Elusive

by Linda Rae Blair

  Blair carefully answered the knock at the door and found a bellman holding out an envelope with her name on it. After closing the door, she opened the envelope, pulled out the note, and read the tiny, scrawling handwriting.

  Blair,

  My meeting will be over by noon. Please meet me at the Fox & Hound for lunch. I’ll wait for you there.

  Alexandre

  Blair did not remember ever seeing his handwriting. She had to admit it was not exactly what she’d expected from such a powerful personality. She just thought a strong man like Alex would have a strong, bold hand with big, sweeping letters. This was…different somehow—surprisingly hard-to-read lettering. Well, that didn’t matter. She pushed her thoughts aside. She would have to hurry to get there on time.

  ***

  He had hoped to get back to the hotel in time to take her to lunch, but, as he walked toward the entrance, he saw two men pushing her into a car. He recognized his two cousins. Running for the car, he missed them by inches. Hailing a taxi in front of the hotel, he followed them to the warehouse district near the pier. The cab pulled up behind the car, and he saw them up ahead dragging her away. The third man in the car sped away.

  “Go get the police and get them back here fast. They are going to kill her if I don’t stop them,” Alexandre yelled to the cabbie as he slammed the taxi door and ran after them.

  “Aye, I’ll get them, Sir” the cabbie hollered to Alexandre who was already turning the corner after the two men and the girl.

  Alexandre heard the taxi speed away behind him, and he just kept running. He had to catch them. If anything happened to her…

  Finally, he lunged and brought the three of them down, including Blair. As he struggled with the two men, Blair got to her feet. She started beating Hugh with her handbag. Alexandre finally got in a good blow at Aiden. Then he struck Hugh so hard he heard the man’s nose break and felt the concussion up his good arm. He managed to get Blair out of Aiden’s grip while Hugh was still picking himself up. Alexandre recognized that he was at a disadvantage with his right arm still not back at full strength. He grabbed Blair’s hand and they ran.

  Alexandre held her hand so tightly she felt pain up to her elbow, but she knew she had to hang on. He was desperately trying to get them to safety. He heard her heavy breathing and realized she wouldn’t be able to run much further. He had to get her to safety soon. “Just a little further, Blair.”

  They ran into the warehouse at the end of the street, trying to find a hiding place. Once inside, they realized too late that there was nowhere to go. The huge gaping warehouse was all but empty. Spinning around, they saw the two brothers come running in the door and then close it behind them.

  “I think it’s time our little Lady McDonnough gets lost for good, don’t you, Brother?” Aiden said to Hugh.

  “Aye, Bruddah, I do,” Hugh said, holding his handkerchief to staunch the blood spilling from his broken nose.

  “Blair, quick! Get behind me,” Alexandre called to her, but before she could move Aiden grabbed Alexandre by the shirt and tried to spin him around. But the heavy hammer Hugh had just picked up from the floor swung down in an arch hitting Alexandre’s right shoulder. Alexandre’s world started to go white as the hammer traveled on to slam into the side of Aiden’s head.

  As Alexandre fought the pain and nausea that slammed into him with the hammer’s blow, he managed to keep from passing out. All his practice with the claymore and his swords was going to come in handy, he thought. The pain shot through him as he grabbed the hammer with his bad arm and hung on for dear life, as he knocked out Hugh with a solid slam to the solar plexus and a solid uppercut to his chin. In the process, the hammer’s handle had struck Blair in the head.

  As he slumped to the floor, he knew he had stopped the attack. He saw Hugh unconscious and Aiden lying next to him—dead, on the floor, his skull broken. Quietly, as everything went black, he joined them.

  Alexandre awoke to find Blair too had lost consciousness. Kneeling down beside her, he begged her to be alright. He could not bear to see her harmed.

  The police and the ambulance arrived at about the same time. Alexandre had heard the sirens and, struggling to his feet, he managed to open the warehouse door so they could find them. Then he promptly fell to his knees in pain.

  His cousins were removed from the scene—Hugh was carted off to jail; Aiden to the morgue.

