The Darkest Days (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 6)

by Liza O'Connor

  “Always.”

  “Does anyone else have a key?”

  “No.”

  “Not even the housekeeper?”

  “Ah…sorry. She has a key that opens up all doors in this house.”

  “All? Including the parlor?” Vic asked and rushed out of the room. Tubs dropped both pups into the butler’s arms and followed her.

  “Move one muscle and I will shoot to kill,” Vic warned the woman standing over Barns.

  “Shoot me? I heard someone cry out and I came to see what happened.” She stared at Vic. “I’m the housekeeper. We had a nice chat just this evening. Don’t you remember?”

  Once Tubs verified the hall clear of any other problems, he approached the housekeeper. “I got this.” He focused on the woman. “You don’t have to die tonight,” he said softly. “Just face the wall and put your hands behind your back.”

  “You stay away from me or I’m calling the police,” she warned.

  Tubs stepped forward, causing her to back away from Barn’s body. He reached down and felt Barns’ neck, never taking his eyes off her. “He’s still alive, but his pulse is weak.”

  “I didn’t touch the boy,” the housekeeper insisted. “He was like that when I opened the door.”

  “Tubs, you secure the housekeeper. I’ll tend to Barns.”

  Tubs shifted his position so he stood between Vic and the woman easing towards the front door.

  Vic had every confidence Tubs would not let the woman escape, so she focused on Barns. The boy showed no sign of bleeding, but Tubs was right, his heart was weakening. The moment the woman broke for the door, Tubs slammed her against it, wrenching both arms behind her back and securing them with handcuffs, He then searched her for weapons, finding nothing. He pulled a handkerchief from her apron pocket. He smelled it then pressed it to the woman’s nose. “What is this?”

  The woman struggled to pull away from the cloth. “I don’t know what that is. I’ve never seen it before. You must have put it in my pocket.”

  Vic grabbed her cuffed hands and jabbed a prick underneath a fingernail. The woman fell to her knees as she howled in pain. “What did you give him?” Vic yelled over her howls.

  “Wolfsbane,” she cried.

  Vic withdrew the prick. “If he dies, I’ll torture you for weeks,” she warned.

  “It wasn’t meant for him. He grabbed the cloth. Even a touch of it on the skin is deadly,” the woman spoke through heavy gasps.

  Tubs spit on his hand and wiped it on his pants.

  Vic had no idea how to counteract wolfsbane, but Dr. Connors would, and he had a telephone. She rushed to the butler, struggling to keep hold of her squirming pups. “Where is Alice’s office?”

  He tried to stand up.

  “No time, just tell me.”

  “The old smoking room.”

  She darted through the hall and toward the back of the house, with Tubs in tow. When she burst into the old smoking room, she expected to find a tidy office, and more to the point, a telephone. What she did not expect to see were two young women pointing guns at her highly annoyed partner, standing by said telephone.

  Her entrance caused both girls to swing their guns in her direction. She dived behind the desk to her right just before two shots rang out.

  After what seemed an eternity of silence, Xavier spoke. “Fabulous timing.” He extended his hand to help Vic up.

  “Thanks,” she said and pushed him aside, reaching for the phone.

  “Here now. I was here first. The phone is mine.”

  “Barn’s been poisoned with wolfsbane. I need to call Connors for an antidote.”

  “How was it administered?” he demanded.

  “The woman says he grabbed a cloth from her pocket,” Tubs replied.

  Xavier cursed softly and focused on Vic. “Call Stone and make him find Daisy’s body,” Xavier ordered and rushed from the room.

  Vic noticed Tubs was handcuffing the girls, which meant they weren’t dead. She was glad. Tubs had enough deaths by his hands. While she hadn’t a clue to Stone’s phone number, the operator should know how to connect to New Scotland Yard.

  When she reached New Scotland Yard, she bullied the person at the desk to provide her Stones’ home number. A few moments later, an angry voice came over the line. “This better be important.”

  “It is. Did you receive a message from us to locate Daisy’s body?”

  “Who the hell is this?” Stone demanded.

