by Rebecca King
Barnaby and Reg slammed to a halt. Barnaby closed his eyes. He knew that voice.
“Chadwick,” he growled. “Why do I get the impression that you are following me? I didn’t realise you liked me that much.”
“Where is the woman?” Chadwick demanded, still lurking in the shadows.
Barnaby didn’t want to give the man the satisfaction of knowing that he couldn’t see him so he remained perfectly still, but his eyes scanned the area for possible locations he could find the enemy.
“She has gone,” Barnaby replied.
“She is here somewhere,” Chadwick replied.
Barnaby went cold. “Just because I am here doesn’t mean she is.”
“You were seen heading this way with her. She is here,” Chadwick replied adamantly.
Barnaby shrugged. “Whatever you say. Of course, you are a fool if you rely on a double-crossing traitor for information.”
Chadwick laughed. “Oh, anybody can be bought for the right price.”
“Maybe so, but they will also pay a price,” Barnaby replied, feigning disinterest.
“We know you have no idea who your spy is,” Chadwick murmured. The only sign of his presence was the muted sound of his boots on the cobbles as he tried to creep quietly closer.
Given the way the street echoed every movement it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where Chadwick was. Vulnerable, Barnaby stepped into the shadows and began to study each nook and cranny of the alley for movement. He glanced around for support, and cursed fluidly when he realised that Reg had disappeared. Barnaby hadn’t even seen him move.
Was Reg the traitor?
He didn’t know but he was going to find out. First, he had to be patient and try to lure Chadwick into conversation because Chadwick was a braggart who liked to boast about his accomplishments. If Barnaby could manipulate the conversation enough, Chadwick was likely to tell him who the spy was, if only to be able to taunt him.
“Alright, so you got an advantage over us this time, Chadwick, but you won’t leave this town with your life intact. I don’t care who you are getting your information from, if you rely on them you are the fool,” Barnaby called.
He fell silent and listened. When he couldn’t hear anything, he changed his position but made sure that his boots didn’t make a sound on the stone floor.
“Worried are you, Stephenson? You have gone quiet on us,” Chadwick teased.
Barnaby didn’t bother to reply. He waited until the much thinner man creeping toward him got within a few feet and stepped forward. Within seconds, the man crumpled silently to the ground. Barnaby left him where he lay and stepped over him as he returned to the shadows and watched another man creep down the street toward him.
“I am not worried,” Barnaby murmured.
“I think you should be. Someone you trust is not as honest as you think they are,” Chadwick called from his left.
This time there was no echo. It helped Barnaby to pinpoint the man’s location perfectly. Honing in on one particular shadow that moved more than the rest, Barnaby crept toward it. As he went he scoured the area for Reg, but had to reluctantly admit that Reg had left him to face this battle alone.
Reg must be the traitor, Barnaby thought on a sigh. It could be the only reason why he had led us to Edinburgh, where he knew Chadwick was waiting.
Barnaby mentally cursed when he realised just how close Rose had been to someone who would have no hesitation in killing her. It galled him to think of how much he had trusted his colleague, but it wasn’t a mistake he was prepared to make again.
Before Barnaby could move to a new location again, several shadows suddenly began to move and loomed threateningly toward him. So many fists appeared out of the blackness that he was quickly overwhelmed and struggled to defend himself. Gritting his teeth, he temporarily forgot about Reg and Chadwick and, with Rose and their future together locked firmly in the forefront of his mind, Barnaby began to fight for his life.
Sometime later, several men lay at his feet, but too many were still standing. Every inch of him ached fiercely, but Barnaby continued to throw punches and kicks with every ounce of strength he could muster. He was starting to doubt that he could get out of this situation alive, but he gritted his teeth and tried anyway. The determination to survive came from the burgeoning love he knew he felt for Rose.
His rescue came in the form of several of his colleagues from the Star Elite, who immediately threw themselves into the fray.
