Mistaken Identity (Saved By Desire 3)

by Rebecca King

  “Where is everyone?” Jess asked hesitantly.

  “They are all seated in a line at the bottom of the garden. I have sent someone to the gaol to fetch the cart. It should be here within the hour,” Barnaby replied. “We can gather everything up and take a look at all of the evidence once they are behind bars.”

  “Carruthers is with them,” Marcus said.

  Jess’ gaze flew to him. “Lloyd can go too.”

  Marcus nodded and smiled. “You know the man was apt to bend the law to serve his purposes. Well, he has now lost his job, and his reputation. When he does get out of prison, he will never get a position of authority again.”

  “Good,” Jess replied with an emphatic nod.

  Ben stepped back into the room. “You need to come and see this.”

  He nodded toward the room behind him and led everyone to it. Not all of them could fit inside because Kieran was already in the cramped confines. They did manage to get close enough to see that inside the room was a long bench littered with all sorts of paraphernalia. What drew everybody’s attention was the table in the centre of the room, and the unfinished sparkling diamond and ruby necklace that lay right in the middle of it.

  “That’s why they wanted the gems,” Marcus murmured.

  “We had the missing pieces,” Ben added with a sigh. “They couldn’t finish it without those gems they had at the lodgings. This piece must be worth a small fortune.”

  “There must be several ounces of solid gold in that,” Barnaby added.

  “It would earn them a heck of a lot of money,” Marcus sighed. “Not only that but those undoubtedly re-cut gems are now untraceable. We have no idea where they came from.”

  “Just how much more is this Sayers person involved in?” Jess asked, deeply troubled at the thought that she had been living in such close confines with hardened criminals.

  “All sorts of things,” Marcus replied, dragging her into his arms again. “It is over now, and guaranteed never to happen again.”

  “He is dead,” Jess said with no small measure of satisfaction.

  Unfortunately, Marcus hesitated.

  She looked at him. “He is not dead?” she asked in confusion.

  “We don’t know if Gillespie is Sayers after all,” Marcus murmured. “Sayers is a chameleon. He changes persona so smoothly that nobody can be sure just yet. We need to investigate the man we called Gillespie. Until we have questioned his co-conspirators and find out their true identities, it is difficult to find out who our dead man is.”

  “We have to rely then on the co-conspirators being honest. To say they are prepared to lie to protect themselves is an understatement,” Barnaby added. “They are, after all, the very dregs of society.”

  They all returned to the kitchen. Marcus then turned his attention to the papers on the table.

  “These are drawings of plates, notes of equipment they needed, and some bills for something. We need to take a closer look at these later. Right now, we can get the others to jail and let them understand the harsh reality of their future,” Marcus reasoned.

  “They will get hard labour for this,” Barnaby growled.

  Marcus nodded. “I hope they do. For now, they need to be questioned.”

  “What happens to Lloyd now?” Ben asked. “He is, or was, the magistrate around these parts.”

  “We will notify the War Office, and someone will be sent up to act as magistrate until a permanent replacement is found,” Barnaby assured him. “There is a lot of clean-up work to do here. By the time we have finished, the interim magistrate should have arrived. We can then hand over to him, and take our investigation back to London, most probably.”

  “Or onto wherever the investigation leads us,” Joe added.

  “This is a major coup for us. Whether Sayers is alive or not, we have cost him, and his network, a considerable amount of money today,” Marcus added quietly with no small air of satisfaction.

  “Good,” Jess sniffed defiantly. “I hope they suffer.”

  “Meantime, we need to go and get cleaned up at the tavern. Then we can have something to eat, get some rest, and we need to talk.” Marcus said the last meaningfully at Jess and waited for her to nod.

  “You can go too, Ben. You need to get some sleep while we gather this lot up. Then we can go over to the jail and start to question the convicts. We will catch up with you later, Marcus,” Barnaby said.

  He suspected Marcus was going to be busy for a while, but that didn’t bother him. Both he and Joe deserved a well-earned rest for this massive achievement.

  In Marcus’ case, he rather suspected that rest period would precede a permanent change in circumstance. He hoped so anyway because Marcus had been a good friend for many years. He deserved a little happiness.

  Hours later, Jess lay in Marcus’ arms while their bodies cooled. They had been fed and were now clean, warm, and blessedly safe.

  Now that she was away from danger, she was able to look back on the events of the day with something akin to shock. It felt like it had all been some kind of bad dream. However, she knew the lingering effects of what had happened to her would remain with her for the rest of her life.

  “What happens now?” she asked, staring across his chest at the raindrops slithering down the window.

  “We have a day or two here while we clear everything up. Mr Grant’s body has been found in the woods at the back of the house. We will try to find out if the man has relatives nearby. If not, we will hand over the body to the interim magistrate to arrange the burial, and deal with trying to trace the wider family. Meantime, we have to question the prisoners. As soon as we find out just who their contacts are, and who supplies the gemstones, we can move on.”

  Jess sighed and rolled onto her back. Marcus rolled with her and prevented her from leaving by draping one leg over her flat tummy.

