by Rebecca King
“At least life will never be boring,” Joshua murmured.
“Annalisa won’t be on her own, if she is the one you want to share your life with. The other wives will help her if she needs help and you are not around for whatever reason.”
“What other wives? None of you are married, remember?” Joshua snorted.
“I am talking about the other wives in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. We might all work in different teams, but we are still close enough to spend time and work together as a group. We are all still part of the Star Elite. Our work just doesn’t take us to London very often, that’s all.”
Roger gave Joshua a few moments to contemplate that not least because he wasn’t at all sure that Joshua was certain he was doing the right thing. There was a hint of doubt in the man’s thoughtful gaze that warned Roger that Joshua was still mulling over making Annalisa his wife. Still, marriage was a huge step in any man’s life and was not to be taken lightly. He couldn’t blame the man for considering it from every angle before he took on that kind of commitment.
“You are more than welcome to join our team. We would be delighted to have you. With your skills we can only be a stronger, better team. For now, just focus on catching this burglar before he takes any more lives. It is going to take a couple of days yet before we are in any position to catch him. Use those days to settle your own mind to what you want to do about Annalisa. What I would caution you about, though, is that you must remember that you may be able to move on, but Annalisa can’t. Her reputation matters around these parts. Try to remember that overt displays of affection, even in a village where most of the people stay indoors, will draw attention. People will talk and speculate. She will be left dealing with the repercussions from any wrong ideas the locals might have about your association with her. While we know that your intentions might be honourable, the villagers won’t.”
“I wouldn’t approach her if I didn’t have honourable intentions,” Joshua confessed.
“Good.”
“I mean it.”
Roger grinned at him. “I know.”
Joshua squinted at him because he knew exactly what Roger was getting at. “I have to use this time to find a way to persuade her that I am worthy of her time.”
“That you do,” Roger murmured with a firm nod.
“How?”
Roger snorted with laughter. “If I was any good at any of that malarkey, I would be married myself right now. As it is, I am the last person you should be seeking romantic advice from. Now Hamish is the lothario of the group. He has ladies falling at his feet wherever he goes. He might be the one to give you a few tips.”
“Struggling to know what to do, are you?” Hamish smirked from the doorway.
Joshua grinned and shook his head. “I am wandering around in a thick fog hoping that I don’t fall over my own blasted feet.”
“Oh, you don’t seem to be doing too badly seeing as our fair lady keeps making calf eyes at you. I heard her aunt mention that you were the proverbial hero next door.”
“It isn’t the aunt I want to impress,” Joshua growled, and ran a weary hand down his face when his new colleagues chortled.
“You have a few days yet. It is going to take time but then everything does. Be patient, and make sure you are confident about what you want before you make any moves, my boy. That’s my advice. For now, we have a killer to catch and I think I have come up with a perfect plan to catch him red-handed, before he takes any more lives,” Roger announced.
Joshua and Hamish shared a curious look before they helped themselves to large doses of brandy and settled down to listen. But Roger barely stared before they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Dean poked his head into the room. One look at his face warned everyone that the news was dire.
“Daniel has just gone after someone he caught climbing out of a window on Orchard Street,” Dean told them before promptly disappearing.
Seconds later, he left the house again but this time with Roger right behind him.
“I’ll stay,” Peregrine offered from the doorway. “I have seen a particular shadow that I suspect is one of Billy’s mob out back and want to keep an eye on it.”
Joshua was torn. He wanted to stay just in case it was one of Billy’s mob out back but then he needed to go because that was his job. He had to catch a killer, not just help to protect the women he now hoped to one day make his wife.
When did that happen? When did I start to contemplate marrying her?
Joshua had no idea when it had all crept up on him. It was disturbing because a small voice of reason warned him that he barely knew her. It was far too soon to consider making her a permanent part of his life. While Joshua didn’t even stop to contemplate the wisdom of moving to join the Leicestershire team permanently because he knew that it was the right thing to do for himself, he did have to question whether marriage was a reasonable step right now.
“Not right now. It is far too much too soon,” he admitted.
“What’s that?” Peregrine asked.
“I am going to join the chase.”
At Peregrine’s nod, Joshua hurried after his boss and forced all thoughts of Annalisa and matrimony out of his mind to contemplate later. Or tried to. It wasn’t until he was walking down the quiet streets that Joshua realised his thoughts were occupied by one thing and one thing only: making Annalisa his wife. He didn’t stop thinking about her until he reached the house of the latest victim.
“What was taken, do we know?” he asked the men who were already gathered in the house’s study.
“We aren’t likely to find out very easily now seeing as the owner is dead,” Roger growled.
Joshua froze.
“Upstairs.”
Taking the steps two at a time, Joshua raced up to meet with Hamish, who stood grimly in the doorway.
“It’s not even safe for the locals to sleep in their own damned beds at night now,” Hamish snapped in disgust.
