by Beth Byers
She glanced down the street and saw other women shopping. There was a cab a few shops down. The sidewalks were mostly empty and Vi saw no sign of her sister. Slowly she moved to the next store to see if Isolde had been distracted into that shop, but her attention was caught by an alleyway between that shop and the hat shop.
Isolde had been carrying a leather handbag and two little urchins were digging through it.
“Hello there,” Violet said to them, eye on the bag.
The smaller one let go of the bag and darted away, but Violet was able to catch the arm of the one closer.
“Let me go!”
“Stop struggling. Keep the bag, I don’t care. I’ll give you more money if you stop.”
Slowly the child stopped struggling and Violet said, “Now. If you will swear to me that you won’t run, I’ll let go of you and pull out the money in my bag.”
“You’ll call the police.”
“I won’t,” Vi swore. “I’ll pinky swear.”
The kid searched Vi’s face and then slowly nodded and Violet let go of the child. She hesitated to step back until she saw the kid wasn’t moving. It took a moment for Vi to realize, but the child was a girl! Vi held out her pinky and the girl curled a dirty digit around Vi’s.
“Did you see what happened to the woman who was carrying this bag?”
The child nodded and Vi pulled out her pocketbook and grabbed blindly at the cash.
“Tell me,” Vi ordered.
The child hesitated and Vi said, “Look at all this ready money.” Violet rubbed it between her fingers so the stack of it could be seen.
“A man grabbed ‘er.”
“What did he look like?”
“Fancy bloke like you. Brown suit.”
Violet thought back to who might have taken her and the only possibility was Hugo Danvers. “Did he have anything unusual about his face?”
The girl tapped the spot on her cheek where Hugo’s large mole resided.
Violet moaned a little. “It’s all right,” she told herself.
“She didn't want to go,” the girl told Vi, searching Violet’s face.
“It’s all right,” Vi corrected, “because knowing who has my sister makes it easier to find her.”
Vi gave the girl a card for her house and the money. “We’re bound now, you and I,” Vi said. “You’ve done me a good turn. One I can never repay. If you need help, that’s where you’ll find me. Tell Hargreaves I sent you, show him the card, and even if I’m not there, you’ll be safe.”
The girl nodded. She offered Vi Isolde’s purse. Vi opened it, took out Isolde’s money and gave it to the girl as well.
“I’m Violet,” she said.
“Ginny.”
“We’re friends now,” Violet told her. “Where can I find the local bobby?”
It was evident that the girl didn’t want to say, but she led Vi through the streets of London using paths no one but a local would know. They poured out in a park where the bobby was walking and swinging his billy club.
“There he is,” the girl said, stepping back.
Vi squeezed her shoulder, not letting go and called, “Help! Help, police!”
The girl squirmed but didn’t try to run and the man came running.
“This girl steal from you?” he asked, his gaze narrowed.
“My sister was taken off the street. Ginny saw everything. We need help. We need…we need Mr. Barnes.”
“Barnes, eh?”
“Hamilton Barnes! I need him.”
“You know him, then?” The policeman scowled at Vi, taking in her expensive dress, shoes, and bag. “What’s all this now?”
Vi explained quickly as possible and the policeman’s face changed from doubtful to concerned. He took off a few minutes later, darting for the closest office with Violet and Ginny chasing after.
A call later and the policeman turned to them. “Mr. Barnes isn’t in. But they know where he is. One of the boys is getting him. You’re to go home if Mr. Barnes knows where that is. Otherwise, I’ll take you to the station.”
“He knows where I live,” Violet said. Now that she had help, the shaking was starting and Violet stared helplessly at the policeman. “I…he’s…oh goodness, he has my baby sister.”
“It’ll be all right,” Ginny said, quoting Violet. “You know who to look for.”
Violet pressed her lips together and nodded quickly.
“Let’s get you home now,” the policeman said.
