by Lisa Campell
“This?” He brandished the watch at her. “This is the evidence you say proves I’m a killer? How about I have you arrested for being a thief? You went into my study!”
“You didn’t lock the door!” Emilia shot back. A flicker of fear was now shivering down her spine. The last time she had seen him this angry was when they encountered Evelyn Wilson on their first ride together. “I found it on your desk.”
“So, you were snooping.”
“I wasn’t snooping then! I was…” Emilia gulped. “I was leaving you a letter, telling you everything. I saw it there. This is my father’s watch! He was carrying it the day he died, but it wasn’t there when he was buried. It’s a precious heirloom belonging to my great-grandfather. And I found it in your possession.” Using her free hand, she prodded him in the chest. “It proves that you killed him. Why else would you have the watch?”
“I never got the watch from your father! I got it…”
Thomas’ eyes widened. It was like something had dawned on him on his part. Was he thinking up another lie? Emilia didn’t think he would be able to get out of this. He was in possession of a dead man’s watch. It had blood on it, which meant that he had to have taken it off her father’s body. She wanted to cry. How could she have even started to trust this man? She should have known better.
Maybe her judgement when it came to men wasn’t good, after all.
“It was given to me as payment for part of a debt.” Thomas sounded a little dazed. “After your father’s death. As recently as this week.”
“I don’t believe you!”
“Believe it, Emilia. And I’m going to prove it.”
He still had hold of her wrist. Before Emilia could pull away, Thomas tugged her off the stairs and towards the front door. Emilia tried to stop, but he was too strong, and she almost tripped over her skirts.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re coming with me.”
“What?” Emilia began to panic. “No!”
Thomas stopped abruptly and swung around, causing Emilia to slam into his chest. He gave her a grim look, practically sneering at her.
“Only a few hours ago you were saying yes.”
Emilia went to slap him, but Thomas grabbed her other wrist. Now she was trapped, and Emilia couldn’t wriggle away. She tried, anyway.
“Let me go! I’m not going to give you an opportunity to kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you, Emilia.” Thomas’ voice was low, practically a rumble in his chest. “I’ve never killed anyone, and I certainly wouldn’t do that to you. Although I do want to throttle you right now for not listening. I’m going to prove to you the truth about this watch, and you’re going to see that I’m not responsible for your father’s death.”
“Why? Why does it matter to you so much?”
The look in his eyes darkened, causing Emilia to shiver. Thomas sighed. He didn’t sound angry now. He sounded...resigned.
“Because there was a question, I was going to ask you, once this was all out in the open. And it’s still on the table if you can get it into your head.”
What was he…? Did he just say that he was about to propose? Emilia’s heart sank. God, she really had messed this up. She should never have come here. She should have left it to the proper authorities.
Too late to think about that now.
“Come with me.” His touch gentler now, Thomas took Emilia’s hand and tugged her towards the door. “I promise you; I won’t hurt you. I’d never do that.”
“Too late.”
Now a slight smile twitched at his mouth before he turned away.
“Stop having the last word, Emilia. It doesn’t become you.”
Thomas knew this could either go well enough that Emilia understood that he wasn’t the killer or so badly Emilia would run to Constable Bowers with what she perceived as the truth. It was just a matter of getting it into her head. Before he saw the watch, Thomas hadn’t been sure how to go about it other than his own word. Emilia was looking for proof and taking his word for it was not going to work.
Then Emilia was brandishing the watch, a watch she said was her father’s. Thomas remembered receiving the watch, but he hadn’t gotten it from Jonathan Hill. Someone else had given it to him as part-payment for a debt. It was a beautifully made watch, worth several thousand pounds if his debtor was to be believed. He had been intending to take it to a jeweller in Cambridge to look it over and give it an appraisal, but he had been a little occupied. And it did need to be cleaned of the blood. He had been told the debtor had cut his head open and hadn’t noticed at the time.
Now Emilia was saying it was her father’s? That made Thomas cold. He knew who had killed Jonathan Hill - or had benefited from it at the very least. But it was just a question of convincing Emilia. And he knew the killer would be at Drake’s; ever since believing he had paid off his own debts, he spent every moment he could playing cards and losing even more. At least he wouldn’t be too difficult to find.
Emilia sat beside him in the carriage, but as far away from him as possible without getting out. She scowled out of the window, refusing to look at him. Thomas could understand that, but it still hurt. And it hurt him to know that the first time he let his guard down and loved someone else she was a liar and thought the worst of him.
He could forgive her for that, and he would certainly take any apology she gave him, but would it always be there between them? Would they be able to get past it? Thomas would like to think so. Even after all this, he wanted Emilia in his life. They did have a lot to work on, but he believed that it could be figured out and they could start again.
