Love Unbidden: Tales of the Bedford Street Brigade

by Landon, Laura

  “Lord Strothum is here.”

  “Oh,” she said, brushing her hands over her hair to make sure it was in place.

  “Can you move to your chair?”

  Millie stepped to the chair opposite the sofa and smoothed her hands over her skirt to give her rumpled gown some semblance of order. She looked up as Lord Strothum entered the room.

  “Hello, Millie. Roarke— Um, I mean, Reid.”

  “Good evening, my lord,” Millie said.

  “Strothum,” Reid answered. “Calling me Reid is going to take some getting used to by everyone, including myself. I’ve lived my life as Roarke for so long, it’s hard to remember that’s not who I am.”

  Lord Strothum walked to the table with the crystal decanters and poured himself a glass of whiskey. When he had an inch or so in his glass, he held the decanter up as an offer to fill Reid’s glass, but Reid shook his head. “What progress have you made?” he asked when he joined them.

  “Not as much as we had hoped. Rogers has gone into hiding. We’ve got men watching Clyde Ortman’s house and the Whitman plant. Ortman won’t be able to leave without us knowing. And following.”

  “The sale will take place soon,” Strothum said.

  Reid nodded. “The longer Rogers remains in London, the greater his chances are that we’ll find him. That’s why I came back here tonight. To make sure Millie is ready to leave as soon as we know where the meeting will take place.”

  Millie couldn’t hide her surprise. Reid smiled at her and her heart warmed.

  “Robbie will need you there when we get Rogers. He probably misses you enough the way it is.”

  “Thank you,” she said through the tears that filled her eyes.

  “I just wish we would have figured out that Rogers was the inside connection before he left with Robbie. We could have prevented him from getting the design.”

  Lord Strothum lifted the glass to his mouth and took a small sip. “That’s all right. No loss.”

  Even Reid had a surprised look on his face. “Excuse me?”

  “Mack and I anticipated that there’d be another attempt to steal the design, so we removed it.”

  “Then what did Rogers take?”

  The expression on Lord Strothum’s face said he was inordinately pleased with himself. “He took a forgery. I made a copy of the original design, but changed it just enough that it wouldn’t work.”

  “The copy Rogers took was a fake?”

  “Yes,” Strothum answered. “And I sincerely hope that the thieves don’t manufacture one according to my design. Someone could get hurt.”

  Reid laughed, and to Millie it was the most wonderful sound she’d heard in a long, long time.

  “Well,” Lord Strothum said, rising from his chair. “I think it’s time I retired. I expect to be included when this goes down.”

  Reid rose, too, and extended his hand to Millie. “Absolutely,” he answered. “We’d be pleased to have your help.”

  “Good,” he said, then left the room.

  Reid and Millie followed. He took her up the stairs, then stopped when they reached her door.

  “Try to get some rest,” Reid said when they reached her room. “I’ll come for you the minute something happens.”

  Reid leaned down to kiss her before he opened the door.

  Millie went into her room and closed the door behind her. Emotional exhaustion overtook her, and a torrent of tears washed her cheeks. She had never been more fearful in her entire life. Or happier.

  CHAPTER 17

  Reid checked the carriage where Millie had promised she’d remain until he came for her. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but he knew how difficult it would be for her to stay there once she saw Robbie. He knew she’d want to rush to the boy and gather him in her arms. But that would ruin everything. Lord Strothum was with her. Hopefully, he could keep her from rushing into danger.

  Clyde Ortman had left the warehouse almost an hour earlier and traveled west on Fleet Street. He’d continued on Ludgate Hill, then stopped when he reached St. Paul’s Church Yard. Mack and the investigators had the area surrounded. There was no way Rogers could escape once he entered the churchyard.

  Reid watched every approaching carriage. Waiting was always the hardest part of an investigation. Anticipating the possibilities always the most nerve wracking. But Reid had been in these situations before. He’d honed his skills to perfection. He was an expert at waiting.