He had one of the men in the station get a cab. When it arrived, the policeman opened the door for Violet. Ginny slipped in beside Vi and the bobby joined them. He got the address from Violet, and the drive across London was a century-long, a millennium. How would she face her father? Lady Eleanor? What if they didn’t get Isolde back? What if something happened that she couldn’t fix later?
They stopped in front of the house, and Violet didn’t even realize she was home for a moment until the policeman got out and opened the door. As Violet was handed out, Victor and Jack came running down the stairs.
“Vi! We heard.” Victor wrapped his arm around her and pulled her inside. Ginny paused, but Vi reached out and grabbed the girl’s hand, pulling her along behind.
Inside the house, Vi and Ginny were taken to the parlor where they recounted the story.
“There’s more than you know, darling,” Victor said. “Jack missed your date because he and Barnes also realized that Hugo was the killer. Gulliver was seen storming off after the squabble with Danvers. These Yard boys were tracking Hugo down. They’ve got eyes on his apartment, his yacht, his business offices. He’ll turn up with Isolde and we’ll have them both.”
Violet nodded, but her gaze was caught by the sight of Ginny staring around in wonder. The girl was amazed while Violet was dying inside. She slowly breathed in and let it out, once, twice, again, but it wasn’t helping.
Jack said something, but Violet didn’t hear it. She rose as though a puppet master had yanked her strings, pacing between the windows. If Jack tried to talk to her again, she didn’t notice. She missed whatever was said between Ginny and the men, between the policeman and Victor. All of it.
What if she’d just gone with Isolde to look at hats? What if they’d stayed in? Isolde shouldn’t have been out and about so soon. She should have been safe at home, pretending to mourn.
Finally, someone stopped her in her tracks. Vi glanced up expecting Victor, but it was Jack.
“This is not your fault.”
Violet licked her lips and disagreed. “She’s my baby sister. She was here because it was our job to protect her.”
“No one could have guessed that Hugo Danvers would come after her.”
“But we did,” Violet countered. “We knew he was infatuated with her. Helen just told us that Hugo tended to be obsessive. We knew he’d pressed his attentions on her. We knew he’d shown up here to commiserate and mourn together. That wasn’t right. We should have known right then that…”
“We did,” Victor said. “We knew exactly that. It was I-not you Vi, I told him to never come back. To leave Isolde alone. It was one of the reasons why I was so behind the plan of Bruges. She needs to avoid the gossip, but more so—him. I was the one who took Isolde away from him. I was the one who caused this.”
Chapter 21
It had been before luncheon when Violet and Ginny returned to the house with the policeman. In a vague sort of way, Violet heard Ginny tell Victor she didn’t need to worry about getting home and could stay as long as she liked. Vi would have addressed that at any other moment, but her mind was skipping over what had happened again and again.
They’d gone shopping. How had Hugo known that they’d be there?
“He must have been watching the house. If he saw the servants leave yesterday but didn’t see Gerald take Isolde, then the house-breaking was the first attempt to take her with him.”
Victor started and Jack slowly turned. “What now?”
“Yesterday, when
we got back from our trip to Margate,” Violet said. “Someone had attempted to force their way into the house. Of course, it had to be Hugo.”
“Why haven’t I heard of this?” Jack demanded.
“You would have heard all about it,” Violet said, “if you’d been able to come last night.”
Jack paused, and Violet only realized then how that must have sounded. She sighed.
“She didn’t mean it like that,” Victor told Jack. “She meant literally. We intended to tell you all.”
Violet didn’t have time for the tender feelings of men or the brainwork to waste on those feelings. Her sister had been taken. Why? What could he hope to gain? Unless…Violet considered, remembering that day in the parlor, just over there. He’d pressed in on Isolde, not even seeing her distress. He hadn’t cared what she felt, only cared about telling her what he’d wanted her to know. What had it been? Hugo had watched Isolde since before she was old enough for him to approach her. Violet shivered at the idea of the younger Isolde having someone fixated on her.
“He is obsessed with her. Like a brain fever. He wants her to the exclusion of even how she feels. What did he call her?”
