Daring the Duke (30 page)

Bessington didn’t need to be asked twice. He had already been broken.

He tripped over himself to explain. Logan had been blackmailing Bessington and had set him up in the shipping scheme to secure his cooperation. For his part, Bessington had thought the match between Vernon and Clarissa, then Stephen and Clarissa, would be perfect. Either would have been the match of the season, and his darling Clarissa would be happy. He adamantly denied knowledge of or any role in planning any murders. His eyes didn’t quite meet Stephen’s though when he said it.

Bessington was colorless and shaking by the time he was finished.

Stephen decided to leave one of his men with the earl so that he didn’t try anything silly like committing suicide.

Stephen returned to his house to find Roth waiting for him. "Excellent timing as usual. What did you find?"

"Faye Kendrick is being held in a building about an hour outside of town.

There were other men watching the place. I‘d guess they were Flanagan’s men. I decided not to delay my return. The girl is doing fine. They have her drugged and trussed, but from what I could see, no harm has been done. The number of men guarding her tripled, so I decided to come back for reinforcements."

Stephen raised a brow. "Getting soft, Roth?"

"Yes, and cautious. If I don't watch out, I might fall all the way to your level."

Stephen smiled, but his mind was already planning a rescue. "Audrey will be there. My guess is that she is supposed to exchange something for her sister."

Roth raised a brow. "Do you know the nature of what she is trying to exchange?"

"A pocket watch."

Roth stilled, and Stephen nodded in answer to the unspoken question.

"Yes, it is what you think it is. I let her steal the pocket watch that Brandon’s father gave me."

Roth gave him a cryptic look, but simply said, "Have you contacted James?"

"Yes, he should be here anytime now."

"What are you going to do with the Kendrick sisters when this is through?"

"l don’t know. It depends on Audrey’s answers." He shook his head. "She doesn’t trust me."

"But you trust her. " It was a statement.

"It’s hard to maintain trust when it’s one-sided. But I do trust her in some weird manner. I knew she was going to take the piece. I’ve known it since I realized Travers was involved in this business. The watch has both monetary and sentimental value."

"Why didn’t you arrest him before?"

"Not enough hard evidence. In addition, he made threats against Audrey and her sister. Retribution if anything happened to him. I thought it easier to let him muddle his way around and bury himself."

"And you didn’t want to scare off the bigger fish."

"No." Stephen’s voice was soft. "I didn’t want to do that, but maybe I should have."

"Well, I took care of Travers’s men, so there will be no worry from that quarter. Not unless we put her in Newgate ourselves." Roth raised a brow.

"That is still up in the air," Stephen bluffed.

James walked through the door. "We ready?"

Stephen pushed up from the desk. "Yes, let’s go."

But James didn't move, almost as if he were fighting an internal battle.

"What is it?"

James exhaled, and he and Roth exchanged a glance. "I don’t know that I want to clutter your perspective, but fair is fair. Miss Kendrick returned the pin that she stole from Calliope the night of the Taylors' ball."

Stephen tensed. "When?"

"Today not more than an hour ago. Calliope didn't tell me about the visit until the girl was safely out of the neighborhood."

Stephen absently played with a pen on his desk. "Well, I’ll be damned."

"Join the crowd," Roth muttered.

"What are you going to do about her?" James asked.

Stephen didn't answer.

Audrey dismounted and led the horse she had borrowed from Flanagan into a copse of trees. She tied the mare to a small tree and set out on foot for the last mile trek through the woods. She was dressed in trousers, and this time carried two loaded pistols. One was strapped under her trousers on the inside of her left ankle and the other in her right pocket.

A decrepit farmhouse sat at the edge of the property, a barn nearby. The house was unlit, but light peeked through the poorly placed boards in the barn walls. Audrey crept to the side and peered through one of the holes.

Faye was trussed against one corner. Two guards hovered nearby and two others were playing cards. The sight of her sister lifted her spirits. She appeared to be knocked out or sleeping.

