Jin crossed her arms. "I will get the doctor," she threatened.
"I'm tired," Isobel growled. "Go for a walk by yourself.”
Jin growled back, and turned on her heel. She slammed the door on her way out, marched across the green, and through an odd game with sticks and arches. She ignored the shouts when she kicked a wooden ball, and walked straight up to one of the private cottages at Bright Waters. She knocked.
No answer.
"Mr. Amsel!" she called.
She knocked again.
"What is it?" The door was wrenched open. Lotario Amsel wore trousers, but little else. His arm was out of its bandage. An angry scar marred his otherwise flawless skin. When he saw the girl, he relaxed and smiled. "Oh, Jin. One moment." The door closed, and when it opened again, he was wearing a shirt and vest, the collar undone.
"I have seen shirtless men before," Jin said, scowling up at him.
Lotario waved a hand. "Yes, but I'm extraordinary. Your future husband will never compare if you stare at me overly long."
"I will not marry."
Lotario patted the top of her head. "Wise of you."
If any other man had patted the top of her head, Jin would have kicked him between the legs. But Lotario Amsel reminded her of a cat. And cats were naturally insulting.
"What can I do for you?"
"Captain Morgan is dying."
Lotario blinked at the words. His lips parted, his eyes widened, and he paled to a color that reminded Jin of milk. "What?" he asked.
"She has not moved for a day and a night."
Lotario was halfway to the door when he stopped. "Is she breathing?"
"Yes."
An audible sigh.
"A nurse came to check on her this morning, but Isobel was…" Jin stumbled over a description. "Disagreeable."
Lotario spun on his heel. If he had been wearing a cape, it would have fluttered. "She's likely in one of her 'brown studies'."
"What is that?"
He waved a flippant hand. "She lies in bed for days. She's irritable, combative, and generally foul-tempered."
"That is exactly it."
"Ah, well. She'll snap out of it," Lotario said cheerfully. "She's dreadful, I know. Shall we go into town? We can peruse the boutiques. My treat."
"Why is she in a 'brown study'? Is she sad?"
"Bel never does anything halfway. Trust me. Just stay away from her right now. If she keeps this up, I'll toss a bucket of cold water on her tomorrow. That generally does the trick. Although she tends to rage for a bit. Best to wait another day. How about a late brunch? In my opinion it's never too late for breakfast."
"No, thank you. I'll try to help her."
Lotario placed a hand on her shoulder. "Jin," he said. "She generally says very hurtful things when she's like this. To drive others away. She wants to be alone."
"Words are only words. There is nothing for her to say that I haven't heard already."
Lotario stilled. And he looked at her with the same penetrating gaze as his twin. "My door is always open if you ever need me."
Jin nodded. She walked straight back to Isobel's room. But this time, she didn't say a word. Jin climbed on the bed, and leaned against Isobel's back. When the woman didn't rage at her, she relaxed. "What happened?"
"Please. Just go," came a muffled reply.
Jin lay down, resting her back against hers.
"You're not leaving," Isobel mumbled after a time.
"No."
Isobel stirred. She sat up, dislodging Jin, and leaned against the wall. She rested her elbows on her knees, and put her head in her hands.
"Does your head hurt?" Jin asked. When Isobel didn't say anything, Jin got up and poured a glass of water. Jin held it out. Isobel moved like an old woman, but she took it, and drank.
"Lotario said I should pour cold water on you," Jin said. "But if you come for a walk with me, I won't."
"Are you threatening me?"
Jin wrinkled her nose. "You smell."
Isobel bit back a comment.
"Or I may run away again."
"You'll run away if I don't bathe?"
"Yes."
"Now there's a threat," Isobel muttered. But Jin could not tell if she was serious or not. So Jin walked to the window, and threw open the shutters. Light poured inside, and Isobel shielded her eyes with a hand.
Jin straddled the sill, waiting.
Eventually, Isobel dragged herself upright, and settled on the windowsill. She looked out into a sun drenched day, toying with the beaded bracelet Jin had given her.
