by Rebecca King
“Dean,” Pheony began, throwing the covers off. “I didn’t realise it was him.”
“Oh? Expecting someone else, were you?” He drawled, glaring spitefully at her. The hurt that began to well from deep within the centre of his chest was enough to make him want to punch something. He squinted at the stranger and knew that he would hurt his knuckles less if he hit in the intruder instead. “Just how many men do you have on the go?”
“On the go?” Pheony gasped, looking outraged. “What kind of woman do you think I am?”
“The kind of woman who sleeps with strangers, evidently,” Dean growled. “And apparently already has a lover.” He raked the stranger with a scornful look.
“I am here to free her. You can’t keep her confined here. She isn’t a common criminal like the others.”
“The others?” Pheony whispered, looking worriedly at Bert. “You knew what they were doing?”
Bert scratched his ear. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. Tell me, Bert, did you know that Augusta was staying at hotels, eating meals, and enjoying fine wines, but not paying the bills before she left?” Peony stood up.
“Bert?” Dean’s brows shot up.
“This is Augusta’s coachman, and butler, and all-round maintenance man because August likes to get the most for her money,” Pheony snapped.
“Or out of other people’s money,” Bert snorted.
Pheony wasn’t all that interested in what Augusta had been doing. As far as she was concerned, it was a matter for the Star Elite now that they had been informed about her criminal behaviour. What concerned her was that Dean thought she was the kind of woman who would have many lovers.
“How could you think I would be that kind of woman?” she demanded of him.
“Well, I did just find you kissing your guardian’s coachman,” Dean retorted, losing his temper. “I didn’t realise that I had to warn everyone in the Star Elite to stay the hell out of this bed chamber for their own safety.”
Pheony felt each word strike a dagger blow to her heart. She wouldn’t have minded so much if he showed her any hint of hurt, but he seemed bemused by it all, and a little relieved. It was the most devastating thing to witness because she knew then that he really didn’t care. Meanwhile, she had spent many nights tossing and turning, worrying, and wondering about him, and waiting for the moment she could see him again. Most of her waking moments had been spent thinking about him, where he was, what he was doing, if he was safe. Now, she knew it had all been a waste of time. He thought that she was nothing more than a harlot.
But then he would because that is what I behaved like when we first met.
Even so, while she had been under the Star Elite’s roof, she had done nothing to make him believe that she was easy, a harlot, a thief, a liar, or any other kind of criminal.
“There is nothing amusing about this,” she snapped, for once standing her ground against him when Dean smiled. “I had no idea that he was going to try to rescue me.”
“How did you know where to find her?” Dean asked of Bert.
“I followed you when you dragged her out of the river. I was on my way back from getting the carriage fixed when I saw her running across the field. I suspected that she had made a break for it and went after her to see if she needed help, but you got there first. When I saw that you tried to drown her, and that she was unconscious when you dragged her out of the water, I followed her. I have been watching you from the woods and decided to get her free because there is just you here. The others left for town half an hour ago.”
“They didn’t leave for town,” Dean corrected. “They have gone to check a property in Brampton.” He snapped his mouth closed because he was revealing too much about the Star Elite’s investigation.
What the intruder hadn’t realised was that Roger, Hamish, and Luke, had already returned and had ventured upstairs to see what all the commotion was about. The last thing they had expected to see was a stranger standing in Pheony’s bed chamber.
“Where is Ronan?” Roger demanded, glaring malevolently at Bert.
Bert looked decidedly uncomfortable. “I knocked him out to get here and tied him up. He is in the rose bushes at the far end of the garden.”
“Damn it,” Roger growled, whirling to glare at Hamish. “Go and see if he is all right.” He pointed one long finger at Bert. “You had better hope you haven’t caused him any permanent injury.”
Pheony struggled to know what to say. “Your rescue is very honourable and all that, but these men are from the Star Elite.”
“Are you in danger?” Bert demanded, although didn’t know what he was going to do if she said she was.
“She is a witness,” Roger told him. “She has to stay with us.”
“No, I have to stay somewhere I am safe,” Pheony muttered. She glared at Dean, for once not sorry that he didn’t like her. She had no qualms about being critical of him. “It is clear to me that you couldn’t protect yourselves much less me. Since being here, I have been shot at, found by a local, nearly drowned in a river, and even Bert can get into the house. I don’t know how any of you have managed to earn yourselves the reputation of being the most expertly trained investigative organisation in the country. From what I have seen, you are completely incompetent, and more of a danger to the witnesses you are supposed to be protecting than the criminals themselves.”
Dean stared at her and felt something hard around his heart start to crack. Having just climbed out of bed, and lost amongst the folds of a billow night-gown, and with her tousled hair hanging loosely over one shoulder, and her toes peeking out from beneath the voluminous material, Pheony looked innocent. She looked infinitely touchable, adorable even. If it weren’t for the fierce glint in her eyes, and the sharpness of her movements as she started to shake her borrowed clothing out, Dean would have stepped into the room to try to calm her down. But the matching florid bands of temper that stained her cheeks, together with the lambasting she had just given them, warned him that now was neither the time nor the place.