Victor shrugged, staring at Violet, and she remembered all at once.
“An angel. She isn’t real to him. She’s an infatuation, like being in love with Aphrodite or someone from a book. Only Isolde is something you can snatch. Something you can stalk. Lion to deer. He watched and waited and…my god, he killed his father. For what? They hated each other. His father would have been more likely to leave anything—should there have been a penny after his crimes—to a boy’s school than his son. The only benefit of killing Carlton Danvers for Hugo was freeing Isolde.”
“There were,” Jack said, “a series of threatening letters from Hugo to Carlton. We found them yesterday. They did, in fact, refer to changing course before the wedding day.”
“So he took her to keep her?” Victor asked. “He can’t possibly expect to get away with his plan.”
“Of course, he does. He’s evil, not stupid.” Violet bounced on her feet. “Of course, he has a plan.”
“The yacht,” Jack said. “If he wants to keep her, if he thinks he can get away with this kidnapping, it’s the yacht.”
“I’m coming with you,” Victor and Violet said in unison. Neither of them fought with the other. Both kept their attention on Jack.
“No,” Jack immediately replied, only to Violet. “It’s too risky.”
Victor let him direct his objections to Vi while he ordered his coat and cane.
“I’m going,” Violet said, but Jack didn’t even reply again. Just headed for the door while Victor followed.
“Sorry, luv,” Victor mouthed and then followed Jack down the street to the main thoroughfare where a cab could be found more easily.
“Ginny,” Violet ordered, “be sneaky. Listen for the address they give.”
The girl nodded, a smirk on her lips as she left. Violet ran up the stairs to Victor’s office. She dug through it, looking for that monstrous folding knife. Just in case. She ran into her room, grabbed a big overcoat and slipped the knife into the pocket.
By the time she’d reached the front door, Ginny had returned. They followed the path of the gentlemen, catching a cab, and heading towards the docks where Hugo Danvers intended to escape England with Violet’s sister.
When they arrived, there was no sign of anyone, and Violet wasn’t sure where to go. Ginny glanced around. “Wait here,” the girl said.
She ran past a warehouse and into an alley, and it didn’t take long before she came back with another grubby child who pointed out Hugo’s yacht.
“Did you pay that creature?”
Ginny nodded and Violet warned, “Stay back, love.”
Violet walked towards the yacht as bold as a child in a candy store. Just before she found the right boat, a hand pressed over her mouth and she was yanked against a large body. She knew the second her back pressed against his oversized bulk that it was Jack, so she didn’t struggle as he carried her into the darkness.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded without removing his hand from her mouth. Violet waited patiently and when she was set down, she saw Victor smirking with a lifted brow.
“Getting my sister,” Violet answered calmly.
Jack cursed.
“They were seen getting on the ship,” Victor told her. “He had a knife and a gun, and Isolde was taken below decks. No one has approached the boat yet. They’re waiting to get a few more men in position. But Hugo won’t be leaving tonight with her.”
“Let’s sink the yacht,” Violet suggested.
Jack shook his head. “You’re assuming they’ll flee to safety. Hugo just might be the kind of man who would rather Isolde die than be free.”
Violet stared at Jack and shivered at the sheer idea. What the devil? “If he loves her…”
“If he loved her, she wouldn’t have been kidnapped, terrified, and hauled away from what she loves. He’d be sending her flowers and trying to create a relationship with you two.”
“What are we waiting for then?” Violet demanded.
“They’re getting boats in place to ensure we can go after him if he takes off. And they’re getting divers ready in case we need to go into the water after her. Then we’ll try to bargain our way out. We need to be sympathetic.”
Violet waited while they were arranging the last of things and everyone was in place before she slipped away. Before Jack could catch her, she’d launched herself onto the boat and called, “Hugo Danvers! Hugo Danvers, Isolde is only 18 years old. Even if you love her, you’re scaring her.”
The boat rocked a little and Violet didn’t turn. It could have been Jack or Victor following her, or it could have been Hugo hearing her and reacting horribly. The person stepped nearer, and Violet felt the warmth of Jack. Her body reacted to him in a way that it never did to Victor.
