The Runner's Enticement (Men of Circumstance Book 2) (21 page)

Chapter 35

With his plan set to commence, Nate couldn’t dwell on his earlier conversation with Anna. Not now. He might have the thief in custody before the morning. He could agonize over Anna later.

As supper concluded, his muscles twitched and years of training kicked in. Lawson would be proud of how Nate’s instincts could rule at a moment’s notice. He stifled his smile. His supervisor would more likely produce some well-worded, but equally indecipherable riddle, to fit the situation.

The servants cleared the last of the supper plates as Brodford and Thomas left the table to finish their work before Thomas returned to Egypt. Nate regarded Anna from across the table. Delightful distraction aside, he couldn’t ignore the subtle changes in her since they’d agreed to keep their relationship out of the bedroom. She’d remained friendly, but if forced to explain these alterations in her behavior, he’d say she’d dimmed. As if a light had gone out.

He vowed once he closed the case and Jarvis was dealt with, he’d find a way to return the shine to her eyes. For now, he had to steer her to the library where his plan would play out. He wished he could leave her to her own devices until the thief took the bait. He couldn’t risk her safety, on a chance The Viper revealed himself somewhere near the estate.

“I’m in the mood for some reading. Care to retire to the library, or do you have something else planned?”

Toiling with her table napkin, she startled at his question, emphasizing her odd distraction.

She recovered quickly. “I have nothing planned. The library will do fine.”

The matter settled, with the ubiquitous Bes bell in hand, they retreated to the library.

Once in the room, surrounded by shelves of books, Nate made a point of placing the box containing the bell on the most centralized table. Anyone either entering or passing the room could see it. He also avoided glancing in the far left corner of the room—

The one dark in shadow, cloaking Foxmoore’s presence.

When Anna had been preparing for supper, Nate had taken a quick detour to the library to confirm Foxmoore had established his position and they were prepared for what the rest of the evening would bring.

“Were you planning on reading anything particular?”

Still focused on getting everything in place, her question caught him off guard. Luckily he was prepared and had a book in mind, even though he would have only about fifteen minutes of imaginary reading before Grant sounded the alarm. Nothing must go wrong.

“Actually, I do. One caught my eye the other day.” He crossed to the self and retrieved the book. “How about yourself? A gothic novel perhaps?”

Aware Foxmoore observed the entire scene, Nate struggled to keep everything professional. He’d already endangered Anna’s reputation to the point of ruin.

A full smile curved her lips with such enticement, he yearned to lick along its upper bow. Hopefully the distance he kept would prevent Foxmoore from noticing the erotic tension flaring between him and Anna.

“You’ve found my secret. Not many know of my obsession with gothic novels. I’m afraid it doesn’t appear very scholarly,” Anna replied.

Why did everything she say have to sound sensual? He’d be more successful keeping his hands off her if she didn’t continuously do things that fascinated his cock.

To keep his sanity, he steered clear of her and found a comfortable looking chair set off to the side, ensuring Anna remained out of arms’ reach, yet close enough to the door to be ready for the next phase of his plan.

Each with book in hand, the room fell silent and Nate somehow remembered to casually turn the page every so often to further his ruse. In truth, he wasn’t focused on a single word, enabling him to study her under his lowered lids. Her eyes remained on the book in her hands, but she hadn't turned a page, either.

If only he could read her as easily as a book. To ascertain what went on in her head. Nothing was so simple, otherwise he’d have been able to determine the contents of his own head days ago.

Solid thuds of booted feet rushing down the hall penetrated his thoughts and Nate returned his attention to what needed to be done. Since the idea was to rouse as much of the household as possible, Nate had instructed Grant to create the loudest commotion he could while demanding of everyone he came across as to Nate’s whereabouts.

When the ruckus got closer and impossible to avoid, Nate glanced up and caught Anna’s gaze, hoping he appeared as confused as she.

Before either of them got to their feet, Grant burst through the doorway, effectively bringing a handful of servants in his wake. “Nate! We need you. Joseph was about to relieve Henry when he spotted someone they think could be the thief. They are heading after him now.”

Without a word, Nate leaped to his feet and raced after Grant. As he’d hoped, the servants and Anna followed.

Leaving the bell unattended.

Nate and Grant continued to toss back previously rehearsed comments as they rushed from the house, gaining more servants along the way. Everything was falling into place when Brodford exited the parlor with Thomas on his heels.

“What in the blazes is going on?”

