Tess wished Josh had been here, but so far there was no word from him. It would seem she was alone in facing Marcus and she’d have to manage somehow. Following the teenagers’ advice, she was wearing a low cut top with a push-up bra underneath that made her cleavage twice as eye-catching as normal. She’d decided against teaming this with a miniskirt, as she felt that would be too much and possibly suspicious since Marcus must be well aware she wasn’t happy about this meeting. Instead, she’d opted for a tight pair of black jeans which hugged her bum. Open-toe sandals with a bit of heel completed the outfit and showed off newly varnished pink toenails. Her face was carefully made up with maximum effect mascara in case she needed to flutter her eyelashes as Louis had instructed.
She wasn’t sure she could do it, but took the seat opposite Marcus.
‘The “heir” not around?’ He was smiling so Tess guessed he already knew she was alone in the house.
‘No.’
‘Nice of him to let you continue to live here. I suppose you’ve been … nice to him.’
Tess suppressed the urge to throttle him. ‘Actually, I’ll be moving out soon.’ That wasn’t quite true. She had found a suitable cottage to rent, but hadn’t discussed it with Josh yet.
‘So you’ve decided to be reasonable.’ Marcus crossed one leg over the other, making himself comfortable.
‘I don’t seem to have much choice.’ Tess glared at him. She figured being friendly towards him would give the game away. Far better to act affronted.
‘We always have a choice, Therese.’ His vulpine smile said otherwise. ‘Like Giles did.’
‘Giles? He was suffering from an illness. You shouldn’t have taken advantage of him.’ Tess dared to add, ‘Your croupiers probably cheat. I know it happens, I’ve worked in places like that myself although I refused to do it.’
Marcus’s smile dimmed. ‘Never throw accusations like that around. That’s exactly what your dear Giles did and look what happened to him?’
Tess couldn’t help it, she gasped. ‘Wh-what do you mean? He had an accident.’
‘Mmm, yeah, but what if it wasn’t just an accident? Tampering with his car would have been rather too easy, I’m afraid. He was so fond of it, he always asked to leave it in my personal garage for safety.’ He laughed. ‘Ironic, wouldn’t you say? And it was only a measly Porsche, not even a Lamborghini or McLaren.’
‘You k-killed him?’ Tess was shaking now, terror beginning to creep through her veins. This man was seriously ruthless.
He shrugged. ‘Might have done.’
Tess tried to pull herself together. If the police really were watching this exchange, they’d want a proper confession. ‘You’re bluffing,’ she said. ‘I don’t think you’d have the guts to kill anyone. You’re just trying to scare me now.’
His expression turned ugly. ‘I sure as hell do! If the police weren’t so incompetent, they’d have noticed something wasn’t right with the Porsche’s engine. But you’d have to look hard to find the fault and I’m not stupid enough to leave fingerprints. Anyway, he did us both a favour and drove home drunk, didn’t he, so chances are he’d have died either way.’ He took a deep breath as if he realised he’d told her too much. ‘Now where’s that new jewel of yours?’
Tess dug her fingernails into her palms to stop herself from losing it completely. ‘Why should I give you the Merrick jewel? You won’t be able to sell it as it’s quite distinctive. I’m sure the police will keep an eye out for it on the black market. And the new Lord Merrick won’t buy a story about another break-in.’
Marcus sent her a pitying glance as if she was a stupid child. ‘I know several private buyers who will keep it hidden in their collections. And as for why you should give it to me, I thought I’d made myself clear.’ He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes glacial. ‘If you don’t, you won’t live beyond the end of the week.’
Tess didn’t have to fake the trembling in her hands as she got up to take a box from the desk. He really was scaring her and she was terrified that something might have gone wrong with the Skype link or whatever it was that Louis and Shayla had set up and connected to Inspector Houghton. They’d assured her it would work and wouldn’t go live until just before Marcus arrived so he’d have no inkling of what was going on even if he was monitoring the internet usage at Merrick Court.
‘Here you go.’ She almost threw the box at him. It genuinely annoyed her to have to let him hold it even for a short time. He had no right to it whatsoever. It was Josh’s.