“Sorry, Boss,” Reg grinned as he landed a punch that made his opponent’s eyes roll back in his head. “I had to round everyone up.”
Maybe Reg isn’t the spy after all, Barnaby mused as he eyed several of his colleagues steadily working their way through the band of cut-throats. The rapidly growing pile of prone and lifeless bodies was staggering, but also immensely reassuring to Barnaby. At least the men who had turned up to rescue him could be trusted.
Barnaby made a mental note of who they were and then turned his attention to a particularly dark shadow that detached itself from the wall and came toward him. Removing a small flick knife from his boot, he stepped toward it and went on the attack.
An hour later bodies littered every inch of the tiny alley. Reg grinned at him over the body of a groaning opponent and nodded toward Ben, who lay on the floor trying to catch his breath.
“Thank God you came when you did,” Barnaby growled.
“Surely you didn’t doubt me?” Reg teased.
“I had no idea what I thought other than I was hopelessly outnumbered.”
“Good to see you, boss,” Luke muttered as he stepped over several bodies to get closer and shake Barnaby’s hand. “I heard you had trouble, but I thought it was more of the feminine kind.”
“She is safe,” Barnaby murmured with a hint of relief in his voice. “Is there any sign of Chadwick in this lot?” He asked everybody, but it was Josh who stepped forward.
“Not as far as I can tell. He is a thug but a bully who doesn’t like to fight apparently,” Josh murmured. “It appears that he slunk off at the first sign of trouble and left his men to do his dirty work for him.”
“Or he has gone to find more help,” Barnaby sighed. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What do we do with this lot?” Ryan asked waving to the sea of bodies. “It is going to take a good hour to get all of them behind bars.”
“Where is the Sherriff in this town?”
“I will go and get him,” Ben offered as he launched to his feet.
“Tell him that he needs to detain them for crimes committed in London. Give them Sir Hugo’s direction for queries,” Barnaby ordered.
“Any idea who our traitor is yet?” he asked once everyone had caught their breath. He watched as Ryan and Reg looked at each other.
“We think we do,” Reg warned him darkly. “But you ain’t gonna like it.”
Barnaby read the honesty in his friend’s eyes and knew that what Reg was about to tell him was the truth.
What he heard changed everything.
Two hours later, Barnaby reluctantly crept into the hotel room. Rather than enter the bedroom, he stood before the fire in the sitting room and stared into the flames while he braced himself for what he was about to do.
Reg’s news had shaken him. In a way, it was a relief to know who he could now trust. However, he was still reeling from the devastating revelation of just who his colleagues suspected was the spy. Barnaby had no reason to doubt them but, until he could find proof, he had to remain cautious. Unfortunately, the revelation brought about yet another change of plan.
Barnaby had to help his colleagues capture Chadwick, and then gather the evidence they needed to put the traitor behind bars. He couldn’t abandon them to fight the sinister threat from both parties alone. They needed his help and, given the kind of work they did and the dangers the faced, they had to take priority. As a result, Barnaby couldn’t go with Rose to London. He had to hand her over to Reg and Ben to escort down to London to sp
eak with Sir Hugo.
“As soon as I am done here,” he whispered aloud. He would go to her in the new safe house in London that Simon Ambrose had recently purchased and beg her forgiveness. For now, though, he had to get her to leave by any means necessary.
A discrete knock on the door broke him out of his thoughts. Barnaby watched Reg and Ben step quietly into the room. Rather than speak to them, he nodded and melted into the shadows in the farthest corner of the room.
“Ma’am?” Reg called as he knocked on the bedroom door. “Could you come out here please?”
Rose’s eyes snapped open when a masculine voice filtered through her subconscious. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Barnaby’s voice. Vaulting out of bed, she quickly dragged her dress on and hurried to the door.
“Who is it?” she called before she yanked it open.
“It’s Reg, ma’am. I need you to get dressed,” he said politely.
Rose looked suspiciously at the door. “Is Barnaby there?”
