The Honest and The Brave

by Rebecca King

  “Shouldn’t you send for the doctor?”

  “It’s fine,” Joshua offered. “It is just a flesh wound. It is nothing we cannot deal with ourselves.”

  Annalisa still looked doubtful. She temporarily forgot about the other men in the room who were trying to pretend they weren’t there. She crept cautiously closer and battled tears at the pain on his face that Joshua couldn’t quite hide.

  “Did you see who the killer was?”

  Everyone froze at Hamish’s question, especially when Joshua nodded.

  Joshua reached up and held Annalisa’s hand. Had he not been lying prone on the chaise, Joshua would have urged Annalisa to sit down. As it was, until the wound had been stitched and bandaged, Joshua had to stay where he was. Before he could speak, Roger and Dean surged into the room.

  “Well? I hope he is worse,” Roger snapped when he saw the state of Joshua.

  “He has injuries, yes,” Joshua replied. “And I saw who our killer is.”

  “Who?”

  The tension in the room thickened as everyone waited. Joshua puffed out his cheeks and pushed himself upright. He was aware of Yvette coming to stand in the doorway having been lured out of bed by the commotion.

  Now that everyone was present, Joshua levelled a look on each of them before his gaze fell to Annalisa.

  “It’s the vicar.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “What?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Where did he go?”

  “The vicar?”

  “Did you see him?”

  Everyone demanded answers together. Joshua waited until everyone had gotten over their initial shock and then lifted his hands in a placating gesture to calm everyone down.

  While she listened to the chorus of exclamations, Annalisa studied the wound on Joshua’s thigh.

  “Are you all right?” she asked quietly as she knelt beside him.

  “My thigh will be fine,” Joshua replied, capturing her hand in his so he could kiss it.

  “Are you sure it was him?” Annalisa looked into Joshua’s eyes but saw absolute certainty in his steady stare.

  “I got a good look at his face,” Joshua told them all. “He was wearing a cloak, but I managed to get the hood off. It was definitely the vicar.”

  Annalisa’s stunned gaze slid to her aunt who shook her head in disgust.

  “Well, he does have access to people’s houses. Nobody would willingly ignore the vicar if he happened to call upon them. If he used the same excuse of needing to call his congregation to his services then he has a reason to visit everyone he intends to target. Nobody is going to think anything odd about him calling at people’s homes.”

  “Nobody would contemplate that the vicar couldn’t be trusted,” Roger added.

  Hamish scowled. “Wait. Are you saying that the vicar killed the warden? Why? Whatever for?”

  “That is something we have yet to find out. It is fair to say that everybody who has died unexpectedly in this village since the vicar has arrived has been murdered by him. Now we need to know who this vicar really is, where he came from, and where he intends to go next.” Roger lifted his brows at his men.

  “He cannot stay at the vicarage any longer, not now he knows he has been found out,” Daniel added. “He is going to have to find somewhere to lie low.”

  “Maybe he will try to hide out in one of his victim’s houses?” Roger suggested. “He knows they are empty.”

  “Wouldn’t he know that would be the first place we would look for him, though?”

  “He is armed and dangerous. I think he was trying to stab me in the chest, but I hit him and so he stabbed me in the thigh instead,” Joshua warned them. “From now on, everyone has to stay armed.”

  “We had better check the vicarage anyway, just in case he has stashed his hoard there and gone back to fetch it before he leaves.” Roger looked at Joshua. “Are you sure you are going to be all right?”

  “I am coming too,” Joshua growled. “I am not going to sit here and wait for you all to come back.”

  “But you are hurt,” Annalisa protested. “You at least need to get your wound cleaned.”

  “She is right.” Hamish nodded.

  “Let’s go and we can at least keep an eye on the rectory in case he does return. Join us when you can, Joshua, but try not to be too long.”

  With that Roger and the men left the house leaving Hamish to see to Joshua’s leg.

  Annalisa reluctantly stepped out of the room. Once out in the hallway, she turned to look at her aunt.