Barely slowing his steps, Nate threw his response over his shoulder. “My men believe they’ve located the thief. Keep everyone in the house. We don’t know what we are dealing with.”

He caught the earl’s approval and quick nod. A stab of guilt for misleading the man hit Nate in the chest. He forced it away knowing the deception would prove worthwhile.

With the servants essentially locked inside with the bell, Nate and Grant exited the house and turned in the direction of the stable.

“Now what?”

Nate had expected Grant’s question. When he’d enlisted the man’s help, Nate had shared only what Grant needed to know to make the past few minutes play out as they had. The reason behind Nate’s unusual request hadn’t been one of them. Thankfully, Grant trusted Nate enough to take him at his word.

“Now, we stay out of sight.”

Clear of the house and hidden in the darkness, they slowed their steps. “What happens when you return to the house without the crook?”

Nate wanted to tell his man of his hunch but something held him back. “If everything works out as planned, it won’t be an issue.”

Familiar with Nate’s past schemes to catch their target, Grant continued to walk in silence. Once they’d reached the side of the house facing the library, Nate stopped. From here he would wait for Foxmoore’s signal, a light being extinguished in the window. Then it would be time to return and see who he'd caught in his web.

He didn’t need Grant to keep him company. “I can proceed from here. Just keep your head down for the time being. No one in the stable knows of the concocted thief sighting and shouldn’t affect the plan but I’d rather they didn’t see you until it is over.”

“When will that be?”

Nate looked to the window. “Hopefully not long.”

Chapter 36

Anna sorted through her confusion. Since she knew the person Nate’s man had spotted was most definitely
not
the thief, who could they be racing after? She paced along the windows of the parlor wishing she could see through the darkness.

As Nate had rushed from the house, chasing an unknown stranger, she’d had to swallow her confession. The only thing silencing her was knowing nothing remotely dangerous ever happened in their section of the country.

Nate would be safe and before long, back in the house grumbling about not catching his target. She just needed to keep reminding herself.

Excited with the prospect of having the culprit apprehended, her father and Thomas had returned to their work believing Nate had it under control. Knowing Nate would return emptyhanded and wash the joy from her father’s face, Anna couldn’t remain and witness his disappointment.

“Papa, I need something from my room.”

Her father narrowed his eyes at her and she knew he wanted to object. The last few days, he’d been as determined as Nate to keep her from being alone. With the weight of everything pushing down on her, she had nearly given up caring why.

“I promise to be careful.” Though she didn’t see the need since she resided in her own home. “I’ll only be gone shortly.”

He studied her a bit longer before nodding his head. “Very well, dear, but hurry back.”

Afraid he’d change his mind, she rushed from the room. Once out of his sight, she slowed her steps, not sure where she was headed. She just needed to escape.

She glanced toward the front hall and knew Carson would be there physically keeping everyone in the house, just as she knew her father had locked all the doors leading outside. He hadn’t wanted to risk someone sneaking from the house and either endangering themselves or getting in the way of Nate catching the criminal.

An hour had passed since Nate had run from the house and with every minute, her worry increased. Surely they’d discovered their error by now.

Anna started to walk past the library, on the way to her room, when the solitary item on the table caught her eye. She froze in the hallway and stared at the box. During the commotion, Nate had forgotten the bell.

Emotion swirled in her stomach. She was afraid she’d be sick. For the last two days, she’d wanted nothing more than to be alone with the bell. To secure her final chance to save the school. Now, after more time with Nate and admitting she would be betraying not only her father but the man she loved, she hesitated.

As if the bell pulled her, Anna crept into the room, despite an inner voice screaming to run in the other direction. To forget she’d ever seen the wretched artifact.

When she finally stood over the box, all the reasons why she needed to take it rumbled through her head. Mr. Rollins. Clara. Other students forced to give up their dreams of betterment.

Poised to lift the box from the table, her fingers trembled when thoughts of her father and what the Bes bell meant to him interceded. Followed swiftly by Nate’s dedication to apprehending the thief and her father trusting him to keep the bell safe. Moreover, here she stood, about to betray him, and the possibility existed she could be carrying his child.

The debate played out in her head so loudly, the room faded from her mind, the box holding the bell all that remained. At one point the candlelight in the room even seemed to dim.

Anna’s fingers twitched as she reached toward the bell, struggling with what she should do. Before she could change her mind, with a silent sob she grabbed the box. Pain slicing her heart, so strongly she almost bent over, Anna clutched the relic to her chest. Hating her actions warred with the relief she felt, that her perfidy would soon be finished.

