Toxic Diamonds (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 8)

by Liza O'Connor

  Vic leaned her head upon his chest. “No, I tightened your ropes and left you to rot.”

  “Not true! You sent Fagan back to untie me. Which meant even when I appeared to have lost my mind for a lunatic, you never gave up on me. So, I no longer fear Samson, nor anyone else. We are one, and we will remain so regardless of the future challenges we’ll no doubt endure.”

  Once Davy drove into the carriage house, they hurried out of the carriage and quickly made their way upstairs to their room.

  By the time Xavier had reached their bedroom, he had shed all his clothes. Knowing Vic would require help, he remained standing next to the bed, as she approached with both arms up as if surrendering. He released the side straps and pulled her chest flattener off. Then he swept her into his arms and tossed her in the center of the bed. He wasted no time joining her.

  Their lovemaking that night was tender and endearing. While they had just gone through the worst of days, everyone they loved had survived and tomorrow without question would be a better day.

  Just before Vic fell asleep, she sat up. “I know what stock we should set Ben and the Wasp up for.”

  “I thought you wanted me to choose it.”

  “But I have the perfect stock!”

  “Won’t be as good as mine, but tell me.”

  “Given all the activated charcoal we’ve used in the last few days, we have without a doubt created a shortage through all of England, but since our need for the charcoal is a state secret, the stock market will mistake the increase in prices as a growing miracle drug rather than a temporary shortage. And because many people foolishly will buy at the increasing stock prices, wishing to get in before the price goes even higher. Thus, it will continue to rise. And the manufacturers won’t admit there was a temporary shortage for that will make them look bad. No, they’ll just go on serving their customers. The foolish manufacturers will foolishly try to increase their prices and when that doesn’t work, they’ll convince themselves activated charcoal is worth the new outrageous price and buy stock.

  “Then, a week from now, one of the best analyst in the country will determine that making activated charcoal is very easy and only takes three days. Nor does it require major capital. While there was a large one-time sale that created a shortfall that resulted in rising prices, at the end of the day, activated charcoal remains a low-cost item.”

  Xavier pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Charles Dickens would be so proud of you! This is far better than his scheme in Martian Chuzzlewit. For yours is not actually an illegal scheme. It is simply a misreading of the facts.”

  Chapter 14

  The next morning, Vic wrote up her stock assessment, placed it in a file, and after a quick breakfast and a call to Alice, she headed to the office with Tubs in tow. As they entered, Vic was a bit disappointed that Ben hadn’t returned yet. She hated when a game was set in motion and no one shows up to play.

  A light knock on the door made her turn. Was it possible that Ben had actually lost his key? She opened the door with a scold on her lips, only it wasn’t Ben, it was a frail old woman and an adorable puppy with perky ears and a long slender nose. Its body was proportional in all ways. In other words, it looked nothing like Arroo.

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “Yes. I am Julianne Blage. Edith Penderheim recommended you.”

  Vic motioned her in. “Please come in and excuse the mess.”

  Vic headed straight to Xavier’s office, praying Ben hadn’t been able to get in and trash that as well.

  She unlocked the door and smiled at Xavier’s normal messy state. She pointed to a guest chair and sat down in Xavier’s chair. “How may I help you?’

  The woman sighed heavily. “My husband has given me an ultimatum. Either the dog goes, or he goes. Since he possesses all my money, it has to be Rocky. I will miss him terribly, but my husband won’t give in on the matter.”

  Vic stared at her in shock. Thank God Xavier wasn’t here! Just to be certain she understood the situation, she asked, “Do you wish me to find your dog a new home?”

  “He needs a good family with lots of love.” The old gal dug about her purse for a handkerchief.

  Someone knocked on the door and Tubs opened it before Vic could do it herself. Fortunately, it was only Alice and Pete.

  Pete ran up to the old woman. “May I pet your puppy? He’s beautiful.”

  The woman passed the dog over to Pete, rose and thanked Vic for her assistance, then escaped before Vic could refuse the case.

  Vic groaned and leaned back in her chair as she focused on Alice. “Is there any chance you want a dog?”