  Just when he thought that perhaps Rogers had decided not to come, a carriage turned into the churchyard.

  The carriage sat there for several moments, then the door opened and Rogers emerged. Robbie followed close behind him.

  Reid did a quick check of the carriage where Millie was and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no sign of movement. The corner of his mouth turned up at the thought of how she was struggling right now, desperate to get her Robbie safely in her arms. She adored that child. Her nephew. And his.

  Reid watched as Rogers walked toward the gated cemetery at the back of the church. The man held Robbie’s hand as he walked, and kept the boy close to him. He stopped when he reached the spot where Ortman was waiting.

  The men talked for a short time. Ortman was outwardly angry that Rogers had brought Robbie with him. He stabbed his finger at the boy as his voice raised a notch in volume. Rogers said something that seemed to placate Ortman, then he reached into his pocket and removed a folded piece of paper.

  Ortman grabbed it and looked it over, then folded it again and stuffed it into his pocket.

  Reid expected things to proceed as the investigators anticipated they would, and hunkered down behind a tombstone in the cemetery, ready to spring into action.

  But a sudden realization set his heart into a panicked rhythm. Ortman wouldn’t want any witnesses. Rogers was as good as dead.

  And so was Robbie.

  Unless—

  They were all to wait until Mack gave the signal, then Briggs, Hugh, and Quinn were supposed to arrest Ortman. Mack and Jack were to go after Rogers. And Reid was supposed to grab Robbie and take him out of harm’s way. But Reid had suddenly anticipated Ortman’s next move.

  When he pulled his hand from his pocket he had a pistol in his grip and aimed it at Rogers. The butler dropped Robbie’s hand and the two men scuffled.

  At the same moment, Reid bolted from behind the tombstone where he’d been hiding. Mack bellowed for his investigators to move. After that, everything played out in slow motion.

  Reid prayed for Rogers to overpower Ortman as he sprinted across the cobblestones toward the two. But Ortman had more brute strength than Rogers. Before Reid reached them, Ortman fired his pistol and Rogers sank to the ground.

  Reid raced against time. He needed to reach Robbie before Ortman turned the weapon on him. But with Rogers no longer there to act as buffer, Reid became an open target as he raced for Robbie.

  Reid raced forward, praying that one of the brigadesmen would reach them in time to stop Ortman, but they were all farther away than he was. It was doubtful they could get close enough to have Ortman in range.

  Reid was prepared for whatever might happen, and knew he didn’t have a choice but to do everything in his power to save Robbie. Millie wouldn’t survive if something happened to the boy. But he wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of green racing through the graveyard. It was the very green of the gown Millie was wearing. Reid turned, and caught site of her as she darted around one tombstone then another in her attempt to reach Robbie.

  “No!”

  Reid bellowed a warning for her to stop, but she continued toward Robbie. A shot whizzed past his ear but he kept running.

  Tears streamed down his face blurring the site of the small boy next to Rogers’s limp body that lay on the ground. He didn’t move, still as one of the statues in the graveyard.

  Then Millie cried out Robbie’s name and Ortman whirled to search the darkness. He fired o
ne shot. Two.

  The boy turned, hesitated, then saw her familiar figure emerge from behind a small crypt and took a step toward her. Then another.

  Reid ran faster. He bellowed Ortman’s name, praying that he’d turn his attention back toward him instead of focusing on Millie. And Ortman turned. But not toward him. Toward Robbie.

  Reid pointed his pistol at Ortman and fired. The bullet hit him and he staggered, but he didn’t go down. Instead, he lifted his arm and refocused his aim on Robbie.

  Millie was close. Too close.

  Reid hollered for her to stop, but she didn’t. If anything, she ran faster. When she was close enough to Robbie to reach him, she threw out her arms and wrapped them around the boy.

  Several gunshots echoed at the same time. Reid knew his second shot hit Ortman, and probably so did more than one of the barrage of shots that came from the brigadesmen.

  Ortman crumpled to the ground in a heap while Millie held Robbie to her.