  Blair was gathered up gently onto a stretcher, and Alexandre, who had told the police what had happened, was allowed to ride in the ambulance with her. The steely look he gave the doctor told the man he had best not try to stop him.

  Later that evening he was still with her when she opened her eyes. “Blair, can you hear me?”

  “Oui, Chéri. Where am I?” she asked so quietly that his heart clutched in panic.

  “You are in the hospital, Blair.” He dared to ask, “Are you alright? Are you in any pain?”

  “My head hurts and my mouth is dry. Is there any water?” she asked weakly.

  “Yes, here let me help you,” he said, as he gently lifted her forward to drink. He held the glass in his aching arm and refused to give in to the pain it cost him.

  “What…what happened?”

  “My damned cousins tried to split your skull with a very big hammer. Fortunately, your head only got the handle. My arm got the peen…just before Aiden’s skull caught the brunt of it,” he explained.

  As she focused on him, she lurched forward, grabbing her head when the pain made her head swim. “My God, Alex, your arm again? Are you alright?”

  Finding the humor in a bad situation, Alex laughed, “Yes, I do seem to have a target on this arm, don’t I? The blow wasn’t really solid,” he tried to reassure her, “but the doctor does seem to be getting a great deal of pleasure out of making me wear this damned sling again. Do you think you will be well soon enough to tend to me again?” He smiled at her, watching for her reaction.

  “If you will get my aspirin, I will tend to your arm,” she smiled back.

  “That sounds good to me,” he smiled at her. “Blair, did you see the driver of the car? He got away.”

  She rubbed her aching head, and then the memory shot back to her, “Yes. I did see him. I knew him! Oh, Alex, it was Mssr. Taog from Angus’s office!”

  It made sense. No matter where she went, they were right there behind her. Taog had been reporting to them as she contacted Angus—but why? “Cheri, I have to leave for an hour or so, but I’ll come back as soon as I can,” he said, as he raised her hand and kissed the palm of her hand. She was so pale and obviously in pain. He saw her close her eyes and drift off immediately. Another few hours of rest would do her good, and Alex had things to tend to.

  Outside the hospital, he hailed a cabbie and during the drive he tried to get a grip on what had happened. What was Taog’s link to Aiden and Hugh? When they arrived at the police station, he jumped out of the taxi, jarring his arm against the door and receiving a sharp reminder of his injuries. Gritting his teeth and waiting for the pain to settle—it wasn’t going to go away, he knew—he strode into the building. Passersby were only glad the man with the clenched jaw who looked fit to kill was not headed for them!

  From his jacket pocket he pulled out the card the police inspector had left in his hospital room. He slammed it down on the front desk. “Is this man here?” he growled at the poor policeman manning the desk.

  Looking down at the card, the policeman responded. “Yes, Sir. He’s in his office. And you are?”

  “Tell him Lord McDonnough is here, and I want to see him now!” Besides the pain in his arm, he was a man on a grim mission and his mood was as black as his hair.

  “Yes, Sir. Just a moment. Please, Lord McDonnough, have a seat. It won’t be long, I assure you.” He’d heard the story of the arrest the day before and was amazed the man was in any condition to be storming into their office so soon. As he quickly picked up the telephone to let the inspector know that Lord McDonnough was waiting for
him, he took a deep breath and thanked God the man wasn’t here to see him. From the looks of the man, he was fit to kill.

  Within just moments of the desk sergeant’s call, Inspector Innis came through the doorway and immediately strode toward Alexandre. “Lord McDonnough, it’s good to see you up and about. Should you have left the hospital so soon?” He offered his hand in greeting, but Alexandre was in no mood for formalities. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

  Finally getting a grip on his anger, Alexandre’s manners kicked in by the time they reached the inspector’s tiny office. Seated across from the man whose upper lip was starting to sweat, Alexandre took a deep breath to further calm himself. “My apologies for my poor manners, Inspector. The last few days have, I fear, undermined all my dear mother has ever taught me.”

  Relaxing a little, the inspector responded, “Lord McDonnough, you have been through a bad couple of days and are undoubtedly still in a great deal of pain. You owe no apologies, I assure you. Now, how may I help you?”