Perhaps after she restored everything to her father—which she vowed to do even if she had to go to Egypt and dig new artifacts with her own hands—he would find a way to forgive her and she’d find a way to live with herself.

As for Nate, he would never forgive her. He had no reason to. He’d probably be pleased to have an out. If he ever learned she was the thief, he’d escort her to prison himself. She would deserve it.

Despite the solution to rid herself of Mr. Rollins in her hand, she couldn’t get her feet to move toward the door. She could only stare at the box holding the one thing that would be her savior
and
her ultimate downfall. Could she find a different way? One that didn’t end with deceiving her father and Nate? She still had time before Mr. Rollins’ ultimatum ended.

Maybe she could look at the school’s finances again. What if she talked with her father? She suspected she’d never need her dowry. He might be willing to let her donate it to the school. Didn’t she owe it to her father—to herself—to at least try?

Before thoughts of all the students she might be failing affected her resolve, she spun to replace the box on the table. She would return to the parlor and forget she’d almost destroyed her father’s life ambition. No one would ever know.

“What the hell are you doing, Anna?”

Chapter 37

Nate stood in the doorway of the library. Disbelief and not anger controlled his words. Because, despite what he witnessed, he didn’t want to believe Anna could be the thief. That during all his frustrations over the additional robberies, she hadn’t been standing at his side—hell, sharing her bed—all the while knowing where each of the stolen items had gone.

She spun around so fast he was surprised she managed to hold onto her plunder.
Damn
! How hadn’t he seen it? The secrets she wouldn’t share? The thief gaining access to
her
father’s treasures and somehow disappearing without being seen? Lawson would have Nate’s head for his stupidity.

“Nate! What are you doing here?”

“I think I should be asking the questions since you are the one making off with the bell.” He glanced to the proof still clenched in her hands. He almost broke at the sadness in her eyes as she followed his gaze. But he didn’t. Anger quickly absorbed his doubt, hardening his outlook.

Panic filled her eyes. “You are supposed to be out after the thief.”

His rage threatened to boil over. “You mean the very thief who is standing before me? It seems I’ve caught my man—or should I say
woman
—after all.”

“But . . . it isn’t . . . I wasn’t . . .” She stumbled over her words before taking a breath and starting again, her voice soft. “Why did you return?”

Nate noticed she hadn’t admitted anything. A foolish part of him wanted to be wrong. When it had become evident she’d caused Foxmoore to signal him with the extinguished candle, Nate had longed to back from the room and pretend he'd seen nothing.

Foxmoore used Anna’s question as the time to reveal his part in the plan, stepping from the shadowy corner of the room, catching her attention.

Disbelief rounded her eyes as she spun back to Nate. “You tricked me!”

“I tricked you? You made a fool of me!” He roared the words, beyond caring. To think he’d thought he felt something for the traitorous miss. “And for what? Doesn’t your father spoil you enough? Did you need funds to order more gowns than he’d allowed?”

Her face exploded with anger. Good, maybe she’d experience a fraction of the rage coursing through his blood. “How dare you! After everything . . . after I gave you my body, you accuse me of being petty and shallow?”

“Are you sure you want to go that way, princess? Because I can accuse you of something very similar. Did you fuck me to simply throw off my investigation?”

She flinched as if he’d slapped her. He knew his words had been beyond crass but he didn’t particularly care. He’d thought she was different. That what she carried on the inside matched the beauty he found on the outside.

Foxmoore cleared his throat, reminding Nate he and Anna were not alone. Damn! She’d just shouted the fact he’d ruined her, which he’d loudly confirmed. Luckily, the man Nate called family could be trusted. The very reason he had recruited Foxmoore to help ferret out the thief in the first place.

Nate kept his hard gaze locked with Anna’s when Foxmoore spoke. “I will leave the two of you to figure this out. I’ll think of a reason to explain my appearance to Brodford.” Before Foxmoore passed by Nate, he lowered his voice. “Tread carefully, my friend.” Then he was gone.

Alone with Anna, his anger deflated. Leaving only sadness. How could he have been so wrong about her? Was she just another Diana hidden behind the veneer of a subtly beautiful wallflower? A part of him refused to believe it. Which could most likely lead to his downfall.

Needing privacy—because he wasn’t ready for her father to learn of her involvement—Nate reached to the side and shut and locked the door.

