by Bobbi Smith
Edward's anger was so great that he didn't respond to the man's welcome. He didn't trust himself to speak. Since learning that Catherine and Alexander were missing and that a ransom demand had been made for their safe return, he'd been furious. He knew exactly who had taken them and why, and he had come home to settle this matter once and for all.
Dalton was startled when Edward walked past him without speaking, but the expression on the duke's face told the servant all he needed to know. Still, he knew he had to get his attention. "Your Grace . . ." He spoke up again, this time in a more urgent tone.
His words finally penetrated the red haze of Edward's outrage. "Yes? What is it?" he demanded curtly, not wanting to be distracted.
"Lord Avery is here, Your Grace," he blurted out, "along with his wife, Lady Vivienne, and Lord Gerald Ratcliff. They've been here through the night and are waiting for you now in the parlor."
Edward's gray eyes blazed with fiery inner fury. "Let them wait. There's something I have to see about first. Come into my study."
"Yes, Your Grace," Dalton answered quickly. He'd always considered himself rather stout of heart, but the duke's expression was so terrible that he had to fight down the urge to quake in fear. He was glad the anger was not directed at himself, and he wanted to keep it that way. He hastened to do as he was told, closing the door behind them once they were in the sanctuary of the duke's study.
"Where's the ransom note?" Edward asked as he moved to stand behind his desk.
"Right here." Dalton picked up the missive and handed it to him.
Edward took the letter, unfolded it, and quickly read the message.
"If you want the boy and the woman back, leave £200,000 in a valise at the side of the road near Bulwer Crossing at midnight Friday. If you try any tricks, you will never see them alive again. "
Hard put to control his raging temper, Edward crumpled the obscene demand in his fist. Heat flushed through him, followed by a deadly coldness of the soul. He forced all emotion from him, and when he looked up at his servant again, his expression was calm and befitting one of his regal station.
"Send Avery and his wife in to see me. Tell Ratcliff that I'll speak with him last."
"Yes, Your Grace." He hurried out of the room to get them.
Avery was feeling quite confident as he lounged beside Vivienne on the sofa in the parlor. Everything was going according to plan. It was just a matter of time.
"Your father's back, but he's just left us sitting here. Do you suppose there's something else wrong that we don't know about?" she asked her husband worriedly, a double meaning to her words.
"No, my darling, I'm sure he's just taking a moment to pull himself together before we speak." Avery always underestimated his father and overestimated his own abilities. He looked up as Dalton appeared in the doorway.
"Lord Avery, Lady Vivienne, His Grace will see you now."
"Thank heaven," Vivienne snapped impatiently. "This is a matter of life and death and he's kept us waiting forever."
"Yes, thank heaven," Avery added, affecting a look he was sure would convince his father that he was grievously worried about his son and his sister.
"Lord Ratcliff, the duke said he would speak with you later."
"Thank you, Dalton." Gerald said, settling in to wait.
The servant held himself erect as he ushered Avery and Vivienne from the room and into the duke's presence. He then discreetly withdrew from the study.
Edward was a silhouette as he stood behind his desk, his back to the room, staring out the floor-to-ceiling casement window. He heard Avery and Vivienne enter, but did not immediately alter his stance. He stood stiffly, waiting. He wanted them to worry. He wanted them to wonder at his mood. When he finally did turn to face them and saw the worried looks upon their faces, the fire of his anger flamed to even greater heights. It took all of his considerable willpower not to physically attack them.
"Father, I . . ." Avery hoped to take control of the conversation and tell him how worried he and Vivienne were about Alex and Catherine. But his father was not about to allow him any such opportunity.
"Be still," Edward dictated in a flat voice.
"But . . ."
Edward noticed the sudden flicker of confusion on their faces and he was glad. They would be feeling more than just confusion when he got done with them. "I have tolerated much from you through the years, Avery, but this time you have pushed me too far," he ground out savagely.
Avery straightened a bit as he met his father's icy regard. "I don't know what you're talking about. Vivienne and I are devastated by this! Alex is our son. We love him and we . . ."
"You seem to have forgotten that I know you, Avery. I know you better than any other person on the face of this earth. I suspected all along that you would try something despicable, but I never thought you would stoop this low. My only consolation is that you've failed, and failed miserably."
"What are you saying? You think I . . . That we . . .?" Avery and Vivienne both assumed looks of righteous indignation.
"I'm saying that you're responsible for this. I know what you've done! If you value your wretched existence, you'll have Alexander and Catherine back here before dark today. Do you understand me?"
"You're wrong! We know nothing about—" He tried to proclaim his innocence, but his father would have none of it.
"Don't insult my intelligence for a moment longer with your denials," he cut him off, casting a scathing look at Vivienne, too. "Now, get out of my sight! The both of you!"
Avery and Vivienne had both blanched before the power of his fury. Avery wanted to continue to plead his innocence, but he thought better of pressing his point right then. He and Vivienne rose together.
"Father, you're wrong about this," Avery said solemnly, and then left the room with his wife.