  “It’s Victor Hamilton, and I gather you didn’t.” She then explained what had happened and their need to retrieve the body and take the possessors in for questioning. “This crime has far more participants than originally anticipated. Fortunately, we’ve still got three live ones to interrogate.”

  “Still?”

  “Ott is dead. Murdered by one of three ladies or…damnation, there is still a boy who delivered Alice’s message running about.”

  “But I received no message,” Stone said.

  “No, I meant…never mind. It doesn’t matter. I have to warn Xavier, we’ve at least one unaccounted for criminal. Do not assume you have caught everyone on your end either,” she warned and hung up.

  “Tubs, stay alert. There’s still a young man unaccounted for.”

  Tubs pulled up the dark haired girl. “You got a brother?”

  The girl glared at him defiantly.

  Having no time to waste, Vic grabbed her pick and jabbed it beneath a fingernail.

  “Answer the questions.”

  The girl howled in pain. “Yes, I have a brother. He’s not here. He’s in London.”

  Vic looked at Tubs. “Can people lie under interrogation?”

  “Most do at first.”

  “How long until I get real answers?”

  “With her? Four or five hours.”

  “I don’t have time right now. Let’s just assume the worst.” She ran out and Tubs followed her.

  Barns sat against the wall and smiled at Vic. “Hang in there, Barns.” She then went in search of her pups, Xavier, Jacko, and Pete. They weren’t in any of the downstairs rooms. When she returned to the hall, Barns pointed upstairs.

  “Thanks.”

  She found them gathered about the door of the kitchen maids’ tiny room.

  “We’ve found the cloak used when killing Ott,” Jacko stated.

  “I can’t believe a child could have done this,” Thomas said.

  “Nor I,” Vic agreed. “These are experienced criminals. They know how to destroy real evidence and to incriminate others. This must be a lucrative business given how many people are involved. Oh, and one of them is still missing.” She glanced at Tubs. “Did you check out the cabin in the woods before all hell broke loose tonight?”

  Tubs shook his head. “I found Richard close by where we smelled him.”

  “Richard?” Xavier asked.

  Tubs nodded. “That’s his name. Richard Craft. He remembered me from his stay at Bedlam, so he trusted me. He saw someone wearing a long cloak go into the barn where Daisy was milking the cows. They came from the direction of the manor. The sun hadn’t risen yet, so he couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman.”

  “Wouldn’t he be able to smell the difference?” Jacko asked.

  “Nah. The person was three hundred feet or so away.”

  “We’ve two girls, a young boy, the housekeeper, and Ott. Surely he can narrow this down!”

  Tubs grimaced. “He saw them at a distance on a grassy field. It’s hard to judge size with nothing to compare it to. He did say they were hunched over.”

  “As if they wished to hide their height. Could have been Ott.”

  “Or Elwood,” Xavier noted.

  Vic frowned and shook her head.

  Xavier huffed and focused on Tubs. “How long was this person in the barn?”

  “Less than five minutes, then Richard heard a scream of pain, soon after the person rushed out, paused as if pondering the safest way to run, then took off down the road towards
London.”

  “Why didn’t you bring this Richard back so we could question him?” Jacko asked.

  Tub sighed. “He’s terrified he’s going to be blamed for Daisy’s death whether there’s evidence against him or not. Given you’d been arrested without evidence, I couldn’t argue with his concern, so I recommended he go back to his cabin and lay low.”

  “You did right, Tubs,” Vic said. “Still, it’s a shame he couldn’t be more specific to the height of the murderer.”

  “Witnesses are highly overrated when solving crimes,” Xavier said. “So let’s check on Barns, then interrogate the girls. Jacko, you, and I will take one, Tubs and Vic the other.”

  “What about me?” Pete asked.

  Xavier looked to Jacko. Vic knew exactly his concern. Pete had endured far too much violence in his young life. The brutal slaying of his mother had almost destroyed the fabulous young man he’d been.

  Jacko knelt down and gripped the boy’s shoulder. “Pete, I need you to return upstairs and update your mother on all that has happened.”

  “I want to stay with you.”

