The door cracked open. She turned, holding her breath as Morgan slipped through the opening and swiftly shut the door behind him. She caught only the barest glimpse of Tristan, hovering over Alex’s seated body while Alex grimaced and rubbed his hand. What was happening? Were they finished?
Morgan touched her elbow. “Come with me a moment. I’d like to talk.”
He led her down the dark corridor to a parlor overlooking the street. The curtains were open, letting in the glimmer of light from a nearby streetlamp. It was just enough for Lucy to discern her brother’s silhouette as he found a tinderbox and lit a candle. He set the candle on a small table between two chairs.
“Sit, please.”
Her heart pounding and her palms clammy, Lucy sat. Morgan claimed the seat next to her, turning to face her. He leaned his forearms against his knees.
“I’d like your opinion.” His voice was as calm and composed as his expression, but there were lines around his eyes and mouth that belied his efforts. He seemed worried.
It was the first time he’d consulted her on professional matters. If he’d only come to her months ago, they might have already had Monsieur V in their grasp and this would never have happened with Alex.
She would never have fallen in love with him, either.
She straightened her shoulders. “What would you like to know?”
“Do you believe him?”
Lucy bristled. “Of course I do! You don’t? He’s telling the truth, Morgan.”
Her brother fingered the white streak in his hair. “I believe that Monsieur V mesmerized him and had him under his complete control. But what caused him to break that control?”
Lucy opened her mouth, but realized that she didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know.” She’d known that something was different about Alex, but she hadn’t realized how completely he had fallen under another man’s spell. If she had, she would have found a way to snap him out of it. Instead, he’d somehow managed to do that on his own. She frowned. How had he done it? Why then?
Morgan dropped his hand. He caught her gaze, studying her as he said, “He claims that it was you.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Much as she would rather say something different. “I only pressed him for answers because he seemed distant to me.”
“He says that the notion of putting you in danger, something he would never knowingly do, was what gave him the will to break free of Monsieur V’s hold.”
Lucy’s chest warmed. Alex did love her, after all. She blinked back tears.
Morgan didn’t seem as impressed by Alex’s statement. “Do you think he has truly shaken free of Monsieur V’s control?”
Lucy opened her mouth, then shut it again. After swallowing around the lump in her throat, she asked, “You think he’s still under the spymaster’s control, that this is a trick?”
Why? It made no sense. He could have delivered her to Monsieur V, if that were the case.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Morgan answered, his words measured carefully. He reached out to clasp Lucy’s hand. “I can sense no deception in him, but you know him better than I. If there is even a sliver of a doubt in your mind that he is fully on our side once more, we can’t risk using him to take down the spymaster. There is too much at stake. Please, take a moment and think before you answer me this: is he the man you knew before Monsieur V took control of him?”
Yes. Lucy buried that instantaneous answer and bit her lip. She shut her eyes, recalling every moment she’d had with him tonight, from the time when he entered her bedroom to the time when she’d left him with her brothers. Was he the same man?
She opened her eyes. “He’s not under Monsieur V’s control anymore. I’m sure of it.”
“Are you?” The crinkles at the corner of Morgan’s eyes deepened. “You might very well be risking your life to vouch that he is loyal.”
“I’m certain,” she said, stressing those words. “You wanted my opinion, and there it is. Now you have to trust that I’m not acting like a lovesick schoolgirl. I’m a grown woman, Morgan. It’s about time you realized that.”
He stared at her a moment more before nodding. “I know you are. Very well. Let’s go back into the office and see what trap we can set for Monsieur V.”
The moment the door opened to the office, Alex rose and held out his arms to her. When she stepped into them, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to her forehead. His heart thundered and his hair seemed a bit matted at the temples with sweat. She held him for a moment until his breathing and heartbeat returned to normal.
Still embracing her, he lifted his head to look over her shoulder at Morgan. “Have you come to a decision?” His voice was a bit raspy.
“We can’t let this opportunity pass.”
Alex’s body relaxed and he released Lucy. She stepped back, but didn’t move far.
Her brother continued. “I’m still not entirely convinced that Monsieur V doesn’t have a hold on you somewhere in your memory, but we don’t have time to waste. After this assignment, you’ll have to endure the full training again.”
Alex nodded. “Very well. And now?”
Morgan motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. He sat behind it and said, “I’ve asked Lucy to join us in here while we hash out a plan. Her presence here is pivotal because none of this will be possible without her and your complete cooperation.” Rubbing at his temple, he looked pained. “If this is going to work, Lucy must play the bait.”
Lucy squared her shoulders. She was ready to do this—for the good of Britain, for her family, and most importantly, for Alex. She pulled out her notebook, a new blank volume, and took one of the chairs in front of her brother’s desk.
“Let’s get to work, then. It sounds as though we haven’t a moment to waste.”
31
Alex should abandon the plan. He should shoot Monsieur V the moment the man stepped out into the open. Hell and damnation, he should have done it two nights ago when he’d informed the spymaster that he hadn’t been able to bring Lucy as directed. Burying his rage and loathing for the man had been nigh impossible. Only the thought of Lucy had kept him sane enough to continue the ruse.