  “I have never felt so helpless in my life,” she moaned.

  “They know what they are doing, dear,” Yvette assured her. “This is what they do.”

  “I know. People have talked about them for a long while now, but I have never once stopped to think about what they actually do. I mean, what one of their investigations involves. Now, I am not sure that knowing is all that good. I think it would be better to live in ignorance.” Annalisa tried hard not to cry.

  “Because you are always going to worry about him, you mean?”

  Annalisa nodded. She couldn’t lie about it. She cared about Joshua and knew her aunt was already aware of it.

  “It is what life with him is going to be like. Moreover, you are not going to know where he is, when he will be called away, or how long he will be gone. Do you really think you can live life like that?” Yvette asked her gently.

  “I think I am going to have to because I cannot bear the thought of the alternative. It is far too late to walk away.” Annalisa already knew that she would do whatever was necessary to have a life with Joshua.

  Joshua chose that moment to appear in the doorway. It was disturbing to see him covered in blood and so pale and shaken, but he was at least upright.

  “I will go and warm some water,” Yvette offered before disappearing into the sitting room leaving Joshua and Annalisa alone in the hallway.

  Annalisa stared worriedly at Joshua. “Are you really going back out there? What if the vicar is still armed and attacks you again?”

  “Then we have plenty of men who can disarm him,” Joshua assured her. “Try not to worry.”

  “But I will worry,” she replied fiercely.

  “There is no reason to suspect that he is going to come anywhere near you.”

  Annalisa stared deeply into his eyes. “It isn’t the vicar or me that I am worried about.”

  “You are safe here.”

  “But you are not safe out there,” Annalisa cried.

  “I have to do this Annalisa. This is my job.”

  “Do you think I don’t know that? I do. Truly, I do. But it won’t stop me from worrying about you. You are going out there to challenge criminals, killers, the vilest people there are. How can you expect me not to worry?”

  Joshua was touched, not least because this was the first time anybody had truly worried about his safety before. Well, someone outside of the Star Elite in any case.

  “I promise that I will return just as soon as I can.” Joshua lifted a tendril of hair away from her face and smiled into her eyes. “I promise.”

  “Just promise me that you are going to do everything possible to stay safe,” Annalisa demanded. She knew she really wasn’t in any position to make any kind of demand on him, but the words were out before she could stop them.

  “I promise,” he whispered.

  Joshua leaned forward and captured her lips with his to seal his promise. While they couldn’t discuss they needed to discuss right now, they would just as soon as the killer was behind bars. Joshua was painfully aware of the need to be on his way, not least because Hamish was waiting for him, but he still lingered long enough to gather Annalisa into his arms for a reassuring hug.

  “We will talk later.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise,” he grinned.

  “You had better not be lying to me.” Annalisa squinted suspiciously at him.

  “I am an honest man. I won�
�t lie to you,” he assured her.

  Annalisa nodded but didn’t speak. She was too busy savouring the ability to listen to the steady beat of his heart for a few moments so she could reassure herself that he truly was going to be all right. Eventually, the need to kiss him took hold of her. It was a bold move. So bold that Annalisa wasn’t at all sure that she had the confidence to do it but eventually, she leaned back to look deeply into his eyes.

  Joshua sensed her hesitation and waited for her to speak. He was surprised yet delighted when Annalisa stood on tiptoe and placed her lips against his in much the same way he had with her moments earlier.

  “Later,” she whispered.

  Joshua nodded and immediately felt a connection to her that he knew was unshakeable. They were together, as one, a unit, as bound in each other’s lives and futures as fate. He could only hope that fate would smile kindly on them and allow them to have a lifetime together. For now, Joshua knew he had to set it all to one side so he could put the killer who had targeted her behind bars.

  After another lingering kiss, Joshua forced himself to release her. With a wink, he followed Hamish out of the door. This time, as he stepped out into the night air, Joshua felt a renewed purpose, an added determination that he had never felt or expected to feel toward his job. His mission was to cleanse the streets so Annalisa and women like her, children, the elderly, even youngsters like the youths who worked for Billy, were able to go about their business without meeting the sharp end of a murderer’s knife.

