Destiny of the Heart (Viking Destiny) (18 page)

Upon arriving back to London, Derrick made some
inquiries into the Lord Bentley. It turned out that Bentley wasn't
his real name. His real name was Jarrod Ashton, and he had
assumed a new identity because he was a deserter of the
Royal Navy. The man never attended social parties in London
because he didn't want someone to recognize him and get
caught; it had nothing to do with preferring the country life as
he had told Kristen and Mel, the lying bounder. He had joined
the Royal Navy when he was 17 and after his first tour had
vanished from service. Ashton was wanted by the king's
guards for treason, and Derrick suspected the inspector knew
who he was.

He didn't spend much time on Bentley, though. The
man would get what was coming to him eventually, but in the
meantime, Derrick was confident that Bentley would leave
Derrick and Kristen alone. Instead, he turned his attentions to
learning everything he could about Ashby. Mel had refused to
tell him anything beyond what he had already guessed to be
true, so he was in the process of getting a list of assets
together. It didn't take long, though. It seemed Ashby was in a
world of debt and was on the verge of being sent to debtor's
prison. Derrick surmised that if Kristen was as wealthy as Mel
said, then Ashby was trying to force himself on her to get her
money and repay his debts.

But, when he had all of Ashby's properties searched
and Kristen was nowhere to be found, Derrick became
downright angry and scared. He worried that perhaps Ashby
had taken Kristen to Scotland to get married. Not even Jack
and his crew of pirates had been able to find any leads. Jack
showed up on Derrick's doorstep to report, and it wasn't good
news.

