Her whole body convulsed. Crap. “Soup,” she responded immediately. They always had soup first.
He narrowed his eyes at her.
“And meat, vegetables, pudding, pickles….” They’d had those things every night along with an assortment of other items. “If you don’t believe me you can ask your uncle. He’d be happy to tell you what we discussed, I’m sure.” As long as she got to him first.
“Forgive me my doubt, but I do believe I’ll keep my foil at the ready regardless,” he said.
“What’s a foil?” she asked. Like aluminum?
His lips twitched almost imperceptibly. “Tell me, Elizabeth,” he said in a way that made her feel he was daring her to call him out on his use of her name, “when you’re not at Bristle Park, what is it you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, when you’re not playing the part of Miss Elizabeth Shea, what is it you do? For a living, to be more clear?”
She bristled. They weren’t supposed to talk about this! But then, she was suddenly curious about his intentions. “Why do you want to know?”
He shrugged. “I’m curious. It’s one of my many failings, I’m sure.”
“Curiosity killed the cat.” She eyed the door over Daley’s shoulder.
“It also discovered the world was round, landed a man on the moon, and ascertained that we are having soup, meat, vegetables, pudding, and pickles for dinner tonight.” He placed a hand on the bookshelf to his right, effectively blocking her from the door. “So?”
“Guess.” She wanted to slap a hand over her mouth.
Ah, now he was smiling for real. “Are you sure you want me to?”
She stopped breathing when his gaze fell on her in such a way that she felt he was looking through her and not at her. She even had the ridiculous urge to look behind her to see if someone was there. No, no! She did not want this man guessing what she did for a living. But she couldn’t back down, or he’d know she was hiding something.
“Sure,” she said lifting a hand briefly as a signal to go ahead, “why not? I don’t think we’re supposed to be talking about this here, but as long as no one is listening.”
“Trust me,” he said, “no one is listening.”
A shiver shot right up her spine. He appraised her a moment longer, and she looked for something she could use as a weapon? The glass decanter?
“You’re not from California, but you’ve been here for awhile.”
“A lot of people move to California from other places, easy guess.” She fought the urge to squirm.
“But you have a slight accent—it’s almost completely gone now. If I had to guess I’d say you were from… Boston?”
Okay, that was a little unnerving, but her accent used to be a lot thicker than it now was and she supposed there were still some words in there where an accent would be easy to hear. Regardless, she was careful to remain apathetic. “That’s right.”
“And you’re the oldest sibling and the only girl, correct?”
Her gut wrenched. “How—What makes you say that?”
“You’re protective, especially where Miss Cross is concerned. Although you’re not completely comfortable around women and are a bit of a tomboy. Hence: brothers.” He hunched down to look her in the eyes. “This whole experience has been something of a roller coaster ride for you, hasn’t it? Being around women, making girlfriends, wearing dresses and fancy hairdos, allowing yourself to be wooed, calling on your inner Lizzie to get you through…”
“It’s Elizabeth.”
He chuckled.
She squared her shoulders and back-pedaled “So are you going to guess my profession or not?”
His smile fell, and he was once again looking at her, instead of through her. She wasn’t sure which of the two she liked better—both made her uneasy. “Not, I think. I will, however, help you find a book. That’s why you’re in here, is it not, dear cousin?” He made his way back to the other side of the room, started looking through different books and left her standing where she was—just as confused as ever.
Oh, so they were back to cousin, were they? Well, she wasn’t stupid. She knew that in a round-about-way he’d just interrogated her, and regardless of the fact that she could see no point to the game they’d just played, she decided it was her turn. “Why are you here, Mr. Daley?”
His hand stopped over a book for a moment, seemingly caught off guard by her question. “Here at Bristle Park,” he asked, “or here in the library?”
“At Bristle Park, or Regencyland, whichever you like. You seem well-educated, charming, witty, and you’re handsome. Why is a guy like you in a place like this?”
He pulled a book from the shelf and stacked it on top of the one he already had in his hand. He puffed his chest out. “Thank you. That’s quite the compliment.”
“Just an observation,” she said and meant it. Her clinical mind was in control now and when he recognized that he deflated a little. “You haven’t answered my question.”
He stalked toward her. “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me why someone like you would be here and I will tell you why someone like me would do the same. Agreed?” He extended a hand.
Crap! How was it that he kept turning things around on her like that? It was an impressive skill. “Deal. Friends from my work signed me up without me knowing. I’m here on a bet.”
He nodded. “A bet?”
“That’s right,” she said. “It’s your turn.”
He smiled, his blinding smile. “I’m here for my uncle. He asked me to come and so I did.”
She frowned. It sounded like the truth, but that made no sense. “Why’d he ask you to come?”
“That, I’ll keep to myself.”
Of course, just when the conversation was getting interesting.
He faced a bookshelf and removed a book, then handed it to her. “Here.”
“What is it?” No title adorned the front or spine. She opened to the first page.
“Pride and Prejudice,” he said.
“Oh.”
“You don’t want to read it?”
She thought about that a minute. “I guess it’s as good as any. I didn’t have a book in mind when I came in here.”
