City of Lies
Page 26
“Assuming Jake would also be reluctant to part with his portion, you could at least have given Thornton your own share.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I don’t even have my share, and besides, I was still trying to convince Thornton that the money was really lost, because I knew I’d never be able to get it back. That’s when I got the idea to help him sell his precious rifles. He’d been talking about them when we were in Washington, and I knew you didn’t want David to help him find a buyer. So I told him that. I stretched the truth a bit and said that you were going to make sure no one else bought them, either, but that I could convince David to help him because we were engaged.”
Gideon stiffened at the reminder. “How convenient.”
“Yes, well . . . At least it worked. Thornton didn’t beat me or . . . or anything else.”
Gideon winced again. “Thank God for that. And Thornton believed you, and now David and I have played our roles. But how is your general going to ruin Thornton?”
“I don’t know exactly. He’s going to cheat him out of the rifles somehow.” Was that enough information to satisfy Gideon? “So you see, Thornton will be ruined, and it will finally pay him back for everything, for what he did to Jake and what he did to Marjorie.”
“We don’t know for sure that he did anything to Marjorie,” he said, always the stickler.
“But we do! I didn’t tell you, but when he had me at his house, he admitted that he’d killed her.”
“If you think that will convince me to help you—”
“I’m not trying to convince you of anything. It’s true. He was trying to frighten me, even though I was already scared witless. I guess he wanted me to know he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt a female or something. He told me he’d beaten her nearly senseless, and then he strangled her. If you’d seen his face when he said it . . .” She shuddered at the memory. “Anyway, you can be sure he killed her, and he got away with it. Nobody is ever going to punish him for it unless we do.”
She waited for him to agree, certain that he would, but he only sat there, thinking.
“Gideon?”
“I can’t do it. I can’t take the law into my own hands. It goes against everything I stand for.”
“Do you stand for letting murderers go scot-free?”
He frowned, but he didn’t back down. “When we bypass the rule of law, civilization crumbles.”
“It’s not going to crumble just because one rotten apple gets what’s coming to him. It’s more likely to crumble because the law didn’t notice what he did in the first place.”
“I can’t help you cheat someone, Elizabeth.”
She managed not to groan. “You don’t have to help. You just have to stay out of it.”
“But I’m already in it.”
“You can still beg off. Just tell David . . . Oh, I know! Tell him your mother found out and asked you not to be involved with Thornton. You know she would, if she knew. I can even tell her, if you want.”
“And who would draw up the contracts?”
“Ask someone else in your firm to do it.”
“Ask one of my colleagues to help cheat someone?”
“Yes! Lawyers do it all the time!” In fact, she could name some she knew personally.
“I don’t.”
God save her from an honest man! “At least promise that you won’t warn Thornton off.”
She waited, hardly daring to breathe and watching the emotions play across his handsome face, as if he were in actual pain. Finally, he said, “I can’t.”
“Oh, Gideon, how can you say that? He’s a killer! He killed at least one defenseless woman, and he had my brother beaten nearly to death.”
“I’ll go to the district attorney and have him charged.”
“With what? Jake isn’t going to court to say Thornton had him beaten after he cheated him out of fifty thousand dollars, and nobody is going to believe Thornton confessed anything to me, either. So he’s not going to jail or even to trial, and if you warn him about the general, he’ll just sell his precious Ross rifles to someone else and—”
“What did you say?” he demanded, straightening in his chair, all trace of pain gone from his face.
“I said he’s not going to jail . . .”
“No, the rifles. What did you call them?”
“Ross rifles.”
He leaned forward, his eyes blazing. “Why did you call them that?”
“I don’t know. That’s just what Thornton called them. All he could talk about when we were in Washington was his Ross rifles this and his Ross rifles that.”
“Dear heaven,” he murmured.
“Why? What is it?”
“Ross rifles. The Canadians used them early in the war, but they malfunctioned in combat. They would jam and the soldiers would be left defenseless in the middle of a battle. And there was some problem with the bolts, too. They’d sometimes fly off and injure a soldier, taking out an eye or even killing him.”
“That’s horrible!”
“Indeed it was, so Canada replaced all their rifles, but how did Thornton get his hands on some of them?”
“He bragged that he’d gotten them very cheaply. I wonder if he knew why.”
“It doesn’t matter if he did or not. I have to tell him so he won’t sell them to our army.”
“Do you think that will stop him?”
“Probably not, but I have to try.”
“Gideon, he has money invested in these rifles. If he doesn’t sell them, he’ll lose that money. Don’t forget, he just lost fifty thousand dollars, too. He really needs this deal to go through, so if you ruin our plan, he’ll just go out and find someone else to buy them, someone else who also won’t care that they might kill some poor American soldiers. Do you want that on your conscience?”
“Of course not!”
“Then let him sell his rifles to my general. If you do, I swear to you, no American soldier will ever even see one. It’s the only way to make sure of it.”