Audrey crept around the structure. There were doors on both sides. Two escape routes.

She walked to the horses and made shooing motions with her free hand.

They nickered. She did it again, and one of the horses whinnied.

She ran behind a nearby tree. A guard exited the barn with a gun in his hand. He approached the makeshift paddock, and as he walked by, she whacked him with a heavy stick. He slumped to the ground. She tucked his gun in her waistband and dashed behind a tree closer to the barn. She wasn't strong enough to lift the fallen man.

A second guard called from the open door. "Fred?"

Fred’s friend wasn't too smart as he too walked down the same path and helpfully turned his back. He joined the unconscious Fred in the dirt.

Audrey ran to the barn door. There would be no third opportunity. She dove into the building and fired at the guard nearest her. She caught him in the leg, and he dropped his gun as he screamed. The fourth guard turned to fire. Before Audrey could react a streak knocked the guard into the wall and began pounding the daylights out of the man.

"Faye!"

Faye looked up from the damage she was inflicting, even with her hands tied, and leaned unsteadily against the wall. "What took you so bloody long?"

"Excuse me?"

"Dear Lord, sis, I would have been out of here myself tonight if you hadn’t finally decided to show."

Audrey freed Faye from her bonds and they hugged fiercely. Faye limped over to the other side of the bed in the corner and Audrey was surprised to see a man on the floor, his hands tied. He had been completely obscured from view. "Lucky for me they brought this one in. They only gave me half a dosage by accident."

Faye was fumbling with the man's knots, and Audrey rushed to help. She put her gun down and untied the ropes. The man's head lolled to the side.

"What are we supposed to do with him? And who is he?"

"Edward Logan, the Duke of Marston’s solicitor."

Audrey sat back on her heels. "Well, well. They can’t pin it on me after all."

"Well, well, pin what? No, on second thought tell me later. We can’t linger."

A new voice responded. "l agree. Lingering is unwise."

Audrey whipped around to see Travers standing in the doorway. She grabbed for the gun.

"Please don’t do that, my dear. It will only make things messy. " Travers looked nervous. He kept switching his gaze between them.

Audrey removed her hand from the gun. "Fine. I have what you want. The watch for Faye, then we’ll be on our way. "

He walked to a spot where he could see Logan’s body and seemed satisfied by what he saw. He was gaining confidence. "I must commend you on the masterful job of stealing the watch."

"Let’s go, Faye." `

"Yes, Faye will be able to leave. You however are going to stay. I have a new job, but this time it’s for your sister. A little gambling hell to infiltrate. I hear she has uncommon luck at the tables."

Audrey didn’t look at Faye, but she could feel her tensing. Audrey placed a restraining hand on her arm. "Fine. Faye, you go."

Travers narrowed his eyes. "First, where is the watch?"

"Faye goes free before I give it to you."

"Show me you have it first."

Audrey reached into her pocket. A cold steel blade and the heavy weight of gold pressed into her hand. The blade knicked her skin as she palmed it sloppily. She used her thumb to secure the piece on top.

"Put it on the table, then step back." His greedy eyes devoured the watch as if it were his salvation.

"Faye, leave."

"I'm not leaving you h--"

Audrey pierced her with a look. "Now."

A defiant expression came over her face, but she walked toward the door.

Two steps from it Travers grabbed her and put the gun barrel to her throat.

"I’m not going to ask again. Put the piece on the table, then move away."

Audrey gripped the piece tightly but put it on the table. Having been caught

unprepared, all of her bargaining chips had become useless.

He motioned to one of the battered guards to retrieve it. Audrey moved the knife into a throwing position and bided her time.

Travers crowed when he examined the treasure. "Get the ropes from my saddle," he said to the guard.

Faye had an opportunity to escape from Travers’s hold, but she was watching the doorway to her left as the guard disappeared. One of the guards Audrey had felled must have awakened for her sister to be so distracted. Audrey inwardly cursed. There were two guns trained on her already she didn’t need four.

