“It was a warning to Prudence,” Stephen sighed. “They were hoping that the finger of suspicion would fall upon Prudence, and you would make life difficult for her while you investigated a murder. Gossip can do a lot of damage. It wouldn’t take long for Levant’s nasty whispers to be spread far and wide, and damage Prudence’s reputation beyond redemption. The family would be cast out of the neighbourhood, and that would leave Cragdale Manor free for purchase.” Stephen’s tone was matter of fact, but held a lethal tone that made even Humphrey shift warily.
“Unfortunately Humphrey, I saw you leave the body on the beach. Nobody knows yet that Simpson is missing, so nobody is around to report him dead. I will ensure that the finger of blame points solely in your direction.”
“It is your word against mine,” Humphrey replied weakly to which Stephen smiled.
“But I am a far more credible witness.”
“You have worked for Levant too,” the large man whined. “Why should anyone listen to you?” His gaze flew around the room, as though he expected Levant to pop up and defend him.
“Because I work for His Majesty’s government, and have been investigating Levant,” Stephen looked directly into Humphrey’s eyes, “and his employees for the last several months. Simpson isn’t the only man you have murdered. You and I both know it, so I suggest that you make life a little easier on yourself and start to co-operate.” Stephen’s tone was as cold and hard as the look in his eye as he stared hard at the convict.
When Humphrey remained uncooperative, Rufus sighed. “Levant left today, but then you knew that he was due to go, didn’t you? You know then that Levant won’t come to your aid. You are all alone in this, and that is just the way that Levant likes it. So, if you want to save your own skin, I suggest that you tell us what we need to know.”
Nobody bothered to explain to the man that his neck was already firmly in the hangman’s noose. Rufus had gathered enough evidence to point the finger of blame for at least three deaths in the county very firmly in Humphrey’s direction. Although there were no witnesses, there was enough circumstantial evidence to ensure that Humphrey would swing for his crimes. It was of little consequence to Stephen, though, whose real target was Levant.
“Where have they gone?” Stephen sighed. He knew already, he just wanted to know how much Humphrey knew.
“I don’t know. I just ride with him. They don’t tell me what they are up to.”
“But you have some idea which direction they are heading,” Stephen replied with a patient sigh and watched a cagey expression enter Humphrey’s face.
“What if I tell you?”
“It will bode better for you in court if you co-operate. Failure to tell us what we need to know will ensure that you swing.”
“London. He has gone to London to get Simpson’s brother to sign his half of the house over,” the big man grumbled. Now that he realised the consequences of his actions, and that Levant wasn’t interested in him, he had no loyalty to keep his mouth shut.
Humphrey’s announcement was no more than Stephen had expected. He knew from his conversation with Marcus and Harry earlier that Hugo had already despatched men to speak to Mr Simpson’s brother in London. They were in position, and would be around to listen in on any meeting Levant.
“What does Levant want the beach for?”
“Why does Levant want half of the bloody area?” Humphrey shrugged unconcernedly. “I don’t know. I don’t get paid to ask questions, I just do the job I am told to do.” He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Can I get something to eat now? I am hungry.”
Stephen sighed and studied the man closely. He had no doubt that Humphrey would swing from the gallows, most probably at Bodmin. It was irrelevant really, the man was merely a hired thug. Stephen knew from experience that he would have been told very little about why he was asked to do things, he was just expected to do his job, no questions asked.
He glanced at Rufus who looked steadily back at him before he shook his head. Marcus and Harry shook their heads too. Stephen studied Humphrey and weighed up his options. He could continue to ask pointless questions, but was aware that it was unlikely Humphrey knew anything of use to them.
Instead, it would be far more worthwhile if he could search Dinnington, while Levant was away. By his reckoning, it would be at least a week before Levant would be able to return. Stephen had more than enough time to search the house, and grounds, if only he knew who had been left behind to secure the property.
“How many staff are still at the house?”
Humphrey sighed and spent several moments wagering the odds between co-operating and getting food, or ignoring them and sitting there for the rest of the night. His stomach won. “He has taken his side-kick, that Taylor person, and Will. Everyone else stayed behind, but that was before I disappeared, so he may have taken someone else.”
Stephen knew that left five people at the most left at the large mansion. “How long will Levant be gone?”
“How should I know?” Humphrey snapped and lifted his palms. “How long does it take to get to London, have a meeting and get back again?”
“He didn’t tell you how long you would be?”
“Wouldn’t tell me, now would he?”
Stephen felt his patience begin to wane. He knew that Humphrey didn’t mean to be difficult, he was in all reality most probably telling the truth, but it irked Stephen that he was unable to get facts from the man. He briefly debated whether to continue to push the thug, but the knowledge that Prudence was at home, tucked up safely in bed was enough to keep him quiet.
“We are done with him for now, Mr Denbigh,” Stephen announced flatly as he pushed away from the table. “If we want any further information from him, then we know where to find him.”
“Do I get to eat now?” Humphrey whined.