He got up and ran his fingers through his hair, then strode to the fireplace, where he braced his hands on the mantel and glared into the fire. Elizabeth followed him.
“You know it’s the right thing to do, Gideon. You can prevent him from hurting any soldiers and you can punish him for killing Marjorie. That’s the only justice he will ever get.”
When he raised his head, his eyes were bleak. “That’s ironic, you lecturing me on doing the right thing.”
Stung, she lifted her chin in defiance. “You can’t cheat an honest man, Gideon. Everyone I’ve ever conned knew he was doing something illegal and did it willingly.”
“And how many men have you conned, Miss Miles?”
She couldn’t claim just one. “A . . . a few.”
He turned to face her. “Am I one of them?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you fool me about who you really are? Because I knew you were different the first time I set eyes on you. You’re not like any other woman I’ve ever known, and I guess that’s why I wanted you beyond all reason.”
Her breath caught on something jagged in her chest, and her eyes stung with tears she dared not shed. She couldn’t grieve for something that was never really hers, and though it broke her heart to do it, she said, “I’m not like any other woman, Gideon. I’m everything you hate.”
“No,” he said, reaching for her. “No, you’re not.”
“I know I’m early, but . . . Oh dear!” Anna said as Gideon jerked away and Elizabeth turned guiltily to face her.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
For a very long moment, the three of them stared at each other, frozen in place. Then Gideon muttered, “Excuse me,” and hurried out before either woman could manage a word.
Elizabeth laid a hand over her heart and realized she was trembling.
No, not nothing. Not at all. “Would you close the door?” she asked, making her unsteady way to the nearest chair. The servants didn’t have to overhear whatever explanation she could manage to give Anna.
Anna closed the door and hurried over to where Elizabeth sat. “I knew it. How silly of me to think David was my rival. You’re in love with Gideon, aren’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“Of course you deny it.” Anna grinned with delight. “And he’s in love with you, too. Of course he is. You’re irresistible.”
“Stop it, Anna. I’m engaged to your brother, remember?”
“But you have no intention of marrying him, and now I know why. But poor Gideon, he must be in agony. He’s far too honorable to betray his oldest friend, although I think he was awfully close to it when I came in just now. Does he know about Thornton? And why you’re engaged to David in the first place?”
“No, and I’m not going to tell him.” That last part was true, at least.
“Good. I won’t be the only one pining for you.”
“Don’t be silly, Anna. Gideon isn’t pining for me.”
“You’re the one being silly if you expect me to believe that. He was just about to take you in his arms, wasn’t he? If I’d been five minutes later, who knows what I would’ve interrupted.”
Elizabeth didn’t bother to stifle her groan as she rubbed her aching temples. How had everything gotten so out of hand? For a second or two, she considered telling Anna that Gideon knew what was going on, but then she realized Gideon knew far more than Anna did. She couldn’t take a chance on the two of them comparing stories and discovering those stories hardly matched at all. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What doesn’t matter?” Anna asked eagerly, taking a seat across from Elizabeth.
“None of it. Whether Gideon is . . .” She gestured helplessly, unwilling to say the words.
“Besotted?” Anna supplied.
“Or not. Nothing is going to come of it.”
“You don’t know Gideon as well as I do.”
“You forget, I’m leaving the city as soon as this is over.”
“Do you think Gideon will just let you disappear?”
“He won’t have a choice.”
Anna gave her a pitying look. “Elizabeth, if I thought there was a chance you’d love me back, I’d follow you to the ends of the earth.”
Elizabeth wanted to weep, but tears weren’t going to help anything. “Oh, Anna, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’ve done my grieving, and I’m happy to be your friend. But you do need to know Gideon isn’t going to give you up without a fight.”
Was Anna right? And did that mean he wouldn’t betray her to Thornton? Did his desire for her outweigh his blasted principles? “Even if it means he’s betraying his best friend?”
“Oh, I expect you’ll be breaking your engagement to David soon enough, and the moment you do . . .” Anna patted her heart and assumed an expression of rapture. “And in the meantime, just tell me what I can do to help.”
Help? No one could help now. If, by some miracle, Gideon decided not to warn Thornton, she’d still have to disappear when this was over, because Thornton would want revenge even more. She’d have enough money to travel around the world if she wanted to. The thought should have been exciting. Instead, she wanted to weep again. If only she could stay right here and still disappear . . .
“Anna, I just thought of something you can do. You’d have to be very, very brave.”
Anna leaned forward eagerly. “Tell me what it is. You know I’d do anything at all for you.”
“You may change your mind when you hear what it is.”
But Anna shook her head. “I won’t change my mind. I’d die for you, my friend.”
Elizabeth didn’t think she really meant it, but she said, “It’s harder than that.”
