanessa sighed, clasping her sister’s hand and holding on tightly.

  “I have never
been so glad to see the back of somewhere in my life,” Geraldine whispered.

  “Your divorce is final now,” Vanessa murmured. “You are free to do whatever you please.”

  “I wouldn’t have felt safe there ever again,” Geraldine sighed. “I certainly wouldn’t be able to go out to paint without worrying about who was going to creep up on me again. At least by the seaside there is fresh air and freedom.”

  “Well, Curtis has gotten what he wanted. He can live on the farm now, and do what he wants,” Vanessa added.

  Geraldine nodded. “He can keep it as far as I am concerned. Marrying him was the biggest mistake of my life.”

  Vanessa stared at the church spire, protruding from the rooftops of the village.

  “Don’t look back, dear,” her father warned. “People are designed to walk forwards in life, never backwards, therefore you must always look ahead. All sorts of exciting things lie before you. You just have to have the strength to reach out for them and make the necessary changes to bring your dreams to fruition. I have wasted far too much of my life dwelling on the past, and don’t intend to waste a single moment of it from now on. It is time for me to look to the future as well and stop sitting in a chair feeling sorry for myself.” He glanced over his shoulder at Geraldine. “It is time for you to stop letting that man damage your future as well, Geraldine.”

  “Curtis?” Geraldine gasped in outrage.

  “No, Reuben. Whatever is wrong with him is not your fault. Weeks says the Star Elite has sent for a special doctor from London to decide whether the man is insane or just a calculating criminal using insanity to excuse his crimes. Whatever he is, the judge is refusing to allow Reuben to go to an asylum until his insanity can be proven,” Graham informed both of his daughters.

  On a personal note, he was relieved to be able to take his daughters away from the threat and unhappiness life in the village had brought them both.

  “Where are they now?” Vanessa asked, somewhat disturbed by the distinct ache that settled in the middle of her chest whenever she thought about Justin.

  “They are in Derbyshire, apparently, either searching every church or at the gaol, interrogating Reuben. So far, he isn’t budging from his story that he only kidnapped the three of you. His excuse is that he didn’t want Magda to send you away like Carlotta. It just doesn’t ring true, though. The Star Elite are also doubtful he is being honest. I believe someone has gone to Carlotta’s house to make sure she hasn’t been harmed, but I don’t know anything more. Reuben has been trying to convince everyone he is insane, but nobody is inclined to believe him given the careful logic needed to think of a suitable place to keep you where you wouldn’t be discovered.”

  “Whatever he is, the man should never be let out to move amongst decent society again. I hope he rots in Hell,” Geraldine snapped.

  “Let’s leave all of that behind as well,” Vanessa soothed when she heard the anger in Geraldine’s voice. She patted the back of her sister’s hand gently. “It is time to let go. Reuben is behind bars, and won’t be able to find us, even if he is ever allowed to see daylight again. Whatever is going on in Leicestershire and Derbyshire, the Star Elite will find out who is still kidnapping women and will ensure they end up behind bars as well.”

  Geraldine nodded and settled back in her seat, considerably more content than Vanessa felt. She was positive her heart was breaking because, with each passing mile, she was getting further and further away from Justin. Any hope she might have that he would appear beside the carriage, stop her from leaving, declare his love for her, and demand they have a future together was fading rapidly.

  Two days later

  Vanessa sighed and eased the carriage to a stop outside the tall, colonnade house sitting high atop a cliff-top overlooking the sleepy village of Framley-by-the-Sea. Beside it, was a somewhat larger, more sprawling house, the driveway of which led off from theirs. Both properties were truly stunning and had perfect views of both village and coastline which ran for several miles to the left and right of them.

  “How wonderful,” Vanessa breathed when a stiff sea breeze whirled around her, tugging at her hair and clothing. She drew her cloak tighter about her and turned around on her seat to look at her two passengers.

  Her father was stretched out, his booted feet propped up on the seat opposite. His chin rested on his chest but did little to disturb his steady snores. Beside him, Geraldine was curled up beneath a thick blanket and shawl. She too was sound asleep, and completely oblivious to the fact that they had arrived at their new home.

  Shaking her head at them, she secured the reins and carefully climbed down. Once on the gravel driveway, she arched her aching back and took a good look around. Everything was still and quiet, but utterly charming.

  She was busy studying the rooftops of the village about a mile away when she realised she was no longer alone.

  “I wondered when you would get here.”

