Once Before (The Hero Next Door Series Book 3)

by Rebecca King

  In less than a day their mutual feelings have become hard to ignore. I wonder what they will be like in a year from now.

  Ronan was snapped back to the present by Lynchgate who leaned down to growl in his ear: ‘I will destroy you.’

  Contrarily, and never one to back down from a challenge, Ronan grinned into the man’s face. He didn’t smile a cruel smile of someone who was mean and threatening. In Ronan’s eyes that would have made him no better than Lynchgate. Instead, Ronan smiled as if he truly found the man’s threat funny. This only served to incense Lynchgate more. His face turned florid; his eyes mean and full of malevolence.

  ‘You can try old man,’ Ronan smirked. ‘But it is going to take a bigger thug than you.’ He slid a look at the stocky man standing several feet away watching the interplay with his arms crossed and a dark glare on his pudgy face. ‘And him.’ Ronan stepped forward and put his lips to Lynchgate’s ear. ‘You know nothing about me. You don’t know my past, who I am today, where I come from, or who my connections are. Now it would be a damned fool who would challenge someone they have no knowledge of. I mean, anything could happen to someone that arrogant, couldn’t it?’

  Lynchgate didn’t move his head but his eyes slid sideways to stare deeply into Ronan’s which, during his speech, had turned cold and hard. Not a flicker of emotion showed on his face as he stared back at the man until Lynchgate shifted uncomfortably and looked away. Ronan immediately snapped out of his annoyance, pasted a beaming smile on his face, and bowed mockingly before turning his back and murmuring soothing noises to the horse. Once it had been fed and settled into a stable, Ronan then made his way to the house. He was unsurprised that Lynchgate had remained where he was, watching carefully, waiting to follow him into the property.

  ‘Do you think we should help him?’ Tabitha asked as she and Mildred watched the men talk. ‘It is evident that they don’t like each other, isn’t it?’

  ‘I don’t doubt that Lynchgate is issuing threats as usual, and Ronan has told him that he isn’t going to listen,’ Mildred snorted barely giving the men a second look. She put a pot of water onto the fire to boil and busied herself preparing the meat for the pie they were going to have for dinner.

  Tabitha watched and waited until Ronan was almost at the door, with Lynchgate not far behind. Yanking the door open, she waited until Ronan had entered the house before slamming the door closed behind him.

  ‘Thank you,’ Ronan said with a grin as he slid the bolt across.

  Mildred peered out of the window to see where Lynchgate was and shook her head. ‘One would think that he would get the message and go away,’ she murmured.

  ‘He has never been one to adhere to the strictures of society unless it suits his purpose,’ Tabitha murmured.

  ‘From what we understand about Daniel’s eviction from the man’s house there is no question he can be violent, so please don’t challenge him ladies. It is best to go about your business and pretend that he isn’t here. While we are happy for you to return home and will be here to make sure nobody tries to break in, you are still unable to go about your ordinary business. I am afraid that there can be no visits to friends, Sunday church services, visiting the sick, or church cleaning, that kind of thing.’

  Tabitha shared a look with her aunt. ‘The vicar is going to want to know why we aren’t at church.’

  ‘We will just have to send our apologies,’ Mildred sniffed. ‘Besides, I don’t think I could sit and pray without praying that my house isn’t going to get broken into while I am away. It is better that we stay here. I am sure the vicar will understand.’

  ‘What about your visiting the sick with him?’

  ‘That will just have to wait, won’t it?’ Mildred snapped, clearly upset at being stopped from doing her duty.

  ‘I am sorry,’ Tabitha sighed miserably. ‘This is all my fault.’

  ‘Rubbish!’ Mildred snapped. ‘Now, don’t you go getting that into your head. You are not to blame for what that man chooses to get himself involved with. You are not to blame for his arrogance, or his criminal tendencies. You didn’t ask him to come here, did you? Muldoon wasn’t someone you know. How can you blame yourself for him choosing to leave you his factory, eh? That pompous oaf out there was an oaf the first day I met him. I don’t know what your mother thought she was doing marrying a damned fool like him. I can only assume that he cudgelled her or pretended he was someone nicer, but it wasn’t long after they met that she realised how miserable he truly made her.’

