by Wendy Vella
“N-no.”
“And is she your true cousin?”
Surprise at Wolf’s words gave him away.
“Answer the question.” Wolf shook him hard.
“No! I did not realize until after my mother’s death when I found some papers stating Rose was not her niece. She received money every year for her care.”
“Who put you up to this? Who gave you the fake marriage certificate?”
Wolf tightened the grip on Herbert’s necktie.
“D-don’t know his name. I was approached by someone working on his behalf.”
After Wolf had extracted all the information he thought the man had, he released him.
“Now I want you to listen to me very carefully, Herbert. Because I know you treated Rose badly, and for that alone I’d like to bloody your face, but I won’t, as she would not want that. But you will leave London today and never seek her out again. Is that understood?”
“I love her.” All fight had left the man.
“Perhaps if you had treated her better, she may have come to reciprocate those feelings, but as you didn’t, it’s me she cares for. Now go before I change my mind.”
The man left, running down the road with his coattails flapping.
“I thought I was the mean one in this family, but you’re quite good at it too,” Max said. “Calm, and mean. Excellent traits to have.”
Breel’s butler said he was not at home to visitors and tried to close the door. Wolf simply placed a boot in the way and forced it open.
“He’ll see us.”
They found Breel in a small parlor, reading.
“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” He rose as they entered.
“Explain to me about this.” James held out the marriage certificate.
The man’s face tightened with disapproval. “That is nothing!” he spat, trying to take the paper from James, who simply handed it to Max.
“It certainly is something, Mr. Breel, as is evidenced by the words on that page. My father married again, and his wife was an actress named Lavinia Smyth.”
“He was a fool, and knew it as soon as she died,” Breel spat out. “To sully the Raven name with such a woman was an unspeakable act.”
He was nearly frothing at the mouth now.
“And yet he married her,” James stated with remarkable calm, when all Wolf could think of was shaking the man until he told him the truth.
Breel clamped his mouth shut. “I will not speak on the matter further.”
“Oh you will,” Wolf said, advancing on him as his patience fled. “In fact you will tell us everything we need to hear.”
“How dare you invade my house and threaten me!”
“I’ll dare a lot more before we leave, Mr. Breel, so it will go easier on you if you speak the truth,” Wolf growled.
“Did they have a child?” Max demanded.
“I will not speak to you.” Breel glared at Max. “Your presence offends me yet again.”
James raised a hand as Max joined Wolf, advancing on Breel.
“Answer my questions, or I will let them do as they wish to you.”
“They wouldn’t dare harm me,” Breel said, looking from Wolf to Max.
“Oh we would,” Max said slowly. “You mean nothing to me, and the way you treated my brother and sister is provocation enough.”
Breel swallowed, and Wolf was pleased to see under that bravado he was scared. They’d never hurt him of course; he was old, and neither he nor Max would do the man harm no matter how much they wanted to.
“Before I continue, I want to add that we have just had an enlightening conversation with Herbert Abernethy, who told us everything he knew. What he didn’t tell us, however, was who put him up to lying about being married to Rose.”
Breel’s body twitched.
“Did my father and Lavinia Smyth, or should I say the then Duchess of Raven, have a child?”
Breel dropped his gaze.
“Answer the question, Mr. Breel.”
“Yes, damn you!”
“And what happened to that child?” James demanded.
Breel clutched his heart and staggered back a few steps.
“My heart is weak,” he moaned.
Wolf switched his vision.
“He lies, his color is strong.”
James nodded. “You’re lying, Mr. Breel? Now there’s a surprise.”
“The child died just after the woman!”
“He’s lying,” Wolf said.
“How do you know that?” Max looked at him.
“Instinct. Plus, there’s a muscle in his jaw twitching. Cam has the same muscle. It twitches when he lies too.”
“Sinclairs,” Max muttered shaking his head.
Breel made a high keening sound, as if he was in pain.
“Let’s try that again,” James said, moving to brace his hands on the man’s chair. “What happened to the child?”
“H-he didn’t want her after the woman died. Your father was distraught over that harlot’s death!”
“And that tells me nothing.”
“He told me to get rid of the infant.”
“A girl?”
Breel nodded, and Wolf felt a shiver of awareness. Danger, he thought.
“Hurry, James!”
The duke shot him a look, and what he saw on Wolf’s face had him grabbing Breel’s collar.
“You always did exactly what my father ordered you to. So what did you do with the child?”
“Release me!”
“Speak!” James lost control and shook the man, roaring in his face.
“I-I could not kill her, so I-I g-gave her away.”
“At least in this, you showed a grain of compassion,” Wolf snarled. “Possibly the only time in your life!”
“I did what I had to, for your father. A true d-duke.”
“A mean, evil man who controlled by fear. That is not a true duke,” James said quietly, once again calm.
“You know where she is, don’t you, Mr. Breel. Because I know you, and you would have kept an eye on her to make sure she never reappeared. But she did, didn’t she?”
“No!”
“Tell me her name.”
Wide-eyed with fear now, Breel opened his mouth. “Rose Abernethy.”