  Vanessa gasped, and spun around. Her eyes widened when she saw who was standing behind her with a wide, welcoming smile on his face.

  “Justin?” she whispered, unable to believe her eyes.

  Justin grinned at her. His gaze slid to the still sleeping occupants of the carriage.

  “What are you doing here? How did you know?” Vanessa gasped.

  “Well, I heard from Weeks that you were going to move here because of everything that had happened. It isn’t a surprise, to be fair. For what it is worth, everyone in the Star Elite thinks it is the best thing you could ever do,” Justin murmured.

  “So you came to see where we are going to live?” Vanessa stared at him with a heart full of hope and struggled to contain the wild urge to kiss him.

  “It is closer to London,” Justin announced with a nod to the house beside them.

  “I couldn’t move to London,” Vanessa whispered. “It just isn’t for me.”

  “Good enough,” Justin replied with a nod.

  “What do you think to it?” Vanessa asked, her heart thundering heavily in her chest.

  “It is stunning,” Justin replied. His gaze slid to her. “Beautiful, in fact.”

  Vanessa’s cheeks blushed. Her gaze slid away only to be recaptured by his when he tipped her chin around to look at him.

  “What do you think to that one?” he asked gently with a nod to the house next door.

  “It is beautiful,” she whispered.

  “Good. Want to take a look at it?” Justin grinned when she looked at him in confusion.

  Silently, he held his hand out and waited.

  Vanessa stared at it for a moment. With a cautious glance at her father and sister, she hesitantly took it and immediately felt her chilled fingers encased in warmth. Justin’s tug was gentle but firm, leaving her little choice but to follow him down the long winding path toward the neighbouring house.

  Once at the door, he removed a large iron key from his pocket.

  “Justin?”

  “I purchased it,” Justin informed her matter of factly. “I am afraid it needs quite a bit of work. It hasn’t been lived in for a while, you see. Apparently, it has been occupied for many years by an old sea Captain, but he left late last year to live with his sister somewhere. Since then the property has been unoccupied.”

  “You bought it?” she gasped in shock.

  Justin grinned at her. “If I am honest, I don’t really like living in London much. I do it because it is where I work, and more convenient. I decided it was time for a change as well.”

  “You bought the house next door to us? Here?”

  “It was a choice between this one or another in the village, but I thought you might have had enough of village life for a while. At least here, you have some distance to be able to breathe without someone watching you,” Justin replied without thinking. He winced when he realised what he had said. “I am sorry.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Vanessa sighed. “I don’t want anybody to have to mind their words, or fear saying the wrong thing. Father is ri
ght. It is time we put what happened behind us and moved on. I just never expected to have you as a neighbour.”

  “I have a problem, though,” Justin informed her as he unlocked the door and swung it open.

  “Oh?” She frowned. “Your work for the Star Elite? Shouldn’t you be in Derbyshire by the way?”

  “I have a few days off,” he whispered. “To sort a few things out. I am not much use to them at the moment anyway.”

  Vanessa studied him closely. She couldn’t remember having seen the dark circles beneath his eyes before, nor could she remember him being this thin.

  “What’s wrong?” she demanded, stepping closer. “Are you all right?”

  “No, I am not,” he laughed. “I am far from it. I haven’t been all right since you landed in my life and turned it upside down.”

  Vanessa blinked at him. “I have? How?”

  Justin stepped toward her. “You made me love you. I find now that I cannot live without you.”

  Vanessa physically shook with the strength of the emotion coursing through her. The intent look on his face sharpened his features and gave him a somewhat predatory air as he stepped even closer. They were nose-to-nose when he paused.

  “You love me?” she gulped.

  “I do,” he whispered against her lips. “I most definitely do.”

  “I love you too,” she replied, her voice laden with heartfelt emotion. “If there was one thing being stuck in that crypt taught me it is that I am alive, and I should live the life I have. I cannot waste it on doubts and insecurities. I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I believe I know you, I truly do. Geraldine rushed into marriage with Curtis because it was the farm she wanted, not the man. I want you, and only you - forever.”

  “Thank God for that,” Justin breathed.

  Before Vanessa could say anything else, his lips robbed her of all thought. This kiss was different to any other they had shared. There was a hint of familiarity about it, but also a promise. It was confident, full of the emotion they both felt, and drew them infinitesimally closer than ever before. This was a kiss neither of them shied away from; something they both embraced and shared with an honesty that left neither of them in any doubt their love was absolute; and a future together written in the stars.