He was willing. It was just a waiting game to see if Emilia would do the same.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
They arrived at Drake’s and went in the side door. Emilia tried to keep her distance from him, but Thomas took her hand and tugged her along. She initially resisted before allowing him to lead her up the stairs and into his office. Brent was there, sorting through the books. He spun around at Thomas and Emilia came in.
“Thomas, good…” He stopped when he saw Emilia. “What’s going on?”
“Miss Hill is only going to be a few moments, Brent.” Letting go of Emilia’s hand, Thomas went to the desk and dipped his pen into the ink. He scribbled a name onto the top sheet of paper and folded it before handing it to Brent. “I want you to find this man and tell him that I wish to speak to him. It’s urgent.”
Brent frowned and opened up the paper. His eyes widened, but then the surprise was gone, as was the paper when he shoved it into his pocket.
“Very good, Mr. Andrews. I’ll make sure he comes straight up.”
Brent left. Emilia was staring at Thomas, suspicion glinting in her eyes.
“Why am I here?”
“Because I’m going to be meeting someone in a few minutes.” Plucking the watch from Emilia’s hand, Thomas took her hand and led her across the room towards an alcove behind his desk. “I want you to be close by to listen.”
“I don’t want to listen.” Emilia tried to tug her hand away, but Thomas tightened his hold. “Let me go.”
“You want to know what happened to your father, do you?”
“I know what happened to him!”
Thomas sighed.
“No, you don’t.” Giving her a firm yank, he positioned Emilia in the alcove, pressing on her shoulders to make her sit on the window seat. “Now, you stay here behind the curtain and don’t come out until I tell you to. He’ll be up here in a moment.”
“He? Who are…?”
Emilia’s demands were cut off when Thomas grabbed her head and kissed her. He had only meant to silence her, but it started to build his lust again. Pulling away from the kiss quickly, Thomas put a finger to his lips.
“Keep quiet or you’ll give yourself away. I don’t want him to know you’re here yet.”
Before the dazed look could disappear, Thomas closed the curtains. From the other end of the room, p
roviding Emilia didn’t move, nobody would know that she was there. Even with her shoes and the bottom of her dress poking out. As long as they didn’t come around the desk, it wouldn’t be noticed.
And Thomas wanted Emilia to hear this. His gut said he knew who the killer was, and it filled him with dread. It was going to break Emilia’s heart when she realized the killer was a lot closer to home than she expected, and he wished he didn’t have to do it to her. But it had to be done, otherwise Emilia would go through life believing Thomas was the man who killed her father.
Why did it have to be him?
The door opened just as Thomas reached his desk. Brent came in first, followed by Christian Hill. The young man looked slightly bewildered.
“Mr. Andrews.”
“Good day, Mr. Hill.” Thomas came around the desk. He could only hope Emilia stayed where she was and didn’t give it away before he got his point across. “Thank you for coming up here.”
“Well, Mr. Brent said you wanted to see me, and it was urgent.” Hill glanced at Brent as the man left the room. “You don’t say no to a big man like him.”
“I won’t argue with that. And it is urgent.” Thomas held up the watch, seeing Hill’s eyes widen at it. “I had a look at this watch of yours earlier today. I had it appraised. And I’m afraid to say I can’t use it to clear your debts, or even part of it. It wouldn’t make the slightest dent.”
He bit back a wince when he heard Emilia gasp. Hill didn’t seem to hear it, though, staring at the watch like he had seen a ghost.
“I... I don’t understand. It’s one of my grandfather’s family heirlooms. Priceless, he said.” He tried to reach for it, but Thomas kept it out of reach. “It was appraised when he first got it. That watch is worth thousands.”
“Well, either he wasn’t as wealthy as you thought he was, or he was very good at lying. Because this watch is a fake.” Thomas tossed it into his hand and closed his fingers around it. He wasn’t about to give Hill a chance to snatch it back. “It’s not worth the paper you wrote out your receipt on.”
“That…”
Hill looked like a fish with his mouth opening and closing. It seemed to be a regular thing with him lately. Thomas had seen him using it a lot more recently whenever he was asked what the stakes were. It was like he was trying to figure out what to barter off next. If Emilia did return to her family home, chances are there wasn’t going to be anything left that belonged to her family.
Christian Hill’s debts had been bad before. But it looked like he was slipping even more. The watch would have wiped out everything and then some. Thomas could tell without an official appraisal that it was a very expensive watch. Even with the blood.
The realization of where Hill would have gotten it from, left a nasty taste in his mouth. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Emilia was thinking, while listening in on this.
“That…”
Hill let out a snarl that made Thomas jump. Then the younger man snatched up a glass from the drinks cabinet and flung it across the room, hitting the wall near the alcove. Thomas heard Emilia squeak and winced. Growling under his breath, Hill snatched up another glass.
