Pack of Trouble (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 5)

by Liza O'Connor

  “Is that how you knew which road Vic went down?” Xavier asked.

  Tubs nodded.

  “Then I won’t mention him at all. I’ll give Meyers the jeweler and the location.” He paused and stared at Vic. “And how do we know the jeweler is running this racket?”

  “Because his display counter had nothing but sapphires in the window.”

  Xavier’s brow furrowed and motioned with his hand for Vic to give a little more.

  She sighed heavily. “It’s a jewelry store. It should have an assortment of gem types. You don’t buy twenty small sapphires and no other stones. You buy an assortment. However, if you aren’t actually buying your jewels, but stealing large items and cutting them down, then it’ll be sapphires this month and rubies the next.”

  Tubs chuckled. “Vic’s right.”

  “Both of you close your eyes,” Xavier said as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “Very clever pup. If only you could stay out of trouble as well as you can solve it.”

  She smiled up at him.

  Xavier stroked the bump on her temple. “I’ll be back within two hours. Do not think about leaving until I return with your muslin.”

  “You have my word,” Vic promised.

  He smiled at his friend. “Thank you, Connors.”

  The physician shook his head. “Tubs deserves the credit.”

  “He deserves a great deal of credit, but so does the doctor who placed his patient above his own ego. I can guarantee that you are the only doctor in England who would have given Tubs the chance to prove he could do something that even you could not.”

  “That’s true,” Tubs said.

  Connors smiled. “Thank you both.”

  “Hold on.” Vic objected. “My appreciation far outweighs theirs, because I was in horrible pain, so thinking of me instead of your ego meant far more to me. And I greatly appreciate you are willing to slather me in linen and plaster so the bones won’t heal wrong. I heard your warning to Xavier that I might be crippled and in pain all my life, and I don’t think I could have done that. So what you did, stepping aside so Tubs could set my bones…has put you in hero status with me.”

  “Enough Vic, or he’ll fall in love with you, too. When you are being pleasant, you are all too adorable,” Xavier scolded and left the room.

  Chapter 15

  When Xavier entered the waiting room, Jacko, Pete, Cannon, and Meyers stared up in concern. “Vic will make it,” he said, then realized one was missing. “Where’s Stone?”

  “Updating the First Minister,” Meyers replied.

  And hopefully taking responsibility for saving Vic. He needed the save to secure his career.

  Xavier focused in on Meyers. “You should probably check Barnacle’s years at the Richardson Boy’s school and Cambridge for missing students. Barnacle was no amateur at abduction. I am quite certain he’s done this before.”

  Meyers took the address down for the boy’s school.

  “And on another matter: Vic stumbled upon the jewelry store fronting the cut gems just before his abduction. The jeweler, running the racket, is named Fields.”

  Flipping the page in his notebook, Meyers wrote the information down. “The jewelry shop on St. George’s near Vic’s abduction?”

  “Indeed. He’s evidently using several thieves so each can have alibis to most of the thefts. He currently has a large collection of sapphire jewelry for sale. I presume one of the gems stolen was a large sapphire.”

  “Last break in,” Meyers stated. “How many of his jewels were sapphires?”

  “Vic said his entire inventory was.”

  Meyers sighed with frustration. “I sent Davis in there last week to question the man, and he failed to notice or mention that very telling clue. It would be the same as walking into a butcher shop, which had nothing but bacon for sale. How could he fail to notice such an oddity?”

  “Not everyone sees what we see,” Xavier said. “And some of us are paid not to see.”

  “You’re reading my mind, now,” he grumbled and stood. “I gather by your improved mood that Vic is going recover fully?”

  “Yes. I expect a complete and rapid recovery. After all, we’ve a great deal on our plate. I trust you will resolve the jewelry matter without the necessity of my dealing with Vic’s sister.” The short encounter with Claire reminded Xavier how much he had come to dislike her.

  “Absolutely,” Meyers stated and hurried from the room.

  Something was mauling Xavier’s leg, but fortunately, he looked down before knocking it off.

