Well Kept Secrets (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 4)

by Liza O'Connor

  “We really don’t have time!”

  Tubs glared at him. “You said I had thirty minutes. I can do this mission right if you’ll let me.”

  Stone sighed and gave the driver their new destination.

  Tubs hoped he wasn’t wasting his time with this delay. The door opened on the third knock and Gregory smiled at Tubs as he stepped back to let him in. The butler stared out the door and frowned. “Where’s Vic?”

  “He ain’t with me, but I got a big favor to ask on his behalf. There’s a warehouse of little boys, some taken from their families, some sold into service. They’re to be auctioned off as sex slaves tonight. Most won’t live to see daylight if I don’t rescue them. Would you mind if I brought ‘em here so you can find their parents or put them into honest service?”

  “Good God!”

  “Or just keep ‘em until Vic gets off his mission, so he—”

  “Of course, you may bring them here. I am just appalled these atrocities continue to occur.”

  “I’m hoping I’ll be able to discourage matters today.”

  “When should I expect them?”

  “In about twenty minutes. I was just going to set them loose, but then I thought of how you found jobs for those other servants Vic rescued.”

  “And how many children should I anticipate?”

  Tubs shrugged. “Won’t know ‘til I get there. Somewhere ‘tween ten to fifty I imagine.”

  “This is outrageous!”

  “I could let the ones who have a sense of survival go if that’s too many.”

  Gregory pinched the bridge of his nose. After a moment, he spoke calmly. “Tubs, go save these children and bring them all here. I don’t care if there are a hundred.”

  Tubs smiled and hurried off before Gregory came to his senses and changed his mind.

  “Tubs!” Gregory called from the door.

  “Damn,” he muttered and turned to Vic’s butler.

  “Will you need carriages?” Gregory asked.

  He hadn’t thought of that. Nodding his head, he pondered how many he would need.

  “Give me the address and I will send both our carriages to the location.”

  Tubs gave the address and hurried into Stone’s hired carriage.

  “You now have fifteen minutes,” Stone warned him.

  It took ten minutes to arrive at the warehouse, one second to knock down the securely bolted and locked warehouse door, thirty seconds to scare off the armed guards, and ten seconds to locate the crying children.

  Fortunately, they were frightened speechless at the sight of Tubs, so he didn’t have to yell to be heard.

  “I’m here to save you. You have two choices. You can get into the carriages and go to a nice place where good people will try to get you back to your families, and if that’s not possible, get you an honest job. However, if you’d rather just run and try to live by your wits on the street, you can do that too. What you don’t want to do is stay here. If you do, most of you will be dead by the morning and those who aren’t will wish they were.”

  He stared at the terrified, trembling faces, not sure if they believed him.

  “Anyone who wants to live, follow me.” For a moment, Tubs feared none would follow, but once he left the room a line of tiny boys walked twenty feet behind him.

  When he arrived outside, he smiled at the sight of two extra carriages. He pointed to them. “Everybody who wants to go to the nice people, climb in.” He then hurried to Stone’s carriage. A few of the boys headed down the street, but most seemed to go for the better offer.

  He leaned back and smiled as their carriage hurried away.

  “One minute to spare. I’m impressed.”

  Tubs didn’t respond. Truth was he’d never thought much of the police, and Inspector Stone wasn’t improving his opinion of them today.

  When they arrived at a very fancy hotel, Stone walked directly to the elevator. Tubs stared at the contraption with concern. “Maybe I should take the stairs.”

  “It can handle your weight,” Stone assured him.

  If that were true, why hadn’t they made the elevator bigger? The elevator could only hold two normal size people comfortably. “All the same, I’ll take the stairs and meet you there.”

  “We don’t have time!” Stone insisted. Tubs ignored him and ran up the stairs, frightening women and men alike along the way. He noticed their cries of shock were more muted than normal. Must be the very fine suit softening their horror. The sight of so much double worsted wool probably created a soothing effect on the rich.