“You seem disappointed.”
“No, not really. It’s just I’ve heard of this one. I guess I was hoping for something more… exotic?”
He shook his head. “Hearing of Pride and Prejudice is an entirely different matter than knowing it. Trust me on this. Besides, there are a few things in there, pearls of wisdom as it were, that I believe you’ll be happier for knowing.”
“Okay.” She tilted her head, then glanced at the book he held. “What do you have?”
A wicked gleam had appeared in his eyes before he said, “Lord Byron’s Don Juan—just as you suggested.”
“Oh,” her face warmed, “ha ha. That’s… funny.”
“You can read it if you like, after I’ve had my turn.”
“No thanks, I’ve already read it.” She stared at him blank-faced.
He came up short and stared back, eyes wide. Then he chuckled. “Liar.”
She threw her hands up. “Caught me.”
“Now we must head to lunch before our friends get any ideas.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to the door.
She knit her brow together as they came out of the library and crossed the hall. “Ideas about what?”
“You. Are. Fun.” He emphasized every word with a cheery lilt. He tapped the cover of Pride and Prejudice, winked, and stepped aside to let her go into the dining room first.
Chapter Twenty
Entering the dining room with Daley was a strange experience. Everyone was already seated at the table, including Hamilton, whose jaw pulsed when he saw them together. She blushed when all the men stood, and shuffled over to her chair, which Hamilton pulled out for her.
“Thank you,” she forced out loudly enough that they could all hear. Captain Bayliss returned his lavish att
entions to Miss Smith, who seemed a little uncomfortable as she shot a glance in Mr. Asher’s direction. Asher was talking with Lee.
“Ah, there you two are,” Mrs. Rafferty said, a nervous edge to her tone. “We were starting to worry about you.”
Daley squeezed Mrs. Rafferty’s shoulder when he passed her on his way to his seat. “All’s well, Aunt May. We were in the library.”
Shea lifted her book for them to see, then sat it next to her plate.
Gray glared at Shea, turning puce in color. Daley took his seat and started scooping food onto her plate.
“What book did you get?” Smith asked.
“Pride and Prejudice,” Shea said.
“I love that one!” Smith and Cross proclaimed at the same time that Mrs. Rafferty choked and started coughing. Asher, sitting to her right, turned from Lee to pat the older woman on the back.
From across the table, Mr. Rafferty sat straight. “Are you all right, dear?”
She nodded.
At the same time, Daley ignored Gray’s protests that she had enough sausage as he placed one more on the woman’s plate. It made Shea’s lips quirk up at the corner. Yeah, you have. The strangled gasp-slash-laugh from Cross didn’t help.
Mr. Hamilton took her plate. “Would you like sausage or quail?”
“Quail,” she said immediately, hoping she hadn’t blanched. “Please.”
Cross lifted her napkin and snorted into it.
Lee shot Shea a questioning glance that she ignored.
She lifted her napkin and out wafted a small piece of paper. She grabbed it before anyone saw and unfolded it. In Lee’s handwriting, it read, “library after lunch.” Why hadn’t she thought to write a note at breakfast?
“Is there anything else you’d like?” Hamilton asked.
She jumped as he placed her plate in front of her. She shoved the note under her thigh. “No, thank you.”
Hamilton let his eyes trail over her face.
She looked away, fearing she might blush from his gaze, and she didn’t want Lee to see that. She returned her gaze to her cousin, expecting him to say something inappropriate or amusing, but he frowned instead. She hadn’t been sure, before, but now she was. These two men did not like one another.
She faced Hamilton and lowered her voice so only he could hear. “Why don’t you and Daley like each other?” It could be pertinent.
Hamilton breathed deeply. “It’s not important.”
“You two can barely stand to be in the same room together,” she said.
“If he can’t stand to be in a room with me, then I invite him to leave.” He grabbed his fork. “And the sooner, the better.”
The moment Lee stepped into the library Shea shut the door behind him. He faced her in his white knickerbockers and red jacket and bowed. It threw her off guard. She had not expected him to maintain character when it was just the two of them. She curtsied.
“Miss Shea,” he said.
She pulled her chin back. “Colonel Lee.” What in the knee-high-socks-and-corseted-world was going on here!
His eyes scanned the room. She waited, feeling as though she’d been pulled into a parallel universe. A universe where her no-nonsense partner was the charming Colonel with uber polite manners and exciting tales of adventure. When his eyes found hers again, content that they were alone, he stepped closer. “This is surreal, isn’t it?”
She sighed. He’s back! “Yes, and unnerving. They all take this very seriously. It’s overwhelming. It’s difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not.”
“What’s happening?”
She stepped closer. “We were shot at, by a sniper rifle. And I think I know what they were looking for when they broke into her room the other night.”
“What?”
Even though she knew the room to be empty, she couldn’t help but lower her voice. “You know the ex-boyfriend you were looking for?”
“Yes?”
“It’s Brian Peltier.”