  Tabitha nodded. ‘But it was too late to do anything about it.’

  ‘But you are not going to make the same mistakes as either your mother or your father. He is not like you. He is someone else, a different kind of person entirely. Don’t blame yourself for anything that man does. We will work to keep him out of the house and do what we can to help the men from the Star Elite find out what he is really after in that factory. I doubt Lynchgate has any interest in the cotton industry. He wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to establish a business like Muldoon’s or hope to run it.’

  ‘Where did Lynchgate’s wealth come from?’ Ronan interrupted.

  ‘He had wealthy ancestors. He was an only child born to older parents. They struggled to have a child, apparently. When they did manage to conceive, they had him. In my opinion he must have been spoilt to have such a high opinion of himself. His parents died many years ago and he inherited a fortune not just from his father but from other elderly relations over the years. He is – or was – wealthy in his own right. Now, though, I cannot help but wonder if the man might be running short of funds.’

  Ronan settled his hips against the dresser behind him and folded his arms as he listened. As was usually the case in his work with the Star Elite, he had learnt more from a disgruntled relation about a person’s past than he could ever hope to understand by asking the person themselves. ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘The clothing he is wearing today is the same he had on yesterday. The cuffs on his jacket are worn and the boots he is walking around in have holes in the sole of the right foot,’ Mildred announced.

  Ronan grinned, openly impressed. ‘You are very observant.’

  ‘For a pompous oaf like the high and mighty David Lynchgate, he is certainly not all that discerning when it comes to dressing himself, is he? Anyone truly as wealthy and uppercut as he pretends to be would be more likely to spend time on his appearance.’

  Tabitha sighed heavily. ‘How do you do this all the time? How can you live doubting everyone you meet? How can you take any enjoyment in racing around in the dark after thugs like you were last night? Daniel seemed to have no qualms about charging off into the night after intruders and didn’t even stop to give a second thought to the gunfire that went off, or the attack that happened.’

  Ronan stilled. ‘Attack?’

  ‘Daniel got struck on the head and knocked out. Did he not tell you?’ Tabitha informed him.

  Ronan shook his head but suspected he knew why Daniel wouldn’t tell Roger about such an event. Roger would invariably demand that Daniel cease working on the investigation and take himself off to town for a thorough examination by the doctor. Daniel, meantime, understandably preferred to do everything possible to help the love of his life resolve the difficulties she faced instead.

  ‘We are used to it. What you must understand is that when men are at war, we are outside at all hours of the day and night. We must be on guard and prepared for an attack by an enemy who can strike at night when the shadows hide them, and men are sleeping and more vulnerable. The Star Elite have all served in the army and are used to running around in the dark. The experience helps us considerably because, unfortunately, most criminals prefer to work at night when decent people are asleep in their beds. Contrary to how it may appear, we don’t suspect everyone we meet. Our work has taught most of us to read people. We have seen men like Lynchgate before. His kind are pompous and believe that they can do what they want, that money excuses their ru
deness or criminality because people without as much aren’t their equal and therefore cannot question them about their conduct. Men like Lynchgate are often liars, though, and are more likely to commit crimes than decent society. His wealth doesn’t make him unstoppable, or untouchable. Lynchgate has just deludedly taught himself to believe that nobody can touch him because he has cleverly surrounded himself with a network of people who can get him out of trouble.

  ‘What do you think Lynchgate has been doing? Do you really think there is a chance he might have murdered Muldoon and that man in the factory?’

  Ronan nodded. ‘That is why it is imperative that we go through the contents of this box and see if there is a suicide note or a letter from Muldoon telling us why he left her the factory. Moreover, what Lynchgate did to get shares in an otherwise financially stable business.’