  “I need to decide what to do about the house,” she whispered.

  “There isn’t much you can do with it now,” he cautioned. “Not after the roof collapsed.”

  “I know,” she replied sadly. “I just need to try to salvage what I can out of the store at the back of the house. Most of what we wanted to keep but didn’t need to use were put in there when the roof of the house started to leak. I can’t just leave it all behind but then I have no way to transport it, even if I do know which way to go.”

  “Wait a minute,” Marcus interrupted. “What about me? Us? Don’t I feature in your plans?”

  “Well, you have your work with the Star Elite. You will have to go where that takes you.”

  “Yes, but I am also a man,” he said. “I deserve a life outside of the Star Elite. It is my work; it is not my entire life. I am not going to spend my whole life traipsing up and down the country after criminals. There are men in the service who have found wives.” He glanced at her and smiled. “In the most unusual of circumstances, and they have beaten insurmountable odds to forge relationships, and have been extremely successful. They have married, and some of them have children now. They live and work within a stone’s throw from home so they can have a life outside of work. I deserve the same. It doesn’t mean I have to stop doing what I am doing. For my own peace of mind, I have to finish what I started with this. I can’t walk away until Sayers, and his network has been broken up. It is going to take a couple of years, but that doesn’t mean my whole life has to be put on hold.”

  “I know you need to follow leads, and will inevitably move on. But I cannot traipse around with you. You are sometimes gone in the dead of night for hours on end.”

  “I don’t expect you to,” Marcus assured her. “We are going to stay here, in this tavern for now.”

  Jess gasped. “Oh, we can’t.”

  “Yes, we can,” Marcus assured her.

  “What will people think of me?” She wriggled around so she could see him more clearly.

  “It doesn’t matter what these people think of you. We are not stopping in the village. Let them talk. They don’t know what
we know. They have no idea that Sayers has been on their doorstep, and that any one of them could have ended up like Mr Grant, or you. It is better they live in ignorance. They will talk about the fact that Lloyd and Carruthers have been arrested. Their crimes will be documented in the broadsheets when they face trial, and will give the villagers more to discuss. I have no doubt the locals will discuss your house burning down, but will blame it on circumstances, or a strange turn of events nobody can explain. That will be the reason why you have left the area. They will discuss Smithers’ death, and Ben’s association with the strange group of men who appeared in the village for a while, and left when the interim magistrate turned up. There will be whispers; there always is in a place like this. But it doesn’t matter what they think. It is what you know that is important.”

  “You sound as if you are talking from experience,” she replied.

  Marcus smiled at her. “That’s because I am. But, look at it this way. We have rid a small, out-of-the-way village of a crime syndicate, and the ruthless exploits of a corrupt magistrate. We have rid them of a thief in their midst, and a second criminal in the making. Although they have lost a boarding house, they have also gained the ability to go about their business without interference from gangs, death, corruption, or violence. Not only that, but we have given them a heck of a lot to gossip to speculate about for the months and years to come.”

  He dropped a loving kiss on her shoulder and placed many tender kisses along her neck until his lips rested teasingly against her ear.

  “Ergo, it doesn’t matter how much they gossip, the truth will only be known by a select group of people who will not discuss it once they leave this village. Don’t worry about what the villagers think of you. Don’t worry about where you are going to go next,” he ordered.

  “I am worried, Marcus. Where do I go? Can you suggest somewhere?”

  Marcus nodded. “You are coming home to Hertfordshire with me. My family are in Barrowby, and will be delighted to meet the woman who has persuaded me to venture into the delights of matrimony.”

  Jess froze. Her stomach flipped at the intent look that swept over his features. Gone was the loving softness. In its place was a determination that she had not seen before. The fierce look in his eyes that warned her that he meant what he said, and wouldn’t hear any argument.

  “Matrimony?” she whispered. “But we have only known each other for a few weeks. There is so much we need to learn about each other. What if you realise you have made a mistake? What if you regret marrying me?”

  “I could never regret anything like that. Not with you. Not after what has happened. When you took me into your home, you gave me a taste of a life that I have not had since the day I left my parent’s home many years ago. For the first time, I looked forward to going home. When I got there, it was nice and warm, and a stunning woman awaited me. I had delicious food, a warm bed, and a large if a little decrepit place I could call home. It was a home, Jess. As bare and as minimal as it was, as questionable as the lodgers in it were, it was still a home. It was your home. It didn’t take long before I knew that wherever you called home had to be my home too. You don’t need to buy anywhere else, Jess. I have more than enough for the both of us. The Star Elite pays good money, mainly because of the dangers we face. However, there is very little opportunity to spend much of it. It has therefore been accumulating in the bank. Money is not an issue. It is a waste to buy yourself a house, especially when I have a perfectly good four bedroomed house set in three acres of grounds, in rural Hertfordshire waiting for you.”

  Jess was stunned. She had doubts, of course she did. There was still so much about his life with the Star Elite she had yet to learn, but then doubted she would get to know all of it. If she was honest, she didn’t think she wanted to know about the dark and dangerous side of what he did. The worry would be unbearable.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you too,” he assured her. “So, will you come to Hertfordshire with me?”

