She huffed in frustration.
Tub muttered behind her. “Know exactly what you mean.”
His comment cheered her up. Tubs hated incompetence as much as she did, and he no doubt took the girls’ escape personally.
When they neared the cabin, everyone dismounted. Xavier softly spoke to Li’l Pete. “Pete, stay here. If you hear gun shots, get behind the large rock.”
Pete tilted his head to one side. “But what about the horses?”
“Good point. Tie them to the trees so they don’t run away.” Xavier turned to Vic. “I’ll take the front door, you and Tubs take the back.”
“Hold on!” Pete said. “Why do I have to be behind a rock?”
Xavier looked like he had something un-useful to say, such as “Because I gave you an order,” so Vic answered first.
“There might be gunfire and we don’t want you shot by accident.”
“And what about the horses, they don’t want to be shot either.”
Hellion snorted as if he agreed with Pete’s stance.
“Pete, we don’t have time for this,” Xavier tersely replied. It was amazing how much anger he could put in a whisper.
Vic knelt by Pete, so they were eye to eye. “This case has gone bad in every way possible, so why don’t you take the horses someplace safe.”
Pete nodded. “Just whistle loud when you want me to return.”
“We will,” she promised and rubbed his arm.
He approached his horse. It lowered its head to the ground. He gripped his mare’s mane and held on as the horse pulled up her head and literally tossed Pete over her neck. He then scooted back onto his saddle and settled in. Upon a forward wave, all the horses followed him out of the woods.
Vic turned to Xavier and rubbed his arm. “Problem solved.”
He frowned. “It’s all too likely that when I knock on the front door, they will bolt to the back, so be prepared.”
“It’s more likely when they see just you, they’ll riddle the door with bullets. I think Tubs should knock down the front door, I’ll fire from the window, and you take out anyone going out the back.”
“Better than knocking,” Tubs added.
Xavier frowned.
She knew why. Her partner hated not being the lead dog, but he also knew going in by surprise was their best option, and Tubs could send a door flying off the hinges in one blow.
“Just be careful,” he ordered.
She nodded and motioned for Tubs to follow her.
They crept up the north side which had no windows, in case anyone kept watch, which given the circumstances should be expected.
When she and Tubs maneuvered to the front, Tubs crawled beneath the window. Vic heard angry voices inside.
“This job has been nothing but one disaster after another!” a man yelled. His voice sounded different than the messenger boy.
“It’s not my fault,” one of the girls yelled.
“The hell, it’s not. Why did you bring Thorn into this?”
“I didn’t see who the message was for. I simply sent Jimmy with the message because I wanted the receiver to believe Elwood had made it to London.
“And by doing so, you put our whole operation at risk! For what? Do you truly believe Elwood is going to marry you now?”
“Well, he would have if you hadn’t got me arrested!”
Tubs stood before the door, but Vic signaled him to hold up. She found the criminal’s conversation most interesting, and the fact they considered this job a miserable screw up on their side cheered her up considerably.
“How the hell did I get you arrested?” the man demanded.
“You insisted we return to the house and kill Ott. That caused a room-to-room search, and given the housekeeper gave us the weekend off, we shouldn’t have been there. So we were assumed guilty at once.”
Vic frowned. That wasn’t what happened at all. They didn’t assume the girls were guilty because they weren’t on their weekend off. The guns they were holding on Xavier and then aimed at her were a far more compelling signal of guilt.
She hated when people refused to accept responsibility for their own mistakes. Having heard enough, she signaled Tubs to knock in the door before she felt obliged to chide them from the window.
Tubs pulled two of his many guns, stepped a few feet back, and rammed his shoulder into the wooden door. It flew off its hinges, traveled several feet into the room and knocked down the angry guy.
Vic broke out a window pane with a stone and leveled her gun at the girls. “Don’t move,” she warned.
Tubs had one foot on the door, keeping the guy beneath pinned as he stared around the room. “You,” he barked, “over by the girls.”
The messenger boy gave Tubs wide berth as he walked the long way around. She attributed his action to fear until he darted down the short hallway to the back door. She had complete confidence Xavier would have him cuffed and returned to the mansion in no time at all.
The girls moved towards the front door, but Vic and Tubs warned them in unison not to try it.
They stopped and held up their hands. The taller one said, “You’re letting the true criminal escape. He murdered Daisy and Ott. All we’ve done is protect Elwood from suffering a similar fate.
The shorter girl nodded in agreement. A moment later, a shrill whistle sounded through the woods.
The taller girl’s head snapped up. “That’s a signal from our people. If you don’t leave now, they’ll kill you. You seem like a good guy. Run while you have the chance,” she said to Tubs.
Damn it, that was very close to what Vic had said to Tubs the night he’d abducted her. Only she’d meant it. She was greatly tempted to shoot the taller girl in the leg for cheapening the moment in which Tubs had trusted her.
What the hell.
She pulled the trigger and the girl went down.
The other girl jumped away. “I’ll tell you everything, just don’t kill me. Nora and I came to work here a few years ago when Dragon’s Cloud got raided. She said the place was ripe for taking, all the people here were sheep needing sheared. The first thing she did was poison the old housekeeper and then recommended her mother for the job. After we all proved ourselves to be superior employees, Mrs. Hanson charmed the butler into letting her manage the house accounts. Things were going good until Nora fell in love with Elwood.”
