by Rebecca King
‘Shut up. I should have left you to rot with your mother,’ Lynchgate growled.
‘She was happier without you,’ Tabitha snorted. ‘Do you not understand, Lynchgate? Everyone who is free of you is happier without you? Everyone benefits when they don’t have the likes of you and your thugs in their lives? It is you who seems determined to drag everyone down to your base level of vice and crime. You belong behind bars, with your idiotic thugs and your pompous arrogance.’
‘To think that someone like him thinks himself capable of running a business like yours.’
‘That’s just it, Mildred. Lynchgate doesn’t know how to run Muldoon’s. He isn’t that intelligent. He is a thug who helps himself to what others earn. He has no intention of running the factory.’
‘He plans to sell it,’ Mildred murmured.
Tabitha nodded. ‘As long as Lynchgate has money in his pocket he can pretend to be better and wealthier than everyone else, even if the money he has is stolen.’
‘Well, I am sure the magistrate will be intrigued to hear about what he has been doing pestering you for the keys to a business that is not his,’ Mildred snorted only to frown when she saw Lynchgate smirk.
Tabitha saw it too. ‘Oh, but Lynchgate thinks he can use Judge Sminter and Charles Rodgers to get him out of gaol if Wardle arrests him. Lynchgate likes to use people, don’t you, Lynchgate? Now, Lynchgate is determined to force me to take him to my factory, most probably in the hopes that he can get a foot through the door and steal it from me.’
‘Oh, I don’t need to steal it,’ Lynchgate snarled. ‘When you die everything that is yours is going to come to me. I will naturally inherit it because I am your father. I think I will open the business back up so the workforce can go back to what they are good at and make me a very wealthy man.’
‘I am afraid not,’ Tabitha mused, smiling when they pulled up outside the factory. She didn’t say anything more as they disembarked from the carriage and began to make their way to the main building. She was unsurprised that Lynchgate already had a key but didn’t ask him where he had got it from.
While she slid a seemingly lazy glance around the courtyard, she couldn’t see anybody in the Star Elite. They were well hidden.
I just hope they are there.
Once inside the building, Tabitha began to get nervous. It was so cold and dark that she shivered.
‘Get up to the offices. You have some papers to sign,’ Lynchgate growled.
‘I am not signing anything,’ Tabitha retorted flatly.
‘You will do as you are told,’ Lynchgate snapped. ‘You are going to sign your wealth and your factory over to me. Here. Now. Today. Or you both die.’
‘But we will die anyway just as soon as you get the ink on the paper,’ Mildred snorted. ‘Don’t expect us to believe you have any decency in you. She isn’t going to sign anything.’
‘Like I said, Lynchgate, you are not going to get anything of mine. I am certainly never going to sign ownership of this factory to you, no matter what you threaten me with. You see, I have already written a will and have left everything I own to Daniel. You know Daniel, don’t you? The man you met the other day in my sitting room? The man who was the young boy you threw out of your house once you had beaten him half to death? He gets to inherit everything if I die. I have left my will with his boss, Roger, who has promised to ensure that it is legally adhered to upon the eventuality of my death. Of course, you are quite welcome to challenge the legal authority of the Star Elite, but I don’t stand your chances much.’
‘Shut up,’ Lynchgate snarled. ‘I will have what is mine.’
‘Boss.’
‘Oh, what is it now?’ Lynchgate turned to glare at one of the thugs.
‘Do you still want the goods putting in the cart?’
‘Of course I want the bloody goods put into the cart. They are ours now. The order needs filling. Take the damned lot. She isn’t going to need them.’ Lynchgate raked Tabitha with a filthy glare.
‘Its stealing,’ Tabitha mused.
‘If there is any further proof of what Lynchgate really is like look no further than what he is doing now. Standing there with a gun in his hand, pointing it at someone he is supposed to care about while he is trying to steal and damage what is rightfully his daughter’s,’ Mildred mused. She screamed when Lynchgate pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger.
Being a lousy shot, the bullet went wide, but it left Tabitha and Mildred standing in shaken silence. Several thugs stopped to watch what was happening.