  He reached the top floor before the elevator arrived with Stone. Thus, he even had time to straighten his suit from his run.

  Inspector Stone’s eyes rounded as he stepped out to see Tubs. “Good, let us prepare to be scolded.”

  No one answered the door when Stone knocked. After fifteen minutes of standing in the alcove, Tubs grew worried that someone had already killed the bastard.

  Inspector Stone had yet to consider such a possibility because he continued to politely knock every five minutes.

  If only Vic were here. He’d have the lock picked in three seconds. Then Tubs would know if he were going to be hung or not. He could pick a lock too, but he knew without asking Stone would stop him. Only Vic could do what he wanted.

  As time crawled by, he was pretty sure his good times with Mr. Thorn and Vic were over. At least the last thing he did was save about forty boys, some looking no more than five. Maybe God would take that in consideration when all the murders he’d committed were brought up. Yes, there were a great deal of them, but all those men were worthless scum who deserved to die. And that woman, the mesmerist, was not only a murderer, but a threat to Vic and Xavier, so wringing her neck shouldn’t go against him neither.

  He really needed to leave now and let Xavier and Vic know he was going to be hung, because they might want to stop this travesty of justice. The more he thought about it, the more certain he was Vic would sneak him out of the country in some clever way before she allowed him to die.

  He sighed heavily. “Guess we’re too late. I’m going back to the office and change clothes, ‘cause I don’t want to be hung in this suit. I want it nice for my funeral.”

  Just then the door opened and a small pinched nose man with gelled black hair glared at Stone. “You are late!”

  Stone straightened to his tallest. “I apologize. It took longer than expected to locate the best protection possible for your evening out. May I introduce you to Mr. Tubs? He is very familiar with all the places you wish to visit and the best security I could offer any man.”

  Mr. Hidicks stared up and up, finally reaching Tubs face. Tubs made no effort to smile.

  “What an impressive fellow you are!” He waved them both in. Once inside, he made Tubs stand and be measured with a tape.

  “My God, his thigh is forty-two inches. That is thicker than most men’s waist.” He laughed. “You are like four men in one.” He patted Stone’s backside “I am very pleased with this fellow.” He caressed Tubs’ thigh. “And such a nice suit. Have a seat.”

  “I’ll stand,” Tubs replied. He had no desire to amuse this man by squashing the furniture.

  The man sat and stretched back on the sofa while he studied his protector. “How can a man who sells his muscles afford such a beautiful suit?”

  Stone jumped in to answer. “Mr. Tubs has agreed to protect you as a favor to me. The young gentleman he normally protects is away right now, so he luckily could oblige my request.”

  Mr. Hidicks sipped his brandy. “Oh, I expect this to be my best night ever.”

  Chapter 10

  Xavier returned to his office to find it locked up tight. Where the bloody hell had Tubs gone? Upon finding no note to account for the man’s absence, he went upstairs to hunt for clues. He noticed the clothes Tubs had worn this morning were crumpled on the floor and the closet door was open.

  He studied the garments inside, trying to determine why Tubs had time enough
to change clothes but not scribe a note telling his boss where he’d gone.

  While he had no idea why Tubs wished a change of garments, he was able to determine what his employee currently wore. The insanely expensive gentleman’s suit Vic coerced a tailor to make for Tubs was missing from the closet.

  That killed the possibility Tubs had gone out to grab some food.

  This was the sort of mystery Vic excelled at. Give her a few bits of bone and she’d not only contrive a whole skeleton, but give it flesh and blood, and, more importantly, a motivation.

  Vic. He needed to find out what happened to Tubs before she returned from her mission.

  Speculating that if Tubs needed to dress as a proper gentleman, he might go to Gregory for advice, Xavier headed over to Vic’s family mansion. He had barely knocked on the door, when it flung open and a very stressed butler stared at him.

  “Oh, it’s you. Where’s Vic? These children are out of control!”