  Reid couldn’t describe the relief he felt. He couldn’t explain the joy that spread through him when he realized Robbie was unhurt.

  He raced to where Millie still held Robbie and dropped to his knees. “Are you all right, Robbie? He glanced up and caught the glazed expression in Millie’s eyes. “Are you all right, Millie?”

  She nodded, at least he took her slight reaction as a nod and he focused on little Robbie again. “You were a very brave boy,” he said, brushing his fingers across the tears that were streaming down Robbie’s cheeks.

  “That man had a gun,” Robbie said through his tears.

  “Yes,” Reid answered. “He was a very bad man.”

  “And Rogers was going to take me away from Millie. I told him I didn’t want to go, but he said I had to.”

  “You don’t have to now, Robbie. You can stay with Millie. And never have to leave her. Isn’t that right, Miss Millie?”

  Reid looked up and the first thing he noticed was the paleness of Millie’s face. The second thing he noticed was that Mack and Quinn were supporting her.

  “Millie?” he said, rising to his feet.

  “Good God, she’s been shot, Reid!” Mack cried.

  Reid leaped to support Millie and knew a fear unlike any he’d known before. He scooped her up in his arms and started for the carriage. “Follow me, Robbie. We need to take Miss Millie home.”

  “Is she hurt like she was in the park that day?” Robbie asked.

  “Yes, like in the park that day.” Reid raced as fast as he could. He didn’t have to worry about Robbie keeping up. Quinn had picked him up and was running alongside Reid toward the carriage.

  The carriage lurched forward the second the door closed and Reid pushed the bonnet from Millie’s head, then brushed a wisp of hair that had fallen over her face. Her skin felt cool and so very still.

  He felt for a heartbeat and breathed a sigh of relief when he found one. But it was so weak it was barely there.

  “Millie,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t leave me. Robbie needs you. I need you. Neither of us can survive without you.”

  The carriage pulled up in front of Lord Strothum’s townhouse and Reid jumped out with Millie in his arms. What he’d told her was true. He wasn’t sure he could survive without her. But something told him she might put him to the test.

  CHAPTER 18

  Reid turned his head when the door opened and watched Mack enter the room.

  “Is there any change?” Mack asked when he pulled a chair next to Reid and sat down.

  Reid looked at Millie’s pale countenance and shook his head. “She doesn’t have a fever. That’s a good sign.”

  “She’s a brave lady,” Mack said. “If she hadn’t stepped in front of the boy, Robbie would probably be dead now.”

  “I know,” Reid answered. Millie was brave. She loved Robbie more than her own life. But he couldn’t help but wish he’d been the one who had taken the bullet. Robbie needed her.

  Reid raked his fingers through his hair. He needed her. He didn’t want to think of even one day without her in it. He didn’t want to think of a future without her in it.

  Reid reached for her hand and held it. “Have you settled things with the authorities?” he asked as he rubbed circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.

  Mack nodded. “Strothum took care of that. He explained what happened, and turned over the papers to the proper people in the War Department. The rest is up to them.” Mack shook his head. “I still don’t understand why Rogers resorted to stealing the papers. Was it for the money?”

  Reid breathed a heavy sigh. “Millie said that was it. She said he’d been in love with her sister Rose for years and when she died, he changed. If he couldn’t have Rose, he wanted her son. But he needed money to take Robbie someplace far enough away where no one knew him. He needed money to support the boy until he found employment.”

  Mack and Reid sat in silence for several moments. Finally Reid brought up the subject he’d dreaded talking about. He turned in his chair so he faced Mack squarely. Looking Mack in the eyes when he resigned was what Mack deserved.

  “I want you to know that it’s been an honor to be called a Bedford Street investigator. But I know it’s impossible to remain a Brigadesman. I’ll hand in my resignation in the morning.”

