Turner's Vision (6 page)

“Let me.” Her enthusiasm made him smile. “W H A L E R S. That doesn’t make much sense.”

“The next line spells reef.”

“The Whaler’s Reef. Now it makes sense.” A brief flicker of recognition crossed her face. Trying to cover her blunder, she added, “They must be meeting at a place called the Whaler’s Reef.”

Micah fought the urge to laugh. By her reaction she knew where the Whaler’s Reef was located. For some reason she didn’t want him to know that she knew of its existence. He had a feeling he wished she didn’t know about it either.

“T E N B E L L S.” Claudia turned curious eyes up to him when she finished deciphering the last line of words. “What does ten bells mean?”

He draped a hand over the back of her chair as he explained. “It’s a shipping term. It means ten o’clock. In this instance it is meant to throw us off the scent. Normally, that would mean ten in the morning. Twenty-two bells being ten at night. But since we know the meeting takes place at night, we will have to plan on it being at ten at night.”

“You don’t think they know we’ve been watching them, do you?” Suddenly, she didn’t sound as enthusiastic as before.

“I doubt it. They may just be taking precautions.” Micah knew there was every possibility that the amateur detectives had been discovered. But for some reason, he had the desire to erase the worry from her face. He should be warning her away from any further involvement in the case. Yet, he wasn’t ready to give up the contact with her. This woman intrigued him like no other in nearly twenty years, maybe not ever. Something drew him to her the more he was around her. It felt good. “Is there anything else we need to see in here?”

“No. Things are just as Laura and I described them to you.”

“The hour grows late. I suggest we get you back home.” He helped her up from the table, turning out the lamp as they left the workroom. “I’ll see you back to your house.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Claudia drew up short. In the dark, he ran full force into her. She fell toward the floor, only to be suddenly halted in midair by the steel strength of his arms wrapped around her.

“Don’t do that.” His deep voice whispered into her ear. Shivers shot down her spine though she wasn’t cold. Instead, she felt the heat radiating from him as he slowly pulled her close. “You are so small, I could have hurt you.”

Claudia’s breath caught in her throat.

His breath brushed against her neck,

Then, ever-so-slowly, he released her. She slid down the length of his hard body, until her feet were touching the floor. She held on to his arm to steady herself. He moved slightly back, then released her. As if it were midday, he walked straight to the doorway, seeming to see in the total darkness.

“Stand there while I open the drapes.”

For once, Claudia was glad to do exactly as he said. She didn’t think her knees would support her for anything more than standing, anyway. Just before letting her go, he had been so close to her, she thought he was going to kiss her again.

Claudia knew she was no beauty. Her strange mixture of coloring, long facial features, and formidable father had warned off any potential suitors when she was younger. And now her shyness and advanced age of thirty two worked to seal her fate. Yet, it would be nice to be desired like other women for one simple moment.

She let out a sigh.

“That’s the last of them.” Micah said coming to stand beside her. Moonlight filled the room, casting shadows from every shelf. “Now, let’s get you home. I don’t want your watchdogs out looking for me.”

“I don’t have any dogs, Micah.”

“I meant Henderson and the boys. Those are very loyal servants you have there, ma’am.” Reaching around her, he opened the door onto the street.

“They’re not servants.” They walked down the street from the library in the direction of her house. She stopped him at the corner. “They are all the family I have.”

“I know that, Claudia. That’s why I want to deliver you safely to them.”

“I am not some package, or child incapable of taking care of myself, Mr. Turner.” Even though he wasn’t touching her, he felt her stiffen. “In fact, this is as far as you need to go with me.”

“Claudia, I know you think you can take care of yourself.” He was no longer interested in acting the gentleman. The lady was behaving like a spoiled brat. “But I’m not about to let you wander the streets alone. These are dangerous people we are dealing with.”

“I will be just fine.” Before he knew it, she bolted down the alley, hopping into the carriage that pulled into the adjoining alley out of nowhere. If he hadn’t been watching, he would’ve thought she disappeared into the night.