"This is not walking," Jin said.
"One thing at a time."
Birds sang to the sun, and a lazy breeze toyed with leaves. "After… my dream." Heat rose in Jin's cheeks. "You left."
"There wasn't time to explain."
"Where did you go?"
"You helped me solve a case. The twine you found…what you said. Time was important. Titus's life was at risk." Those few words loosened the rest. And Jin listened quietly to the facts.
"Why would John try to kill his brother?" Jin finally asked.
"Jealousy." Isobel gave Jin a pointed look. "Of his father's attention, of his mother's… I'm not sure. But something dark definitely resides in that boy." Isobel rested her head against the wall. "This isn't supposed to be how things end. Nothing was set right. The criminal was caught, and yet… he wasn't. I failed."
Jin reached for Isobel's hand. It felt strange, but she kept hers there all the same. "Titus didn't die in the dark," Jin whispered.
"There is that."
33
Jailbreak
ISOBEL
Wednesday June 20, 1900
Tap. Seconds ticked, and then another tap. Isobel opened her eyes. Soft breathing broke the quiet. But it was a restful sort. Jin was asleep on her cot. The sound that had awoken her wasn't another nightmare. Isobel glanced towards the shutters. Tap. It came again. There were no branches close to the window.
Isobel reached for a revolver, but it wasn't there. She cursed. Grabbing a heavy ashtray instead, she got up and padded to the window. It was too hot for blankets. Too hot for a sheet even. The only reason she wore a nightgown was for Jin's sake. But they had closed the shutter. Tap.
It was louder this time.
Isobel opened the shutters. A man stood under her window. He looked up, and nudged the brim of his fedora higher. Starlight touched silver rims around his eyes, and joy filled her heart. Light-headed and without thought, she let her heart pull her over the windowsill. She hung for a second, and dropped to the ground. It felt like she was floating. When she stood, strong arms encircled her, and she leaned back against his body. Lips brushed her neck. Isobel closed her eyes, savoring the dream as Riot's beard tickled her skin. She felt him inhale, savoring her scent.
"I can tell you missed me," she whispered.
"We have less than a minute until the night guard returns," he murmured.
"Can you manage that?"
Riot smiled against her ear. Isobel untangled herself, and took his hand, leading him into the trees. The earth was warm, the night alive with summer, and the forest embraced them. A lantern swung into view, and Riot pressed her against a tree trunk.
"This is familiar," he whispered.
"Not this." She removed his spectacles, and pressed her lips to his. Soft beard, eager lips, and confident hands. Her toes curled into the earth. Weeks of longing went into that kiss, and when they finally pulled apart, the night guard was long gone.
She leaned back, just enough to study him in the moonlight. Isobel touched the skin around his eye. It was puffy and bruised.
"I ran into an old acquaintance," he said.
"You can tell me about it after." Isobel buried her fingers in his beard and drew him closer. "Unfortunately Jin's sleeping in my room."
"This is supposed to be a jailbreak," he murmured against her lips.
"Is this generally how a jailbreak goes?"
"Not in my
experience. Your second-story cell had me stumped."
"I prefer a moonlight tryst."
"The night guard will pass by here again."
"To hell with him."
Riot squeezed her bare thigh, but then he released it. The hem of her nightgown slithered down her leg. "I'm serious, Bel. I'm here to break you out. Temporarily. We have a train to catch."
Isobel blinked at him. Her sluggish brain tried to make sense of the words. Riot had a way of muddling her thoughts.
"As much as I'd like to continue… this, I think you'll like what I have in mind."
Isobel arched a brow. "I can feel what you have in mind." She pressed her hips against his.
Riot quirked his lips.
"Can't we spare ten minutes?" she asked with a note of desperation.
"Considering how much I've missed you, ten minutes is awfully optimistic."
Isobel laughed, and he silenced her in the most pleasing of ways. As it turned out, she only needed five minutes. After the night guard made his second round, they picked themselves off the ground.