Only after he heard them leave the house did Edward allow himself to get off his feet. He sat at his desk and stared blindly across the room, exhaustion and frustration beating at him. Now it was only a matter of waiting. He prayed with all his heart and soul that it would be over in the next few hours, that he would soon hear the gentle laughter of Catherine and Alexander once again ringing through the house. Edward ran a shaking hand over his face, then called out to Dalton.
"Yes, Your Grace?"
"I want you to send one of your most reliable men to follow my son. I want to know where he goes and who he sees. Do you understand me?"
Dalton was puzzled by the request, but answered in the affirmative. "Right away, Your Grace."
Edward nodded wearily. "Now, show Lord Ratcliff in."
As he waited for the young man to join him, he wondered miserably how much he should tell him about what was going on. In the end, he decided to say as little as possible and just keep praying that Catherine and Alexander showed up soon.
"I told you something was wrong!" Vivienne snarled as she sat down across from her husband in their carriage.
"I just don't understand how he found out . . . how he knew . . ."
"You fool, he doesn't know anything! He was bluffing you. Don't you think that if he knew what happened, he would have them both back here by now?"
"You're right."
"You know I am. Thank God we got out of there without ruining everything. And now we're going to show that old man he's not as smart as he thinks he is." Vivienne said coldly, shaking from the power of the emotions roiled within her.
"How?"
"We're going back to London and we're going to start our own massive search for them. We'll let everyone know about it. We'll even hire our own investigators to look for them."
"I'm supposed to sail with the Dolphin tomorrow," he worried, thinking he'd be missed and people would become suspicious.
"Don't worry, you'll still be sailing with the Dolphin. Nothing's going to interrupt our plans. If anyone asks where you are, I'll tell them that you're out searching for Alex, too."
"You know my father won't give up easily."
"Neither will we."
They shared a determined look. They knew what they wanted, and they knew how to get it.
"What about the ransom? Do you think he'll pay it?"
"He'll pay it, because by Friday he's going to be a very desperate man. Can you make arrangements for it to be picked up and delivered to me secretly?"
"I'll take care of it before I sail."
"Good." Vivienne smiled a diabolical smile as she thought of the pain they were going to cause the duke. "Maybe, when all this is over, in a month or two, it'll be time for us to consider your ascent to the title."
"What do you mean?" Avery's eyes met hers across the carriage, and he felt a very real fear when he saw the look of avarice on her face.
"I mean, it certainly would be a tragedy if the duke suffered some deadly accident so soon after losing his only daughter and grandson . . ."
"I thought we agreed that it was too dangerous to try anything like that," he hedged in cowardice. It was one thing to take the boy and Catherine, who were quite powerless; it was another thing altogether to deal with someone as influential as his father.
"I would have thought you'd be eager to be rid of him after the way he talked to you tonight," Vivienne prodded.
"Murder is not something to be taken lightly. Besides, we'll have plenty of money once we get the ransom and I receive payment for Alex and Catherine. We'll be able to live quite comfortably for a number of years, and then—"
"Comfortably?! You're content with living comfortably?" she demanded. "I want to be the Duchess of Huntington, Avery, and I won't wait forever!"
He backed down in the face of her tirade. "Let's take care of Alex and Catherine first, and then we'll worry about the rest."
"We're going to do it, Avery. We are." Her eyes were shining with a fanatical glow as she spoke the words. There would be no stopping her now.
"How long have we been here, Aunt Catherine?" Alex asked as he curled up next to her on the hard, narrow bunk.
"About two days. Alex," she answered wearily, putting a protective arm about his small shoulders.
The small, stuffy, windowless cabin they were being held captive in had become a torture chamber of the unknown for them It was dark and dreary save for the one lamp that burned low on the table beside the bed. They were both exhausted from the uncertainty of their ordeal. Frantic with worry over what the future held for them, they'd been unable to sleep much. Their clothes were wrinkled, and dark circles had formed beneath their eyes.
"What's taking so long? I thought you said that we were being held for ransom and that as soon as Grandfather paid them the money we'd be set free."
The questions he asked were the same ones that had been plaguing Catherine for the last day and a half. Surely her father knew they'd been taken by now and had paid the money. Why hadn't they been released yet?
"We'll be freed soon. You'll see," she told him with more confidence than she felt.
Her father's earlier warnings about Avery still haunted her, and she couldn't help but wonder if her brother really was connected with this, though she'd had no indication that he was. The sailors who'd come and untied them and given them their meals had not spoken a word to them. She felt cut off from all communication. It frightened her, and her fears were growing with every passing minute.
She had considered trying to escape, but the one time she'd managed a look out the door when the sailor brought them some food, she'd caught a glimpse of an armed guard in the passageway. They were trapped, and she knew they were just going to have to wait and hope rescue came soon.
"Grandfather won't let anything happen to us," Alex agreed, nestling closer. "He loves us too much."
"Indeed he does, little one. He's probably on his way to get us right now." She hugged the child close as she offered up a silent prayer for their salvation.
"What do you mean you lost Avery?" Edward bellowed as he faced James, the man Dalton had sent to follow his son.
"I'm sorry, Your Grace, but he's disappeared," James apologized. "I stayed with him for the first day and a half without a problem, but then he suddenly just disappeared."
