Caroline snorted at his strange idea of reassurance and eyed the glass suspiciously before giving in to the sudden thirst that had seized her and drank a few mouthfuls. She set the glass down and watched as he settled on the sofa next to her, a little too close for comfort. She looked around for the door and sighed when she saw that it was some considerable distance away, too far for her to reach without him catching up to her.
“My husband will be looking for me,” she warned him.
“Of course, he will, but it will be some time before he finds you since I’ve jammed the security system. I should be able to say all I need to before they get access.”
If he’d gone to the bother of interrupting the ship’s security, then it couldn’t be a coincidence that he’d found her and that thought scared Caroline.
“Why am I here?” she asked. “What is it you want from me?”
“Ah, very direct,” He said with a grin. “You’re just like Elizabeth in that way.”
“Elizabeth? What do you know about Elizabeth?” Caroline demanded as a cold trickle of fear ran down her spine, making her shudder as she thought about the possibility that he’d had contact with her younger sister. “Have you spoken to her?”
“Not since the eve of your wedding eleven days ago.”
His expression turned serious and Caroline thought she saw concern clouding his eyes. She looked at his face and saw, for the first time, that he was younger than she’d realized, despite the lines etched around his eyes. He was a very handsome man, well-built but not muscular in the way that Andrew was. His eyes were a deep, soulful brown that almost pulled her in. Then something struck her. He said he’d spoken to Elizabeth eleven days ago, which was when the note had been thrown over the wall into her garden, telling her to go to the old post office. Instinctively, her hand went to the little bronze pendant of Elizabeth’s that she’d worn around her neck every day since then.
Lord Barron gave her a wistful smile. “I noticed you were wearing her necklace.”
Caroline’s sense of dread deepened. “How do you know it belongs to my sister?”
“Because I’m the one who gave it to her on her nineteenth birthday.”
“You gave Elizabeth a necklace?” Caroline’s brow furrowed. “Why would you give her a necklace?”
“Why does any man give a woman a gift?” he responded. “It’s a token of affection.”
“Affection, Lord Barron?” Caroline scoffed. Did the man even know the meaning of the word?
“I think you might call me William. We’re practically family, after all.”
“Family?” Caroline looked at him and it suddenly hit her that he was somehow involved with her sister. “You and Elizabeth?”
He got up from his seat and walked to the window to look out into the darkness dotted with shimmering points of light. There was nothing to prevent Caroline from getting up and running for the door but she realized that he had no need to hold her there physically as her curiosity now guaranteed that she would not try to leave.
“We’re engaged to be married.”
“Married?” If it hadn’t been for the sincerity in his voice, Caroline would not have believed what she was hearing. There was no way that Elizabeth would have agreed to marry this man and certainly without mentioning it to her. “Explain to me how that’s possible.”
“We’re in love,” he replied, resting his head against the window. Despite some lingering doubts, Caroline couldn’t help but believe him. Her head whirred with questions as she tried to decide whether this was good news or not. Suddenly she was seeing a side to Lord Barron, William, that she hadn’t glimpsed before and she was starting to sense that there was something more to him than the callous swine she’d encountered at the town hall.
“So you know where she is?”
He turned back to her and leaned against the window. If she didn’t know better, Caroline would have sworn there were unshed tears glistening in his eyes as he slowly shook his head.
“I lost track of her. She was supposed to find her way to the ship and come to Taar-Breck with me but she didn’t show up. We were planning to get married there, start a family.”
Caroline huffed out a strange sound that signaled the depth of her surprise at what she was hearing. She couldn’t imagine her younger sister contemplating marriage and children when she’d been so intent on fighting for change yet something rang true about what William was saying.
“I think you’d better tell me the whole story,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. “All of it.”
* * *
Andrew paced back and forth restlessly in front of Captain Edryn as Sereena tried to find some clue to his wife’s whereabouts on the ship’s security cameras. It was now more than an hour since he’d returned to the bedroom to discover that Caroline was not standing in the corner where he’d left her. At first he’d been angry that she’d disobeyed his instructions but, as he searched the apartment and realized that she was nowhere to be found, he’d become concerned and called Sereena, hoping that Caroline was with her. Unfortunately, the other woman had not seen Caroline since her meltdown earlier that afternoon.
Together, he and Sereena had searched all the communal areas of the ship but there had been no sign of her. Andrew was starting to get a sinking feeling that something had happened to her and he suspected that if it had, then Lord Barron was involved. Ever since that man had boarded the ship, Andrew had made sure to keep a close eye on Caroline. He didn’t trust any member of the High Council but there was an air of duplicity that hung about Lord Barron that made him particularly uneasy. Of course, without proof that he had harmed Caroline, Andrew could not confront the new ambassador to Taar-Breck as he enjoyed diplomatic immunity. Not that his status would prevent Andrew from ripping him apart with his bare hands if it turned out he had harmed his wife.
“Anything?” he asked Sereena as her fingers flew over the computer keyboard.
“I’m sorry, Commander, but something’s interfering with the system and I’m having trouble getting around it.”