  Pete’s smile stretched from ear-to-ear. “Please, mother. I’ll take very good care of him.”

  Alice knelt before the puppy. “He is a handsome fellow.”

  Rocky rewarded her with a face wash by his very long tongue.

  “Mother, can I have him?”

  “Of course, you can,” Alice said and kissed Rocky’s head. “He’ll make a fine new family member.”

  Vic gently led Alice from the room and locked up Xavier’s office. She pointed to the folder on Ben’s desk. “If Ben tries to take that folder, let him do so.”

  “Where are you going?” Alice demanded.

  “I am going to interrogate someone.”

  Chapter 15

  When Vic entered Mr. Ascot’s outer office, she could hear the old man yelling. Vic sat down on the bench until she heard Ben’s name mentioned, then she rose and entered his private office. “Sorry to interrupt, but I heard Ben’s name. Has our employee caused you trouble?”

  Mr. Ascot didn’t scold her for eavesdropping. He just ordered her to come in and sit while he sent his assistant back to his desk. “You should fire your young man. He is most deceitful.”

  “What has he done now?” she asked.

  “He wished to offer me the opportunity to work with him. Claimed he had very rich patrons who could make us both wealthy beyond our imaginations. Only I was to do all the work and he would get fifty percent of my portion just for introducing them to me. I, of course, turned him down, then he began saying terrible things about you and Xavier. So I tossed him out. Then I hear him offering to pay my secretary a cut if he would make a copy of my recommendations and shared the information.”

  Vic grimaced. “I must take the blame for him even knowing you existed. Last year when I had more cases than I could manage, I sent Ben to you, to learn finance so he could help me on a case of ours.”

  “Yes, I remember. He fell asleep, resting his head on my desk.”

  “I do apologize. And if you want to help me give a little payback to Ben and his evil patrons, I believe I have contrived a way to do so without any good people going to jail.” She then explained her plan.

  “Well, I’m very glad you told me this. I was about to invest my clients in the stocks. The companies seemed to be legitimate.”

  “Oh, they are. There is just a secret being kept by the parliament which results in a large distortion of the truth. And I would like to use that distortion for a bit of payback and possibly righting two wrongs. But I don’t want you or your investors to suffer along the way, which is why I’m here. And by telling you the parliament was involved, I’ve probably committed some crime that requires hanging.”

  “Fortunately for me, I didn’t hear a thing.” Mr. Ascot assured her.

  “Well, I best be on my way. I’ve a full day.” Vic said and hurried back to her carriage.

  “You were in there quite a while.” Tubs observed. “I was getting worried.”

  “Mr. Ascot had some Ben grievances he wished to share.”

  Tubs shook his head. “I think Ben changed when Barnacle chained him in his basement. It can really twist your head thinking every day could be your last.”

  “Tubs, did someone chain you up in a basement?” His commiseration seemed all too personal.

  “Yeah, but I always broke out.”

  She hugged her giant�
�s arm. “Good for you.”

  “Where are we headed now?”

  “Samson’s home.”

  Tubs nodded. “You’ll be safe there so I’ll stay outside.”

  “But don’t you want to see Stone?”

  He grimaced. “We’re not the best of friends, but the main reason is because I don’t want to scare his wife or kids. I’m sure this has been a rough time for them.”

  She rested her head against Tubs’ arm. “That’s a good point. They probably thought Stone was dead, and they’d soon be sent to the poorhouse.”

  “Yeah, that’s not a good place. I got sent there when my Pa died. But I broke out the second day. If I’m going to do the work of a man, I expect to be paid for it. The Poor Houses treat you like slaves.”

  Vic gripped his hand. “I’m glad you made it out and survived long enough for me to offer you a job.”

  He chuckled. “Me, too! I had no idea life could be this good.”

  Suddenly the carriage picked up speed. Tubs leaned out the window. “Problem?”

  “Just losing a tail,” Casey yelled back.

  Vic realized her desire to talk to Stone could have gotten him killed. “Just head home, Casey,” she yelled to her driver then groaned. “I should have realized they would have me followed!”