  “Cannon,” he said and lifted the boy up by his body leash. “Do not attack people’s legs. I came damn close to kicking you across the room, thinking you were a rat.”

  The boy growled.

  “I know you are not a rat. However, I don’t have eyes on my foot. So my feet sometimes get the wrong impression when something mauls them.”

  The boy sniffed at the door leading to Vic.

  “I imagine you must be starved by now. Let us find your nursemaid.”

  The boy sniffed again at the door.

  “Trust me. No milk there.”

  As he left, Jacko and Pete followed him out. “Do you need a ride to your house?” he asked.

  “It’s not safe to return there. Our home is under siege. Alice sent a servant to find me, and thankfully he did.” He passed the note to Xavier.

  Jacko

  The young man, Ben, has been received. He is under the most attentive care of our nanny Theresa. She evidently knows and thinks a great deal of him.

  Now to the bad news: Claire has camped out in our parlor claiming Pete was dangling our youngest child by his foot from the top of a moving carriage, thus proving once again you are an unfit parent and that I should give her Pete before I have no children left.

  I do not know how long she plans to remain here. However, if she remains past eight, I will sneak out with the children and meet you at Xavier’s new home. I hope he approves of the furnishings. I tried to keep his and Vic’s taste in mind when decorating it.

  Perhaps we should buy a new house as well, failing to mention its location to anyone.

  Alice

  Xavier sighed. “Pete was not dangling anything.”

  Pete tugged on his pants leg. “Who said I was?” His eyes narrowed. “It was Miss Claire, wasn’t it? There is something wrong with that lady.”

  “Yes, there is,” Xavier stated and patted Pete’s head. “Have no fear, Pete. While your credibility remains rock solid, I’d grab a raincoat if Claire claimed it a warm, sunny day.”

  The child huffed. “Better be a warm raincoat.”

  Xavier roughed up the curly black hair on the boy’s head. “Would you like to see my new home?”

  Pete grinned and nodded.

  “So would I. I need to stop at the tailor’s for a moment, and then we’ll see the new house together. Hopefully, I have servants. If not, we’ll just wait on ourselves.”

  Looking up at Jacko with adoration, Pete said, “That’s what me and Pa do all the time.”

  When Xavier delivered the muslin garment to the tailor, the poor man seemed nearly at tears that Vic had gone to another fellow. After explaining the situation to the man, Xavier returned to the carriage and gave Davy instructions to drive them up the back alley to his new home, just in case Claire had decided to lurk in front of his office across the street. Since he lacked a key to his new house, when he arrived at the back door, he pulled out his lock picks.

  By the heavy sighs from behind him, Jacko clearly believed he was taking too long. And in truth, he was, but the damn lock wouldn’t tumble. Finally, he gave up and stared at Jacko’s son pulling hard against Cannon’s leash so his son couldn’t eat a nearby bush. “Pete, will you sneak around to the front, knock on the door and ask whoever answers it to come let us in?”

  “Pete, stay,” Jacko countermanded and passed Xavier a key. “Try this.”

  Xavier eyed him then tried the key.

  The lo
ck tumbled and the door opened. “Any reason why you let me humiliate myself?”

  “Actually, I wanted to make sure I hadn’t lost my touch. I worked on the door for two hours and couldn’t pick it,” Jacko grumbled. “The locksmith had declared it was un-pickable, but I didn’t expect that to mean by someone of my skill.”

  Relieved, Xavier waved everyone in. Unfortunately, Cannon remained determined to eat the bush.

  “There’s nurse milk inside,” he reminded the boy. His son gave up all interest in the bush and crawled quickly inside. While his son had never been in this house before, he seemed to know precisely where his milk was being served. He headed down the hallway for the servant’s quarters.

  He stopped at the fourth door and bumped his head against the door, causing a soft thump. The door opened and his nursemaid gathered him up, declaring him starved.

  Satisfied Cannon was happily occupied, Xavier led the troop into the main section of the house.