Joshua entered the blood-soaked room and tried to focus on what he was there to do. It was clear that the woman had struggled but had died on the bed in which she had slept, from a large knife wound to her throat.
“Is it me, or are these murders getting more brutal?” Hamish puffed out his cheeks as he studied the room.
“I think the killer is either relishing being able to murder people or is panicking because we are here and there isn’t a damned thing that he can do about it,” Joshua warned.
“That’s just it, we are here but always one step behind him.” Roger entered the room.
Joshua looked at his boss. “I thought Daniel had gone after him this time?”
“He has but we have yet to hear back from him. I don’t know which way he has gone so there is no point going after him before you suggest it.”
“I can track.”
“In the dark?” Roger lifted his brows at him.
Joshua shook his head and amended his statement. “I can track at first light.”
“If Daniel isn’t back by then we are going to need you to,” Roger assured him. “For now, we have to see if money is still in the house, or if our murderer has started to pick off the locals for enjoyment.”
While the men set to work searching the house, Joshua tried to keep his mind focused on the job. What he really wanted to do was race back across the village to make sure that Annalisa was all right. It was shockingly disturbing to note that the latest victim had a similar hair colour to Annalisa.
Was it just a coincidence, or was something more going on?
“The killer hasn’t confused the two women before you even start to think that,” Roger growled when he saw Joshua staring at the victim’s hair.
“How? How did you know what I was thinking?” Joshua demanded.
“I know you are thinking about her. You get that far away look in your eye and it is there practically all the time now. Yes, this woman has a similar build and hair colour, but we have just left Annalisa under armed gua
rd. She is fine. This woman isn’t. We have to find whoever killed her before the trail goes cold, Joshua.”
Joshua knew from a quick search of the house that the blood stains on the floor made by the killer’s boots faded half-way down the stairs. By the time they reached the bottom step they had vanished completely.
“There is no point even trying to track him,” Joshua warned when Roger joined him. “He picked a window that was next to the street which will hinder tracking.”
“Which points to the fact that he knew you had tracked him through the woods the other day,” Roger said.
“It looks that way, yes. Now that he is out on the street there are going to be no tracks to follow. The blood is already off the boots and he has already been hidden by the night. Unless Daniel was able to stay close enough to make sure he couldn’t hide again, we are no further forward but have another victim,” Joshua confirmed.
“Let’s get her out of here,” Roger muttered. “Hopefully, we can get this place cleaned up, that window replaced, and all trace of the murder removed before the villagers wake up. People will just have to speculate about where she might have gone.”
“I will ask Annalisa who this victim is and what her history is. Maybe she knows something about the killer?”
“Annalisa?”
Joshua threw Roger a filthy glare. “I hope not. This woman, the victim. Maybe she knew her killer?”
“Let’s get to work. Hopefully Daniel will be back soon, and he will have some good news for us.”
He was, and he didn’t. Daniel was dirty, grumpy, and more than a little annoyed that the killer had disappeared around the back of a long line of houses and had simply vanished. Without the manpower to search every garden and keep watch on the rest of the street, it had been impossible Daniel find the blackguard again.
“It’s like fighting a ghost,” Joshua snorted. “Did he run across the gardens?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Did he seem to you to be deliberately avoiding doing so?”
Daniel shrugged. “All I know is that he knew where he was going and didn’t falter as he took one road after another. It wasn’t random. There was no doubling back. He knew he was being chased and chose the one street which was lined with terraced houses all of which had outbuildings. He vanished into one of the yards, but with several doors that all look the same it was bloody impossible to find him. Only a local would know to use somewhere like that to avoid capture.”
“We are most probably looking for a known criminal, someone who is used to being on the run from the law.” Roger pursed his lips.
“We will have to search the magistrate’s records to find out if any of the villagers have criminal records that involve violence,” Joshua murmured.
“Get onto it. We will clear up here.”
Joshua left the house with Hamish with every intention of heading over to the magistrate’s office. With the man himself in London, they knew they were going to have to be a little inventive about getting into office, but neither man hesitated. Minutes later, they were rifling through the magistrate’s files.
“Of course, there is nothing to say that the villagers are all using their real names,” Hamish offered when a thorough search had revealed absolutely nothing.
“The only man I have found of any interest was put behind bars for stealing a sheep.”
“And?”
“He is still behind bars.” Joshua sighed and slammed the file closed.
“He is not likely to be our culprit then, eh?”
“Do you think that the culprit might be using an alias?”
“It’s possible. Let’s go and tell the boss.”
Together, the men left the magistrate’s office. Once at the end of the street, Hamish motioned to his friend that he was going to join the night patrol and disappeared into the darkness. Joshua continued his journey back to Mr Richardson’s house.
For a while at least.
By the time he reached the centre of the village, Joshua knew he was no longer alone, only whoever was following him was not a member of the Star Elite. While he was careful to keep to the shadows, his follower was far too flat-footed to be able to creep anywhere and made no attempt to hide his footsteps. Without looking over his shoulder, Joshua was able to judge the man was edging closer but moving from shadow to shadow before darting forward whenever he thought Joshua wouldn’t notice.