  Xavier stepped inside and grabbed a small banshee trying to run past him. The dirty, screaming urchin kicked him in the shin. Without thinking, Xavier smacked the tyke across the head, which not only stopped the kicks, but the screaming as well.

  “Xavier! You cannot hit a child!” Claire’s voice yelled from the parlor door.

  “Well, I did and it appears to have done him a world of good. What the hell is going on here?”

  Claire stormed forward, looking a bit worn and frazzled herself. “You don’t know? I thought you and Vic did everything together.”

  He decided to ignore Claire and turned to Gregory. “Are you certain Vic sent you these children?”

  “Actually, it was Tubs,” Gregory responded. “He said they probably wouldn’t make it through the night if they weren’t rescued.”

  Xavier was more confused than ever. Tubs had promised him he wouldn’t do side jobs. “Tubs rescued them?”

  “Yes, from a warehouse at the docks.”

  “Is he here?” While Xavier did not have an issue with rescuing children, or driving Claire up the wall, he had a very strong issue with Tubs breaking his promise not to do jobs on the side. And why the hell would he have to dress up like a gentleman to rescue squalid children?

  He sighed in frustration and refocused on Gregory. “Do you by chance recall what Tubs was wearing when he delivered these creatures?”

  “A very fine suit. But to be clear, he did not deliver the children. He came and asked if he could deliver them, as soon as possible. I offered to send two carriages to pick them up, which he accepted at once. He provided me the address, I sent the carriages and twenty minutes later thirty-eight subdued, dirty children entered the house.”

  Subdued? “What happened to them?” The house was full of banshees now.

  Clare spoke up. “I decided they needed baths, but evidently that is a fate worse than death. They’ve been trying to escape from every door and window in the house since.”

  Xavier turned back to Gregory. “What were you supposed to do with them?”

  “Tubs said some had been taken from their families, so we need to contact their parents, only the boys refuse to tell me their names, nevertheless where they live.”

  “And what was the address you retrieved them from?” Xavier asked and frowned at Gregory’s reply. He knew the location all too well. Tubs was probably correct that a good portion of these boys were stolen from families who might actually want them back.

  He placed two fingers in his mouth and created a painfully loud ear-piercing whistle. “Everyone, shut up,” he barked. “I’m Xavier Thorn, the private investigator. I am here to find out who you are and return you to your families if that’s what you want. Now anyone who has a family and wishes to be returned tonight, line up before me and be ready to answer my questions.”

  To his amazement all of the boys quieted and lined up.

  “Thank you,” Gregory said as he stared up at the ceiling.

  “Take notes for me Gregory, I don’t have all night to spend on this. I’ve got real mysteries to solve.”

  Xavier demanded the name and address of each boy. All but one five-year-old knew his particulars. Fortunately, one of the other boys had been stolen from the same neighborhood and provided the address of the tot.

  “Claire, start writing letters. Say, ‘Your son has been rescued from the men who took them. They await your retrieval at Scotland Yard. Please come at once’.”

  “Why not give them this address?” Claire asked.

  “Because some may think you are the kidnappers and become violent. Let Scotland Yard handle this; it’s their job.”

  He spoke to the boys. “You are going to Scotland Yard to await your parents. All baths are cancelled.”

  After a great deal of cheering, the boys were loaded into the carriages and driven to Scotland Yard where Xavier ignored the fellow at the front desk and walked the urchins all the way to the top floor.

  “What the bloody…?” Stone declared as the boys filed into his office. Upon seeing Xavier, he sighed. “Is this payback for me taking Tubs?”

  Xavier wasn’t about to admit it wasn’t. Truth was, a portion of these parents probably sold their kids to a buyer and Xavier didn’t want Vic’s family involved in that sort of trouble.

  “Exactly where did you take Tubs?” he demanded.