Marcus grinned and opened the box, pulling out the cross. He dangled it on its chain and watched the sparks shooting off the various gemstones. ‘Hmm, quite a beauty. Yes, that should do nicely for now, thank you.’ He stood up and walked towards her. ‘Although, that won’t fetch nearly enough so I do believe you owe me a little more than that. Something a bit … extra, shall we say?’
‘What? No!’ Tess backed away as he reached out to grip her arms, pushing her against the desk.
‘Come on, this is the part I’ve been waiting for. It’s you I’ve wanted all along, didn’t you guess? I have plenty of money already. Don’t fight me, Therese, or I might just have to squeeze that beautiful throat of yours a little too hard while I’m pleasuring you.’
‘No! Get off me! Why, you … aaargh!’ Tess screamed and tried to kick him, but her sandals were useless and only made her lose her balance.
He pulled both her arms behind her and gripped the wrists with one hand, holding her fast. Then he put his other hand over her mouth, hauled her in close and started to kiss her neck, moving his mouth down towards her cleavage. She fought to get away from him, wriggling furiously and trying to lash out, but he was very strong, his sheer bulk pinning her down.
Her only hope was Louis and Shayla, who’d promised to watch from a safe distance, and the police who were probably even further away. Tess hadn’t wanted the teenagers in the house, in case they gave the game away, but Louis had said they’d be monitoring the situation. So where were they?
As if in answer to her frantic telepathic messages, the door opened and a furiously barking Vincent came hurtling into the room. Tess felt Marcus jerk as Vince sank his teeth into the man’s behind. Marcus let out a howl of rage and turned to aim a kick at the dog.
‘No! Vince!’ Marcus had let go of her mouth and she screamed at the dog who seemed to be a blur of teeth and flying fur.
In the next instance, someone else came rushing into the room and Marcus had a different problem to contend with.
‘Josh! Oh, thank God …’ Tess had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
‘You bastard! Get your hands off her.’ Josh was in the grip of an almost feral fury and although Marcus was undoubtedly bulkier and possibly stronger, Josh landed some heavy punches to the other man’s face, head and abdomen that had him staggering.
‘Sir! Sir! We’ll take it from here. Leave him be! Come on, easy now.’
What looked like an entire troop of police officers were suddenly swarming into the room, closely followed by Louis and Shayla. One of the policemen restrained Josh, whose eyes were still blazing with emerald fire, while Marcus wiped blood from his mouth and nose and stared at them. ‘I warned you not to tell anyone about our meeting, bitch,’ he hissed at Tess. ‘You’ve got nothing on me and they’ll have to let me go. Then you’ll be sorry.’ He pointed at Josh. ‘And I’ll sue you for assault and all.’
‘I think you may find you’re wrong there, Mr Steele.’ Inspector Houghton had walked into the room and flashed his badge at the now handcuffed Marcus. ‘Thanks to the lady’s enterprising nephew, we’ve got you on Candid Camera, confessing to murder.’ He pointed at the laptop and Tess saw the exact moment when the webcam registered with Marcus.
He let out an animalistic roar and tried to head-butt the nearest police officer. ‘Fucking devious bitch! I should’ve killed you too when I had the chance. It won’t hold up in court, you tricked me—’
‘Shut up, Mr Steele. Whatever yo
u say now can and will be used against you. And we’ll have the evidence from the Porsche, remember? We’ve still got it. Plus, the late Lord Merrick appears to have saved a file showing your croupiers cheating. I’ve just seen it. Now why would he do that, I wonder?’
Tess glanced at Louis, who whispered, ‘The file you sent me.’
‘I deleted that! I made sure his computer was wiped clean. I—’
Marcus’s tirade was cut short when Tess fished the USB pen out of the pencil pot and held it up. ‘Guess he was smarter than you thought.’
As Marcus snarled out his anger yet again, Houghton nodded at the officers holding his arms. ‘Get him out to the car, please.’
Josh had shrugged off the policemen holding him by now and came over to pull Tess into his arms. ‘Are you okay, hun? I’m so sorry I left you alone here. Sir Rhys came and warned me. I’ve driven like a maniac …’
‘Sir Rhys?’ Tess was stunned. So the ghost was still protecting her. ‘I’m okay, really.’