When he reached the end of the road, Joshua darted out of sight and found the darkness in a narrow alley at the back of the tavern. He waited for the hooded figure to step into the entrance of the alley. Joshua barely had the chance to look up before a large fist headed for his face. He ducked and slammed a kick into the stomach of the killer and was rewarded by a loud ‘oomph’ followed by a grunt of pain. Joshua immediately slammed a fist at his opponent followed by several more in rapid succession. The killer stepped back again and again until they were in the middle of the road. Joshua kicked the side of his opponent’s knee. The man stumbled and cursed. Rather than charge at him again, the man paused as if he couldn’t quite make his mind up whether to keep fighting.
“You are going to gaol,” Joshua promised him.
Before the man could turn tail and run, Joshua tackled him to the ground. They wrestled and jostled for supremacy, rolling over and over while they tried to be the one to gain the upper hand. Fists pounded flesh. Neither man gave an inch. They fought with a ferocity that was brutal. Joshua managed to roll the man onto his back and tried to wrestle the cloak off his face only to realise far too late that he had made a critical error. Fierce pain lanced his thigh following which Joshua felt a steady flow of blood trickle down to settle into a pool of warmth on his leg. When he looked down, he cursed to find a knife protruding from his flesh. He immediately felt sick but refused to allow the man beneath him to get up.
With a curse, Joshua yanked the knife out and threw it across the road. He then slammed a fist into his attacker’s face that made something crack loudly, but Joshua wasn’t done yet. Shoving roughly to his feet, he yanked his stunned opponent into a sitting position before he slammed another fist into the killer’s face. The man lifted his hands to defend himself, defeating Joshua’s purpose, but Joshua refused to be thwarted. He stepped back and kicked at the man still on the ground, anywhere he could manage to reach his boot struck him again and again. The man cursed as he tried to roll over only to realise just how vulnerable he was. Eventually, the killer managed to stumble to his feet only to look up in time to watch Joshua’s booted foot slam into his face. The killer groaned and slumped to the ground only for Joshua to yank his head back up.
It was raining, cold, and so damned dark Joshua struggled to see much at all. What he did see in the face that stared blankly back at him when he yanked the hood away was something Joshua doubted he would ever forget. He knew those hauntingly familiar features of the last man he expected to see and knew that he had found the killer.
Stunned, Joshua instantly released him and stumbled back only for his injured thigh to remind him of how damaged it was. When the street and the killer began to swirl alarmingly, Joshua knew it was time to leave. But he couldn’t go without taking the killer with him. Unfortunately, the kick he needed to use to render the killer unconscious was now impossible because of his injured leg. Joshua knew that pounding the man some more would do nothing except delay his ability to get medical help for his thigh. With few options, Joshua forced himself to lock his injured leg and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, the killer took advantage of Joshua’s momentary hesitation. Rather than attack again, the killer stumbled to his feet and made his escape. Joshua tried to hobble after him, but the burning pain in his thigh stopped him.
“I know where you live, and I know you won’t be able to get too far.” With one last filthy glare after him, Joshua turned around and went in search of his colleagues.
All hell broke loose when he found them, and they saw the state of him. Joshua wasted no time tell
ing them what had happened and had barely finished before they all barrelled out of the house and ran after the killer.
“Come on, let’s get you back to the safe house,” Hamish offered. He slung Joshua’s arm over his shoulders and helped Joshua hobble to the door.
“Damn, this hurts.”
“Do you think you can make it?”
“Well, I am not staying here,” Joshua bit out.
With Hamish’s help, Joshua managed to get to the safe house where he slumped onto the chaise with a low moan of pain. What was left of his energy and determination vanished like a puff of smoke and left him reeling.
“I have been stabbed before, but never this deeply,” Joshua moaned.
Daniel, who had returned from gaol, dropped a handful of cloths onto the table together with a bowl. He was dipping the first piece of cloth into the water when Annalisa appeared in the doorway.
“What happened?” she cried when she saw Joshua was covered in blood.
Joshua knew that this was their first test. He couldn’t hide the harsh realities of his job. If Annalisa wouldn’t accept the dangers he faced, Joshua would know it would be futile asking for a permanent transfer to Leicestershire. He would need to be many miles away, like in London, to try to forget her.
“I got stabbed,” he informed her succinctly as if she couldn’t already see that for herself.
“Who by?”
“The killer has struck again,” Hamish growled.
“He was following us,” Joshua added. “As soon as I was on my own, he stepped out of the shadows and thought he could accost me. He got a rude awakening, and several more bruises, and I am sure I broke his nose so he has injuries he isn’t going to be able to hide anymore.”
“We will see to him. Joshua has to take his breeches off so we can see his injury,” Daniel informed her pointedly, obviously waiting for Annalisa to leave so he could get on with cleaning his friend’s wound.