Isobel brushed the leaves from Riot's back as he arranged himself. "I'll get Jin." She stared at the second-story window to her room. It would require running at the wall to catch the protruding beam. Far too much effort after her recent activities.
Isobel looked sideways at him. "Perhaps we should have waited until after I needed to scale a wall."
"I'll give you a leg up."
In short order, Isobel scrambled through her window. She nudged Jin awake, then dressed in shirt and trousers. When Jin dropped to the ground, she caught sight of Riot and pressed her back to the wall.
"Truce?" He offered a hand.
Jin took his hand. "I should not have run away."
"A note would be appreciated next time," he said.
When Isobel returned, Riot took the lead. Only instead of heading towards town, he went to Lotario's cottage. "Why here?" Isobel asked.
"You don't get to ask questions," Riot said as he held the door open.
Isobel arched a suggestive brow. "Sounds more like an abduction to me."
"I'd have thrown you over my shoulder," he whispered.
Isobel gave his beard a playful tug as she walked into the cottage.
Sarah was waiting with Lotario, who was sorting his costume trunk. Sarah beamed, and gave Isobel a hug that stole her breath. "I missed you."
Jin edged against the wall, but Sarah wasn't having it. She greeted Jin with the same enthusiasm, and the smaller girl tolerated the affection without fists or kicks.
"I'm sorry," Sarah said.
Jin sighed. "I am too."
"Good, that's settled," Isobel said. "Now what's going on?"
Lotario looked up from his trunk. "Good Lord," he exclaimed. "You're the only one without a bruise on your face."
"I have some on my neck."
Always one for details, Lotario demanded to inspect them, and immediately walked over to his dressing table to add fake bruises to his own neck.
Riot gave her a questioning look.
"A murderer," she explained in a low voice. "It wasn't you."
Lotario rolled his eyes. "Stop flirting and come closer. I have to get your coloring right. You've been out of the sun for days."
"I thought you were through swapping places with me," Isobel said.
Lotario batted his lashes at Riot. "He asked nicely. And you're welcome."
"Do you know where we are going, Mr. Amsel?" Jin asked.
"Yes."
"It's a surprise!" Sarah was practically bouncing in place. "Mr. Tim and Tobias are…"
Riot put a finger to his lips, and Sarah shut her mouth with a click.
Isobel studied Sarah for the first time in the light. Wisps of hair stuck out of her braid, and although she was bright and cheerful dark circles ringed her eyes. And fading bruises. There was dirt on her shoes and on the hem of her dress. And Riot had a worn look about him, too. Their tumble under the trees could account for that, but there was something more. When she had climbed on top of him, he had flinched, but she had been too distracted at the time to inspect him for injuries.
Details came to her in a rush. She analyzed, dissected, and came to a conclusion a split second later. "You've been traveling all day," she stated. "Wouldn't you like to rest?"
Riot shook his head. "Our lips are sealed, Bel. If all goes as planned, we'll have you back tomorrow morning."
"Now," Lotario said, pulling out clothes from his costume trunk. "Are you still in a brown study?"
Riot looked at her with concern.
"Not anymore," she said.
"Of course you're not, but do the nurses know that?"
"No," she said. "But Doctor Bright will likely know it's you."
"My dear sister, I think he's known this entire time. You need to put this on."
Isobel arched a brow at her disguise: a worn plaid dress, an old-fashioned bonnet, and a cane.
"And for the finishing touches." He flourished a gray wig. "Sarah and I will do your makeup."
The train rocked with a steady click as Isobel watched the sun rise. Jin had fallen asleep on her lap in the first class carriage. She idly smoothed the girl's braid, tracing its intricate weave. Isobel felt the touch of eyes on her. She pulled her gaze away from the countryside to look at the man across from her.
Sarah was asleep, too, her head resting on Riot's arm.
"This isn't how I envisioned a jailbreak," she admitted. Isobel poked at the stiff bonnet surrounding her face. To all outward appearances, she looked like a grandmother traveling with her son, granddaughter, and a servant boy.
"This seemed the safest guise."