‘Go on. Get to work. We don’t have all day,’ Lynchgate snarled at them.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Before the thugs could leave the first floor with their stolen goods, the men from the Star Elite stepped out of their hiding places. Lynchgate and his thugs froze and looked at the heavily armed men of the Star Elite. As one, the thugs realised that they had been caught red-handed. Some raised their hands in immediate surrender. Others swore fiercely but once they had eyed the men closest to them realised that they were heavily outgunned. A couple of men fell to their knees and put their hands behind their heads as instructed by Hamish, Luke, Dean, Peregrine, and Ronan.
‘What in the Hell happened to you?’ Daniel gasped when Lynchgate turned to glare at him through a badly bruised and swollen eye. He grinned at Tabitha who was pointing at her Aunt.
‘It wasn’t just me,’ Mildred protested.
‘You wielded the skillet,’ Tabitha smirked.
‘Well you kicked the other one,’ Mildred snorted, pointing at the affronted thug in question.
Daniel shook his head in disbelief and felt Roger step up behind him to study Lynchgate’s battered and bruised face.
‘You, Lynchgate, are under arrest,’ Roger announced simply.
Lynchgate smirked. ‘I don’t think so. You have nothing on me.’
‘We have just heard you order your men to steal from this factory,’ Roger murmured. He looked at Tabitha. ‘Did he force you here?’
Tabitha nodded.
‘That’s kidnap. Two counts of it,’ Daniel added, sliding a look to Mavis.
‘She is my daughter,’ Lynchgate snarled.
‘Whom you have forced here against her will and undoubtedly threatened with death.’ All eyes fell to Lynchgate’s gun.
Lynchgate lifted it and pointed it straight at Tabitha’s head. ‘It doesn’t matter if I am behind bars. Everything you own will belong to me, including this factory, and there isn’t a damned thing you can do about it. Why, I don’t know what that damned fool, Muldoon, thought he was doing leaving it to the likes of you, but I haven’t put in all of this time and effort to be stopped by you.’
‘No, but you will be stopped by me,’ Muldoon growled from the darkest corner of the factory. Hamish stood to one side to allow Muldoon to step out of his hiding place. His job to protect Muldoon was now over given how much weaponry Lynchgate had trained on him.
Lynchgate looked at his thugs but knew he would get no more support from them. When he turned to Tabitha, Daniel knew that the man understood at last that he wasn’t ever going to get what he wanted out of the situation. He could no longer bully her.
‘You are a liar and a thief and a coward of the worst order,’ Tabitha stated boldly, her gaze locked with Lynchgate’s. ‘I made the right decision to leave your guardianship all those years ago. It saved me, from a life like yours, influenced by the likes of you. Look at you. For all your pomposity you are just a greedy criminal who thinks you can do what you like. You, sir, are the scourge of the earth and, as far as I am concerned, the Star Elite are right to want you behind bars where you can no longer help yourself to the things other people have worked for.’
‘I am afraid, Lynchgate, that you are not at liberty to help yourself to anything in this factory, even though you own ten shares. They aren’t enough to give you rights or authority that exceeds mine. I am the major stakeholder in this business. What I say goes. Besides, I didn’t really give you ten
shares,’ Muldoon smirked.
‘Rubbish. I paid you for them,’ Lynchgate protested.
‘But they aren’t legitimate shares,’ Muldoon countered. ‘I got my friend to draw them up. They are fake.’
‘You do that a lot,’ Daniel interrupted. ‘I should arrest you for fraud or forgery.’
‘I did what I needed to do to stop a criminal from damaging my business and stealing my property and wealth,’ Muldoon argued. ‘And attacking me and murdering my workers.’
‘Muldoon is still alive and as such still owns this factory, not Tabitha,’ Roger told Lynchgate.
‘Exactly. Killing Tabitha won’t get you what you want, Lynchgate,’ Daniel warned. ‘Nor will killing Muldoon.’