The duke was almost beyond control. The first day had been terrible enough. Each minute had seemed an hour as he'd waited for Avery to bring Catherine and Alexander home. When the night had come and gone and they had not returned, Edward was furious. He'd added extra men to the search and had made preparations with his banker to get the money for the ransom together. He didn't for one minute think that someone other than Avery was responsible, yet he knew he couldn't take any chances with the lives of Catherine and Alexander. He would pay the money and get them back, but eventually there would be hell to pay.
"I want every inch of the city searched. I want a constant watch placed on their house. I want to know every move that woman makes until my son returns. Don't worry about the cost. Just do it."
"Yes, Your Grace." Relieved that his reprimand hadn't been any worse, James raced to carry out his orders.
Voices in the companionway just outside the cabin door jarred Catherine and Alex out of their rest. They quickly sat up on the bunk, watching the door and waiting to see if anyone was going to come in. When a key played in the lock and the door swung open they expected it to be one of the sailors bringing them something to eat. Both were shocked when Avery stepped into the room.
"Father!" Alex couldn't believe it was his father standing there and he almost vaulted from the bunk in his eagerness to embrace him. At last they were being rescued, and not by his grandfather, but by his father!
Catherine, however, had a sickening feeling that she knew what Avery's appearance meant. She straightened, cautious not to betray her hope that he had indeed come to save them. Her caution was rewarded, for he gave the eager little boy a ferocious look that stopped him in his tracks.
"Just stay right where you are, Alex!" Avery ordered abruptly.
"But Father, haven't you come to get us?"
An evil smile spread across his face as he stared down at his son. "What a tiresome child you are," he said, then he looked up at his sister, completely dismissing the boy from his thoughts. "Catherine, it's good to see that you're looking well."
"What do you want, Avery? If you haven't come to take us home, then why are you here?" As she spoke the words, though, she had her answer, for she felt the ship begin to move, pulling slowly away from the dock. "Avery! Where are we going?"
He gave an arrogant chuckle as he saw the terror on her lovely features. "I've made some special arrangements to help line my pockets, dear sister. It's such a pity that you got caught up in all this, but . . ." He gave a casual lift of his shoulders.
Unable to stand any more, Catherine flew off the bunk and tried to attack her brother. He subdued her easily, snaring her wrists and holding her immobile.
"Ah, ah, my sweet one, you must take care lest you bruise," he scolded. "Those who will be buying you wouldn't like it if the merchandise is marred in any way."
"I can't believe this! What have you done?!"
Now it was Alex's turn to attack. He hadn't been able to help his aunt before, but he would now. His father's callous rejection of him had destroyed any vestige of caring that had been left in his tender young heart. With the determination of a man full grown he ran to him and began to pummel him with his little fists.
"Let her go! You let her go!"
Avery released her with a bitter laugh, at the same time, backhanding Alex as hard as he could. "You little . . ."
"If you ever touch him again, Avery, I'll find a way to kill you myself," she threatened, hugging Alex to her.
"You'll never have the chance," he scoffed turning away. 'We're leaving England, and you'll never be back."
"But Father surely will—"
"You'll never see him again, Catherine." He saw her gaze flicker to the door and easily read her thoughts. "Forget it, my dear. There's a guard right outside. Besides, we're heading out of port right now, and I can't guarantee your
safety should you try to leave this cabin. There are many men on board who are of unsavory character . . . if you know what I mean."
"Why you . . ."
"Save your breath, for your curses have no effect on me. In another day or so, you're both going to begin another life far away from here. Until then, I don't want to hear that you've given anyone on this ship any trouble. If you do, you'll pay the price. Do I make myself clear?"
Catherine gathered Alex to her. "Perfectly. Leave us, Avery. As far as I'm concerned I have no brother and Alex has no father."
Avery turned and left the cabin, feeling victorious and omnipotent. He could do whatever he wanted and there was no one who could stop him!
Chapter Five
The time had almost come. It was Friday, late in the afternoon. Edward stared down at the once-crumpled note that had been smoothed out so he could read it again, one last time. He was tempted, oh so tempted, to send his people to capture the men who were to claim the ransom money, but he feared so greatly for Catherine and Alexander's safety that he didn't. He hoped and prayed that he wouldn't live to regret his decision.
"Dalton?" He slowly raised his bloodshot, troubled gaze to his most trusted servant. He had had little rest since the kidnapping and his face showed his fatigue.
"Yes, Your Grace?" he responded correctly. He had never seen the duke in such a state before, and he wanted to do all he could to help him.
"Shortly before midnight you will make the ride. I want my daughter and grandson back, and this seems to be my only hope."
Dalton nodded in understanding. The investigators the duke had hired had turned up nothing in their four intensive days of searching since the kidnapping. Every lead, every clue, had come to nothing. It was almost as if Lady Catherine and Lord Alexander had disappeared off the face of the earth. Lord Avery's strange absence still rendered him suspect, but they could find no connection between him and the kidnapping. As awful as it was, Dalton knew that at this point in time, there was nothing left for His Grace to do except pay the ransom.
"Shall I ride with him?" Gerald offered. He had been at Edward's side through most of the ordeal and wanted to be of help now, if he could.