  “Staying?” Hamish asked quietly as they made their way through the village.

  “Staying.”

  “For her.”

  “For me. For the life I can have with Annalisa that I haven’t been able to get anywhere else. I am ready for a new challenge. While I didn’t think I would ever find it in a place like Bamtree, I have and now cannot just turn my back on it to return to what I know. I am not a coward and am not going to allow the fear of the unknown to thwart me.”

  “Marriage is like an investigation really, isn’t it?” Hamish mused.

  Joshua snorted with laughter. “Really? Do you really think that? Why? Because you will probably want to murder your wife the longer you are married to her?”

  “No, because you start out looking for something, but you aren’t sure what it is. The more you discover about the other person, whether good or bad, the more intrigued you are. The more you can accept or dismiss the importance of whatever you find, whatever bothers you. The deeper the go, the more facts you gather, the closer you get to finding the reward. With our work, our reward is putting our target behind bars where he or she belongs. With our home lives, it is being able to go home to someone who understand us. A partner who has accepted us warts and all, understands the difficulties we face, and is prepared to support our need to do what we do without question.”

  Joshua tipped his head and considered that but knew that Hamish had a very valid point.

  “Is that what you are looking for in a wife?”

  Hamish looked at him. “Aren’t we all? It is just that understanding women are sadly lacking in numbers. Annalisa is someone who has witnessed what you do for a living. She isn’t repulsed by it. She understands, and that is going to ensure you have a happy home to return to when your job is done, don’t you think?”

  “I hope so,” Joshua breathed, and truly meant every word.

  He couldn’t think of anything nicer than being able to go a house of his own, to a wife who was waiting for him, so he could kick off his boots and truly be himself.

  “Let’s get that vicar behind bars where he belongs, eh? Then you can sort out your home, and life with the woman you want to share it with.” Hamish clapped him companionably on the back and together the men made their way to the vicarage.

  All was still and quiet. The large, rambling abode positioned directly beside the graveyard was as eerie as the headstones sitting beside it. There was an abandoned air of decay about the house, the dark grey stones of which looked almost black in the night. The large unblinking eyes of the windows bracketed the large open maw of the black front door. It wasn’t open, of course. None of the house was.

  “My gut is telling me that he isn’t inside,” Joshua whispered.

  “Let’s not take any chances, eh? Not being in there means he is out here. There are plenty of stones to hide behind.”

  They joined the rest of the men already watching the house. Roger motioned to Joshua to follow him, and together the men approached the house. Seconds later, the window was slid noiselessly up and both men stepped inside the property.

  “It’s unsurprising,” Joshua muttered when a thorough search had proven the house was empty.

  “Let’s check the church,” Roger sighed, aware that it would be a foolish criminal indeed who returned to any place they frequented on a regular basis once their crimes had been revealed.

  “Let’s get back to Mr Richardson’s house,” Joshua suggested, not least because he was decidedly on edge now that he knew the vicar was still at large.

  “He is still around here, I can feel it,” Hamish hissed.

  “I am trying to assure myself that it is just a figment of my imagination, but I get the strangest feeling that we are being watched, and I don’t think it is by Billy,” Joshua added. “There are just too many damned trees around here that would give our vicar a perfect place to hide.”

  “We are not going in those woods right now. That is what he wants, for us to venture in there. He could jump out at any one of us. What we need to do is go back to the safe house and wait. Our wayward vicar will have to come to us,” Dean muttered.

  “He will take another life just to try to lure us out if we are not careful. We cannot just sit at Mr Richardson’s house and wait for it to happen,” Joshua argued.

  “With you injured, we are not going after him,” Roger informed his men in a tone that warned them that no argument would be accepted. “Let’s go and search that church, then we are going to turn our attention to any hiding places in that house. I don’t care if we have to tear both places apart, I want to know where our thief is stashing his money.”