It had taken all his strength not to flinch when Monsieur V tapped him on the shoulder. This time, his body had relaxed instantly but his mind had not. He’d remained alert and submitted himself to the Graylockes the moment he’d walked away from the French spymaster. They and Lucy had determined that he was no more beneath Monsieur V’s control than he had been upon walking into the meeting.
Monsieur V had set a new date, a new time and place for Alex to bring Lucy. Since Alex’s excuse had been that it was too late for him to remove her from her townhouse unescorted, they’d set an earlier time of night. At the moment, the evening soirees were in full swing. Alex and Lucy had both attended, before he’d pretended to whisk her into his phaeton and away from the party unnoticed.
His departure had been noticed, of course. It had even been planned. They might have to abide by the time and place Monsieur V had set, but that didn’t mean they arrived unprepared. Alex escorted Lucy into the junction between two streets, too narrow for a carriage to pass. He’d hitched his horses outside an eatery not far away. The further they walked, the more difficult it became to blank his expression and maintain a relaxed pose.
The Graylockes might be hiding in wait, but this was a far from ironclad plan. It hinged upon Lucy being able to draw Monsieur V out of the territory he had chosen and into one that they had prepared instead. In the meantime, the Graylocke brothers and the trusted spies that Morgan had hand-chosen for support had to keep their distance. Essentially, Alex was Lucy’s only protection.
Worse yet, no one uninvolved in the plan knew of it. When Lucy had confessed her fears over the first note she’d received, that someone connected to the family was in Monsieur V’s employ, everyone had agreed to keep the plan to themselves. They brought in no more help than what they expected to need. Not even
Lord Strickland had been alerted to the coup they were about to enact today.
Secrecy was to their benefit if they hoped to pull the wool over Monsieur V’s eyes. However, it had its detriments as well; namely that the support they might have had was far limited, especially in the location Monsieur V had set. In order to keep from arousing his suspicions, the only person hidden nearby was Tristan Graylocke. Morgan and the remainder of their support waited at the location where Lucy would lead Monsieur V.
If all went according to plan.
Lucy played her part with enthusiasm. She all but skipped next to him. The wind stirred by her skirts made the light in the lantern dance. “What a terribly daring part of the city for you to take me. Is this for research for my book?”
They reached the junction of the streets and she turned to face him. Her eyes danced, alight with life and fire. She smirked. “Or do you have a private romantic location set up for you to propose?”
Was that a suggestion? Cheeky woman. He wasn’t about to get down on bended knee in the middle of a spy mission, and well she knew it. Afterward…
He would think about what came after only once Monsieur V was safely in the Crown’s possession.
Struggling to keep his expression and tone neutral, he said, “You’ll see.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Will I? You seem bent on dawdling here.”
He hoped Monsieur V would arrive before too long, or else she would storm off in a huff while playing impatient. She couldn’t do that, or else risk ruining the careful plan laid down, but he wouldn’t put it past her. She would tell him that it was what her character would do.
Never mind that she was supposed to be herself tonight, simply a version of herself that allowed her to be caught in Monsieur V’s trap. Seemingly.
Fortunately, they didn’t have long to wait. A blessing, for Alex found it increasingly hard to answer her teasing in a bland tone when all he wanted to do was laugh and kiss her senseless. There was a time and a place for such things and he would never put her life on the line by giving in to desire and doing it now.
When he spotted a shadow coming from the north street, he met Lucy’s gaze and told her in a monotone, “Have patience. Your surprise is here.”
“My surprise?”
She turned as the spymaster stepped into the ring of light. From the sudden stiffening of Lucy’s shoulders, it was certainly him. Monsieur V. They finally had him.
Lucy gasped as she caught sight of him. She whirled on Alex, her expression pinched with feigned betrayal. She did a convincing job of it, though. Her eyes even welled with tears.
“You brought me to Monsieur V? You’ve been in league with the French? How could you!”
She slapped him soundly. A bit too soundly, in Alex’s opinion. The pain flared along his cheek and he hunched his shoulders as if expecting another blow. His ears rang as he rubbed his jaw.
He couldn’t even hear Monsieur V’s response, nor Lucy’s departure. According to the plan, she would run and Alex would be too preoccupied to follow after her if Monsieur V demanded it. In that, he might not be acting. By the time his ears stopped ringing and he looked up, the spymaster bolted after Lucy.
Alex swallowed hard. He shook off the lingering pain and bent to retrieve the lantern. Lucy had done her job; she’d baited the trap. Now all that was left was for her to lead Monsieur V to where the duke laid in wait.
Once he was certain that the spymaster wouldn’t turn around, Alex sprinted down a different path to head them off. He trusted Lucy to do her part. Now, he had to make it to the trap in time to help her if something went wrong.
Lucy memorized the map of haphazard buildings and every gutter between. Morgan had made absolutely certain of that over the past couple days. Even then, he’d seemed tentative about going through with the mission.
Lucy was determined. She knew she could do it, and she would prove it. Her role in this was small, but pivotal. She had to play the bait. She had to bring Monsieur V to the correct location, where her brother would be waiting to take him into Crown custody. So she ran.