  “Maybe you can call him on Gregory’s telephone,” Tubs suggested.

  “Little known fact about telephones: they are not private. It’s not just the women making the connections who can listen in. I’m sure Internal Affairs have their own means to tap into conversations.”

  “But Xavier is Internal Affairs.”

  “I’m beginning to fear he’s just their patsy if something goes wrong.” Vic sighed. “There is no way he would send a tail after us.”

  “Good point,” Tubs said. “You look angry.”

  “I am. It’s getting hard to segregate the bad people from the good.”

  ***

  When they returned to the office, Pete and Alice had the entire house set to right, plus the folder on Ben’s desk was missing. Seeing Alice on the upper landing, she called out, “Did Ben come to work today?”

  A surly voice replied from above as well. “Of course, I came to work, and you would know that if you had bothered to show up.”

  “Where is the folder that I placed on this desk?” Vic challenged.

  “I didn’t see a folder,” Ben replied as he stopped midway down the steps. “And Xavier is not going to be happy when he learns you let a dog piss all over the place.”

  Alice moved around the boy and walked downstairs to Vic. “Ben is exaggerating. Rocky did sprinkle Ben’s leg but nothing more.”

  Vic grinned. “Well then, nothing to worry about.” She unlocked Xavier’s office and waved Alice in. The moment she locked the door, Alice opened her mouth to speak, but Vic held up her hand for silence. “You look worn out. Let’s take a break and listen to music.” She turned on the Victrola so if Ben was listening at the door, their voices would be muted. She motioned Alice to the far corner. “What did Ben do now?”

  “I could be overreacting as a mother,” Alice admitted then sighed heavily.

  “I’ve never seen you overreact on anything. Was Ben being mean to Pete?”

  “I thought so. And given Pete has decided he doesn’t want to work here and took the puppy away, and he’s not prone to rash decisions, I truly feel the problem is Ben, not my son.”

  “What happened?”

  “Ben attempted to accidently drop a typewriter on the pup. Fortunately, Pete realized what the boy meant to do and they fought for the device. To assist Pete, Rocky pissed on Ben’s leg, which caused Ben to release the typewriter and go after the puppy. Then Pete grabbed Rocky and headed out the door, yelling he didn’t want to work here.” Alice grimaced. “He went over to your house. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Vic gave her a hug. “Not at all. But once I fire Ben, hopefully, Pete will come back.”

  “I’m sure he will. I just don’t understand what happened to the boy. When you and Xavier left the country a few years ago, Ben was a hardworking, kind young man. He and Pete were good friends. Now he’s more like the mean boy who almost killed you.”

  “Barnacle. Yeah, Ben had seemed to recover from that horrific event, but then the wasp woman came to us for help finding her husband, and Ben fell in love with her. She turned out to be ‘married’ to a bigamist who wanted to kill his first wife but keep her money. Barns and I saved the woman, found her true sons, although one didn’t survive. She and the remaining three boys, which the husband had never known existed, returned to her family. The husband divorced his wife for not providing her wifely duties and officially married the wasp woman that Ben adores. I suspect she may also be a mesmerist. We’ve dealt with one of those before, and they are very dangerous creatures. I believe she has pulled memories from Ben’s traumatic past to create the unreliable, untrustworthy, and very mean young man he has become.”

  Vic turned off the Victrola and opened the door, causing Ben to fall inside.

  “Were you sleeping on the door?” Vic challenged.

  “Of course not!” Ben picked himself up.

  “Then you must have been snooping.”

  “I was not!”

  “It’s one or the other, either way, you are fired,” Vic cheerfully assured him.

  “For what?” he demanded.

  “I don’t have to have a reason to fire you. I’m a partner of this firm.”

  “But I work solely for Xavier,” Ben declared.

  Vic reached into her vest pocket and pulled out a letter. “Well, he’s busy, so he wrote you a letter.”

  The boy stared at the sealed envelope. “How do I know it’s from him?”

  “That’s his seal.”

