*
The expected scream rang out as they crossed the street from the boarding house. Liam immediately walked over to a pair of nearby gendarmes and proclaimed hearing the screams of a woman being attacked by a drunken sailor in the building. Having heard the screams for themselves, they rushed across the street, eagerly pulling out their heavy truncheons.
It had taken over thirty minutes to pull the incapacitated Ivan through the tunnel and up the stairs to the second floor of the boarding house. They liberated his coin purse and documents after removing most of his clothing. Then as quietly as they could manage, they gently opened one of the girl’s bedroom doors and placed him on the floor within. Pierce slammed another door as they nonchalantly left the second floor, intending to wake everyone up.
Everything worked perfectly as they witnessed the gendarmes drag Ivan out of the building and lead him down the street away from them.
“Ivan doesn’t speak French very well, so he’ll have a hard time talking his way out of that one,” Liam observed happily.
“Nice,” Pierce agreed as a nearby clock rung the quarter hour. “Only one last thing we need to do before heading back to the safe house.”
Pierce led the way to the Harbour Master’s building, leaving Liam outside to wait while he went in. The crowd within the lobby had dispersed and only a few people remained loitering by the front counter.
The clerk was still working through his pile of documents, diligently scratching notes into his large ledger. A folded piece of paper was sitting on the corner of the desk, seemingly of little consequence to the clerk.
Without hesitating at the desk, Pierce walked by slowly, placing a gold coin on the counter and taking the note in fluid simultaneous motions. The clerk calmly removed the coin and placed it in his pocket without looking up or interrupting his work. It was all Pierce could to do keep from laughing at his secret agent manoeuvre as he left the building.
Liam sidled up to him on the street outside and they walked in silence, tired from the morning’s activities. Both were relieved that the rising autumn sun did not bring too much heat as they retraced their route to the safe house.
The safe house was a common beige coloured terrace a few blocks south of the port, sitting in the shadow of the imposing Notre Dame de la Garde cathedral. The revitalizing effect of North African trade felt in the port was similarly taking effect here. Widened tree lined streets filled with carriages, wagons, and carts displayed the renewed life of the area. Pierce took all this in and, like at the docks, hoped the amount of activity would provide an adequate amount of anonymity for them.
Without being too obvious, both men looked for anyone familiar or suspicious nearby before entering the front door of the safe house. They had no reason to believe they had been followed or were under observation; however MacDuff had been adamant that they stay alert during their stay. Without any proof to the contrary, they had to act as if Bufford knew of their presence in Marseille. For this reason the first thing the Brown Pack had done upon exiting the building with the portal to the Manor, was to rent out a nearby house. They couldn’t risk Bufford running in to them before they were prepared.
Smells of fresh coffee and bread greeted Pierce and Liam as they crossed the entrance and walked into the kitchen. Jane was placing the coffee pot on the table, where MacDuff sat quietly reading a paper.
“You’re late,” he observed without looking up as he flipped to the next page. “How did it go?”
“It was interesting,” Pierce replied, explaining what had occurred after getting a cup of coffee. Sean descended from upstairs in the middle of the discourse, filling the kitchen to capacity.
“Well that’s one less thug to worry about at least,” he observed hopefully, refilling his own cup.
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Pierce countered uneasily. “Liam brought up a good point to me before. Bufford and his men have clearly been here once already.”
“If not more,” Liam chimed in.
“Yes, if not more,” Pierce agreed quickly. “We can’t be sure how much they’ve prepared. He might have hired thugs to work for him. Remember he’s a skilled sailor and mercenary in his own right. With that much preparation time, what’s the worst case scenario?”
“Worst case?” MacDuff contemplated the question aloud. “He’s purchased a ship and crew, who will all be loyal to him. After that he’s bribed the local officials, possibly including the gendarmes and local army garrison. He’ll have spies everywhere and the muscle to back him up.”
“He might even own the hotel this ball is taking place in,” Sean added frowning. “That gives him total control of the hunting ground.”
“Beautiful,” Pierce sighed in desperation. “Anything else?”
“Did Ivan see either of you?” Jane asked quietly, hesitant to enter the conversation.
“Why?” Liam asked, unsure if he had.
“Because if Bufford does own the police, then Ivan has probably been released already or will be soon,” Pierce finished for her, visibly impressed with her analysis of the situation. “So if he saw us the game is up, so to speak.”
“With the Ball becoming a trap for us rather than Bufford,” Jane concurred, pleased to have contributed.
“We can’t give up, but we also can’t continue blindly,” observed Sean succinctly.
“We just went through the worst case scenario,” Pierce announced after looking over the sheet of paper from the harbour masters clerk. “I think we can discount some of our fears as to the omnipotence of Colonel Bufford in Marseille.”
“Sounds good to me,” Liam agreed, recognizing the paper Pierce had picked up on their excursion that morning. “Isn’t that what you picked up at the Harbour Master’s?”