  “My cousins,” he snarled, “may have had their own devious reasons for their recent behavior, but Mademoiselle Delamare has identified to me the driver of the car that took her to the warehouse district. It was a Mssr. Taog—an employee of Mademoiselle Delamare’s attorney, Angus Ferguson.”

  “Ah hah,” the inspector responded, as he pushed back in his chair, lifted his hand to his chin to stroke his thumb and index finger across his jaw line while he thought this through. “And you are undoubtedly wondering how these three men are linked.” Sitting forward again, he continued, “So am I, Lord McDonnough. So am I.”

  Again, he pushed back in his chair in thought. “Of course, we will need to talk to Miss Delamare.”

  “She is in pain and will undoubtedly sleep for another few hours. I would prefer that she not be disturbed until she has had time to rest,” Alexandre insisted.

  “Aye, that is best, I’m certain. But we will start looking for Mr. Taog right away. I’ll go to see Mr. Ferguson immediately to see what we can find out about Mr. Taog.”

  “I understand your need to talk to Mssr. Ferguson,” Alexandre said, “but I would ask that you permit me to tell him of Taog’s involvement in this matter. He is a very special friend of Mademoiselle Delamare’s and mine. He has worked with Taog for many years and the news of his involvement will come as a huge shock to him.”

  The Inspector was hesitant at first. Thinking about the pros and cons, he made a quick decision. “Lord McDonnough, I understand your wish to share this information with Mr. Ferguson. However there is a matter of obtaining information about Taog from him. We do not know whether or not Mr. Ferguson may have had some…involvement…”

  Alexandre interrupted him, “Inspector, Mssr. Ferguson has worked for the Delamare family for over thirty years and was a very dear and trusted friend of Mademoiselle Delamare’s uncle. I assure you, Mssr. Ferguson will be devastated to hear that his judgment of Taog has been so faulty. I really must insist that you permit me to break this news to him.”

  Inspector Innis had had to deal with the aristocracy in such matters for years. He knew the possible ramifications to his career if he crossed the wrong person at the wrong time. Working in the capitol city, it had been ingrained in him since his days on foot patrol. Standing, he faced Alexandre and held out his hand, “Agreed, Lord McDonnough. I will accompany you so that, once you have broken this news to Mr. Ferguson, I can get some background information from him.”

  Standing and shaking the inspector’s hand, Alexandre agreed and they immediately left for Angus’s office.

  On the way to Angus’s office, Alexandre thought about Angus and how difficult it was going to be for the kind, gentle man to find out he had been betrayed in such a cold-blooded manner. He would explain everything to Angus, and then Angus would give the police the information they needed to track down Taog. He couldn’t hide for long and, if the police didn’t find him, Alexandre, with Bill Campbell’s assistance, surely would.

  **************************

  Chapter 28: Snake in the Grass

  Edinburgh, Scotland – July 1912

  When they arrived at Angus’s office, as they had expected, there was no sign of Taog. When Alexandre entered, Angus was standing at the man’s desk in the outer office with a confused expression on his face. When he looked up and saw Alexandre, he put down the file he held, smiled broadly, and reached out to greet him.

  “My boy! It’s good to see you. How is our girl?” Then taking in the fact that Alexandre’s arm was in a sling, he asked, “What has happened, laddie?”

  “Angus, there has been another attempt on Blair’s life,” Alexandre started to explain. Seeing the shock on the older man’s face, he quickly added, “She will be fine as soon as the headache goes away, Angus.” Alexandre braced himself for a difficult conversation.

  “Something’s bothering you! Something more than this latest attack, I fear. Come into my office, lad. Let’s have a drink of fine Scotch whiskey and talk it out. What say you?”

  “Yes, Angus. Let’s do that.” Alexandre responded, as they moved into the lawyer’s office. “Where’s Taog this morning?”

  “Damned if I know, lad. He hasn’t been in the office since before lunch the day before last. He’s always been as reliable as could be. I’ve been to his apartment, but no one has seen him. I’m getting quite worried about the man. This is not like Taog! I’m afraid something may have happened to him.”