  “You are too young to learn about interrogations. So end of discussion. But when you head upstairs, apologize to your mother.”

  “What for?”

  Jacko raised his eyebrow.

  “Oh, yeah…” Pete’s head dropped and he shuffled towards the door.

  “Hold on,” Xavier said. The boy turned with hope in his eyes, evidently thinking Xavier would overrule Jacko. By Jacko’s furrowed brow, he was worried as well.

  Xavier picked up Cannon and handed his child to Pete. “He’s too young, too.

  Cannon growled.

  “No, you are,” Pete said and headed out the door, explaining to Cannon why neither of them could see an interrogation. “They jab people under the fingernails until they go mad and would do anything to make it stop.”

  “Great thing to teach my son, Vic,” Jacko muttered.

  “I’ve no idea where Pete learned that,” she insisted. “He’s been with you all evening.”

  “May the servants in the parlor return to their rooms?” Thomas asked.

  Vic looked to Xavier and he nodded. “Just move Barns first, so he isn’t trampled.”

  When Vic reached the hall, Barns was trying his hardest to stand, but collapsed back upon the floor.

  “Tubs can you carry Barns, so he can assist in our interrogation?”

  The giant picked the boy up and carried him along.

  “Tubs, put me down. I am an officer of Scotland Yard. I have a reputation to uphold,” Barns demanded.

  “Nobody’s here to see you,” Tubs replied. “Besides, you have an impressive reason why I need to carry you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You were poisoned with wolfsbane. That’s the deadliest poison there is. By all rights you should be dead rather than just needing assistance.”

  “Was I given an antidote?” he asked in shock.

  “There ain’t one.”

  “Then how did I survive it?”

  Tubs smiled. “You were lucky and didn’t get much of the poison on you, and Mr. Thorn must have washed you clean.”

  “Yes…I seem to remember him washing my hands as if I were a small child.” He grimaced. “I may have scolded him for doing so.”

  Vic chuckled. “Lucky for you, scolding doesn’t alter Xavier’s actions one bit.”

  “I am here as well, you know,” Xavier complained.

  Barns peered over Tubs massive shoulders. “Thank you for ignoring me, Mr. Thorn. I would hate to die just as life begins to look so interesting.”

  “Just work on following orders better, Barns. I realize there will come a time when you’ll be in a position to give them instead, but it’s better for all if you first hone your skills by following the commands of those with more experience.”

  “Yes, sir. I certainly learned that tonight.”

  Vic opened the office door expecting to see two angry maids, face down on the floor. But all she found was bare wood.

  Quickly, searching the room and finding nothing, she groaned.

  “The damn messenger has stolen our maids!”

  Chapter 11

  Vic rushed from Alice’s office to the back door and smiled upon the sight of three sets of tracks on the dirt path headed to the right. Turning, she smashed into Xavier’s firm chest. “Easy pup,” he softly chided and stepped back inside.

  Vic followed.

  “Jacko and Barns, you are both unfit for travel, so you will remain here,” Xavier said.

  “I can ride a horse,” Jacko insisted.

  “Nice to know. You will remain here,” he reiterated. “If you wish to be useful, interrogate the housekeeper. That is if she did not escape as well.”

  Thomas spoke up. “She is still here, sir, propped against the front door. May I move her somewhere else? In case someone respectable wishes to come and go.”

  Vic chuckled. Gregory wouldn’t have bothered to ask. The woman would have been tucked away someplace the moment they left the hall.

  Xavier smiled at Barns and Jacko. “You two may interrogate the housekeeper.”

  He turned and ushered Vic out the back door. She didn’t have to worry about calling for Tubs. He’d come whether she asked or not.

  “Do you require horses, sir?” Thomas called out from the door.

  “No.”

  “Yes,” Vic said. “Have a boy bring four horses, but tell him to stay a hundred feet behind us.”

  “I don’t have any ‘boys’ left,” Thomas complained.

  “Good point. Alice is good with horses, ask her if she’ll do it.”

  “I will find someone,” he snapped.