  The men entered the silence of the church and studied the rows of empty pews. In deference to its religious significance, everybody remained quiet, but it left everyone facing an uncomfortable silence which put everyone on edge. They quickly set about searching the main body of the church together with a small side room. Eventually, they converged on a small set of stone stairs.

  “These must go down to the crypt.” Roger lifted his brows at his men. “Any takers?”

  Everyone sighed.

  “Dean, you keep watch on the main door. The rest of you come with me.” With his gun drawn, Roger carefully descended the stairs.

  “There is something wrong,” Joshua hissed when Roger broke the lock on the door at the base of the stairs and pushed it open.

  The heady stench of rotting flesh slammed into them. They all knew what it meant and dug around for neckerchiefs, or shirt ends to cover their faces.

  “I’ll find some lanterns,” Hamish offered before racing back up the stairs.

  By the time he returned, the worst of the smell had faded but what did linger permeated every inch of the large, dank space beneath the church. It was eerily black, but only half covered in cobwebs.

  “I suppose we don’t have to guess which part of this he has been using,” Joshua muttered as he studied small square plaques lining the walls.

  In the far corner of the room, one or two of the plaques had been removed leaving large gaping holes behind which lay more than skeletons. Joshua almost dreaded lifting his lantern to look at what rested there, but he did.

  “Well, I think we have found his ill-gotten gains,” he sighed in disgust. “We have also found ourselves another victim.”

  “What?” Roger hurried over to have a look. “Who is that then?”

  “Looking at this clothing? The original vicar,” Joshua replied.

 
; Everyone fell silent and edged closer to get a better look.

  “That’s a vicar’s collar all right,” Hamish whispered. “But the body is too decomposed for us to see how he died.”

  “We will have to get it out and take a closer look. Was he the vicar who was supposed to have left, or was he the one who was supposed to replace the old vicar?”

  “It’s a bold move to kill the original vicar and attempt to replace him, isn’t it? I mean, wouldn’t the Bishop notice that the current incumbent wasn’t the one he placed here?” Joshua scratched his head and scowled.

  “Unless the vicar gets called to see the Bishop, there is no way the Bishop would ever find out something was wrong,” Roger suggested. “They could correspond for months, and the Bishop might not suspect a thing.”

  “We will know more once we have spoken to the Bishop. For now, let’s get him out of here and see if we can establish a cause of death. Now we have found the hoard, we need to remove it and make sure our thief never benefits from it,” Hamish said.

  “Do we leave a man to watch this place?” Joshua asked.

  “I don’t see the point. There is nothing here worth stealing if we take the thief’s stolen goods with us. The worst the man can do is break in and steal a bible,” Roger growled. “We will keep the valuables under armed guard. If our thief wants them he is going to have to steal them from us.”

  Together, the men worked to remove the murdered vicar from the crypt, and the stolen goods. Once they were placed carefully in the middle of the room, the reverend was covered over with an altar cloth. The men gathered around respectfully for a moment before they collected the hoard and turned to leave. They would return to ensure the vicar received a proper burial, but for now it was important that the killer was thwarted in every way.

  “Tomorrow morning, we need to go to the Bishop. I want to know who this fraudster is, where he came from, and where his relations are. Moreover, I want to know how long he has been a clergyman, and I want to know who that warden was and if he had any connection to the fraudster vicar before they arrived in this village. I want to know why that warden had to die, gentleman. For now, Hamish, you keep watch over the vicarage with me. Dean, Daniel, patrol the streets. I want everyone who is out and about stopped, searched, and questioned about why they are not tucked up in their beds safely at night. Escort whoever you come across to their houses and order them to stay there and not open their doors to anybody. Ronan, you keep watch at the Richardson house. Joshua, you go to the Bishop and start asking a few questions then meet us back here by, say, eleven. Everybody is to remain armed and ready to shoot at will. Cut him down if you have to, although I would prefer him to be put behind bars, but if you must kill him then do. Don’t hesitate, gentlemen.”