  With that, everyone turned to look at the box on the kitchen table. To stop herself from worrying about Daniel; where he was, what he was doing, if he was all right, Tabitha lifted the lid and began to pore through the papers.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Daniel was relieved when he was finally able to tap on the window of the study at Fenley Lodge three times. He waited for a moment and then tapped again. Having already done a tour of the perimeter of the property he knew that nobody was lurking in the bushes, but he still got the feeling that someone was watching. Thankfully, Ronan heard him and after one cursory look out of the window, unlocked the French doors.

  ‘Everything all right?’ Daniel asked as he stepped into the welcoming warmth of the cosy home.

  Ronan nodded. ‘The oaf has returned several times, the last time being this evening, but he keeps being sent on his way by Mildred. He has threatened to return in the morning.’ As he spoke, Ronan studied the large blue bruise on Daniel’s head. ‘Hurt, did it?’

  ‘It stung a bit. I was caught by surprise,’ Daniel murmured with alacrity.

  Ronan shook his head. ‘You need to be here where it is safe.’ He patted his full stomach. ‘Nice meat pie, as much ale as a woman can offer; I could get used to living here.’

  Daniel grinned. ‘It’s my turn now, although I doubt that a night patrol is going to have much in the way of food and provisions offered.’ He was proven wrong moments later when he walked into the kitchen to find Tabitha putting away the dinner pots with her aunt.

  ‘Good evening,’ he murmured with a grin only to be rewarded with a look of such delight from Tabitha that he blinked and struggled to absorb the brilliance of it.

  Tabitha’s eyes sparkled as her face lit up; her lips curved upwards to reveal cheeky dimples bracketing flashing white teeth. All Daniel could do was stare at her and wonder why it had taken him so long to return.

  Tabitha crossed the room to him before she even realised that she had moved. Once before him, she hesitated and struggled to decide what to do next. Hugging him, which she wanted to do, wasn’t possible because of Mildred. Nor could she press a loving kiss to his cheek.

  ‘Have you eaten?’ she asked for want of something to say.

  Daniel’s stomach rumbled loudly making Tabitha grin even more.

  ‘We have some wonderful beef pie,’ Mildred informed him, carefully ignoring the way the young couple were staring at each other as if there was nobody else in the room. ‘Tabitha made it this afternoon. Would you care to try some?’

  ‘I would love to,’ Daniel replied, stepping aside to let Ronan enter the room.

  ‘All has been quiet, but Lynchgate’s thug has wandered past the house a couple of times. I don’t doubt that he is sizing up the area, trying to decide which way into the house is the best,’ Ronan informed him.

  Daniel nodded, his handsome features turning grim. ‘I will be on watch, so they won’t get in.’ He nodded at the box on the table. ‘Found anything yet?’

  Tabitha threw him a rueful look. ‘I didn’t realise I had gathered so many papers. We have only searched half of them but have not found anything of any use with regards to Muldoon’s death. The entries in the ledgers are all unchanged.’ She hesitated. ‘There is one anomaly, though.’

  Daniel lifted his brows and waited.

  ‘The entries in one ledger stop unexpectedly the week before Muldoon died.’

  ‘A week before?’

  Tabitha opened the uppermost ledger on the closest pile of papers and pointed to the page in question. ‘This ledger contains details of the orders that have left the factory. At least one order has been sent out every day. What is evident is that the number of completed orders have reduced about two months prior to Muldoon’s death. There is one large order that has stopped completely, which would have damaged the factory’s income. There are no entries recording any dispatches during the week before Muldoon’s death, so either the factory wasn’t able to fulfil the orders, or there were no orders by then to fulfil.’

  ‘So why would Muldoon’s factory suddenly have all of the orders dry up?’ Daniel murmured as he studied the neat columns of figures together with the company names.

  ‘The solicitor didn’t mention anything to us about custom drying up when we went to fetch the keys and sign the paperwork. I assume that if he had known that the factory was no longer a viable business then he would have told us.’ Tabitha didn’t want to admit that she really had no experience with such matters to know for sure. But it seemed that her guess work wasn’t far from the truth because Daniel nodded thoughtfully.