“Uh-huh,” he concurred smiling. “I procured this list from the clerk of the Harbour Master. It should be legit; Bufford might have bribed the master but hardly a lowly clerk. This list contains all the ships traveling to America within the next week, with the corresponding names of the owners and captains for each ship. The names do not match any of the alias’ we know Bufford uses.”
“Why assume he’s bound for America?” Sean challenged doubtfully.
“Where else would a Confederate Colonel with a cargo of submachine guns be travelling to in the 1830’s?” Pierce retorted sharply. “His plan must involve bringing these modern weapons to America to be used. So under no circumstances can we allow him to leave the city with those guns. The effects could be catastrophic.”
Everyone in the kitchen nodded soberly, understanding the full impact of their mission. It was why those on hunts took such care to only outfit themselves in period clothes and equipment. This attention to detail meant that their presence had very little, if any, impact on the periods they visited. However a watch, telescope, or radio misplaced in an earlier era could have a disastrous effect on the course of human history.
“I doubt he owns the hotel,” Liam offered after a brief silence, continuing the groups brainstorming session. “Ivan wouldn’t have reacted the way he did if Bufford owned it. He was genuinely surprised and didn’t want to be caught digging down there.”
“That’s true,” Pierce acknowledged. “Plus Bufford wouldn’t have required invitations to his own ball.”
“I accept that he doesn’t own a ship or the hotel,” MacDuff allowed thoughtfully. “Both of those things would have required an immense amount of time and preparation. However bribing is fairly easy and requires much less time to accomplish. So we must continue with the assumption that any official we come across is potentially involved with Colonel Bufford.”
“Agreed.”
“Sean take Jane over to the docks and check up on these ships,” Pierce ordered, handing over the list he’d acquired from the clerk. “Bufford might not own these ships, but he’ll have to use one of them to transport his cargo.”
“Me?” Jane responded, surprised at being included and secretly delighted with the idea of helping in a
meaningful way.
“Unless you’re not up to it,” Pierce challenged, testing her resolve.
“Of course I’m up to it!” she retorted sharply. “All I have to do is undo a couple buttons on my blouse and those sailors will tell me anything I want to know.”
“Try and be a little more discreet than that,” MacDuff suggested behind a wide smile.
“Yeah,” Pierce concurred lamely, suddenly feeling jealous of the sailors. He had been secretly annoyed when Lord Lodge had informed him that Jane was not working with Dr. Cleaver. He always felt awkward around women and attractive women like Jane only made it worse. So he had found it easier to deal with her as an enemy agent. But now he felt as awkward as he did when they first met in Drummond’s office, despite having turned into a different man in that span of time.
Jane merely flashed a charming smile and shook her black locks in mock reply to both, before leaving the kitchen to prepare.
“Keep an eye on her,” Pierce told Sean before he could follow her out. “She’s never been off the island before and we’ll need her at the ball tonight.” Sean nodded in acknowledgment before leaving himself.
“Is it really wise to let her go?” MacDuff asked over a raised cup of coffee.
“I think so. She needs to get used to the environment and I don’t want her to feel overwhelmed later on.”
“For what it’s worth I agree with you,” MacDuff agreed as he finished his coffee.
“So how many tests do I have to pass before I get my leadership badge?”
“You caught that did you?” MacDuff replied sheepishly. “I’ll follow you, my Lord, because I’m a soldier at heart and that’s what we do. But I’ve also been around long enough to know when to follow wholeheartedly and when to have an exit planned. I suppose I keep prodding you for further insights out of habit. Remember you’ve only been with us for a short time, considering how long we’ve been around.”
“How long have you been around Duffy,” Pierce inquired, his curiosity piqued by McDuff’s statement.
“Well I suppose it’s hard to determine exactly due to the nature of the Manor,” MacDuff answered as he slowly rose from the table and placed his coffee cup on the counter with his back to Pierce. “But I was recruited by Tiberius shortly after the Battle of Bannockburn.”
“That was in the 1300’s! I saw that in Braveheart!” Pierce gasped in shock.
“He looks good for his age don’t he?” Liam joked to a disregarding audience.
“Aye, 1314 it was. I followed Robert the Bruce into battle against the English,” MacDuff recounted, his highland burr becoming more pronounced. “We won the day and gained our independence. For a time.”
“What does that mean?” Pierce asked, confused by the small chuckle uttered by MacDuff.
“A few centuries later I found myself back on the battle field for Scottish Independence. It was at Culloden for the ’46 rising with Bonnie Prince Charlie. What a waste.”
“I thought you said you were recruited after Bannockburn, what were you doing at Culloden?”
“I went with Tiberius to recruit Sean for the Hunt,” MacDuff said, providing some history on another of Pierce’s hounds. “He thought it would be easier with a fellow countryman present. We found Sean in Edinburgh, full of rebellious fervour. Well, one thing led to another and I eventually found myself hip deep in smoke and redcoats in Culloden. I followed two very different men into two terribly violent battles, and it was then I really learned that the reason a man makes a decision is often as important as the decision itself.”
Chapter 27
A Malevolent Manner (Patrick Pierce #1) Page 88