“How did she come to be raised in Edinburgh?”
“The duke had taken his wife to have the child there, as was her wish. I found a woman to take her in and raise her as her own.”
“You will be dealt with, Mr. Breel, by the full letter of the law for what you have done and what I have uncovered in those papers,” James said. “But now, I wish to know what else you have planned for my sister? Have you employed anyone else to harm her?”
“No.” The man shook his head. “As God is my witness, I swear I have not.”
“I don’t believe you.” Wolf grabbed the man and shook him.
“’Tis the truth!”
“Tell us the truth,” James said slowly, “or I’m putting a bullet through you now.”
Wolf left the house minutes later with the brothers on his heels.
“I’ll send a footman to watch over him. I don’t want him leaving the house before I’m done with him.”
“That bastard was behind everything that has been happening to Rose!” Wolf roared. “Even that scumbag Herbert was in on it!”
“He tried to have her abducted, shot with an arrow, and lured away from London by a position in the country. When all that failed he tried to kill her in that fire, along with several other people,” Max said. “Hanging is too good for that man.”
“Christ, and I believed Herbert.” Wolf felt sick. “I was a fool.”
“We are all fools in love,” James said.
“But if she is safe, why do I feel this fear?”
“Perhaps it is guilt?” Max said.
Was it? Wolf couldn’t believe the anxiety inside him was guilt. Reaching Max’s house, they found Dev, Cam, Essie, and Eden outside the fron
t door. Wolf dismounted first.
“What’s going on?” Eden demanded.
“James will tell you, I must find Rose.” Wolf ran into the house.
Miss Dodds was the first person he saw in the entranceway.
“Where is Rose?”
“Out, Captain Sinclair, seeking lodgings for us, I believe. I have yet to see her today.”
“When did she leave?”
“She was gone before I rose.”
“Essie said she’s out.” Max joined him.
“Something has happened, I can feel it,” Wolf said as fear sluiced through him. “I have to find her.”
“Mrs. Huntington said she thought Rose had been upset last night. Do you know anything about that, Captain? Do you think she’s in danger?” Miss Dodds looked worried.
He was the reason she was upset. God, he was a fool.
“You think she’s in danger, cousin?”
Wolf was suddenly surrounded by his family.
“Yes, now I do.”
“Then we must find her, our sister,” Max said softly.
“Breel must have lied!” James snarled suddenly. “It will be his final act,” he vowed.
The Sinclairs and Ravens were soon mounting and riding to Breel’s house once more, and all Wolf could think was that Rose even now believed he thought she’d betrayed him.
Stay safe, my love, we are coming.
Chapter 35
Rose stood on the street and wondered what her next move should be. Looking up, she thought it was closing in on late afternoon, and she still had achieved nothing. Five places had turned her away as they had no rooms to let. She could not live with the Huntingtons any longer, which she already knew, but now, after last night, the need was urgent.
“Horrid man,” she muttered, walking left for no other reason than it seemed the right way to go. Captain Sinclair had believed Herbert unequivocally after he had produced those pieces of paper. Yes, the evidence had been damning, but surely if he loved her shouldn’t he have believed her?
“Beast,” she fumed. Now she could be angry; last night, while she lay on her bed, she’d been pitiful, the tears falling for what felt like hours. But no more.
Yes, it hurt, deep inside. The pain was raw like an open wound, and she knew it would be so for some time, if not always. Her heart was shattered, and she doubted the pieces would ever be put back together. She’d survive, because she would have it no other way, but the days would now be gray even when the sun shone.
She’d not opened the door when Mrs. Huntington had knocked on it, pretending she was asleep. Rose had then left the house as the sun peeked through the clouds and started searching for somewhere to live.
She’d briefly allowed herself to believe last night. To believe that perhaps she could live a dream. Walking with Captain Sinclair in that ballroom after they’d declared their love for each other, she’d dreamed of a life with him, but it had been silly clouds and rainbows, and disappeared just as quickly.
“Well, reality has returned.”
And with it the knowledge that she and Kitty had nothing. No lodgings, no possessions; it was a dire situation indeed. Of course Kitty now had Mr. Trent, and he would ensure she was all right, but not Rose. Once again she was alone.
“And I will survive, as I have done before,” she muttered, refusing to give in to the self-pity that was clawing at her throat.
Her feet took her toward the Thames, and she followed that for a while as thoughts came and went. Rose was an optimist for the most, but today she struggled to find a way out of her problems, and she put that down to the fact her heart ached.
Wolf Sinclair was a man of honor, a good, kind man who loved his family, and she had believed he loved her. Now she had to live her life without him in it, and that hurt.
“There is only one person you can truly count on Rose, and that’s yourself.” Her aunt had often said this.
The high-pitched yelp of a dog in pain had her moving down toward the water. Another yelp told her the dog was unhappy about something. Once she’d reached the edge, she searched and found a puppy had fallen in and was trying to get to the edge.
“This way!” she called to it. “Paddle faster!”
Walking beside it, Rose searched for anything she could hold out to the creature. A branch caught her eye. Grabbing it, she ran further ahead of the pup, crouched, and held it over the water.