The route Morgan had worked out was seemingly random. She was meant to appear as if in a blind panic, taking turns at random as if to blindly escape. The trouble wasn’t in recalling which turns to take, but in making sure that she ran exactly as instructed. Too fast and Monsieur V would lose sight of her; too slow and he would catch her. At every turn, she glanced over her shoulder, judging the gap between them and putting on a burst of speed or slowing down accordingly. A stitch bloomed in her side, but she was close. She would make it. The rush of triumph pushed her that last stretch through the open wooden gate into the fenced-in yard. She dashed to the far end and leaned against the wall to catch her breath.
A heartbeat later, Monsieur V bolted in after her. The spies crouched behind the fence leaped forward, disarming and subduing him in a rush. A faint light illuminated the flurry of blows, from the lantern which had been set in the window of the house.
Monsieur V fought dirty. He tried everything in his power to shake the three men attempting to restrain him. For a moment, as he elbowed Morgan in the manhood and bashed another spy’s nose with his skull, it looked as though Monsieur V would succeed. Alex, in the shadow of the building, standing near to her, took out his pistol and turned the corner to help.
Her heart flew into her throat. She lunged forward, touching his arm. “Don’t!” He could hit her brother.
Tristan entered through the gate and entered the fray. Between the four spies, they wrestled him to the ground with relative ease. One held Monsieur V’s arms while the other kneeled on his back.
Alex still didn’t look as though he would stop. He strode forward with a sinister look in his face, the pistol held as if an extension of his arm.
“We need him!” Lucy raced to stand abreast of Alex. Given the look on his face, she thought better of running in front of him. He looked consumed by rage. She raised her hand to touch him, but didn’t want to throw off his aim in case he accidentally pulled the trigger. “Alex, we have him now. It’s over. Soon we’ll know everything he does.”
Monsieur V spat on the ground in front of him. “You’re too late. It doesn’t matter whether I have her or not. The rest has been set into motion.”
“The rest of what?”
Morgan was much more brazen than his sister. Despite the gun Alex held, Morgan stepped between them and fisted the spymaster’s hair. When he yanked the man’s head back, instead of getting an answer, he got spat at. He shoved the fiend away from him.
Alex hastily pointed his pistol at the ground. His arm trembled as he warred with himself.
Oblivious to the conflict going on behind him, Morgan stood and ordered, “Tristan, take him back to Strickland. We’ll feed him the serum and he’ll sing like a songbird before morning. Whatever he has planned, we’ll stop it.”
Alex looked down. He stuffed the gun into his pocket once more. Lucy laid her hand on his arm, which was as stiff as rock.
As Tristan supervised the spies as they hauled Monsieur V to his feet, he asked, “What will you be doing?”
“I’m seeing Lucy safely home.”
Her role in this was done.
“Very well. I’ll meet you there and let you know what Strickland says.”
Lucy barely heard Tristan’s answer. She turned her face up to meet Alex’s gaze, but she didn’t like what she saw there. He looked miles away from her, a deep sadness and defeat clinging to him like a cloak.
“Alex?”
He didn’t look her directly in the eye. “Let’s get you home.”
32
Throughout the carriage ride to the Tenwick townhouse, Alex kept reliving the look in Monsieur V’s eye as the spies were holding him down. It wasn’t one of defeat. It was one of triumph. Did he have a convoluted plot laid down or had he only claimed as much in order to stall Alex from taking his life? Although Morgan insisted they had the spymaster well in hand, Alex wasn’t so certain.
What if Monsieur V managed to get a hold on someone the same way he had with Alex? They could set him free to wreak more havoc. Alex couldn’t allow that.
Logically, he knew the Graylockes would never knowingly allow that to happen, either. Alex had explained to the best of his ability what had happened to him. If he could be turned to serve Monsieur V, then anyone could. Perhaps even Lucy.
He squeezed her hand as they approached her townhouse. She was safe. That was the most important thing. And that look in Monsieur V’s eyes…
Whatever it was that he had planned, it wouldn’t harm Lucy. That, Alex vowed. He would keep her safe.
After that mission, they still had to be questioned by the duke, each providing their separate tale and report in case Monsieur V had said or done something in private that might have proven to be a pivotal clue. Morgan conducted those interviews separately in the office in the Tenwick townhouse.
As Alex was concluding his rendition, a door downstairs slammed shut. Alex and Morgan exchanged a glance. Both bolted for the door, meeting Lucy in the corridor outside as someone thundered up the steps. Tristan entered the circle of light spilling from the office, his face twisted with disgust.
“Dead,” he spat. He stormed into the office and helped himself to the whiskey decanter. His movements were jerky as he poured himself a couple fingers. He splashed as much on the sideboard as he managed to get in his glass.
Tenwick said nothing. He followed Tristan inside with a pensive expression, his gaze suddenly sharp. Alex and Lucy followed after.
“Who’s dead?” she asked. Her voice shook a bit. Alex groped for her hand and squeezed it. She clutched him back, the only outward sign that she was upset by the pronouncement.
Pursuing The Traitor (Scandals and Spies Book 5) Page 22