“Stop right there!” Thomas gripped his wrist and made him put the glass back down before tugging the man away. “You’re going to have to pay for that damage if you carry on.”
“Hell to that!” Hill yanked away and started to breathe faster, his face going paler. “If he wasn’t dead already, I’d wring his lying neck!”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Jonathan! My sneaky brother!” Hill ran his hands through his hair, making his hair stand up on end. “He was the one who had the watch first. He kept saying it was my inheritance, and it would be a priceless treasure to me. He had to know that watch was fake!”
Thomas heard the curtains moving. He didn’t need to turn around to see Emilia, only hearing the fierce swishing of her skirts.
“How was Father supposed to know that watch was a fake, Uncle Christian?” she demanded.
Hill froze when he saw his niece. “Emilia. What are you doing here?”
“That’s not important.” Emilia moved into view, keeping her distance from Thomas but focused on her uncle. “What is important is you gave Mr. Andrews my father’s watch to try and pay off your debts. How did it come into your possession?”
“I... Jonathan gave it to me.” That response was far too hurried for Thomas’ liking. “He said it would do me more justice than it would for him.”
Emilia looked like she didn’t believe him. Neither did Thomas. Christian Hill had said it was his watch, and as the initials checked out, Thomas hadn’t needed to disbelieve him, even if the blood made him worry. He opened up the watch and showed it to the younger man.
“Does he normally have a habit of bleeding all over his belongings?” He watched as Hill’s face went so white it was a wonder he didn’t faint. “When did he give you the watch, Mr. Hill?”
“He...it was...about a week...yes,” Hill cleared his throat. “About a week before he died. He had a nosebleed at the time.”
Emilia snorted. “Father has never had a nosebleed in his life. And Father was using the watch the day he died. I remember because I saw him with it.”
Thomas watched a variety of emotions and thoughts pass across Hill’s face. He looked like he wasn’t sure whether to fight back or run. The man kept glancing towards the door, and then at his niece. Emilia was looking at him like she had never seen him before. Thomas wanted to reach out to her, but now wasn’t the time.
“I think you need to tell us what happened, Mr. Hill.” He said quietly.
For a moment, he thought Hill was going to deny it. Then the man’s shoulders slumped, and he went over to the couch, dropping heavily onto it. He hunched over, head down.
“My debts were getting bad, really bad. And I knew I couldn’t pay it all back with my allowance. I went to Jonathan to ask for the watch, saying that I would use it as collateral. I would get it back to him as soon as I got the money together. Jonathan’s always got me out of problems before. But this time he refused. Said Grandfather would be furious if he so much as used it to pay off any kind of debts.”
Thomas glanced at Emilia. She looked like she had been hit over the head. This was not quite how he wanted it revealed to her, but it was important she knew the truth. He would never have hurt anyone in the way she believed.
Hill’s voice took on a sneer, shaking his head as he looked up.
“I kept asking him whenever I could, and he still said no. Then the night…” He swallowed hard and growled. “He had just come out of Drake’s. I cornered him, and I said I needed the watch. I was going to lose everything if I couldn’t use it to help pay everything off. As my older brother, he needed to help me. But Jonathan...he told me that I should have backed out when I reached my limit long ago and he was fed up with bailing me out when he had his own problems.” His lip curled in a snarl before he whimpered a little. “I snapped. We fought, and I... I hit him.”
That had Emilia whimpering. Thomas couldn’t help himself. He took Emilia’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Hill’s voice was thickening up, almost as if he was trying not to cry.
“He fell and... hit his head on the curb. There...there was blood everywhere almost immediately. He didn’t get up. I tried to move him, slapped his face to bring him around and... he didn’t budge.”
“You killed him.” Emilia murmured.
“I didn’t mean to!” Hill shot to his feet. “I told him to give me the watch and he wouldn’t. This wouldn’t have happened if he had done what I wanted.” He started towards Emilia, only to stop when she flinched back. “Please, Emilia! It was an accident. I didn’t mean…”
“I don’t care what you didn’t mean, Uncle Christian.” Emilia’s voice was tight. She was trembling, her hand tightening in Thomas’. “You made me believe Thomas was the one who killed him. You were the one who told me he was the killer.”
Hill snarled, gla
ring at Thomas.
“He’s a ruthless one when he wants to be. At least I thought he was. All I needed to do was to put seeds of doubt in a few ears, and then the rumours spread faster than I anticipated. It was important that people thought Mr Andrews was the killer and not me.” He looked at the watch still clasped in Thomas’ hand. “I thought enough time had passed that I could take the watch, and have it pay off my debts. And now you tell me it’s a fake?” He growled and his body shuddered. “Grandfather has a lot to answer for.”
“It’s not a fake.”
Hill’s eyes widened until Thomas thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Emilia was also staring at Thomas in shock.