Aside from a slight widening of his eyes expressing his shock, Lee remained stoic. She proceeded to tell him everything that had happened. She expounded upon when they were shot at, on the night Cross’s room had been broken into and the flash drive, about Mary’s disappearance after her talk with Hamilton in the middle of the night, about Cross’s security, and on top of all that her suspicions surrounding two certain gentlemen.
“Why did he give Cross the flash drive?” He rubbed his chin.
“I’ve been thinking about that. Brown said he was in witness protection, right? How did get away from the Feds and why would he want to? Why would a man in witness protection flee said protection to give evidence to an ex-girlfriend?”
“You think one of the Feds is in on it?” Lee asked.
She hated to suspect a fellow officer, but nothing else made sense. She nodded. “Maybe. It’d also explain why he was killed the same night he ran. I called you both repeatedly yesterday, where were you?”
“Yesterday was hectic. We had a lot of people in and out of the office, and it took a lot from Brown to convince Mrs. Rafferty to allow me to come a week into the retreat.”
It wasn’t exactly an explanation for why they hadn’t answered, but she wasn’t going to push for a better one when they were so short on time and desperately needed insight into their biggest problem.
“What do you think’s on the drive?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but there have been just enough weird things going on around here to make me believe that someone is after it.”
“We need to get our hands on it,” Lee said.
Shea agreed, but she had a feeling that since Cross’s room had been broken into she’d kept it on her person.
“And we need to tell Brown about Peltier,” he added.
“Yes. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”
“Should we break cover, ask for help getting out?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m worried that whoever tried to shoot Cross will get desperate and try again. We need to stay under cover.”
“You want to walk out of here with Cross, then?”
Shea shook her head. “No, there’s no way she could make the trek back to the cottage, let alone to the parking lot.”
“We could take a wagon,” he said. “Hook it up and ride out.”
“Do you know how to do that?” Shea asked.
“Yep, I sneak out after dinner and get it ready, and when everyone goes to bed, we’ll leave.”
“Right.” She nodded.
He nodded back. “Okay, how are we going to go about the rest of the day?”
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to stay with her all day. She’s currently unattached. I think it’d be a good idea for you to stick to her while I try and figure out if Bristle Park’s most eligible are really Bristle Park’s most wanted.”
“Me and Savannah?” he asked, and it was the first time since she’d known him that he seemed startled.
“Yeah, she’s unattached, and I think she likes you.” Okay, so she knew. Cross had spent all morning chatting with him, and after her confession last night she figured it was a pretty done deal. Summer had shown more interest in him than any of the men.
He paled and placed his hands on his hips.
“Maybe it’s the clothes?” she teased.
His eyes narrowed at her. “Speaking of...”
She glanced down. “I know. I look ridiculous, don’t I?”
He seemed to relax somewhat and shook his head. “It’s a good look on you. Better than the crack addict look.”
She frowned. “You didn’t like that?”
“Forgetting the pee-soaked pants?”
“Naturally.”
Looking up, he mulled it over, then said, “No. This is better.”
She chuckled and was pleased to see him fight a smile.
“All right, we have a plan. You stick with Cross, and I’ll keep an eye on Daley and Hamilton.”
H
e nodded. “How are you going to do that?”
“Well, Hamilton will be easy because he’s assigned to me, but Daley? I’m not sure how we can get him alone long enough to ascertain anything that might be insightful. Were you with him and the other actors before lunch?”
“No, he left to take a nap.”
“I bet he did,” she said, and even she could hear the contempt in her voice. “He was probably downright exhausted.”
“What happened?”
“As far as I know, nothing, but if I had to guess I’d say that Miss Gray purchased the all-perks-included package. He’s my cousin,” she added in hastily, “did you know that? I’ve had to pretend to know a great deal about the man and all I really know is that he’s insufferable.”
“I liked him well enough.” Lee shrugged.
Oh, great. All boys together, huh? “Regardless, he might be a challenge.”
“Maybe we can get him to play a game of poker? And Hamilton. If they’re good at it, then we’ll know they’re good at bluffing.”
“I know Hamilton is,” she said without thinking.
“How?”
She couldn’t say it was because he almost had her convinced that he liked her. She went with trying to be obtusely honest. “He plays his character well. As a matter of fact, he seems to fit in this world better than anyone except perhaps Mrs. Rafferty herself.”
“Is he as intense as Mrs. Rafferty?”
You have no idea. “He’s pretty intense.”
“You have my sympathy.”
That comment also seemed as though it deserved more explanation. She’d put it on her list. “I’m guessing Brown will answer his phone now?”
“Yes, but you’ll have to call,” Lee said. “Mrs. Rafferty saw me on my phone before they brought me out here and confiscated it. How’d you get yours here?”
“It wasn’t easy,” Shea said and touched her head.
Lee went in search of Cross while Shea made her way as calmly as she could to her bedroom. Their plan was set; all they needed now was Brown’s approval. Stepping into her bedroom, she stopped in her tracks. Clothes were out of the drawers of the closet, her sheets were torn off, and the mattress hung slight askew. In the bathroom little pieces of glass from a broken cup littered the floor. Her throat constricted. Her room had been ransacked.
Regencyland- The Bristle Park Murders Page 13