  She jerked suddenly and leaned back to look at him. “What about Ben?”

  Marcus smiled. “It has yet to be made official, but he is the newest member of the Star Elite. The men have sort of adopted him. He has learned a lot while he has been with me. Whatever he doesn’t know, the men will teach him.”

  “He has been with you all the time?” she gasped.

  Marcus shrugged. “Well, I had to keep him on the straight and narrow somehow. I thought that if he witnessed first-hand how the authorities deal with criminals, and how serious the consequences are when you start to steal, he might just stop.”

  She sensed there was something he wasn’t telling her. When he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, she rolled over to lie alongside him. When he still didn’t tell her, she tugged on his chest hair and grinned when he yelped.

  Rubbing at the offending spot, he threw her a warning look. “You will pay for that.”

  When he tried to kiss her, she turned her head away.

  “You were telling me about Ben,” she prompted.

  Marcus stopped kissing his way down to her chest. “Was I?”

  “Yes,” she replied pertly. “You were.”

  Marcus looked up at her and grinned. “He seemed to thrive on the adventure. I think part of Ben’s problems wasn’t the house he didn’t want to occupy. It wasn’t Smothey, Lloyd’s threats, or the difficult financial situation. He was bored; unequivocally bored out of his skull. He needed something to do; something more challenging than evading Lloyd. When I searched the guests’ bedrooms, he was there with me and showed an incredible logic and foresight that is considerably older than his years. Although he needs some more training, he is the perfect candidate for the Star Elite. He is an ordinary lad who can blend in with people, and is willing to adapt to the challenges life throws at him. That is invaluable to us.”

  “What happens to him, though?”

  “Well, he will need to go to London at some point, and will meet with everyone’s boss, Sir Hugo. He will then get his papers, and be given a salary, and will return to the group to help with the investigations. He will have accommodation and the money to be able to secure his own house when he is ready. The rest of the men are there to help him should he need it. Meantime if he doesn’t want to purchase a home of his own, he can either have my place in London or can stay with us whenever he needs to take a break from his work.”

  “I don’t think he will ever want to come back to village life. Not once he has sampled the freedom of being able to travel about and get paid doing it,” Jess replied musingly.

  While a part of her was delighted that Ben had decided to swap onto the right side of the law, and was working to eradicate crime, she worried about his safety. She was a little sad that their old life was now over, but they couldn’t go back. The door to that way of life had been very firmly closed leaving them free to be able to find their own futures.

  “I know my future lies with you,” she said aloud.

  “Good. I hope so,” Marcus replied as he settled over her. “My mother is going to love you. She just loves a good wedding and will be overjoyed when I am a married man. She will pester you for children, though, I warn you now.”

  Marcus laughed when her cheeks began to colour.

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Well, you did say that you needed something to do,” he smiled but then turned serious. “First things first, Jess. While we can leave Smothey to gossip and speculate to their heart’s content, we cannot live together under the same roof in Hertfordshire without being wed. So, I am afraid that I am going to have to insist that we are man and wife sooner rather than later. I am not going to re-join the investigation until you are my wife, and I can leave you safely at home. You can then set about making the changes to the house you need to make to feel comfortable there. You know, decorate and the like.”

  Jess laughed. “You have it all planned out, don’t you?”

  “Well
, I am a man of action,” he replied with a smirk.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded huskily when he slid further down on the bed.

  “Loving you,” he murmured lovingly. “Don’t you know that sometimes actions speak louder than words?”

  The End.

  HOPELESS HEART

  RELEASED JULY 2016

  Georgiana Bentley is tired of being a good girl. She is fed up of doing what her parents, and her brothers, have always told her to do. Her life is stifling, and she yearns to be free of it, especially now that her heart is shattered beyond repair.

  She had loved Will practically all of her life; ever since he tugged her pigtails when she had been just eight years old. As she had matured into a young woman, her love for him had grown with her. To discover that he is now to be married to someone else leaves her world broken. Determined to save herself the pain of having to attend his wedding, she decides to retire to the country to live with her aunt.

  Before she goes, though, she sets about experiencing each of the activities on her list of lifetime achievements, regardless of the consequences. What she doesn’t expect are the surprises it brings her.

  Will has never stopped to consider Georgiana as anything other than a rather pesky friend whom he has always bailed out of trouble. When her wayward behaviour scandalises those around her, it is Will who is sent to speak to her. Unfortunately, he is unable to stop her scandalised pursuit of pleasure. Instead, he is left to watch her race headlong into situations no lady should experience, and do everything in his power to limit the damage to her reputation.

  What he sees in Georgiana, is an entirely different woman to the one he thought he had known. Georgiana is wild, carefree, funny, charming, and downright beautiful. He is soon left to battle with his own jealousy when a rather determined suitor sets his sights on her.

  When the rather determined exploits of the suitor challenges Will’s place in her life, he has to face the horrible prospect of losing her. Is it too late to cancel the wedding, and persuade the woman he really wants to be his wife?