“There really is nothing going on between you two.” It wasn’t a question.
“Sir, she is twenty years my junior,” Bert protested. “What kind of man do you think I am?”
“Oh, well, you have to remember, Bert, these are the men from the Star Elite.” She pointed an accusing finger at Dean. “He just assumes that everyone is like him; the bed them and leave them type.”
“Wait a minute,” Dean protested, stepping closer. “You are the one I have found – twice now – with other men.”
“What?” Pheony shrieked. “I have not been ‘with other men’. How dare you?”
Dean visibly winced. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he argued. “But I caught you sitting out in the hallway the other day holding hands with Hamish.”
“Wait a minute,” Hamish protested from outside in the hallway. “Don’t drag me into all of this. I wasn’t holding her hand in a romantic way.”
“But you were holding her hand,” Dean pressed.
“I don’t deny it,” Hamish protested. He cursed bitterly when he heard movement behind him and looked over his shoulder to find Letitia standing on the stairs. She glared at him with a tearful gaze that was wounded. “Damn it,” he growled, looking askance at Leonora who had to press herself against the bannister to allow her sister to descend the stairs and leave the house.
“We heard all the ruckus. What’s going on?” Leonora asked.
She wanted to urge Hamish to go and talk to Letitia but knew that it was better that he didn’t. Letitia had been not-so-secretly in love with Hamish since he had appeared in their lives a year or so ago now. Hamish, however, didn’t return her affection. Leonora doubted he ever would, and so made no attempt to encourage any meeting of the two of them unless it was unavoidable. She could only hope that Hamish would hurry up and find himself a wife so that Letitia could move on. Of course, it didn’t help that they lived next door to the Star Elite’s s
afe house, and Letitia was able to see Hamish practically every day.
“Dean is trying to pretend he doesn’t care about the woman in the bed chamber, but he does, and is being an arse about it. Pheony is outraged because Dean keeps insulting her, and we have an intruder in the house. Ronan is asleep under the bushes somewhere. Roger is about to have a stroke, and I think I need to go and find myself a dark room somewhere so I can hide until this all blows over.” Hamish pointed to the empty doorway Letitia had just raced through. “And before you suggest it, I am not going after her either. A union between us isn’t going to happen. I don’t love her, won’t marry her, and am not going to ever change my mind.” With that, Hamish climbed the stairs but kept a safe distance from Dean, who stood glowering at the woman inside the room, but from the safety of the doorway.
“You can’t leave,” Dean announced.
“Well, I am not going to stay here to be insulted by you,” Pheony snapped. “You have tried to protect me, but Bert is no cat burglar. If he can get into the house, someone else certainly can as well.”
“Where do you intend to take her?” Dean asked Bert, wondering if he should just let her go and be done with it. At least whatever happened to her would no longer be his fault. Deep inside, though, Dean already started to feel a bitter regret start to form that he suspected was going to haunt him.
“I have an aunt who has a spare room she can stay in,” Bert looked doubtfully around the room and muttered: “She will be safe there.” It was clear from his tone that he didn’t think she was safe where she was.
“That would be wonderful, Bert, thank you,” Pheony whispered.
“You can’t leave,” Dean insisted.
“Why not?” Pheony rounded on him.
Everyone froze while they waited for him to speak.
Dean stared at her. There were so many things he felt he should say that he knew he wanted to say if he was honest with himself, but he couldn’t say them. The words just wouldn’t pass his lips, mostly because he wasn’t sure what he felt anymore. Everything he thought he had wanted wasn’t as appealing as it had once been. But did that mean that he wanted the type of future that Pheony seemingly expected from him?
“We don’t know if Morton will follow you. He knows you have been here,” Dean reasoned.
“Morton was last seen heading toward Oakley Bridge. If she avoids the town, there is no reason why she cannot go,” Roger argued. “We need every man we can get.” He looked at Pheony, who looked disappointed that Dean wasn’t offering some words of hope. “It would help us if you stayed with this aunt for the time being. I would return you home to your guardian but seeing as she is likely to be behind bars soon, and there is nowhere else for you to stay, I don’t think it is at all safe for you to remain in her house. Bert’s aunt’s house might be the best place for you. I would advise you to seek the advice of a solicitor while you are there. Given Augusta’s criminal record, she can’t be considered a credible guardian like she was when your father put the stipulation in his will. You may be able to get your father’s request for guardianship overturned.”
Pheony didn’t remind the man that she hardly had any money. She offered a brisk smile of thanks before she gathered her clothing before hurrying behind the retiring screen. The urge to cry was strong. Her hands shook so badly she struggled to tie the laces of her borrowed dress. Eventually, she was forced to take a deep breath and compose herself. By the time she emerged back into the room, everyone had left – even Dean.
“And that says everything,” she whispered morosely.
Pheony wondered how she was going to get through the next few minutes without crying. The only benefit to leaving in the middle of the night was that it was dark and difficult for people without candles or lanterns to see the emotions on her face. Doing her best to keep her face an implacable mask of politeness, Pheony tidied the room and descended the stairs. Tipping her chin up, she sucked in a deep, fortifying breath, and entered the silent kitchen.