The click of the lock vibrated through the room but she continued to stand silent, box still in hand.

“Why don’t you set the bell down since we both know I can’t allow you to leave with it.”

She considered the object in her hand as if she forgot she still possessed it. Then, silently she placed it on the short table where he’d left it.

“Why, Anna?” The question slipped out of his mouth before he could swallow it. He didn’t desire to be under her spell any longer. He wanted to be hard. Return to the committed Runner who always solved the case no matter what. Obviously some place inside him couldn’t let her go. “Just tell me why. Does this have something to do with the man from the garden? Is he blackmailing you?” He knew he was pleading . . . begging . . . but he’d give anything for it to be true. For the situation to be out of her control. Something to prove she hadn’t willingly betrayed him. He knew firsthand how a blackmailer’s demands could compel a man to do something he’d never expected.

Free of the bell, her slight hands fidgeted with the sides of her dress. At first he thought she wouldn’t answer. That she wouldn’t satisfy him by lifting her eyes to his. Yet, before he could press her further, her blue-green eyes met his. The misery mingled with regret pierced his chest. He hadn’t necessarily wanted it but he’d expected her to show no regret. That she would feel justified for stealing from her own father. He silenced the voice trying to convince him that her current anguish was only because she’d been caught.

“What are you going to do? Arrest me? Turn me over to my father?” Her questions floated across the floor, each one asked with such finality he knew she suspected all the answers to be an affirmation.

They should. First, he needed
his
answers. Something to help him understand how the woman who smiled at him with such openness after he brought her to sweet release could be cold enough to deceive her father not once but many times. He didn’t have the strength to touch on what she’d done to him. He was still too raw.

He ignored her questions. “Why, Anna? Help me understand.”

“For the school. It was all for the school.” Her voice was steady and he couldn’t stifle the respect at her determination not to cower. “Remember me telling you of the changes I’d made to the school after taking over? The ones enabling young ladies without funds to attend?”

He nodded, confused as to what the school had to do with the stolen artifacts.

“Well, despite my best efforts, things didn’t proceed as I’d planned. Some of the parents of the more affluent ladies pulled their daughters from the school. They didn’t want them to associate with girls they felt to be inferior. Needless to say, it caused a financial strain. A downhill slope I could only stop by lending what I needed to keep the school going.”

“How did you keep it from the board?”

“I presented it as a contribution from an anonymous donor. There had already been some resistance when I’d become of age and taken control.” The corners of her lips dropped further. “I guess they were right to be concerned. I’d wanted so much for the school. To change its direction. A deed to make my mother proud. In the end, all I did was destroy it.”

“How so? What does stealing the items have to do with running the school?”

“You were right to ask about the man from the garden. Only he isn’t blackmailing me. Not exactly.” No longer fussing with her dress, she started to move about the room. “Mr. Rollins is the benefactor who offered to lend the money to keep the school open.”

Nate thought back to the night in the Witterson’s garden. There had been nothing friendly or businesslike about the man he’d seen Anna with. If she had trusted this Rollins enough to take money from him, there was either more to their relationship—something rather impossible since
he’d
taken Anna’s innocence—or something had changed. He wouldn’t put it past someone taking advantage of Anna’s nature. She was far from foolish but he could see her being too trusting.

He kept silent, waiting for her to finish. With him between her and the door, she wouldn’t be leaving until he uncovered all her secrets.

“Things were going along very well. Instead of focusing on daughters of peers, I’d convinced the board to alter the curriculum to attract families of merchants. Those who might not have adequate funds to support their daughters’ schooling and not necessarily welcomed alongside the peerage. The school would offer classes in refinement and social graces, along with a broad range of math, sciences, and languages, which would help the girls mix with nobles without worrying about being inept.”

She roamed from one chair to the other as she explained the circumstances. Eventually she made her way to the table by the window. The one holding the extinguished candle. The one Foxmoore had used to bring Nate back to the library. He shoved back the guilt edging past his better senses. She had deceived
him
. He had nothing to atone for.

“With what I suspect had been his plan all along, Mr. Rollins continued to increase the payments due. Between the increased fees and interest, the money from the school was no longer able to sustain the demands. When the money ran out, Mr. Rollins proposed a different form of payment or he would cease the school.”