“Damn it! Two can play at this game, Miss Davis.” Micah let out a low whistle. A second carriage appeared, this one at the next street corner. Racing to it, he instructed the driver to follow the carriage exiting the next alley. The driver nodded with a semi toothless grin and snapped his reins to set the team of blacks to task.

CHAPTER FIVE

Micah leaned out the carriage window to talk to his driver, his former sergeant. “Keep your distance, Kelly. I don’t want them to see us. Let’s just see what they’re up to.”

“Right, Captain.” The Irishman grinned. Pulling back on the horses’ reins, he allowed the front vehicle to pull ahead.

Micah sat back in the carriage seat, relaxed. The good sergeant would keep Claudia and her helpers within sight until they reached their destination.

When he’d asked Kelly to accompany him tonight, Micah could see the gleam of excitement in his eyes. Kelly was always the adventurer. The gold coins he’d offered the man had secured his aid.

He turned his thoughts to the woman in the carriage in front of him. What was she up to? Keeping her out of trouble wasn’t the only problem he had. No, his reactions to being near the woman were complicating things.

The temptation to kiss the column of her neck while he’d held her had nearly overwhelmed him. His body responded immediately. Usually, he didn’t react so violently to brief encounters such as this. Never had he met anyone like Claudia, either. He’d heard her deep sigh in the library as he uncovered the windows. It had been so hard not to walk back and take her in his arms.

There were many things he didn’t know about her. She kept herself hidden behind so many disguises. He was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to see the real woman. When he held her tonight, her slenderness imprinted itself on his mind. Despite the sweater bulkiness, the gentle swell of her breasts grazed his arm, her scent tantalizing his senses. Underneath her disguise there was definitely a woman.

It wasn’t just her physical appearance that she hid from him, though. Again tonight, she reacted spontaneously to the name Whaler’s Reef. Then tried to cover up her mistake before he could tell she’d had one.

Had she ever been to the Whaler’s Reef? Did she have any more information about Patrice? There were many questions yet to be answered by Miss Claudia Davis. He was going to need those answers soon.

They crossed a bridge into Alexandria, Virginia, a parcel of land that had originally been part of the capital. In 1846, Congress voted to return the land to the commonwealth of Virginia. This was where large, seagoing vessels had to dock when delivering cargo to Washington, since the water basin was deep enough to accommodate their hulls. Baltimore was actually the port to which most ships docked in the area. It served both the capital and the Maryland coastline.

They passed through the dock area itself, headed toward the warehouses. Micah knocked on the carriage roof for Kelly to stop. Alighting on the ground, he motioned for his former sergeant to join him.

“I have a feeling I know where they may be headed. I want you to stay back here, Kelly.” Micah pulled a hat over his blond hair, trying to appear as dark as his surroundings. “But be ready. I may be back with several guests.”

“Yes sir, Captain.” Kelly nearly saluted before climbing back onto his seat.

Micah sprinted down the brick paved street in the direction the first carriage had gone. He moved silently in his old moccasin boots. He’d purposely worn them, knowing they’d absorb the sound of his feet on the cobblestones.

Turning a corner, he ducked into a doorway to see who exited the carriage stopping a few buildings ahead.

As he watched, one of the young boys jumped out of the carriage and held the door. Expecting to see Claudia descend next, Micah was surprised to see the second boy jump out instead. Both lads were dressed completely in black, even the hats on their heads.

Instead of walking in the tavern’s direction, they ducked in behind the building next to the carriage. Micah started out after them, but stopped as Henderson started the team up, leaving the area.

Good. At least that woman had enough sense to not be involved in anything down here.

Micah ran between the buildings, coming up on the one the boys had darted behind. He looked down the alley and couldn’t see either one of them. He crept down the alley cautiously. A window stood half-open above Micah’s head on the building on his left.

He smiled.
Got you.

The boys had used several wooden crates to make a ladder to reach the bottom of the window. Standing underneath, Micah listened for sounds of the boys in the warehouse. There was a rustling sound, like papers being shuffled.

A scratch of wood.