Williams opened the door and admitted Jack, taking his
jacket and pointing him toward the study.
"Thank you, Williams."
"You're welcome, Mr. Jack."
Williams bowed and then departed, leaving Jack to
impart whatever news there was to impart. Jack sighed and
started for the study. Derrick was not going to be happy. When
he reached the door he knocked twice and waited for Derrick's
call to enter, then went inside.
Derrick looked up from his desk, and Jack frowned. He
had never seen Derrick looking so terrible, and he'd been
friends with him long enough to see some pretty rough times.
But just now, it looked like Derrick hadn't bathed in days. His
greasy hair was standing up on end and pointing in every
direction possible, as though Derrick had frequently been
pulling on it. His eyes were rimmed with red and dark circles
bruised the skin under his eyes. And to top it off, his clothes
were dirty and rumpled. Jack had never seen Derrick's clothes
dirty and rumpled
"Have you slept or eaten in the last few days?" Jack
asked, concerned.
"Have you found her?" Derrick asked, ignoring Jack's
question.
Jacked sighed. "No. There's been no trace of her or
Ashby. Even his neighbors haven't seen them."
"She's been missing five days, Jack. Anything could
have happened to her by now. How is it that a man with as
much debt as Ashby has vanished with Kristen. If he could just
vanish, he wouldn't need her. We're missing something. Keep
looking."
"Derrick - "
"Find her, Jack." Derrick said quietly.
Jack took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It's not
that he feared Derrick would hurt him because he was
confident that Derrick wouldn't. But, when Derrick's eyes lit up
like the devil, it was all Jack could do not to cross himself.
"We'll find her. But, there's something else you should
know."
"What?"
"Our shipment to Yen is late. He is anxious to know
where it is."
Derrick snorted. "You may tell Yen I'll get it to him when
I get it to him."
"I do not think that is wise - "
"We find Kristen first, then we'll talk about the shipment,
Jack."
Jack nodded and left. He didn't think it was a good idea
to put a man like Yen off for much longer, but Derrick certainly
had the money to smooth things over with Yen, so he
supposed that's why Derrick wasn't worried about it. Either
that, or the stories were true and Derrick had altogether lost
his mind where Kristen was concerned.
As Jack skipped down the steps from Derrick's house,
he was approached by two large men. He looked between
them warily but held his ground.
"Can I help you?" He asked haughtily.
"Are you Derrick Shane's man?" The larger of the two
asked.
"I'm acquainted with him, but I do not conduct his
affairs."
"We need to speak to him."
"I'm afraid now isn't the best time. You might try him - "
"It's about his lady friend."
Jack cocked a brow and stared between them. They
were bulky, but Jack was confident Derrick could take them if
needed. Jack nodded and motioned for them to follow him
back up the stairs. At the top, he knocked on the door and
Williams opened it. Williams stared at the two large men and
then looked at Jack. Jack nodded, and Williams let them in.
Jack led them to the study and didn't even bother knocking.
He found Derrick in the same position he had been in when
Jack left, and a sudden sense of worry washed over Jack. He
questioned his decision to bring them here in Derrick's
condition without knowing what they wanted first.
"Who are they?" Derrick asked.
"Don't know. They stopped me in the street and said
they had information about Kristen."
Derrick flew up out of his chair and around the desk so
fast that Jack and the two goons were taken by surprise.
Whatever Derrick's mental state, where Kristen was
concerned, he was alert and ready.
"What do you know?"
The bigger of the two was the one who had spoken
before, and he was the one to speak now.
"We was hired by Ashby to snatch the girl, but
someone else offed him. They made off with the girl and left
us without payment."
Derrick sighed in angry frustration. "How is that useful?"
"Perhaps a little payment will help jog our memories."
The large man said.
Derrick grunted but walked back to his desk. He
opened a drawer and took out a bag of coins. He came back
and tossed it to the goon.
"I think you will find that will cover more than double
what I'm sure Ashby promised you. Now, where is she?"
The goon was unaffected by the dangerous tone in
Derrick's voice. He calmly opened the bag and peered at the
coins inside. It was indeed more than double what Ashby had
promised them. He looked at Derrick in surprise, but took a
faltering step back when he got a look at the strange lord.
Most men had heard of Derrick Shane. He was the one they
said was born of the devil, and his glowing eyes didn't help
that particular impression. Nor did his temper. Derrick Shane
had been known to beat a challenger within an inch of his life.
The Shane family was not one to trifle with, so any thoughts
the two goons had about robbing Derrick for more money
quickly left their minds once they got a look at the man behind
the legend.
"We followed the carriage. Something ain't right with
Ashby, and we figured he'd stiff us. But, while we was
following, we heard a pistol go off. The carriage rode back to
London, down to the wharf and into the really dirty part of
town. Nuthin' good happens down there, you know? So, we
sees this cloaked lady drag your lady outta the carriage. She
cracked your lady over the head and took her inside."
"Can you take me there?"
The large man scratched his cheek in thought. "Seems
to me we've risked a lot to tell you this much."
Derrick walked behind his desk, opened a drawer, and
took out another bag of coins. He tossed them to the thugs
and scowled darkly.
"Now then, you were saying?"
"I think Petey and me can remember the way." The
goon answered.
Derrick motioned for them to precede him, and they left.

Kristen was sure she had been gone from the country
party at least a week, but it had been one of the longest weeks
of her life so she wasn't entirely sure. She was kept in the
cage until it was time to fight, and then she was thrown in the
ring with men more than twice her size. She had held her own,
but she was hungry and weak as her captor hadn't bothered to
feed her. As Kristen trembled in the darkness, she realized
she might very well die in that cage, and it certainly wasn't the
way she envisioned going. The door to the room she was kept
in opened, and the light slivered over to her in the cage. It was
all Kristen could do not to moan in fear. She didn't have much
more left in her.

"You know, I've got to hand it to you, your highness,
you have lasted a lot longer than I originally gave you credit
for, but at some point, you are going to die. Wouldn't it just be
easier to quit now?"

The woman who had kidnapped Kristen had been
taunting her every day since taking her. The voice was
familiar, but Kristen still couldn't place it. It didn't matter though
because Kristen wasn't going to beg for her life; especially as
that was what the woman wanted. She lifted her chin a notch
and remained silent.

The cage was opened, and Kristen was yanked out. It
was the same as it had been before. The rough hands of the
hired muscle groped her unnecessarily, but she remained
quiet. The first time he had put his filthy hands on her she
fought back, but that only excited him more. She learned if she
ignored him he would leave her alone. But, she vowed that if
she made it out of there alive, she would slit his throat.