Rufus rolled his eyes and opened the door to beckon to his staff outside. “I think breakfast is served in jail at about seven o’clock tomorrow morning. I am sure that you can wait until then.” He would only be glad to be able to get a good night’s sleep rather than have to spend another night listening to idiot’s bangs and shouts.
Stephen stood beside the doorway and watched Rufus lead the disgruntled convict out of the door. As soon as it closed behind them, Harry and Marcus sat down at the table and waited for Stephen to join them.
“What do you want to do now?” Harry mumbled around a yawn. He had been riding all night and was tired and hungry but couldn’t crawl off to bed without knowing what he had to do in the morning.
“I think that we need to search Dinnington,” Marcus suggested quietly, and wondered where the hell this Dinnington was.
“I think that we have a day or so to think about what we are going to do, and then, once we have a plan, we can set about ensuring that we bring Levant down.” Harry sighed.
“Where do we lodge while we are here?”
“I think that you would be best located at Cragdale,” Stephen muttered as he rubbed his hands down his face wearily. “It is close to Dinnington, and the beach that Levant is desperately after. I could do with another pair of hands to help protect the ladies.”
“Ladies?” Marcus shared a glance with Harry. When Hugo had given them the job of going to Stephen to lend a hand to bring his investigation to a close, they had hadn’t been given any information about women being involved.
“The Freestone sisters and their young brother Robbie, live at Cragdale Manor. It is a large manor house which has a fairly sizeable plot of land with a large beach. Levant intends to purchase it next.”
“For smuggling? Are the Freestones smuggling?” Harry demanded with a scowl at Stephen.
“The sisters? Definitely not. Levant? I think so.” Stephen watched as Rufus re-joined them and waited until the man sat down. Together, he and Rufus spent the next several hours updating Marcus and Harry on their investigations.
It was nearly two o’clock in the morning by the time Stephen yawned widely and drew the
meeting to a halt. He couldn’t stand it any longer. The temptation of the nice warm bed, occupied by one rather sensual lady, was too much of a draw for his weary bones and he beckoned to Harry and Marcus to follow him as he called goodnight to Rufus. “If you two are ready, I will show you where Cragdale is. You can take a look around in the morning. For now, I think that it is best if we all get some sleep. I get the strangest feeling that the next few days are going to be very busy.”
Stephen had already left a note for Rufus to send to Hugo. He had asked his boss to contact Bernard Freestone, and make an overly generous offer for Cragdale Manor. He knew that Hugo would apply pressure if the man balked at the offer, especially given that Stephen was still officially undercover and working on a case that involved spy smuggling. Questions wouldn’t be asked, but the outcome would be achieved, of that there could be no doubt. Now that he had his colleagues to help protect the house, and the family, Stephen felt more confident that his future with Prudence and her family at Cragdale would be secured.
As they made their way toward Cragdale, Stephen pointed out the main gates that marked the entrance to the Dinnington Hall estate. It would be relatively easy for Stephen, Harry and Marcus to sneak past the rather dim-witted and inefficient group of thugs who attempted to protect Levant’s headquarters.
Unfortunately, once they got inside, they still had the mammoth task of having to search it from top to bottom for any hidden paperwork, or evidence that the man was connected to the French in some way. If they couldn’t find any incriminating papers, they would be left with no alternative but to see if Hugo had managed to get information on any agreement Levant managed to broker with Mr Simpson’s brother. If not, they would just have to wait until Levant made his next move. Whatever happened, Stephen felt considerably better knowing that he had the best back-up in the business in Marcus and Harry and, together, they would be able to handle anything Levant, or his men, threw at them.
“Good Lord,” Marcus muttered when he turned into the driveway of Cragdale and saw the huge manor house that stood high on the cliff tops, nestled against a backdrop of trees.
“I know,” Stephen muttered wryly. “It is rather run down, but inside is clean, dry and very comfortable. The ladies are rather impoverished. There is a story there, but I will tell you another time. Oh, and there is also a lady who is quite poorly in one of the rooms. As long as she doesn’t get out, you will be fine.” He was aware that Harry and Marcus studied him carefully for a moment, but neither of them raised any questions.
Once inside, he took a moment to stoke the fires in the sitting room, and the library, before he showed Marcus and Harry up to the rather Spartan spare room. The fire didn’t take long to warm the smaller room, which was a little too small for the two rather large men, but there was little he could do. He left Marcus and Harry to argue over who was going to take the bed, and crept across the hallway to Prudence’s room.
He quietly let himself in and stood with his back to the door for several long moments while his eyes adjusted to the darkness in the unlit room. The tension that had plagued him since he had left the house earlier that evening suddenly vanished and, with a sigh of relief, he dropped into a chair to remove his boots. As he slid between the sheets he heard her soft murmur of discontent as she rolled toward him, but settled down anyway and lay staring at the ceiling while he waited to see what she would do.
Prudence’s eyes popped open. A scream hovered on her lips as she rolled toward the solid length of another person, and felt the shock of his chilled flesh against her warmth. The fog of sleep vanished in an instant. Even with the room pitch-black, she knew who it was. Her immediate confusion was replaced with a wary surprise at his presumption. Familiar warmth stole through her and she bit back a smile of relief at the realisation that he was back at last, safe and sound. She hated that he had to go out in the middle of the night; and especially that he had to go anywhere near Dinnington, but she was in no position to object given that he was only doing his job.