That made Andrew even more certain that something had happened to Caroline. It could surely be no coincidence that the security system was compromised just as she’d gone missing.
“Keep at it,” Captain Edryn encouraged his wife.
Sereena nodded and continued to input codes into the computer system. Andrew took a seat next to her and tried to calm himself down. He had never felt such intense fear for another person as he did for Caroline but, right now, he didn’t have time to think about what that meant. There would be time to analyze his feelings once Caroline was safely back with him.
Suddenly, Sereena broke the tense silence that had fallen with a triumphant shout.
“What is it?” Andrew asked.
“I’m in,” she said as she carried on tapping furiously on the keyboard. “It should only take a moment to find her now.”
Andrew watched as different images whirred by on the screen and suddenly stopped as the camera footage from the vestibule outside the apartment came up and Sereena found the moment when Caroline made her escape.
“There she is,” Sereena said, as though Andrew could not see with his own eyes the way his naughty little wife was looking furtively over her shoulder as though she expected to be caught sneaking out at any moment.
“Can you track where she goes from there?”
“Yes, of course.” Sereena switched to footage from one camera to the next and they followed Caroline’s progress as she took the elevator to the second floor and stepped out into the lobby.
“Where on earth is she going?” Captain Edryn asked. “There’s nothing along there but private accommodation.”
The expression they could clearly see on Caroline’s face as she made her way along the corridor suggested that she’d managed to get herself lost. Andrew would have to speak to her about wandering off and not paying attention to where she was going, once they’d dealt with the other ou
tstanding disciplinary matters, of course.
“Who’s that?” Sereena tapped the monitor as the tall figure of a man appeared on the screen behind Caroline.
Andrew’s fury rose as he watched a clearly tense exchange of words between Lord Barron and Caroline. The man had been warned to keep his distance and yet he dared to approach her. Andrew surged to his feet and cursed loudly as Barron actually dared to put his hands on Caroline. His heart pounded as he saw her struggling within her captor’s grasp before falling limp in his arms as he injected her with what Andrew could only hope was nothing more lethal than a sedative.
“Where did they go?” Andrew demanded, the urgency in his tone making him sound unintentionally aggressive. “Where is she, Sereena?”
“I don’t know.” Sereena panicked as fury radiated from Andrew. “I can’t see where they went.”
“Well, find her!” he shouted, his desperation to find Caroline growing deeper by the second.
“Commander Rossingham.” A note of caution came through loud and clear in Captain Edryn’s voice as he came and put his arm around his wife’s shoulder to reassure her.
“It’s alright, sweetheart. Take your time.” He turned to Andrew. “The ambassador’s rooms are on that floor. I would imagine that’s where he’s taken her.”
“Let’s hope so,” Andrew said. If the man intended to kill Caroline, then it seemed unlikely that he would do so in such an obvious location. It was the first place anyone would look, after all. “Which room is it?”
“Room 235.” Sereena’s voice was a little shaky. “What are you going to do, Commander?”
“I’m going to go and get my wife back,” he replied without hesitation.
“I shall come with you,” Captain Edryn offered and Andrew nodded gratefully, knowing that it was a good idea to have someone there with him because, diplomatic relations or not, it would be all he could do to prevent himself from beating Lord Barron to a pulp.
* * *
By the time William finished telling Caroline the story of his relationship with Elizabeth, she was beginning to wonder if she knew her sister at all. It seemed that she had been keeping secrets, including her membership in an organization that wanted to overthrow the High Council and restore democracy to New Cambridge. That had been surprise enough, but to find out that William was actually a rebel leader, their inside man on the High Council, was truly shocking.
“You certainly played your part well.” Caroline could not keep the bitterness out of her voice. Although William had not been alone in tormenting her during her trial and after her wedding, she found it hard to believe that anyone who professed to love Elizabeth so deeply could be capable of behaving toward her sister in such a way. He had been incredibly threatening and she found it hard to reconcile that man with the one who sat before her now.
“I did. So well, in fact, that they agreed to my request to become ambassador to Taar-Breck. They thought I intended to use my position to coerce you into giving me the names of your friends but actually I wanted to gather support for a coup back home, preferably one without bloodshed.”
Caroline shook her head in amazement. It all sounded so incredible and yet she knew, somehow, that he was telling the truth.
“And Elizabeth?” she asked. “How did you manage to lose track of her?”
“On the night of your arrest, I wanted Elizabeth to get out and she managed to make it to my apartment. The next day I went for a meeting of the Council as usual and when I got back, she was gone.”
Caroline’s heart sank. Although William had provided her with some answers, there was still no clue as to who’d sent the note to her and she was no closer to finding out where her sister had gone. She wanted to scream with frustration but William looked so distraught already that she knew she had to hold it together. Getting to her feet, she crossed the room and pulled him into a warm embrace.
“We’ll find her,” she promised. “Just tell me what I can do to help.”
“Tell me the names of the other women in the Hyde Ladies’ Circle. I know there are nine of you but Elizabeth only ever mentioned Victoria Walton and Lucy Bainbridge to me. I need to know who the others are so I can find out if Elizabeth is with one of them.”