Out in the sitting room, Barnaby slowly shook his head when Reg looked at him.
“No,” Reg replied. “He has been detained elsewhere. He said to tell you that he will come and see you when he has a moment but it won’t be for a while. There have been a few problems, and a change of plan. We need to get you out of the area as a matter of urgency.”
Rose knew she had no choice but to open the door. She could hardly remain a prisoner in the bedroom while the men waited for her. Sighing deeply because Barnaby had never told her what to do in this kind of situation, Rose entered the sitting room.
“Where is he? What’s happened?” she demanded in a querulous voice. She knew something was wrong from the way the men looked warily at each other. To her disgust, neither of them wanted to tell her.
More Star Elite secrets, she thought grimly.
“He is working,” Reg replied apologetically. “He isn’t available right now.”
Rose’s stomach dipped as she thought about what they had shared. “Is he in danger?” she whispered.
“Not at the minute, ma’am. He is working with the rest of the men to locate Chadwick. We need to get you out of here because there is too much risk you might be found,” Ben offered gently.
Rose could see nothing in her situation that had changed over the course of the last couple of hours. When she saw regret in both men’s eyes, she suspected they weren’t being completely honest with her.
“I want to talk to him,” she demanded.
“It isn’t possible, I am afraid. Now, if you are ready, you need to put this cloak on so we can get out of here. There is a carriage waiting for you at the back of the building. We need to go.” Reg held a cloak out for her to walk into.
“What is the urgency?” Rose asked. “Why can’t I wait for Barnaby to come back?”
Ben shook his head sadly. “He isn’t coming back, ma’am. He told us that we are to get you to London quickly but you weren’t to wait for him.”
Rose stared blankly at the floor while she considered that. It felt like a betrayal that Barnaby hadn’t taken the time to tell her this himself. Did she really mean that little to him?
It appears so, she thought sadly.
She was so lost in the hurt that settled over her that she didn’t even notice when Reg draped the cloak around her shoulders and closed the clasp. It was only when he tugged the hood over her head that she looked at him.
“I am sorry, but there is nothing else for it. Orders are orders, and the boss wants you away from here,” Reg said quietly.
Damn the man, Rose thought as she made her way to the door. She wanted to protest but she knew it was futile. Tears stung her lashes but she blinked them away. Without looking at either man, or the room behind her, she drew in a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and stalked out of the room where everything in her life had changed.
Barnaby watched the door close and let out a blistering curse. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed to remain where he was and listen to their receding footsteps. He was placing his trust in his colleagues to keep her safe and couldn’t decide if he was being a fool or not. Either way he knew it was safer for her to be out of the area.
Now that he was alone he looked down at the red welt on this upper arm. During the fight someone had used a blade on him. It was a surface wound, but it had bled profusely. It was part of the reason why he had chosen to remain out of sight until Rose had left. While he didn’t want to hide the harsh realities of his work from her, he knew that it would be impossible to get her to leave if she knew he was injured.
Shaking his head in disgust, he tore at the fabric of his sleeve to reveal the three inch gash in his upper arm. In search of water to clean it, he stalked into the bedroom. His step faltered when he saw the rumpled sheets on the bed. He had to force himself to keep walking across the room to the wash-stand and tidy himself up. The strange, bereft feeling which swept over him was uncomfortable, and left in its wake a sense of dissatisfaction with life that didn’t come from the problems the Star Elite faced. He suspected that his world would not feel right until he had her back beside him where she belonged.
“Need a hand?”
Barnaby spun around. He stared in disgust at the man in the doorway, but was unsurprised the he could move silently. Noah worked for the Star Elite after all and had been trained by the very best.
“I didn’t realise you knew where we had chosen to stay,” Barnaby replied casually.
Reg’s words hung in the back of his mind, and he looked at the man before him with new eyes. He hated to suspect such a long standing friend as Noah but there was something about the man that had changed slightly.