“What are you doing?” she demanded with no hint of censure in her voice.
“Going to bed,” Stephen replied gently. He was very glad that she hadn’t screamed, or seemed to be all that perturbed at his assumption that he would spend the night in her bed.
“Do you remember that we have a spare room now?”
“I know, but it is now occupied.”
Prudence sat bolt upright in bed and stared at him. “It is? By who?”
“My friends from the Star Elite arrived this afternoon. They are squabbling over who gets to sleep in the room, and who gets the chaise in the library,” Stephen growled and began to kiss her shoulder. He had never seen her hair down before and it tumbled in waves over her shoulders. His fingers itched to untangle the wild mass of curls and he slowly began to ease her back onto the bed.
Prudence’s objection hovered on her lips but she couldn’t find the will to ask him to stop. Long fingers slid through her hair to cup the back of her head. His head descended toward hers and he captured her sigh with his lips. There was nothing she could, or wanted, to do to make him stop.
The following morning she awoke tired, and still wrapped firmly in his arms. The house had already started to come awake and, from the sound of the pots and pans in the kitchen, breakfast was already being prepared. She knew that she should rise and at least warn her sisters that there were two strange men in the house but was so warm, comfortable and blissfully content that she simply couldn’t summon the energy.
“Good morning,” Stephen growled in a voice that was low and intimate. He knew he should get up and introduce the ladies to the latest arrivals, but didn’t want to let her up until they had a few matters sorted out.
“Morning,” Prudence mumbled against his shoulder.
“I am afraid that I am going to have to sleep in here while Harry and Marcus are here,” he announced carefully. In reality he had no intention of moving out, even when Harry and Marcus had left to move on to their next mission.
“There is a small room at the back of the library that we could turn into a small bedroom if that would help.”
“Harry and Marcus will manage, I am sure of it. We will be taking turns to keep watch overnight, so won’t need a bed at the same time. However, I have said that Marcus, or Harry, can use the library as their bedroom for the time being. I hope that is alright?”
“Of course, I will tell the others when they are up,” Prudence replied with a yawn. It would be churlish of her to refuse given that they were in her house to protect them and, hopefully, bring the one man who had been the bane of her life for the last several months to justice. If accommodating them for a few nights was all she needed to do to help them, then it was a small price to pay for the huge weight they were taking off her shoulders.
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course not.”
“It was late last night and you were fast asleep. It didn’t seem right to wake you to ask.”
Prudence smiled up at him. She was strangely touched by his concern and hastened to reassure him that she wasn’t perturbed in the least by his assumptions. “Your friends are more than welcome here. They are helping you, and ensuring that you find out just what Levant is up to. Having one man in the house is enough of a deterrent, but to have three of you here will ensure that Levant gets the message that we are not the vulnerable women he wants to believe we are.”
“He is still going to try to purchase Cragdale, Prudence, you know that.”
For the first time since he had first met her, she was completely relaxed and at ease with the world, and he wanted her to remain that way for as long as possible, but he didn’t want her to expect him to perform miracles. They still had a lot of work to do before Levant was no longer in a position to be a threat to the family and, until then, she had to remain wary and do as he asked.
“Prudence! Prudence! Come quickly! There is a man in the house,” Eloisa gasped from the other side of the door. The rattle of the k
nob was accompanied by the loud thumps on the panelling. “Prudence! Wake up! Oh, why have you locked the door?”
Prudence shared a glance with Stephen, who looked rather pleased with himself.
“I didn’t want intruders this morning,” he whispered, with a wink. She was glad for his foresight, and hastily dug around in the covers at the end of the bed for a sheet to cover herself, only for Stephen to snatch it out of her hand with a mischievous smile on his face.
“What are you doing? I have to get dressed,” she protested, making a second wild grab for the sheet, which he threw into the far corner of the room. She paused at the intent look on his face and felt her heart began to pound with anticipation. She glanced this way and that but there was nowhere she could go except out of the door, and that was completely out of the question given her unclothed state. Desperate hands tried to cover her dignity but he was having none of that either and merely grabbed a hold of her wrists and drew them over her head. Her cheeks turned a fiery red as her bare flesh met his. She couldn’t pull away, and couldn’t ignore the evidence of his desire that was so prominent against her hip.
“We can’t,” she whispered, only half regretfully, aware of Eloisa, who was still on the other side of the door.
“Oh, yes we can, Prudence,” he whispered with a wolfish grin on his face, and proceeded to show her just how dominant he could be.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Several days later, Stephen, Harry and Marcus stood on the edge of the trees to the rear of Dinnington Hall and studied the huge building before them. Stephen had already sketched a map of the internal layout and they had each taken a third of the building to search. He nodded to Harry, who melted into the shadows and began to make his way to the rear of the house. Stephen shared a glance with Marcus and together the men made their way toward the front window that led directly to Levant’s study.
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