  The muted, non-aggressive colors in the parlor pleased him. Honestly, he had planned to leave the room empty because he’d never seen a parlor that didn’t make him wish to claw his eyes out to stop the explosion of clashing bright colors.

  Yes, England was a dreary country, but fitting out a room in bright purple and yellow wallpaper with orange accent pillows on a lime green settee just sent him running out into the wet cold rain to keep his sanity.

  His parlor was tan and crème with dark blue accents. “This is tolerable,” he stated in surprise.

  Jacko looked at Pete. “By tolerable, he means that it’s the first parlor he’s ever seen that he’ll allow in his house.”

  Pete grimaced. “Is that really what you meant?” he asked Xavier.

  “That is precisely what I meant,” he assured the boy. “Your mother did an amazing job.”

  “If it’s all right with you, I’ll tell her the longwinded version,” Pete said.

  When they reached the library, Xavier patted Pete’s head. “Forget the parlor, tell her that I think the library is extraordinary.”

  Never had he seen a better laid out and more handsome library in his life! The thick dark maroon leather chairs called to him like sirens. He sat in one and sighed in relief. “Sit, my friend and discover heaven.”

  Jacko sat down and pulled Pete onto his lap. “I told her you would like these. Alice wasn’t sure about them being maroon, but I assured her they were a manly maroon.”

  Xavier nodded. “May I assume you possess the same heavenly chairs?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” Jacko admitted.

  “I should have stopped and purchased a fine whiskey for the hidden bar.”

  Pete frowned. “If it’s hidden, then how do you know it’s here?”

  Xavier smiled at the boy, hoping Cannon and he would have such an amicable relationship once the boy outgrew his feral state. “Before I left England, an agent walked me through the house and showed me the many places to hide my possessions.”

  “And this room has one of those places?”

  “It has three.”

  “May I find them?” Pete asked.

  “You may try, but only if you hunt respectfully. Don’t go breaking things. All these places open with ease if you find the secret latch.”

  Pete tilted his head back, happy eyes looking up at his father. “May I?”

  “Just be gentle,” Jacko warned.

  The boy softly moved about the room like a panther stalking its prey. Xavier returned his attention to the dark gold and deep maroon wallpaper. Had Alice asked, he would have nixed both colors, but instead of a frenetic clash, the combination was soothing.

  His attention turned to the worn brown leather books with gold embossing. “I hope those are real books.”

  “They are.”

  “Must have cost a bloody fortune to buy them.” His head tilted. “Nor were they listed on any bill I paid.” His right eyebrow arched, demanding an explanation.

  “They came with your butler. He had to fight a she-cat for them, but he refused to leave them behind.”

  Xavier smiled. “So if I rang this bell, the butler who would arrive, would be bossy and named Gregory?”

  “And would no doubt scold you for coming through the back door.”

  Xavier rang the bell. “I rather miss the fellow’s fiery scolds. He once thought me a terrible influence on Vic.”

  “Not for a long while, sir,” Gregory stated as he entered the door to the library. “Dinner will be ready in five minutes. Might I pour you a sip of your favorite whiskey?”

  “After the day I’ve had. Fill it to the rim.” Xavier leaned back. “Are you not going to scold me for sneaking in the back?”

  “Not at all. This is your house. You may avoid whomever you wish, parked in front of your business.”

  Gregory then smiled at Pete. “Your mother is in the kitchen having tea and sweet bread with Sara and Cook, if you wish to join them.”

  Instead of running directly to the kitchen, he ran to Gregory and wrapped his arms around his legs. “I’m so glad you came here. I was missing you terrible.”

  “Terribly, not terrible, and the feeling is mutual,” Gregory stated before shooing the boy from the library. He then opened the hidden cabinet and poured both men half glasses. “You will need to drive your wife and child safely home,” he said as he handed Jack his drink. Then he turned to Xavier. “And you still need to retrieve Vic.”

  “True, but Davy will drive and Tubs will probably insist upon carrying Vic to the carriage. So I see no reason to ration my drink.”