Her voice lowered as she fingered the candlestick. “He suggested Papa’s artifacts. It was only supposed to be one. Even then I’d planned to buy it back from Mr. Rollins once the school started the next term. Only one didn’t appease him. He continued to implement additional fees and demanded immediate payment. I had no choice but to take more. Especially after he’d threatened to go to Papa with what I’d done.” She faced Nate once more. “I couldn’t allow that. Not until I could make everything right. I couldn’t hurt Papa with the news that I’d not only failed the school but I’d failed him.”

He studied her. Her story sounded reasonable but could he believe her? An hour earlier and he wouldn’t have questioned anything out of her beautiful mouth. Now he couldn’t be certain. Impartiality be damned; he wanted too desperately for her to be the person he’d first opened his heart to.

“You don’t think you haven’t already hurt him? That each missing artifact hasn’t torn into him?”

Her eyes squeezed shut and there was no mistaking his words had a bigger impact than she’d admit. He’d seen it before. Confronted by capture, a person elected self-preservation. She might be hurting on the inside but she’d do anything to keep him from knowing how deep it cut.

Unfortunately for Anna, he understood her far too well. And it wasn’t years of training allowing him to decipher her emotions. Somehow during their time together, he’d gained the ability to read her eyes. Even when he didn’t know about her deceit, he’d sensed she’d been hiding something. Little did he know it had the power to rip him in half.

“I just hoped the pain he’d felt at losing something that wasn’t truly his, would be less than if he discovered what I’d done,” she admitted brokenly.

He still didn’t understand why she’d started down the road that led to her continued thievery. “Why even do it? Is the school worth the risk of being branded a thief?”

“I know you won’t believe me but I wasn’t going to take the bell. I was about to put it back when you walked in.”

She was right. He didn’t believe her.

“I couldn’t do it to Papa.” She turned soft eyes on him. “I couldn’t do it to you.”

He might not believe her but a portion of him—the area around his foolish heart—weakened toward her.

“I was going to go to Papa and ask for my dowry. I will never need it and it would be more than adequate to pay off Mr. Rollins. I would have to admit failure with the school but at least it would be over. At first I was doing everything for my mother. To achieve for her the legacy she couldn’t earn herself. She didn’t have the chance to do all the things she should have done.”

Her circling around the room brought her closer to him. “It was too late by time I understood I’d been doing everything for the wrong parent. In trying to honor her memory, I was destroying the person I should have been devoted to. Papa sacrificed his dream of digging his own artifacts for me. He made choices that were best for
me
. All I did in return was tarnish everything.”

She stopped in front of him. The tears filling her eyes enhanced the green of them. Before he could talk himself out of it, he took a step forward and pulled her into his arms.

“You did what you thought was right.” He might not trust her but he no longer believed she’d taken the artifacts out of malice. Mostly misdirected, she hadn’t gone into it wanting to hurt anyone.

She sniffled against his chest, crying in earnest. Hers weren’t tears meant to sway him. He had a feeling she’d already tortured herself over her choices.

He did the only thing he could do at the moment. Hold her. After her admission he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to give her more. As misguided as she’d been, she’d lied to him. All the while demanding honesty from him.

He considered all she’d told him and despite a few holes still needing to be filled, one thing was clear. Rollins wasn’t as benevolent as he wanted to appear. He might not be blatantly blackmailing Anna but he sure as hell was extorting her. Whatever the man’s original motive for lending her the money, Nate suspected it had nothing to do with the school.

Either way, Nate knew where to find Brodford’s artifacts. He didn’t know if Anna merited his help, but he also couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Especially since Brodford didn’t deserve to have his world blown apart. Very few nobles had welcomed Nate. From day one, Brodford had treated him with respect and as an equal. A deed Nate would repay by attempting to restore things to right.

As for Anna, Nate wasn’t sure yet. While he’d held her, her arms had snaked around his waist. He couldn’t deny there was a pull to bury his face in her hair and forget all he’d learned. There’d never been a time when he’d set aside being a Runner. He always followed his case through to the end and
never
had he turned his back so a criminal could go free. A man had his integrity, after all.

Was he willing to set it aside for Anna? A woman who, no matter how noble her intentions, had lied to him?

She sniffled once more.
Hell
. He would. At least until he could determine all his options.

He forced his hands to her shoulders and pushed her away from his chest. “You know this must be dealt with, don’t you? I can’t just ignore it.” He felt reassured of his decision when all she did was nod. If she’d begged for leniency, he might have changed his mind. “First, we need to track down Rollins. As far as Foxmoore could learn, none of the artifacts have exchanged hands, so if you gave them to Rollins, I suspect he still has them.”