‘I have now made a will, this very morning in fact, that leaves everything I own to my cousin, Humphrey. Now he is a man you should never mess with. Like these fine gentlemen from the Star Elite, Humphrey has served time in the army and knows how to fight. He is a Colonel you know and has been highly commended for his strategic planning during the war.’
Lynchgate snorted and shook his head in disgust but Muldoon wasn’t done yet. He quietly told everybody the same story he had told Tabitha and Daniel last night, leaving out nothing.
‘You are wealthy now?’ Mildred cried, staring in amazement at Tabitha.
‘I didn’t get the chance to tell you.’ Tabitha gave her aunt an apologetic look.
Mildred beamed at her. ‘Is the house nice?’
‘Oh, it’s wonderful. You should see it,’ Tabitha enthused. ‘It has a lake and a-’
‘Ahem!’ Roger rolled his eyes. ‘If you two ladies don’t mind, we need to get this resolved so we can all go home. David Lynchgate, I am placing you under the arrest for blackmail, criminal damage to this building, breaking and entering, theft of stock from this factory, two counts of kidnap, one of bribery, attempted murder of Tabitha, and Daniel, the murder of Ian Garner, attempted murder of Reynold Muldoon, and anything else I can think of. We will find out what you have been doing at the workhouse in due course, once we have completed the rest of our investigation. For now, consider yourself no better than those thugs over there.’ He pointed one long finger at the men now on their knees. ‘Muldoon, I am not going to arrest you for what you have done because I know there were extenuating circumstances, but please don’t go around pretending to sell shares and forging wills and deeds. It is a criminal offense, you know.’
Muldoon scratched his ear and looked a little sheepish.
‘Well, there is no real harm done,’ Tabitha edged.
Roger shook his head but taking his eyes off Lynchgate proved to be a bad decision. Lynchgate didn’t miss the opportunity to lunge for the space between Roger and Daniel. He darted into the darkness and vanished, until the opening of the door in the far corner of the room betrayed him.
‘After him!’ Roger bellowed.
Inside the factory, the men who hadn’t been chained yet, sprang to life and ran for their freedom. Tabitha gasped when several of the thugs darted across to the pile of weapons the Star Elite had gathered and began to fire upon the men. Bullets rained down on everyone.
Daniel grabbed Mildred and shoved her into the office beside them. Tabitha barely had the chance to draw breath before Daniel pushed her into the room after her.
‘Stay hidden with your backs to the wall. I will be back.’
Aware of Muldoon hovering behind him, Daniel cupped the back of Tabitha’s head and placed a kiss onto her lips that was possessive, loving, and contained all the emotion he hadn’t had the courage to put into words until now. When he lifted his head, Daniel grinned down at her. ‘Stay in here until I come and fetch you.’ He dropped another kiss onto her lips. ‘I love you.’
With that, he stepped out of the room and closed the door on her startled face. When he looked at Muldoon, he watched the man nod wisely at him as if he had made a good choice.
‘You go on and do your Star Elite business. I will make sure that nobody gets in there to them.’ With that Muldoon settled back into his darkened corner and checked his weapon. Within seconds, he took his first shot, and watched the thug he aimed at drop to the floor at Hamish’s feet.
Daniel joined the gunfight. Despite what Muldoon had said, he didn’t venture deeper into the factory. Instead, he positioned himself directly in front of the door so nobody could reach the woman he knew without any doubt that he adored. He knew that he would do everything possible to protect her, with his life if needed.
‘Are you going to marry her now?’ Reynold asked conversationally as if they were doing nothing more dangerous than grouse shooting on a Sunday afternoon.
‘Of course. I love her,’ Daniel muttered between shots. He watched his target fall to the floor clutching his head but Reynold’s shot go wide. His smirk was a little arrogant as he took aim and fired again. ‘Is that what the cosy scene was about last night? Were you trying to make me jealous?’
‘No. No. I genuinely do thing she is very pretty. Beautiful in fact.’ Muldoon fired another shot. ‘She is the kind of woman a man should marry. If you weren’t prepared to do the right thing, I would. I have no qualms about giving marriage a chance. Once I could be sure that she didn’t have any lingering feelings for you, of course. The heart of a woman like her isn’t to be messed around with.’