“Hugo, you’re a good man,” Vi called, lying through her teeth. “You don’t want to scare her. Angels shouldn’t be afraid.”
Slowly the hatch to below opened and Hugo pushed Isolde out in front of him.
“If you cared about her, you wouldn’t have brought him,” Hugo snarled.
Violet didn’t turn around, but she said gently, “What could a woman like me do to stop him from coming?”
Violet let her gaze flick to Isolde. She’d bitten her lip bloody, she was whiter than a ghost, and the kohl on her eyes was black circles from weeping. Vi could see her dress was ripped. She’s still wearing it, Vi told herself. By Jove, she thought, I will peel his flesh from his bones if he did more to her than tear her dress.
“She needs a protector,” Violet said gently.
“That’s my role,” Hugo snarled. His eyes were wild, and his hair looked as though he’d been through a terrible storm. His tie was askew, and his clothes were wrinkled. The scowl on his face could have scared a devil.
“I’m sorry,” Violet said. “It’s all my fault. I was jealous. I could see that Isolde had made you love her and your father as well. I shouldn’t have tried to get between you. I just couldn't help but wonder why her, and not me. Please let Isolde go. Please, let’s be friends.”
Isolde was shaking like a leaf in Hugo’s hands. He kept her pressed to him with a gun in one hand. It was only then that Violet saw the knife in his other. It was pressed against Isolde’s side, and Violet choked back a cry at the sight of blood. Had he stabbed her deeply or was that a shallow cut? The blood didn’t seem to be such a large circle
“Put the knife down,” Violet pled. “She’s bleeding. Or just let me help her. Jack will stay back, won’t you? I’ll help Isolde, and you two can calm things down. We need you to protect us. To care for us. To look after us. Isolde needs you to do that, Hugo. She needs you to work things out so you can be together.”
Hugo waved Violet forward but told Jack to stop. Violet could hear Jack’s preparations in her mind. But she could see the blood on I
solde, and the blood in Vi’s ears was pounding so it seemed as though everything was coming through the rush of that sound.
Help was coming. Isolde was bleeding. Help was coming, but was it already too late? They needed to get away from this madman. What had Jack said? Hugo might be the kind of man who’d rather see Isolde dead than free. The need to flee pounded in Violet’s ears with her blood, and a horrible plan was forming.
Hugo grabbed Violet’s arm as she tried to pass him. “Let me help her. Let her sister help your angel. You don’t want your angel hurt. You don’t want her scarred. You don’t want to lose her by accident.”
It was the scarred that did it. Hugo pulled Violet forward and shoved both Isolde and Violet behind him, pointing a gun at Vi to keep Jack back. Behind Hugo was closer to the railing. How like a man to assume that a woman wouldn’t rescue both herself and her sister.
Violet wrapped Isolde up in a hug as Jack and Hugo hissed orders at each other, neither giving an inch. With Isolde clutched close, Vi whispered, “Men never give women the credit they deserve.”
Violet yanked on her sister, throwing them both into the drink and gunshots rang out overhead. Violet could hear two grunts of pain but the water closed over her. She kept her hand on Isolde’s arm and as they surfaced, there were a series of splashes near them.
Violet glanced around, searching desperately for who had followed them in and saw Jack and Hugo fighting in the water while Victor was swimming closer. It was dark, but the moment they hit the water, torches were aimed at the water.
“Vi! Give her to me.”
Violet pushed her sister in the arms of their brother. The fall must have terrified poor Isolde into a faint, or the terror had. Her eyes were wide and unseeing. She was just starting to realize she was free of Hugo.
“Steady now!” someone called. “We’re coming for you. Hold tight.”
Violet saw a lamp on a post and swam towards it. Victor swam next to her, tugging Isolde along. The sounds of struggling continued, but Violet didn’t let herself think of it.
Then another shot rang out, and everything inside of Violet stilled.