“You must try to reach it!” Of course the puppy had no idea what she was saying, but it had seen her. “Come on, you can do it!”
It was paddling furiously, and Rose had no idea how to swim, so could do nothing to help it. Just when she thought it was doomed, it veered toward the branch.
“Hold on.”
Rose moved quickly, scooping it close, fearing at any second it could go under the water again.
“That’s it, I have you now.” Lifting the shivering little bundle into her arms, she held him close.
“And we have you.”
“No!” Her shriek was muffled as she tried to fight them, but the blanket covered both her and the pup, and soon she was being lifted and carried. Clutching the puppy close, Rose felt herself lowered into something.
“Move or make another sound and I’ll shoot you, Miss Abernethy.”
She kept quiet, lying on her side with the puppy still in her arms. For now she would do as they asked, but when a chance to escape came, she’d take it and run, because she may have a broken heart, but Rose realized one thing as she lay there: her spirit was not broken.
Breel was dead. He’d taken a gun, placed the barrel inside his mouth, and pulled the trigger. His butler had covered the body when they entered.
“Search for anything that may help us find Rose,” James said, not even glancing at the man who had been one of his childhood tormenters.
“There is no time,” Wolf said. “I can feel her fear; we must find her now.”
“How do we know where to look?” Max demanded.
Wolf didn’t answer, instead running out to where Apollo waited.
“I need you to find Rose.” He touched his horse’s nose. “Help me now, boy.”
Apollo pawed the ground, eager to get moving. Wolf was just about to mount when he heard a yap and found Hep running toward them.
“That little dog has run all the way from your house to reach you,” Eden said, shaking her head.
Wolf picked him up and mounted. Maybe Hep knew something was off, and maybe his animals could help him find Rose.
Christ, I hope so.
He galloped through London, swerving around lumbering carriages and horses. His cousins caught up to him, and working purely on instinct and emotion, he let Apollo have his head. Soon they were heading to the docks.
“Why are we here?” Max asked, looking around.
Ships swayed gently in their moorings while around them everything bustled.
“She’s close,” Wolf said, searching the area. “I can feel her. Eden, can you hear anything?”
His cousin got off her horse and began walking; the others followed. Dev and Wolf searched faces and places, trying to find any clue as to Rose’s location. Max and James asked people if they had seen her or if anything odd had occurred.
Wolf lowered the squirming Hep to the ground. Searching the ships, he reached the last before he saw her color.
“I see her,” Dev said, coming to his side.
“Where?” James asked.
“Last ship in the row, and if my guess is correct, they’re preparing to depart.”
Dev’s words galvanized Wolf into action; he reached the ship in seconds. A large sailor stood guard at the bottom of the gangway. One of his beefy hands rested on a pistol that was tucked into his belt.
“Stand aside, I’m boarding this ship!”
Hep darted through his parted legs and upward, disappearing onto the ship.
“I’m going on that ship,” Wolf said. “So you’ll have to shoot to stop me.”
“We’re prepar
ing to depart. No one is to board.”
“And yet it’s not leaving with what I want still on it.”
“Stand back.” The man pulled out his gun and pointed it at them.
Wolf heard a whinny of outrage, and seconds later Apollo appeared.
“Here, move that beast away!”
The horse nudged the man in the chest, sending him backward and into the water.
“Good boy.” Wolf ran up the gangway with his family behind him. On deck were several more men.
“You have a woman on board, I want her now!”
The men were sailors and not easily cowed, but the sight of the Ravens and Sinclairs had their eyes widening.
“Now!”
“There’s no woman on this ship,” one of them said, stepping forward.
“Captain Hoyt,” Max said. “Now this is a surprise. What happened to your other ship, did you sink it?”
“Get off my ship, Huntington!”
The man had a bloated belly and lank, filthy hair, and the look on his face had Wolf’s fists itching.
“The last time I boarded I taught you a lesson in manners. It appears it did not take, so I shall have to set about teaching you once more,” Max taunted him. “Now tell us where the girl is, or this time I will kill you.”
Captain Hoyt’s eyes gave him away.
“Tell us where she is now!” Wolf demanded.
“No women are allowed on this ship!”
“Oh, that is too bad,” Eden said.
“Back away, ladies,” Dev warned as Wolf raised his fists and waded in. He’d do whatever it took to get to Rose, and remove whoever stood in his way.
“Behind you, Wolf!”
Turning at Lilly’s scream, he found a man with a knife—who fell without Wolf touching him. Behind him stood Essie with a large piece of wood in her hands.
“I am in your debt, cousin.”
The sailors knew how to fight, but then so did they. It was over when the last man fell to Dev’s right hook.
“Stay and hold them, Cam,” Wolf told his cousin.
“With pleasure.” Cam pulled a pistol from his waistband as Essie retrieved hers from her boot. “However, don’t take too long. They smell.”
“Where’s Hoyt gone?” Max said, wiping a smear of blood off his mouth. “The sniveling coward will be hiding somewhere.”