‘You sure? Christ, I thought I wasn’t going to make it on time. Nearly drove me nuts!’
‘It’s all right, you’re here now.’ Tess breathed in the familiar smell of him and burrowed her face into his shoulder.
Josh hugged her so hard she was sure she heard her spine crack. ‘Seriously, he didn’t …?’
‘No, he didn’t get that far. But I’m going to need several baths to get rid of the smell and feel of him.’ Tess shuddered. ‘Urgh!’
‘Mr Owens, might we have a moment to take your statement, please? Lady Merrick, you’ll be next.’ One of the inspector’s men led a reluctant Josh outside and Tess sank down into a chair, her legs still shaky.
Shayla came over and demanded to know if she was okay, while Inspector Houghton directed his men to seize the laptop and jewel as evidence.
‘Yes, I’m fine, thanks. Or I will be. But, goodness, it’s like Piccadilly Circus in here!’ She frowned at the sight of the Merrick jewel leaving the room.
‘Don’t worry, you’ll get it back, Lady Merrick,’ Houghton assured her. ‘We’ll keep it safe.’
Into this melee walked a perplexed Rosie with George in tow. ‘Louis! What on earth is happening? I knew it! We should never have let you stay here with that … that …’
‘Rosie!’ George nudged her and nodded towards the police.
‘It’s nothing, Mum. At least, everything’s okay now. The police have just caught Uncle Giles’s murderer thanks to us and now they’re gathering evidence, right, Inspector Houghton?’
The inspector gave him a smile. ‘Just so, young man.’
‘M-murderer? But I thought … the accident?’ Rosie’s face turned pale.
‘Turns out the car had been tampered with.’ Houghton nodded at Rosie. ‘You should be proud of your son, madam. Very clever, he is.’
Louis beamed, but magnanimously confessed, ‘It was half Shayla’s doing too, actually. We came up with the plan together.’
Rosie looked Shayla up and down. ‘And where did she spring from?’ Rosie’s expression indicated it might have been from a sewer.
‘She’s Josh’s daughter,’ Louis explained.
‘I see. I suppose he has a whole brood of children back in Australia, a beach bum like that.’ Rosie made a face.
Tess sent her sister-in-law an irritated glance. ‘For the last time, Rosie, he’s from New Zealand. And he’s no more a beach bum than you are.’
‘Yeah, he’s a sheep farmer,’ Shayla added, sending Rosie a death-glare in defence of her dad.
‘Whatever. Good riddance to him. I just hope he accepts our very generous offer for Merrick Court before he goes home.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean? He’s not leaving yet.’ Tess stared at her. Since when did Rosie know anything about Josh?
‘I think you’ll find that he is. I was in Mr Harrison’s office in London yesterday afternoon, waiting for an appointment with my own solicitor. I don’t think he saw me. But I heard him talking to Harrison and I definitely heard the words “sell” and “property”. I’ve contacted all the major estate agents and they’ll let me know which one of them is handling the sale.’
Tess opened her mouth to deny this. Josh hadn’t told her he was leaving, but he hadn’t said he was going to visit Mr Harrison either. A sense of unease rippled through her. Had Josh changed his mind? Was he selling up after all and just hadn’t got round to breaking the news to her? That would mean their affair – or whatever you wanted to call it – was a summer fling, nothing more. He’d taken advantage of her utter infatuation with him. The bastard.
She swallowed hard, suddenly engulfed in misery. The rosy future she’d been envisaging with him tumbled in her mind like a broken Lego tower and she felt like a fool. Yet again, she’d apparently fallen for a man who didn’t show his true colours. How could she have been so stupid?
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Merrick Court, 20th August 1646
Arabella stared straight ahead of her, refusing to look at her aunt Elizabeth, Huw’s wife. Her mother’s own sister.
‘How could you be a part of this?’ she hissed at the older lady. ‘I hope my mother comes back to haunt you at the very least.’
‘Tut, tut, you always were a touch melodramatic. I don’t know why you can’t behave like a sensible girl. But your mother spoiled you and that’s the truth. Far too headstrong, you are.’
