by Jake Logan
She looked around the opulent room. “And besides, why would I not want to protect this?”
“Makes good sense to me, princess. I can’t argue your play. But why not tell me the truth from the start?”
“Because, John, I have had to be more than cautious. I suppose that I was so used to the ruse that I was afraid that the great John Slocum, a man I’d heard about for so long from my father, might not take me seriously either. I have also grown to be suspicious of everyone. It’s a survival instinct. I’m sure, given the nature of the life you lead, John, that you’re familiar with that.”
“You bet I am. Again, can’t fault your play. Just wish I had known, is all.” He grinned at her. “So the scared girl on the train act?”
“All an act. Well, most of it.” She smiled. “Papa sent me away to be educated. He wanted me to study art and social graces. I studied business instead. With the help of well-placed donations, ahem, I was able to work behind the scenes at the bank, Lloyd’s of London. I learned about politics, international finance, and so much more. It was an amazing, wonderful time.”
“So, the sister…she was a lie, too?”
“No, my father was a fine man in so many ways, but sadly, he was also a ladies’ man. Something I think you can relate to, eh, John?”
He said nothing and her smile faded.
“Unfortunately,” she continued, “he was not so careful over the years, and a child, a little girl, was born out of wedlock to a woman of low class—his words, not mine. He was still married to my mother. She found out about the affair when the other woman, not my father, told her about it, in fact. It broke her heart and she died not long afterward.”
She paused for a moment. “Papa never forgave himself. He grew to hate the redheaded woman, blamed her for my mother’s death, and wanted nothing to do with his other daughter. I only found out all this on his deathbed. He confessed it all to me. I made the mistake, I see that now, of trying to contact her, this long-lost half-sister. It opened a Pandora’s box of anger and greed. Instead of sharing a life with the girl, as sisters, as I’d hoped—I would have gladly given half of everything I own—she wanted it all or nothing, as you know.”
“She was a piece of work, was that one.”
Augusta Barr eyed him with something that looked like jealousy on her face. He’d not seen it there before, and it gave her a devilish glint that didn’t suit her. It soon faded and she continued. “She got it into her head that if I were out of the way, she’d get it all. But she neglected to keep in mind that I was the only person who could or would verify her rightful place in the family. She spent most of her life raising those brute brothers of hers. And she ended up too angry and bitter for far too long to listen to reason. I was afraid for my life. That’s why I hired you, John.”
“Couldn’t you have afforded to hire a whole army of bodyguards?”
“I didn’t want a whole army of possibly competent guards. I wanted one who was good at…everything. That you are good at even more than I suspected came as a bonus.”
“Likewise,” he said, still not sure if he had been played along like a drunk scrabbling at a silver dollar nailed to a saloon floor. But seeing her standing there before him, smiling at him, he wasn’t so sure he minded if he was being used…a bit anyway.
After all, he was using her, too. It had proven a good way to make a living for a cold winter, and he wound up getting more than he’d signed on for, too. And that sort of bonus was well and truly welcome.
“Mind if I ask you one question?”
She shook her head. “I don’t mind in the least.”
But she didn’t ask what it was, so he didn’t bother with the question. He felt her smile sting him in all the right places. “I reckon I’ll ask later.”
“Later?” She wrinkled her brow as if she had no idea what he meant. “Why, after what, might I ask?”
“I think you know exactly what I mean. But you don’t need a bodyguard anymore, do you, princess?”
“No,” she said. “But I do need a body…John.”
As she wrapped herself around him, he wondered what other interesting things he might learn by the time spring rolled around…
Watch for
SLOCUM AND THE MEDDLER
399th novel in the exciting SLOCUM series from Jove
Coming in May!