  The boy opened the letter and read.

  BEN, YOU ARE FIRED FOR STEALING THREE GOLD COINS. AND BEFORE YOU SAY YOU DIDN’T STEAL THE COINS, ALLOW ME TO SAY: IT DOESN’T MATTER. I SIMPLY PROVIDED THIS REASON SO THAT YOU MIGHT LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES.

  HOWEVER, THE MAIN REASON YOU ARE FIRED IS BECAUSE VIC HAS EQUAL SAY AND WANTS YOU GONE.

  BUT THERE IS A LESSON TO LEARN HERE AS WELL. IF YOU HAVE TWO BOSSES, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE OBEDIENT AND PLEASANT TO BOTH OF THEM.

  XAVIER THORN

  Ben read the note several times. “I don’t believe Xavier wrote this.”

  “He didn’t. He typed it. If he had written it, neither of us would have been able to read a single word. His handwriting is abominable.”

  He kicked the desk. “At least pay me for today!”

  “All you’ve done is try to kill Pete’s little puppy.”

  “It pissed on me!”

  “You don’t kill a puppy for pissing, and from my understanding, you attempted to drop a typewriter on the dog before it pissed on you.”

  “Dogs are filthy creatures. And when Xavier learns one of them is marking up his office, he’s going to fire you!”

  “He can’t fire me. We are equal partners,” Vic said and sighed. “I don’t know what happened to you, Ben. You used to be a kind and well-mannered young man. Now you seem like a reincarnated Barnacle.”

  “That’s because I’m stronger now,” he snapped. “And I’ve learned you have to look out for #1 because no one else is going to.”

  “Now, that’s a major difference between us. I have lots of people looking out for me. And despite the man you’ve become, I want to look out for you as well. I know you took the file folder I placed on this desk.”

  “I did not!”

  “I’m still advising you in this matter. Don’t give the information to the wasp woman.”

  “Stop calling her that!”

  Vic groaned and stared up at the ceiling. “What I call her doesn’t matter. She’s using you.”

  “She is the only person who gives a damn about me.”

  “If that is what you believe, so be it. Just don’t share our information with your best friend and her husband. It is illegal to do so.”<
br />
  “I’ve already told you, I don’t have your file!”

  “All right then, just hand over your key and leave.”

  “I don’t know how you became a partner. I’m far smarter than you.”

  “Tubs!” Vic called.

  He entered from the basement within seconds. “Problem?” he asked as he glared at Ben.

  “I’ve fired him, but he doesn’t seem to want to leave.”

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t leave. I’m more than happy to. But first I must clean out my desk.”

  “No. If you have anything of value in the desk, like love letters, I will put them in a box outside when I get around to it.”

  Ben’s eyes widened as he ran towards the desk, only Tubs snatched him up by his jacket and put him outside within seconds. “And don’t ever come back!” he warned.

  Vic sighed deeply and sat down at her old desk before it had become Ben’s and Barnacle’s. “I want a new desk. This one has terrible memories.”

  Tubs nodded in agreement. “We’ll need new locks on the front and back door.”

  “I’ll call the locksmith now.”

  “He has a telephone?” Tubs asked.

  “Yes, all sorts of people are getting telephones now. He says his business has doubled since he had the contraption installed.”

  “Maybe I should invest in that.”

  Vic grinned. “You should. I believe it will continue to grow in popularity for a very long time. It’s a most convenient device!”

  “All right then. I have money to spare, since I came to work for you and Xavier. Exactly where do I go to buy stock?”

  “I don’t know. Xavier and I purchase our stocks through Mr. Ascot. Shall I call and see if he’ll take you on as a client?”

  “I’d probably scare off his other customers.”

  Vic waved his concern off. “If you would prefer, you could remain in the carriage, I could go up and make the request on your behalf. Mr. Ascot could provide me the documents, which I would bring to you. Then, we could go through the information and I could carry the signed documents back to Mr. Ascot.”

  “I’d like to do that, but first we need to get the doors secured. Ben will want his letters back. I expect him to attempt a break-in tonight.”