A drawer being closed.

Two voices in quiet whisper.

Footsteps approaching the window.

A louder voice on the outside of the building, near the front, drew Micah’s attention away from the window. Moving flat against the brick wall, he headed to the front of the warehouse and peeked around the corner.

Two men—one tall and thin, the other, more stocky—were opening the door. Moonlight spilled from the clouds above, illuminating the thin man’s face.

Gibson.

Damn it.
The boys were going to get caught in there.

Micah sprinted back to the window. He had to get those boys out before they were discovered.

Just as he reached the window, a foot lowered to the first crate. They must have heard the men in the front, too. Micah waited for the first boy to get to the ground, then pulled him against his body, locking his arm into the boy’s rib cage at the same time he clamped his hand over his mouth. Micah held the kicking body, silently waiting for the second boy to emerge.

First, a foot came through the window, then a slender leg. As Micah watched, he was greeted by a familiar derriere clad in boys’ black trousers. Next came a torso clad in a thick, black sweater, and finally a black hat.

Releasing the first boy’s mouth, he hauled the second body against his in the same fashion as the first. Bourbon smooth eyes, round in surprise, turned to look into his. He hauled both of his captives up under his arms, like two bundles of rags, whispering as he walked back to the street.

“Not one word. Do you understand?”

The larger bundle nodded. Then more hesitantly, so did the smaller one.

When he reached the street, Micah began limping, dragging one leg behind him.

“Told ya two street rats, if’n I ever caught ya near me boat agin’ I’d tan yer hides,” Micah loudly drawled in a deep, Kentucky-hill accent he’d learned during the war. He continued to limp back to where he’d left Kelly. “An that’s just what yer gonna git. Then I may just turn ya over to the law.”

Behind him, Micah could hear laughter from the taverns, but no one pursued him and his prisoners. Around the last corner, he found Kelly holding the door to the carriage open. Micah heaved up the first bundle, then the second. Two loud humphs escaped as they landed on top of each other.

“Get us out of here, Kelly,” Micah instructed his man as he jumped in and closed the door. He settled in his seat, waiting for the forms across from him to untangle themselves and sit in the opposite seat.

“Hello, Claudia.”

“Hello, Micah.” She pulled the black hat off of her head, shaking out the thick waves of her dark-red hair. Then she turned a grinning face to her partner. “Well done, Adam.”

Lamplight flashed through the cab’s interior as they raced through the city streets. Micah never took his gaze off the creature in front of him. The pleasure of her adventure was written all over her face, which was smudged with dirt. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and her hair framed her face for the first time. Now he knew the woman before him. This woman touched him to the core.

She was the woman in his dreams.

“What the hell were you doing in that warehouse?” he nearly growled at her.

Claudia took out her handkerchief and began wiping the dirt off of her face. “If you really must know, we were following up on a clue, sir. Weren’t we, Adam?” She grinned at her accomplice.

“How could you take this boy into such a dangerous situation?”

She had the audacity to give him a disdainful look. “We were very careful, there is no need to make more out of it than necessary.”

Micah sat back, fighting the anger that surged through him. “I have been considering this situation from your point of view, madam. You obviously don’t want to give up your participation in this investigation. I thought to humor you.” He nailed her to the carriage with his gaze. “But after your escapade tonight, I don’t see how I can allow you to take such chances.”

“Allow me? Humor me?” Claudia’s sat straighter. “How dare you act as if you have any control over me, Mr. Turner. You are neither my legal guardian, nor a relative to decide for me in what I may or may not be involved. I have been taking care of myself for quite some time, and do not require your assistance in any form.”

“Lady, I don’t believe you know exactly what you’re involved in.” Micah’s voice was deadly cold. “There is more at stake here than your precious independence.”

“I believe I know what is at stake here. Laura is my closest friend. I want to be sure this evil is stopped before it can hurt her anymore.”

The carriage pulled up at the back of her town house. Micah opened the door, jumping down to help his passengers.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kelly.” He dismissed his driver, then turned to follow Claudia and Adam into the house.