• • •
After his encounter with Elizabeth, Gideon threw on his coat and left the house, knowing only that he had to get away from her so he could think clearly. Eventually, he found himself at his office and decided that was as good a place to think as any. He shut himself in and paced until he collapsed into his chair in exhaustion, still no closer to a decision than he’d been before.
If he really wanted Elizabeth, he only had to tell David what he’d learned about her this morning. Surely, finding out that his fiancée was a liar and a thief would be enough for David to instantly break the engagement. But if it was, wasn’t it also enough to prevent Gideon from wanting anything further to do with the duplicitous Miss Elizabeth Miles?
If only that were true.
He’d known something was different about her from the very first. She was too confident, too clever, too beautiful. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she surprised him with something new. He thought about the trip to the hotel where she’d retrieved her luggage, except he now knew she’d never stayed at that hotel. How had her luggage gotten there then? Even more intriguing was the way she had totally deceived his mother, the most discerning of females. Why hadn’t Mother seen through her? Or had she seen something else entirely?
He might never know the answers to those questions, and the only way he’d get them was by telling his mother everything he knew about Elizabeth. He wasn’t ready to do that just yet, though, at least not until he came to terms with all of it himself. He also had to decide what to do about Thornton.
Although the thought of Thornton’s sins made Gideon furious, taking the law into his own hands was wrong. He’d be no better than a vigilante. The law was the only thing that separated man from the beasts, and it must be preserved at all costs. He truly believed all of that. On the other hand, as an attorney, he also knew the shortcomings of the law. He knew justice was a nebulous thing, seldom found by those seeking it. Men like Oscar Thornton, with money and influence, could act with impunity and never feel the hot breath of the law on their necks. Elizabeth was only too right when she said he would never be prosecuted for his crimes. No one would take her word over his, even if she were the woman she pretended to be and certainly not when they found out who she really was. If Thornton had truly killed Marjorie—and Gideon had no reason to doubt it now—he would never be punished by the law. Added to that was the issue of the rifles. Gideon could warn Thornton of the dangers and ask him to destroy the weapons, but once again Elizabeth was right: Thornton would always put his need to make money above the lives of any faceless soldiers.
Gideon had to make sure the U.S. Army never received those rifles. He also had it within his power to punish Thornton for Marjorie’s death. It wasn’t the imprisonment the law provided and he deserved, but in some ways, it would hurt Thornton just as badly. Thornton without his money would be a broken man, stripped of his pride and his power. Gideon could see how it was going to happen. The general’s demand for more rifles and his suggestion that Thornton invest every penny he had into buying them was the first step. What would the general do next, though? Buy them with a worthless check, leaving Thornton penniless? No, surely he had a more sophisticated plan in mind. Would the general tell him what it was? And if Gideon knew the plan, what would he do about it? For all his blustering about his principles, he wanted to see Thornton broken, too.
But would he be so bloodthirsty if he weren’t in love with Elizabeth Miles? If he didn’t want to see the man who had threatened to rape and kill her punished? He didn’t even want to know the answer to that. He didn’t want to know any of this.
But he did know it. And now he had to decide what was more important to him: the law, to which he had dedicated his life, or a woman whose whole life was a lie?
• • •
“Oh, Lizzie, what am I going to do with you?” the Old Man asked.
&
nbsp; She’d managed to get away from Anna and get to Cybil’s house, with Thornton’s man close behind her as usual. They were used to her going there now, she supposed. Cybil had summoned the Old Man, who had arrived at the back door in a wig and false mustache, dressed as a butcher and carrying a package of meat. But it wasn’t meat, and Elizabeth was very glad he was able to get what she needed.
After she had told him about her conversation with Gideon, he sat shaking his head at her while he stroked his fake mustache.
“It’s your fault!” she said when he made no further comment. “He heard you call me Lizzie last night.”
He nodded. “So I guess we should be grateful that he’s in love with you, because he might’ve said something right then and curdled the whole deal.”
Elizabeth groaned. She wanted to deny that Gideon was in love with her, but he’d made it pretty clear that he was, as much as he hated himself for it. Even still . . . “What makes you think he’s in love with me?”
“It’s obvious, my dear girl, at least to me. The way he looks at you . . .” He shook his head in mock despair.
Was it obvious to everyone else? She didn’t want to know. “So what are you going to do? If he tells Thornton—”
“I could have some of the boys collect him.”
“Thornton?”
“No, Bates. We could hold him for a few days, until—”
“No!”
“They wouldn’t hurt him. Just keep him unavailable until—”
“I said no!”
The Old Man sighed. “This would be a lot easier if you weren’t in love with him.”
“I’m not in love with him!” she cried, outraged.
The Old Man didn’t blink. “Oh, Lizzie, you used to be a much better liar than that. No wonder you’re having so much trouble.”
“I’m not!” she tried again, resisting the urge to stamp her foot, which would only make him laugh.
He rubbed his fake mustache again. “Maybe if he knew you returned his feelings, he wouldn’t warn Thornton.”