  To his credit, Mack looked offended that Reid intended to resign. But Reid didn’t want this to be an uncomfortable situation. When Mack opened his mouth to speak, Reid held up his hand to stop him. “I know what you’re going to say, Mack, so I’ll save you the trouble. You’ve worked too long and hard…hell, every one of the investigators have worked hard to build an impeccable reputation for the Brigade. I have no intention of being the one to destroy that.”

  “And just how do you think you’ll destroy our reputation?” Mack asked.

  Reid couldn’t help but smile. “You know the group’s reputation will suffer as soon as people discover that I pretended to be someone I’m not. And that I killed a man.”

  “We’ve all killed, Reid,” Mack answered. “And you were only protecting yourself.”

  “Yes, but I was glad he came after me. I wanted him dead. I wanted to kill him because he killed my brother.”

  “Your motives aren’t any of my business. How well you do your job is.”

  Reid lowered his gaze and focused on Millie’s pale features. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”

  Mack was silent for a moment, then he spoke. “I’ll make you a deal. Whether or not you resign isn’t a decision I intend to take responsibility for. It will be a decision made by all of us.”

  Reid shook his head. “I already know the outcome. The brigadesmen are the most loyal men I know. They won’t turn against me, even if they know it will hurt them in the end. I won’t put them in a position where they have to defend my reputation.”

  “You’ve made up your mind?”

  Reid nodded. “I always knew my actions would have consequences. Now I have to face up to those consequences.”

  Mack didn’t have a chance to argue further because Millie shifted slightly, then uttered a pain-filled moan.

  “Millie?” Reid said, leaning over her. “Can you hear me, Millie?”

  First her eyes fluttered, then they opened a slit. She tried to speak once, but failed, then tried again. “Reid?”

  “Yes, Millie. Oh, Millie, I’m so glad you woke up.”

  “Robbie?”

  “Robbie’s fine. He’s just worried about you.”

  “Rogers?”

  “We’ll talk later. Would you like something to drink?”

  “Yes,” she answered.

  Her voice was hoarse, her words raspy. But she was awake. She would live.

  Reid lifted Millie’s head and put the glass to her mouth. She drank a sip. Sputtered on the second sip and stopped drinking.

  Reid lowered her back to the pillow and sat on the edge of the bed. “Get some rest now. That will do you more good than anything.”

  “
Will you… be here when I…wake?”

  “You know I will. There’s no place else I intend to be.”

  . . . . .

  When Millie woke again, Reid was by her side. This wasn’t the first time she’d opened her eyes, but it was the first time she opened her eyes that she felt as if she might survive. She always thought she tolerated pain quite well, but during the last several days, she discovered just how weak she was. She still heard her voice cry out when the pain became too much to bear.

  Finally, though, the pain in her shoulder was just a dull ache—an ache she could manage, as long as she didn’t move.

  “Are you awake again?”

  His voice was like a soothing balm. It had comforted her from the moment she’d been shot. “Have you managed to get any sleep yet, Reid?”

  “I’ll have plenty of time to sleep when I’m sure you’re all right.”

  “Then I think you can go to bed now and not worry.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  He rose and held a glass of water to her lips.

  “How did you know?” she asked after she’d taken a drink.

  “You forget. I’ve been shot once or twice myself.”

  “Then I hope there’s never a next time.”

  He smiled. “Me, too.”

  “How long has it been since I was shot?”

  “Four days.”

  “And you’ve been here the entire time. Hasn’t Mack missed you?”

  His expression turned serious. “I’m not with Mack anymore. I’ve resigned as an investigator.”

  “No. Why?”

  “Have you forgotten? I pretended to be someone I wasn’t. The life I lived was a lie.” Reid rose from his chair and stood over her. “Mack holds his investigators to the highest standards. Each one of his investigators has to be beyond reproach. His clients demand it. The future of the Bedford Street Brigade demands it. I would only put their reputation in jeopardy.”

  “Is that how Mack feels?”

  “You know it isn’t. He doesn’t think my past will affect the Brigade. And if it does, he’s certain they can weather the controversy. But I refuse to put them in a position where they have to defend me.”