Caroline took a step back and shook her head. His knowing the names of two of her friends gave some indication that Elizabeth trusted him but Caroline needed something more. She didn’t know William Barron well enough to risk her friend’s lives by divulging their information to someone she wasn’t one hundred percent sure of. Yes, she was inclined to believe what he’d told her, to accept that he loved her sister, but she needed more proof that she could trust him.
“I can’t give you their names,” she said, taking another step back, fearing his reaction.
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
While Caroline had braced herself for anger, what she heard from William was dejection. The look of defeat that clouded his handsome features sent a wave of guilt through Caroline and she knew she had to do something.
“But I will tell my husband who they are and ask him to get them all to safety.” Although Andrew had not spoken to her about it, she had a suspicion that the reason Bryn and Taryn had stayed behind in New Cambridge was so they could track down her friends. She doubted they were finding it easy since they’d been very discreet and had all vowed to protect one another. “He can find out what they know about Elizabeth.”
“You trust Rossingham?” William asked. “He has fought to protect the interests of the High Council in the past. His family are their allies.”
“I know, but I trust Andrew completely.” As she spoke the words, she realized just how deeply she meant them. All her lingering uncertainties about whether she could truly trust him were gone and she wished she’d recognized sooner that he was a man she could put her total faith in. “Perhaps you should too.”
Caroline turned to leave but, as she walked toward the door, it suddenly burst open and Andrew stormed into the room, Captain Edryn close behind. Before Caroline could speak, he charged past her and struck William hard enough to knock him off his feet, sending him crashing into a small table, which shattered beneath him.
“Andrew!” Caroline screamed as he hauled the other man to his feet and swung his fist, connecting with William’s nose once more. “Andrew, stop!”
Taking advantage of his momentary surprise at her shouts, she ran and placed herself between the two men. Her husband’s face fell into a threatening scowl but, knowing that he could never hurt her, she wasn’t afraid to take hold of his arms, hoping her gentle touch would calm him down.
“Andrew, it’s okay,” she said. “I promise you, I’m okay.”
“He put his hands on you,” Andrew growled possessively. “Nobody touches what’s mine.”
“But he didn’t hurt me,” Caroline said, a pleading tone in her voice. “Andrew, please just listen to what he has to say.”
“Perhaps you should do as your wife asks, Commander.” This suggestion came from Edryn.
For a moment, Caroline wasn’t sure what would happen. She could feel anger vibrating from her husband’s entire body and she was terrified of what he might do. William was bleeding profusely from a broken nose and, as far as Caroline was concerned, that was suitable recompense for drugging her but she didn’t want to see any more harm come to him. Hoping that it would defuse the situation, she curled herself into Andrew’s body and nuzzled against his chest until, finally, the tension drained from him and he wrapped his arms around her.
“Very well,” he conceded gruffly. “But if I don’t like what I hear, I’m going to finish him off.”
Caroline breathed a sigh of relief and steered Andrew toward the sofa, sitting down next to him and clasping his hand tightly as Edryn fetched a cloth to stem the flow of blood from William’s nose.
“You’re really unharmed?” Andrew spoke quietly.
“I promise you, I’m fine.”
“Good, because you’ve got a hell of a spanking coming to you.”
Caroline gulped and turned to William.
“Why don’t you tell Andrew what you told me. Start from the beginning,” she said. “Leave nothing out.”
With any luck, William would take so long to recount the story to Andrew, he’d forget all about punishing her. Caroline turned to her husband and smiled sweetly but the look in his eye told her he knew exactly what she was playing at.
The ploy was an obvious one, but it seemed to work. By the time they finally left William’s rooms, it was growing late and Caroline was sure that Andrew would want to just go straight to bed. Less trusting than his wife, he’d wanted details on the organization William and Elizabeth were involved with and he interrogated the other man mercilessly, asking him to go over specific pieces of information, repeatedly trying to find a flaw in the story. It had taken hours before Andrew was eventually satisfied that William was telling the truth and agreed to do what he could to help him.
“You can make a list of your friends’ names and addresses for me and I’ll ask Bryn and Taryn to have them all brought to Taar-Breck,” Andrew said as he led Caroline along the corridor and into the elevator.
“Okay,” Caroline said tentatively. “But what if they refuse to go with your men?”
Andrew raised an eyebrow as though her question had been ridiculous and she knew it had been. Resisting a Taar-Breckian warrior was no easy feat and they would leave her friends no choice but to go with them.
“I hope they’ll forgive me for revealing their identities.” Caroline’s face fell as she wondered if this would end some of her friendships.
“Of course they will,” Andrew said, placing a kiss on the top of her head and squeezing her shoulders reassuringly. “They’ll be better off with my men than they will be if they’re found by the secret police.”
Caroline smiled and then her brows knitted together in bewilderment as she realized that the elevator was going down rather than up. When they came to a stop and the doors slid open, Andrew steered her down a narrow corridor, stopping outside a large room with frosted glass windows.
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