He shoved her down the hallway that lead up to a
musty room. Kristen could smell the blood and sweat even
before reaching the room, and it had the same effect on her
that it always did. Her stomach turned and bile rose in her
throat. She swallowed it back and continued forward. When
they reached the room, there were the normal catcalls she
had received from the moment she had stepped foot in that
room. But, those who had been coming to watch her fight
regularly knew what she was capable of, and it was these
people who seemed to cheer for her.

As she walked toward the cage that was wrapped
around the ring, her legs began to tremble and she had a hard
time walking. The fence was over ten feet high, so any hope
she had of climbing it was out of the question. They pad
locked the cage until someone was victorious, and these were
to-the-death fights. Whoever this woman was, she wanted
Kristen dead in a big way. That, coupled with the fact that she
kept referring to Kristen as "your highness," made Kristen
rethink Mel's theory about someone from Norway being
responsible for her family's deaths.

But, she didn't know how she would make it through
this fight. Usually the mystery woman put her through two
fights a night, which Kristen figured was reasonably fair all
things considered. For someone who wanted it to look like an
accident, she was doing a good job. People who truly knew
Kristen would know this wasn't something she would do for
sport, but word would eventually get around that Kristen
wasn't exactly the typical London debutante, and when that
happened, this wouldn't seem like it was a staged murder. But,
all the mental stress of her reputation aside, Kristen was
exhausted.

The hired muscle holding her arm stopped just outside
the cage to open the lock. Kristen got a look at her opponent
and cringed. He was a brute. Well over six feet tall and solid
muscle; it looked like just hitting him would break her hand.
But, on top of that, he didn't look like he had a soul and would
have no problem killing a woman he had never met before.
The feral glint in his eyes when he saw her only increased her
trepidation.

Once the lock was opened, the hired muscle grabbed
Kristen's arm and tossed her in the cage, then quickly locked
the door. Kristen wanted to plead, she wanted to escape the
madness, but she refused to give into this mystery woman. If
she were going to die, then she would at least die with her
dignity intact. She faced off with the man opposite her and
schooled her features. She grabbed every ounce of rage she
could summon and blanketed that as strength. It was quite
useful in certain situations. She just hoped it would be enough
this time.

Her opponent lunged, bringing his arm down as though
he were swinging an axe. She dodged out of the way and
quickly dropped to sweep his legs out from under him. With
him on his back, she kicked with everything she had to his
temple, but he was quicker than she thought and blocked the
kick by grabbing her leg and swinging her around like a rag
doll. He tossed her across the cage and she slammed into the
fence, then fell to the ground. She got up quickly because he
bulled his way right toward her, and she spun out of his path,
but not before he got a solid punch to her shoulder.

Kristen was pretty sure something snapped with as
hard as he hit her, but she gritted her teeth and backed away.
She needed a new approach with this guy. If Kristen had to
guess, he'd been to every one of her previous fights and knew
which side, and which moves, she favored. He was also
quicker than she gave him credit for off the cuff. So, she
planted her feet and waited for him to come to her. When he
did, he got a solid kick to the groin for his efforts. Before his
knees even hit the ground, Kristen whaled on him with several
blows to the head.

But, she didn't retain the advantage for long. Before she
knew it, he had her flipped on her back and was straddling
her. He licked his lips in anticipation for the death blow she
knew was coming. She just didn't have the strength to
continue. He must have sensed her acquiesce because he
frowned at her. She closed her eyes, expecting the blow to be
quick. The man growled, and she felt his body shift slightly as
his arm began its decent.

Suddenly, a shot rang out through the room and
several things happened at once. The man on top of her
staggered back, yelling, and the room exploded into panic,
with several sets of footsteps coming toward her. She opened
her eyes and peered at the room upside down, blinking rapidly
to clear her vision, and then flipped over to be sure it wasn't
simply her imagination. But, as far as she could tell, she was
still sane. That was Derrick Shane who had just stormed in to
rescue her.