  Stone stared at the boys staring back at him. He walked past Xavier and spoke to someone outside. Pointing to the officer standing outside his door, he spoke to the boys. “Follow this man and he will find a safe place for you to wait for your parents.

  Once the boys left, Stone closed the door and sighed with a heavy heart. “You know I’ll get a call from above to return them to the auction house.”

  Xavier knew all too well of the greased palms that kept the white slavery market alive and well in London. “The parents have been notified their boys were rescued and must be picked up at once. I’m hoping those who truly lost their sons will act in time to save them.”

  Stone gave him a faint smile. “Sending those notifications will get you in trouble as well.”

  “I didn’t send them. Claire Hamilton Brown did.”

  “Why did she send the boys here?”

  “Because the dirty creatures refused to take their baths.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “No, but feel free to use that explanation when the call comes from above.”

  “I will.” He smiled. “It always helps to have a lady of society in the mix.”

  “So back to my employee?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry I had to do it, but it seemed the best way to keep Tubs from hanging.”

  Xavier didn’t like that conclusion at all! “Perhaps you had better start at the first and tell me the whole story. Act as if I know nothing.”

  ***

  At nine p.m. Vic left the shop, mentally grumbling about her fourteen hour day. And not a single customer to justify her employment.

  A voice called out. “Jane?”

  Having forgotten her name, she walked on.

  “Jane, is that you?” The voice was closer now, and all too familiar. She turned in time to see Jacko’s handsome face just before he lifted her into a full swing hug. “My God, I thought I had lost you forever!”

  She was about to scold him for overdoing his part, but was silenced by his kiss.

  Stunned to be more accurate. The moment his lips pressed against hers, electrical currents shot through her body and without consciously doing so, her lips opened to him and she kissed him back with fiery passion.

  When the kiss finally ended, she was so astounded by her reaction and so outraged at her betrayal to Xavier that she slapped Jacko with the full force of her mighty arm before storming away.

  Damn it all! Why had Jacko done that? She was doing fine with a lover in absentia. She didn’t need him showing up, nevertheless kissing her!

  Jacko grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn and face him. Her arm rose to hit him again, but this time he was prepared and snared it, pu
lling her tight to him. “We are being watched,” he whispered in her ear.

  Her body, so tight against his, burned with fire. “Missed me?” she yelled, furious at her body’s betrayal. “Have you even thought of me once while you played the proper husband to Alice?”

  “I’ve thought of you every hour,” Jacko replied for the benefit of their audience.

  “Liar!” she yelled and pushed away from him and hurried down the street.

  Thankfully, he did not pursue her. The last thing she wanted was Jacko in her room. Not after that kiss! Why the hell had he done that? He believed she was a young man. What the bloody hell was wrong with him?

  She radiated such anger and fury that no one gave her any trouble on her walk home that night. Slamming and locking her door, she threw herself on the bed.

  Damn it all!

  Her fingers touched her lips.

  Damn it!

  Why had he done that?

  Why had she responded?

  “Damn it, damn it, damn it,” she muttered

  ***

  Jacko stood on the sidewalk feeling as if his entire world had just turned upside down. What the hell just happened? He was glad to see a dressed down Ben, following behind Vic as she stormed off. The last thing he wanted to do right now was be anywhere around her.

  Why the hell hadn’t she kept her lips buttoned? The kiss was disturbing enough before she opened her mouth to him. God’s above! She was the love of Xavier’s grumpy life.

  It made no sense whatsoever. He didn’t want Vic. He had Alice, who was everything he had ever wanted in a woman. Vic was…well a young man to all appearances. While Xavier might not care if everyone thought him light in his shoes, Jacko preferred his lady’s man image, thank you very much.

  In addition, he wanted a woman who was loving and kind. Vic could at best be called argumentative and bossy, which fit Xavier to a tee, but not him.

  In his distress, Jacko failed to notice the chubby proprietor watching from the apothecary window. Nor did his senses pick up the hatred radiating towards him.