  ‘We need to have a word with the owner of this Harrington’s to find out why they cancelled such a large order, and if they have any connection to Lynchgate,’ Daniel suggested.

  Tabitha blinked at him. ‘Do you think Lynchgate had something to do with it? Why? For what purpose?’

  ‘Because loss of business means loss of finances. Muldoon would need investors to keep the company going. While selling ten shares won’t earn a fortune, the money may have been enough to keep the place going for a week or two. The workforce won’t have been paid a huge amount of money. If the workers could fulfil even half a dozen orders, the company might not have experienced financial problems and needed to sell the shares. There is something odd about the fact that fulfilment of orders stopped, especially given the stock that is still lying on the stock room floor.’

  ‘Muldoon must have suspected something was seriously wrong and stopped sending orders out,’ Tabitha mused.

  ‘Why would he risk his business?’ Mildred asked.

  ‘Well, he would have no business if he ignored the problems,’ Ronan replied. ‘It would be better to stop fulfilling orders for a few days and lose a bit of income than keep going and lose everything.’

  ‘What could have been wrong?’ Daniel muttered.

  ‘We need to find out of the solicitor has links to Lynchgate. I also want to know if Muldoon’s solicitor might be friends with Charles Rodgers in London,’ Ronan growled.

  ‘We can send word to the team in London,’ Daniel sighed.

  Mildred slumped into a chair at the table and stared blankly at the papers on the tabletop. ‘This just gets worse and worse.’

  ‘We will get to the bottom of it,’ Daniel assured her. ‘It just takes time, a lot of travelling, and plenty of questions. No problem is insurmountable, and no lie can remain hidden. The truth will always prevail.’

  ‘Regardless of what Lynchgate said earlier, it is best that the factory remains closed,’ Ronan warned.

  ‘We have been able to identify the murder victim we found on Muldoon’s desk last night,’ Daniel informed them. ‘He was a worker at the factory; an overseer, but nobody seems to know why he would be inside the locked factory so late at night. Nobody argued with him in the days prior to his death and it wasn’t in his nature to commit crimes and do something like break into the factory. The man didn’t have a criminal record. None of the locals have a bad word to say about him. He was a good, honest, decent citizen.’

  ‘So, who murdered him and why?’ Tabitha whispered. ‘It must have been those intruders last nigh
t. The ones who hit you on the head and tried to throw me out of the window. It is difficult to believe that there was another killer moving around all those thugs, who just happened to be killers as well and there on the same night.’ As she said that, though, the memory of the man in black she had seen in the stock room began to hover in the back of her mind. Was he the killer?

  Daniel slid into the seat beside her and nodded his thanks to Mildred when she slid a plate piled high with food in front of him.

  ‘How many men did you see last night?’ Daniel asked Tabitha quietly.

  ‘Well, I saw you, the dead man, the thug who tried to throw me out of the window.’ Tabitha slid a worried look at her aunt when Mildred moaned in dismay. She had spent the afternoon telling her aunt what had happened last night but had carefully avoided telling her the worrying details about almost being killed – until now that is. ‘While the thug was with me, you were chasing after someone else, so there had to be two men. I then saw another while I was in the stock room, so that makes three intruders.’

  ‘Or was it two?’ Daniel challenged. ‘The man you saw in the stock room might have been the thug’s accomplice I was chasing. Might it be that there wasn’t anybody else except the two we saw?’

  Tabitha shook her head. ‘The man I saw was tall, slender, and glided around the room. He knew where he was going.’ She shivered. ‘It is horrid to think of anybody creeping around us in that building, watching what we were doing.’

  ‘I have secured the place with double locks and boarded over the windows on the lower floor. The doors have been secured from the inside by heavy equipment and large chains. There is no way in Hades anybody can get into that building unless they have the new set of keys for the only door that opens.’ Daniel didn’t hand them over.

  Tabitha opened her mouth to ask for them but decided it was probably best if Daniel kept them. She suspected that the Star Elite hadn’t finished searching the building yet. Moreover, she didn’t want them in her possession because Lynchgate couldn’t force her to hand them over.