  “How badly was Vic hurt?” Gregory asked.

  Xavier sighed. Madeline had given Gregory the responsibility of teaching Vic how to be a young gentleman when the pup decided at thirteen she wished to be a boy. Thus, their relationship was complicated. Gregory had been Vic’s father figure growing up. And regardless how often Gregory scolded Vic, Xavier had no doubt he loved her like a son.

  He met Gregory’s intimidating stare. “I won’t lie to you; it was bad. Connors feared he would have to perform surgery on both legs and arms to properly reset the bones. The probability of something going wrong had me terrified. However, Tubs insisted he could reset the bones without cutting, so Connors allowed him to try. Tubs’ success with the broken right leg left Connors so amazed, he had him set all the bones, leaving our good doctor to cover Vic’s newly set body into a great deal of casts.”

  After taking a long sip of his drink, he added, “I have had to wear casts before, so let me forewarn you, Vic will look barely human with so much clunky plaster about him, and the itching that grows beneath the cast will make him a complete bear to deal with, but compared to the other alternatives of what could have happened today, his grousing will be music to my ears.”

  “I will likewise keep that in mind,” Gregory said. “On a separate subject, are you aware your son has a tendency to growl?”

  “Yes, I have. I believe he gets it from Vic. I don’t growl.”

  Jacko choked on his drink.

  Xavier arched his right eyebrow. “Are you saying I do?”

  “I’m saying the boy comes by his growl on both sides and trying to stop it is probably a waste of time.”

  “Victor never growled until he…” Gregory let the sentence die quietly.

  “Until he met me?” Xavier asked.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but yes.”

  “You called him pup, right off,” Jacko reminded him.

  Xavier smiled. “But he was a pup, eager and excited over each skill he learned, scenting trouble at every turn.

  “Well, that hasn’t changed,” Jacko grumbled, his face turning dark. “It’s my fault Vic is hurt. I knew Ben and Barnacle weren’t getting along, and I knew Barnacle was the instigator. He was horrible to Pete as well. I’d warned him to be more respectful to his fellow workers. He’d just stare at me with innocence and assure me he was always respectful, but then he’d explain what bad workers they were.”

  Jacko finished hi
s drink. “I knew he was lying about Pete and called him on it, but Ben…I recalled you saying he had a great attitude, but he’d lost that, so when he didn’t show up to work, I just assumed he’d only done what I wished I could do.”

  Xavier sighed. “I am sorry you had such a miserable time. I had hoped…”

  “That I would come back and work for you?”

  He nodded. That had been precisely what he hoped. He missed his friend a great deal.

  “That’s not off the table. But I know for damn sure I will never start an investigative business of my own. What you do is a far cry harder than it looks.”

  “I have highly skilled people helping me.”

  “Yes, and you shield them from highly annoying and unreasonable clients. Do you know Stone expected me to find a stolen object without telling me what was taken, from where it had been stolen, or who he thought might have it?”

  “Stone’s only excuse for such nonsense was that his job was on the line to get the item back.”

  “Then he should have told me what I was looking for.”

  “He didn’t know. The rather important client refused to tell him anything, but assured him he’d be replaced if it wasn’t found.”

  Jacko leaned his head back. “So it was all just a ruse to fire Stone.”

  “I jumped to that conclusion, but Vic came up with three possibilities, all of which turned out to be part of the client’s motivation.”

  “One day home and you’ve already solved it? I’ve been tortured for six months over this bloody nonsense!”

  “We have not solved it. But I know how we should proceed, and if you would like to assist, I will appreciate the help.”

  Emptying his glass, he said, “Part of me want’s nothing more to do with it, but the other part wants something positive to come out of the last six months of torture.”

  “Well, tomorrow…” Xavier groaned as he recalled he still needed Claire’s assistance in tracking the First Minister’s ransom payment and that would never happen after his words to her today.

  A heavy weight pressed against his ankle, He smiled and picked up Cannon, no longer wearing his leash and pads. “And how did you get in here.” The baby growled and sniffed the front of his shirt.