  Indeed, something might yet, Alexandre thought to himself. “I have some bad news, Angus.”

  Angus’s hand shook as he handed the whiskey glass to Alexandre. “God, lad! Not our lassie!”

  “No. No, Angus, not Blair. I promise you, she will recover from this latest attack.” As he watched the poor man’s face relax, he continued. “No, I’m afraid it’s Taog, Angus.”

  “Taog? Something has happened to him, hasn’t it?”

  “No, but something soon will, I assure you,” Alexandre said, with a determination that had the hair on the back of Angus’s neck standing up.

  “What are you talking about, lad?”

  “Blair identified Taog as the driver of the car in which she was abducted, Angus. He’s been feeding my dear cousins information he learned here. He has to have been going through your files, messages, correspondence, and then going straight to my dear cousins, Aiden and Hugh Owen. Damned their black souls! The two of them have been behind the attacks on Blair.” Alexandre had been pacing the whole time he laid this out for Angus.

  “And I trusted him,” Angus said, dejectedly. “I was such a fool. I’ll never forgive myself for putting her in danger. And, oh, laddie…poor Roddy! He was the dearest friend I’ve ever had or ever will have,” he said, as tears welled up and blurred his vision and a lump gathered in his throat.

  Alexandre felt bad for the man. He had done everything he could to protect Blair, and his own faith in others had put her in their path. “Angus, you must know that this is not your fault. Not any of it! Taog and my cousins were determined to take Blair’s life to ensure they got their hands on the estate. That means that I would have been next on their list.”

  “Angus, the police inspector on the case came with me. He needs information about Taog. I’d appreciate it if you would talk to him right away so that they can start the search for Taog and find out why he took part in this.”

  “Of course, please bring him in. I’ll do whatever I can to help. Ah, laddie, I would do anything for our lassie, you must know that.”

  Alexandre patted the man on his shoulder, “I do know that, Angus. I do.” Turning, he left the room to get the inspector.

  ***

  After another twenty-four hours of observation, Blair was released and the pair returned to the hotel. Once he returned to the hospital, Alexandre had not left her again. He slept in the little chair across from her bed, waking in the morning feeling like he had been put through torture.

  They planned to return to Donnach the next day, b
ut Alexandre wanted to see Angus once again. He and Blair had both been very concerned about their friend. He was finally able to talk Blair into staying at the hotel while he went to check on Angus. With her head still pounding, she wasn’t able to deny that it was best for her to stay behind.

  When Alexandre arrived, he passed through the outer office where the assistant’s desk still sat empty and moved to the doorway of Angus’s private office. He found the man sitting behind his desk, staring out his window. The sadness of the man permeated the room. “Angus?”

  Angus started at the sound of Alexandre’s voice. “Oh, laddie, you startled me. Please come in. Have a seat.”

  Alexandre noticed that the smile the man offered didn’t reach his eyes. “Are you alright, Angus?” Alexandre walked over to the cabinet where he’d seen Angus get his whiskey, found two glasses and poured them each three fingers of the golden liquid. Walking over to Angus’s desk, he put one of the glasses down in front of the man. “Here, Angus. Have a little of your fine whiskey. It’ll help.”

  “Aye,” he said, softy, picking up the glass and downing the entire three fingers in one gulp. Angus looked up and saw Alexandre looking at him with one eyebrow raised. “You are right laddie. That helped.”

  Alexandre took the empty glass and refilled it. “Here, I think another will help even more.” He waited for Angus to talk to him, but when the man just sat there looking sad, he waited no longer.

  “Are you alright, Angus?” He downed his own drink and, still standing, set the glass down on Angus’s desk.

  “I dinna ken if I will ever be alright again, laddie.” Angus said, so quietly that Alexandre could barely hear him. Sighing deeply, Angus continued. “Roddy was my dearest friend, and I hae, though unwittingly, played a part in his death. But for you, they would hae killed his dear Blair. How could I hae been such a fool, Alexandre?”

  Leaning down to look the wretched man squarely in the face, “Angus, this was their decision, their responsibility, and the damage done will lie on their shoulders, not on yours!” Alexandre waited to let what he’d said sink in.