Isobel slowly edged out from under Jin. She lowered the girl's head to the cushion, tucked a shawl over her, and squeezed onto the seat beside Riot. "Will you tell me now?"
"Not yet."
"So mysterious."
"I aim to keep you interested."
"Hmm."
Riot could feel her thinking. "You'll never guess it," he said.
"I don't guess, Riot." She felt him chuckle in that peculiar way of his—a silent vibration that never failed to warm her.
"Lotario told me you found the missing boy."
In a low voice, she told him about Samuel Lopez, Sheriff Nash, and the Sheel boys. And in the end she fell silent. Even with Riot at her side, failure left a bitter taste on her tongue.
"I can't let it go, Riot," she said softly. "There must be a way to make the Sheels see sense."
"Would you want to see sense?" he asked. "That boy, their youngest son, would hang by the neck until dead."
Isobel found herself looking at Sao Jin. A furious child with violent tendencies. But then everyone was capable of violence. Even Sarah. Everyone had a trigger. Some were just more sensitive than others. Or perhaps, she mused, defective.
"I don't know, Riot. I can only hope we're never put in that situation."
He reached for her hand.
"It's never like this in the stories," she said. "Every case is wrapped up in a tidy bow, and justice is done. I keep asking myself, as childish as it is, what would Sherlock Holmes do?"
"It's not childish, Bel. At some point, during every case, I ask myself what Ravenwood would do."
"And what would he have done in this instance?" she asked.
Riot was thoughtful for a time, idly tracing her knuckles with his thumb. Soothing circles that lulled her, along with the rock of the train. "There's the rub," he murmured. "If Ravenwood had confronted that boy along with me, the police wouldn't have questioned our story. And neither would they have questioned Holmes and Watson. But I can assure you, when the police marched that boy off in shackles we would have been asking a different question: Should a child, even a murdering one, be hung? I've seen a boy die at the end of a noose before, and I can't stand to see it again."
His words struck her, as they often did. Isobel squeezed his hand in support. "Doctor Bright thinks he can help John, but I thin
k it depends on the boy's father."
"I'd wager he's the key, but… what do I know of fatherhood?"
Isobel took a deep breath.
"You couldn't have done anything more. We're detectives, not lawmen. We seek the truth."
"Is that all?"
He squeezed her hand. "I think the proof of what we seek is sleeping in this cabin."
Isobel smiled. "Will you tell me now?" she asked suddenly.
"No, ma'am."
Isobel growled. "I can't make bricks without clay, Watson."
"And I'll give you none."
"Cruel man," she murmured. "But you can make it up."
"How so?"
"You can settle an argument I'm having with Lotario."
"That's treacherous ground."
"A viper's nest," she agreed, and went on to explain. "Ari said I was being paranoid because I thought someone was attempting to kill me."
"Clearly you weren't being paranoid."
"In hindsight, yes. I'm usually right," she said without boast. John Sheel had been wielding a mirror as she'd climbed the Palisades. "But that led me and Lotario to a conversation about Sherlock Holmes. If Holmes hadn't died at Reichenbach Falls, would he have developed paranoia after his encounter with Moriarty?"
"Did you ask Doctor Bright?"
Isobel pursed her lips. "I value your opinion over a qualified doctor's any day."
"In that case, we're in for a lifetime of trouble."
"I'm serious, Riot."
"I know," he said. "That's what worries me."
Isobel laughed, but quickly stifled her amusement when a car attendant knocked on the door. She slumped and tried to look frail.
"Is there anything you need, sir?" the attendant asked.
"No, thank you. Only our rest." Riot nodded to Sarah on his arm.
The attendant bowed, and ducked his head out.
"Will you settle our argument?" Isobel asked.
"I'm afraid my answer won't settle things. It will only add another to the fire."
She waited.
"Holmes didn't die at Reichenbach Falls."
"Yes, he did," she said.
"No, he didn't," Riot said firmly.
"How could he possibly have survived a fall from that height?"
The Devil's Teeth (Ravenwood Mysteries #5) Page 25