Travers chuckled again. "Well done, well done. I can’t wait to see if your sister manages half as well as you did. How I wish I could see the look on Chalmers’s face when he discovers the watch my father gave him is missing and realizes it was you who betrayed him. That watch is a family heirloom—and my father never went anywhere without it. Should have been mine. My blasted father didn’t even give it to my brother. No, he gave it to Chalmers to replace the heirloom that was stolen from Chalmers’s father when he was robbed and murdered."

Audrey’s heart dropped. It had been in his personal compartment, so she shouldn't be surprised at its sentimental value, but she knew Stephen would never forgive her now.

Travers continued to crow. "Oh yes, I wish I could see the look on his face."

"You can see it now if you’d like."

Audrey jerked her attention to the door to see Stephen casually leaning against the jamb, pistol in hand. Roth slipped inside and was removing the pistol from the remaining guard’s hand, while his own was shoved against the man's neck.

Travers stiffened, and his pistol dug deeply into Faye’s chin as he positioned her in front of him. Audrey nearly stopped breathing.

"Surprise. Surprise. Your contacts really are superb, Chalmers. Not that someone like you would do with less than the
best
, eh?" He sneered at Stephen. "Come to steal my watch again, Chalmers? Disappointed in our little Audrey?"

Travers turned so that Faye remained a shield in front of him. His back was to an empty wall.

Audrey coiled herself to move. Travers was keeping them all in view, but he knew he had lost, and that made him extremely dangerous. Travers wasn’t going down without a fight, and Audrey knew that he was going to take Faye or Stephen with him.

Stephen caught her eye. "It would have made things so much easier if Audrey had fully trusted me, no matter what you threatened her with. But she’s done nothing that can’t be rectified."

He was asking her to trust him now. She looked at the barrel lodged in Faye’s chin, then back to Stephen. He was asking her to trust him with Faye’s life.

Audrey nodded and saw some of the tension around his eyes relax. He regained a negligent air and waved his pistol around in a deceptively carefree manner. "How about we make a deal, Travers? You give me the watch and all of the papers and information that Audrey went to such trouble to gather, and I will leave you with the ladies?"

"I know you, you bloody saint. You won’t let me take the girls or get away. Damn sense of justice." Travers inclined his head in Audrey’s direction. "You should join forces with me and take out your lover, Audrey dear. He’ll just throw you to the hangman. Ask him."

Stephen waved his pistol. "Quite possible."

Roth had the guard in front of him and was inching forward toward Travers. Travers saw the motion and yanked Faye backward. Audrey saw the glint in her eye. Oh, dear.

Stephen must have seen it too because he was moving forward and shouting. "Get down."

She followed his command without question.

Four things happened in quick succession. Faye knocked Travers’s hand away and elbowed him in the throat. Roth pulled the guard back so as not to interfere. Stephen reached Travers and wrestled the gun from his hand, and the Marquess of Angelford appeared and made quick work of tying his hands.

Audrey ran to Faye, who was staring wide-eyed at the three dangerous-looking men. Faye whispered from the side of her mouth, "To tell you the truth, I’m not sure we aren’t in worse trouble now. "

Before Audrey could explain the situation, Faye fell forward. "Oh thank you, gentlemen. My poor sister and I were kidnapped by these awful monsters. You saved us." Audrey tried to stop her, but Faye was already dabbing at fake tears and grasping Lord Roth’s sleeve.

Faye gave Roth a watery smile and thanked him as she backed toward the door. "Thank you again. Come sis, we must be off while these wonderful saviors take care of these villains. Mum is probably beside herself." Faye sent a tearful glance her way, but kept backing through the door. Roth’s eyebrows lost none of their height, and he looked almost amused.

Faye sent her a meaningful glance meant to hurry her along, but Audrey was rooted in place. Stephen was squatting with his arms resting on his knees. He was staring at her.