  As they followed the clear trail of footprints, Xavier chuckled. “I believe you offended Thomas’ good senses suggesting his mistress should perform such a menial task. Are you by chance still annoyed with Alice? In my view, given the excellent job she did in fitting out our house, I believe her past tendency to laugh at you should be forgiven.”

  “I didn’t suggest Alice in an attempt to insult her. When we were kids, she always had a way with horses. They would follow her about like puppies. And I seriously doubt she appreciates her role in this matter to include nothing more than shooting a ceiling if a servant knocks on the door.” Vic snorted in disgust. “This is too easy. To be honest, we could mount the horses and gallop along with ease.”

  “Good point,” Xavier said and turned to Tubs. “Do you think we are following a false trail?”

  Tubs shook his head. “No. You can see the drag of the chains from the leg irons I put on their ankles.”

  Xavier patted the giant’s back. “That explains the odd marking. I had no idea you’d give a couple of maids such respect.”

  Tubs frowned. “Anyone who assumes a female is not capable of great cleverness is a fool to be had.”

  “Here, here,” Xavier said and pressed his hand on Vic’s shoulder. “The cleverest person I know is female.”

  “You’d better not be talking about my sister Claire,” Vic growled.

  “Indeed, I’m not,” he assured her.

  ***

  They were just about to leave the road and enter the woods when a shrill whistle sounded behind them. They looked back to discover Pete approaching on a horse with four more following behind. The boy was beaming ear-to-ear, no doubt glad to be out of the nursery again.

  He stopped thirty feet behind them, still smiling.

  “Any reason why you wished to ostracize our horses?” Xavier asked Vic.

  “Yes. I thought the trail might be hard to follow and we’d need to step back and re-study the prior path, but a child could follow this. Let’s mount and get this over with.”

  “No, your logic was sound. Shame Barns isn’t here to learn this lesson. Let’s continue as we have.”

  Sure enough, as they entered the heavily leafed woods, the trail was far less obvious and seemed to wander aimlessly.

 
“Now, they are just playing games,” Vic complained when the three tracks split apart and wandered about in circles.

  They spread out, trying to find a place where the three rejoined, when Pete yelled, “May I come closer?”

  “You certainly can’t muddy up these waters,” Xavier said and waved him in.

  Pete led the horses in and stared at the crazy rustling of the leaves. “Don’t know why they bothered doing all this. There’s only one cabin in these woods. Who’s this gonna fool?”

  Xavier chuckled. “Who indeed. May I presume you know how to reach this cabin?”

  Pete nodded. “That’s where Richard lives or did until four months ago. Sometimes, I would go play chess with him.”

  “The wolfman?” Xavier asked.

  Pete frowned. “He’s not really a wolf. He’s just furry. And he didn’t kill nobody.”

  Vic mounted a pretty mare. “We know. Tubs, take the big fellow.” That left Xavier to choose between a crazed steed and an old mare.

  She smiled when he mounted the hoof-dancing stallion. Neither of them spent much time riding horses in London. A carriage was far more practical. Xavier attempted to scold his steed into submission, but thus far it wasn’t working. Pete moved up beside the horse and gripped the strap of his bit. “Hellion, behave. You are carrying the great Xavier Thorn. That’s better than the Queen.”

  To Vic’s shock and she suspected Xavier’s as well, the horse settled down.

  “I see you’ve gained a new and valuable skill,” Xavier said.

  “It’s my mother’s skill. She taught it to me,” he stated proudly. “Now all the horses in our barn will do as I ask.” He paused before adding, “As long as my request is reasonable.”

  “Good to know. Now let’s finish with this annoying case.”

  Vic knew exactly why Xavier called it an annoying case. All the criminals appeared to be less than professional, yet still managed to cause serious damage. She was losing patience as well. It was one thing to be abducted by Tubs. He’d been an excellent criminal with superb skills, but these bumbling fools showed no competence whatsoever, yet a young girl was savagely murdered, her body taken, Jacko arrested and tortured, Officer Ott silenced by death, innocent servants almost incriminated, Barns almost poisoned to death with wolfsbane and two well-chained servants escaped from the house.