“Ready?” Bert asked, looking relieved that she hadn’t kept him waiting for too long.
Pheony nodded. “I don’t have anything else to my name. The bag I had was swept away by the river.”
Bert nodded. “I still have the keys to the servants’ door at Augusta’s house, so I can pop you back there to fetch your things if you like?”
“So long as Augusta isn’t there,” Pheony whispered.
“I planned to retrieve you from here and take you to my aunt’s and then go to Augusta’s to quit, miss,” Bert explained. “I just couldn’t leave knowing you were as miserable there as I was. I had no idea that the Star Elite intended to arrest her.”
“Did you know what she was doing?” Hamish asked.
To Pheony’s amazement, Bert nodded.
“Really?” Pheony was shocked. “How could I not know about it?”
“She always sent you and her daughters out of the tavern first. You were easy to get out of the door, miss, because you always carried the bags and trailed after them with their things. Her daughters then snuck out one by one and took their seats in the carriage when it was time to go. Augusta was always the last one out of the tavern because it gave everyone the impression that she was paying the bill before she left. However, on more occasions than not, I was pre-warned by Augusta not to waste time leaving the tavern yard, if you get my meaning, miss.”
“How did you find out what she was doing?” Roger asked.
“On one of the occasions she did it, she looked furtive. I began to wonder what she was up to. I deliberately delayed leaving by pretending that there was something wrong with one of the reins. I wanted to know why she kept wanting to leave the taverns in a rush. I mean the woman doesn’t have any urgent appointments. There is no reason why she needs to rush around or hurriedly leave a tavern at the crack of dawn. Anyway, Augusta climbed into the carriage, but my delay meant that the inn keeper had the time to realise she was trying to leave. He raced outside and demanded that she paid the bill. Augusta lied and tried to blame the mistake on one of her daughters. Of course, they had no idea what she was talking about. Carlotta got the blame and started to cry, claiming she had forgotten. Augusta being Augusta started shrieking and causing a ruckus, but reluctantly paid the inn keeper what he was owed. She didn’t forgive me after that and threatened me repeatedly with being released from my situation if I ever stalled her departure again.” He smiled. “And I found out why she was always wanting to leave taverns in a rush.”
“She is a thief,” Pheony whispered. “God, how many times have I been drawn into her life of crime without knowing?” She was horrified.
“It is probably better that you don’t know,” Hamish snorted.
Roger nodded. “Because you had no idea, and neither of you had no control over what happened, I can’t arrest you. What I would ask is for you to give me a list of the taverns you know Augusta has left without paying her bills, Bert. Augusta will have to face justice for them all.”
“With her daughters?” Bert asked.
“Do they know what was happening?” Roger pressed.
“I should say so,” Bert retorted.
“They are too close not to know,” Pheony replied.
“It is a good thing you tried to keep your distance from them, miss,” Bert muttered. “Anyhow, I couldn’t leave you here, nor am I going to take you back to her house. I am not going to stay there either.”
“How long will it be before you arrest them?” Pheony asked Roger.
“It will take about a week or two for the magistrates to get back to me with the pertinent information. We will arrange for the local magistrate to arrest her now. Just try to keep away from the tavern, and Augusta’s house for now. Even you, Bert, then you can’t get caught up in anything,” Roger warned.
“Can we have Pheony’s address, so we know where to find you?” Hamish asked Pheony with a kindly smile. He did it purely to wind Dean up, and watched his friend throw a filthy glare in his direction. “And yo
urs, of course, Bert.”
“Of course.” When Roger handed him a piece of paper and pencil, Bert scribbled the addresses down and handed the paper back to Roger.
While she had been in the kitchen, Pheony had done everything possible to avoid having to look at Dean, but when she did, their gazes met. The first emotion that hit her was hurt, and lots of it. It settled in her chest before rising to claw at her throat. She yearned for him to say something, do something, even ask to have a private word with her before she left. Even after everything, she still wanted some faint hint of gentleness or kindness from him. Some hint that she was as essential to him as he had become to her. Something to give her a glimmer of hope that he might care for her – just a little. But after a few seconds of steady contemplation, he looked down at the floor beneath his boots and didn’t look up again.
That closing off, the closing out, was like a slap in the face to Pheony. She felt all her hopes and dreams fade and realised then how foolish she had been to indulge in what they had shared in the tavern the other night. For her, it had been a mistake as well, but she wasn’t as reluctant to allow it to change her life because her life prior to Dean’s appearance had been miserable. In contrast, he clearly enjoyed his life as it was and didn’t want to sully it by being burdened with her.
It was Bert who eventually broke the somewhat awkward tension in the room by looking longingly toward the door. “Shall we go, miss? We are going to have to take our time to get to my aunt’s house so need to get going. I want to get there before dawn, miss, because I need to go and tell Augusta I am not going to work for her anymore.”
“Of course.” Pheony wasn’t sure what she should say to the men from the Star Elite. In the end, the men took over. Hamish hurried outside with Bert and went to fetch the carriage that Bert had used to reach the safe house. It wasn’t his. It belonged to Augusta and needed returning before Augusta realised that he had taken it.