‘You’re wrong and what you’re doing is against the law.’
Aunt Elizabeth didn’t reply to that. She had always coveted the estate and had been furious when it was all left to Arabella, as her mother’s heiress. The woman hadn’t had any surviving children of her own so instead she’d doted on Glyn, who’d been left motherless at an early age. She’d spoiled him and thereby helped to turn him into the unbearable brute he was. And now she obviously wanted Arabella’s possessions for him, which meant Arabella had to marry him.
I’d rather die.
The good thing was that none of them would inherit when Arabella died. Just before taking her own life, she would tell them about the will she’d made in Rhys’s favour. If he really was dead, someone would have found it and anything belonging to him would go to his brother, Gwilum.
But how was she to accomplish a suicide? Despite an extensive search of the room, she’d found nothing with which to take her own life. There weren’t even any bed sheets and she could only assume her uncle had been afraid she’d tie them together in order to escape. And he was right about that.
She was sure Glyn would carry some sort of weapon though, even in church. Perhaps that nasty-looking knife he’d pricked her with the day before? She’d have to try and snatch it out of his belt while the minister performed the service and then she could turn it on herself. She must. The alternative – having to submit to Glyn later – was too awful to contemplate.
‘Sit still, for heaven’s sake! I do wish you’d try to be a bit more amenable. It’s all your own fault anyway, you silly girl,’ her aunt scolded, while tugging a comb through Arabella’s long hair. ‘If only you’d done as you were bid all those years ago, Glyn wouldn’t be in such a foul mood now. He’ll make you a fine husband, so long as you treat him right.’
Arabella just snorted. They would never agree on that subject.
Aunt Elizabeth had lent her a silk jacket in deep red and Arabella had put it on over her own clothes. It didn’t really matter what she wore and the colour would match the stains she’d be adding to it later. Her stomach muscles clenched at the thought of taking her own life. It was a terrible sin and she risked not seeing Rhys in the afterlife at all, but she believed God could hear those in need so surely He would understand she had no choice?
She swallowed hard and hoped it wouldn’t be too painful. That she’d have the strength to see it through. For Rhys, she would, but she didn’t want to think about him right now. It would make her cry and she was determined not to break down in front of her aunt. She’d maintain an icy silence from now on and never speak to the
evil woman again.
‘Come now, you’re ready.’ Elizabeth took her by the arm none too gently and led her down the stairs and out into the courtyard.
Glyn and Uncle Huw waited there with servants and other members of the household. They all stared at Arabella, but she lifted her chin in a defiant gesture and walked past them. They were her retainers really, but it was clear they had forgotten that fact. Or, more likely, they were afraid of Huw.
The church was in the village, just outside the entrance to the estate. It wasn’t a long walk and Arabella managed it with her head held high. Glyn kept pace with her, but she didn’t look at him. Only once did she glance his way and that was merely to ascertain that he did indeed have the hateful knife tucked into his belt. It glinted in the sun, promising a swift death. Arabella prayed it would be so.
Inside the little church it was dark and gloomy, the candles smoky because of their poor quality. Arabella’s steps faltered as she walked down the aisle. Glyn was right next to her, but still she refused to acknowledge his presence. She could tell it was annoying him, as he was muttering to himself. He’d soon be even more cross, as would Uncle Huw.
There was shuffling behind them as everyone filed into the church. The minister began the service, droning on about something Arabella shut her mind to. It didn’t concern her. She took a deep breath, gathered her courage and prepared to carry out her final act of defiance right now, before it was too late.
‘… and if anyone knows of any lawful impediment, speak now or—’
In that moment, the church door crashed open and someone shouted, ‘Yes, I do! The lady has a husband still living and is committing bigamy.’
Arabella spun around, her eyes taking in the sight of Rhys standing just inside the door, very much alive. She drew in a hissing breath, her whole being flooding with joy. She wanted to run down the aisle and throw herself into his arms, but her legs seemed frozen to the spot and she started to tremble with emotion. She was also stopped in her tracks by his expression, which was colder than the north wind. He didn’t so much as look at her as his gaze was fixed on Glyn, his eyes narrowed and shooting sparks of hatred.
The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight Page 33