‘I haven’t messed around with her. I have been busy conducting a Star Elite investigation with my colleagues.’
‘Yet you have hurt her at every quarter,’ Reynold muttered.
‘You don’t understand,’ Daniel argued wondering why he was saying all these things to Muldoon when he should be discussing them with Tabitha.
‘I understand that you left because her father threw you out. I understand that you left the area because you had to start a life somewhere else. What I don’t understand is why you never came back for her. I mean, a woman like that, what in the Devil’s name is wrong with you man?’
For once, Daniel lost all interest in his work, and shooting the thugs before they could escape. He turned to look at the man who had resolved a lot of his problems but had brought him many more, personal ones.
‘Because I didn’t think Tabitha would worry about me as much as she has. I always believed that she had stayed with her father. I mean, Tabitha was sixteen years of age. While I was brought up in the workhouse, even I knew that young girls like her are raised to expect to marry and raise a family. I knew how pretty she was and that someone at some point would marry her. What I didn’t expect was for her to have moved here and still be unwed.’
‘Did you never check to see if she was still with her father?’
‘Of course I did, about five years ago. Not long after I first joined the Star Elite, but the only thing I could find out from the locals was that she had moved out when she was sixteen and hadn’t been back and nobody knew where she had gone. That friend of hers who lives in the village still wouldn’t even talk to me. She just saw me as the reason why her friend had left the village. She didn’t want anything to do with me. She told me that while my situation might have changed but the locals in the village would always see me as the boy from the workhouse who broke into Lynchgate’s house to see his daughter.’
It wasn’t until he had finished talking that Daniel realised the factory had gone still and quiet. Now that the thugs had been stopped in their tracks, all his colleagues had stopped what they had been doing to listen.
‘Nobody ever really leaves their past behind,’ Muldoon murmured. ‘But it doesn’t have to define who you are today. You are stronger than you were, cleverer than you were. It is other people’s ignorance and arrogance, and oftentimes fear that stops them from seeing the changes life has brought about within you. People who are that blind don’t deserve to be a part of your life, Daniel. Tabitha sees you as the man you are now, here, today. If she saw you as anything less than an equal, you would never have had an acquaintance with her in the first place. What part of that don’t you understand?’
<
br /> Tabitha quietly left the room. Daniel turned to look at her and knew then that Muldoon was right. ‘I know you have to move on. The work has to carry on,’ she began.
‘But that is no reason why life away from the Star Elite should stop,’ Hamish warned. ‘You know how precious life is, how much danger we face. You should make the most of the opportunity to create a life away from the Star Elite while you can.’
‘Says he who is too afraid of his emotions to risk a future with Lavinia,’ Daniel snorted.
‘Lavinia?’ Tabitha asked, eyeing an uncomfortable looking Hamish.
‘The woman he loves but won’t settle down with because he is worried his work with the Star Elite makes him too hard,’ Daniel sighed.
‘Well, allowing your past to influence your decisions on what you want today is the same thing,’ Hamish countered.
‘I am trying to sort out my problems,’ Daniel argued.
‘So marry her then,’ Peregrine growled. ‘And put us all out of our bloody misery.’
‘How do you know if she wants to marry me?’ Daniel asked, doing his best not to smile at the growing encouragement of his friends. He looked questioning at Tabitha. ‘Do you? Want to marry me that is?’ He tugged awkwardly on his ear and gave her a sheepish look. ‘If you could put up with someone who has had to work his backside off to turn his life around and try to become the person you might one day allow into your life that is. I love you, you see. I always have and always will. Using the Star Elite is an excuse not to marry anyone else because nobody has ever been able to make me feel the way you do. Nobody has made me want more from life like a home and family of my own, a proper one.’
‘Besides, he is jealous and doesn’t want you to kiss anybody else,’ Muldoon murmured smoothly.
Tabitha turned to look at him but before she could ask him if that had been staged, he shrugged and winked at her.