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that someone dressed as high-brow as she was wouldn’t be living in the slums around here, or in the vaults,” Noah replied jovially in a false attempt to be affable. “There aren’t all that many hotels around here close to the water that would make someone like her feel at home. You landed on your feet there, Barny-boy.”
Barnaby made no attempt to discourage the connection between him and Rose, and remained quiet while Noah looked pointedly at the tousled bed.
“She isn’t here, Noah,” Barnaby replied. He leaned his hips against the wash stand, aware that Noah was studying his arm.
“I see they have given you a hard time already.” Noah nodded to the wound.
Barnaby shrugged. “It is nothing I can’t handle.”
“Do you really think you have any chance of catching him?” Noah asked rather too intently for the question to be part of casual conversation.
“I know we will catch not just Chadwick, but Sayers, and everyone connected to them both. Men like Chadwick are stupid. They have a lot of people in their employ but they are foolish and think they can get away with the crimes they commit. He will make a mistake at some point, and the Star Elite will be there to capture him when he does,” Barnaby murmured smoothly, his tone full of arrogance.
His eyes met Noah’s. He saw something new in his friend’s gaze; something he hadn’t expected to find, and it saddened him.
“Why did you do it, Noah?” he murmured quietly. He kept his face blank, and was careful not to betray even a hint of the raging emotions that surged through him.
Their eyes met. Barnaby saw Noah’s instinctive denial. He lifted his brows and waited. Noah’s mouth opened and closed. Barnaby shook his head slowly; a silent warning not to even try to lie and watched Noah’s face change. Noah suddenly turned into someone Barnaby had never seen before; someone harsh and cruel who would most definitely be callous enough to murder his friends for money.
“You sold your soul to the Devil himself,” Barnaby growled.
Noah shrugged unconcernedly, and didn’t attempt to defend himself.
“Why? You could have retired with dignity. You had a sterling reputation behind you. Everyone looked up to you. Everyone relied on you. Why would you do this?” Barnaby demanded.
“Phah!” Noah spat. “I had no
thing. The Star Elite took and took but gave me what? I had a small amount to live off that would barely keep a pauper alive. Who can live on a reputation? It will buy me no credit anywhere. For all of my life I have slaved for the War Office and what have they done for me?”
“They have paid you a wage,” Barnaby countered.
“What else? I have scars,” Noah tapped the side of his head. “Up here. What else do I have, eh? Nothing. That’s what I have. It is no good expecting Sir Hugo to provide for me when I am too old to see straight or too aged to walk anywhere. Your blasted Star Elite will be no good to me then.”
“We always look after our own,” Barnaby murmured. “It is up to you to make provision for your aged years, Noah, not the Star Elite. You must have earned a lot of money over the years. Was it not enough?”
A crafty look shimmered over Noah’s face and turned it as cruel as the look in his eye. “I have a lot more now thanks to Sayers.”
Barnaby cursed. “You turned your back on all of us and tried to feed us to the wolves.”
“I haven’t done any such thing,” Noah argued. “I just told Chadwick and Sayers a few things I thought they might find helpful. They paid me far more handsomely for my troubles than the Star Elite ever has. I cannot be held responsible for what Sayers does with the information I give him.”
“They know about the safe houses, and what we are all doing. Sir Hugo trusted you,” Barnaby snapped. “We all trusted you, yet you are prepared to allow any one of us to be killed – murdered in cold blood – just to get coins in your pouch. God, you are a disgrace man; an utter disgrace,” Barnaby snapped.
“Who is going to declare my misdeeds to the world?” Noah mused.
Barnaby snorted. “I am not keeping silent for you. You might have shunned the Star Elite, but I haven’t. Not even you can stop me from putting you and Chadwick behind bars.”
“I am not going to gaol,” Noah snapped. “There is no man alive who can put me there.”
“We can’t let you get away with this, Noah,” Barnaby murmured. It galled him to have to admit that trusting Noah had been a gross error in judgement but it had.