“You loved him too,” Nora yelled at her as she pushed herself up to a seated position and tore a strip off her petticoat to make a bandage.
“Not enough to kill the competition!” the girl screamed.
Was that it? This whole nonsense was over some damn unrequited love? No, that wasn’t possible. “So where does Ott come into this?” Vic asked.
Nora sighed heavily. “He’s my father of sorts. He’s connected to an extortion racket. He thought of a way I could get Elwood and we all could get rich.”
“Shut up you fools,” the man beneath the door ordered.
“Or what? You gonna arrest me?” Nora taunted. “Besides, I was just distracting them until your men surrounded the place.”
Vic turned from the window, her gun aimed outward. “It’s clear, Tubs.”
A moment later a loud crash and thunk could be heard inside. Vic ran to the door to find Tubs shaking his head. The shorter girl lay crumbled in the corner. She’d evidently made the mistake of thinking that hitting Tubs on the head would help her to escape.
“Looks like they’re contained, let’s get this guy up and get chains on him,” Vic said.
“Naw, he’s good,” Tubs insisted.
Vic studied him a moment. Why didn’t he want to let the guy up?
“You should go search for Elwood. He could be dying,” Tubs said.
At the reminder of Elwood, Vic flew to the back hall and down the basement stairs. She found Xavier lifting up a tall gangly young man. “I gather you’ve confined everyone upstairs.”
If she said no, he’d be lecturing her all the way back to London. “Tubs
has matters under control. I’ll grab his feet. You get him by the shoulders.”
Elwood proved too long to be carried by his feet and shoulders. Instead, Vic carried him at the knees, which meant his left foot kept tangling on the railing.
“You did check to see if he’s alive, didn’t you? If he’s dead, we should probably leave him and assist Tubs.”
“He’s alive. Now stop whinging and let’s get him to a horse.”
Putting a six-foot, unconscious young man over the old mare wasn’t easy. But eventually, they had him secured. Pete promised to go slow as he led the young scoundrel and an unconscious Elwood through the woods.
When they returned to the living room, the two girls were bound and gagged, but the guy under the door was nowhere to be seen.
“Tubs…”
He shook his head as if he didn’t want her to ask him what happened to the guy.
She frowned but said nothing. Tubs had saved her life so many times she’d lost count. If he needed to let the young man go for some reason, she’d let it lie…until she got Tubs alone.
Chapter 12
Vic, Tubs, and Xavier returned to the manor with the two pretty maids. Chelsea shared a horse with Vic, and Nora sat before Xavier, trying to seduce her way out of trouble
By the time they arrived at the manor, Vic was ready to shoot Nora again, this time fatally.
However, when she pulled her gun, Tubs secured her hand and shook his head. That earned him a glare. “Who works for whom?” she hissed.
Xavier turned and studied them. “Problem?”
Both shook their heads, causing Xavier to raise his right eyebrow, challenging their response.
They remained outside while Xavier escorted both ladies inside.
The moment the door shut, Vic faced Tubs in fury, “If I’m willing to look the other way when you let a criminal go free, you should do the same when I’m about to shoot one.”
“You already shot her once. Twice would look troublesome, especially when she wasn’t trying to run. But then neither was she running when you shot her the first time. You wanna tell me why you did that?”
“Don’t you dare get high and mighty with me!” Vic snapped and lowered her voice to an angry whisper. “At least, I didn’t let a criminal run off. Now who was he and why’d you set him free?”
Tub huffed. “I’ll answer you if you answer me.”
“I’m your boss,” she growled.
“My answer is personal. How about yours?”
She sighed heavily. “When she claimed her people were coming and encouraged you to get away, it was very similar to what I said to you the night at Dragon’s Cloud. It angered me because it cheapens the trust that formed between us that night.”
He smiled and rubbed her arm. “It didn’t sound a bit like what you said. You spoke from your heart, wanting your new friend to live. She was just looking for a way to escape going to jail for murder.”
Vic nodded at his assessment of both situations.
“So why were you about to shoot the girl a second time?” he asked.
Vic sighed heavily and kicked a rock in the grass. “She was flirting with Xavier.”
“So?” he challenged.
“So, it pissed me off. She murders Daisy, tries to frame everyone and their servant for the murder, kills her sort-of-father to prevent him from talking, abducts Elwood, thinking he’ll still marry her, and then has the audacity to flirt with Xavier. I’ve had a horrible time with this case, it’s been no fun at all, and then she flirts with my partner? It was beyond endurance!”
Tubs smiled. “It has been a horrible case all around,” he admitted.
“So who was the guy?”
He sobered and glanced around. “This stays between us?”
She nodded.
“It’s my little brother…half-brother, but I’ve always tried to watch out for him. Since I switched sides, he’s stayed out of my sight…until today. The reason I’ve never told you about him is because truthfully, I’m ashamed of him.”
Vic patted his massive arm. “You can’t choose your relatives. They are what they are. Is this the first time he’s gotten tangled up with one of our cases?”
Tubs nodded. “I was worried when you had that list of places that supposedly sold bonds to the old woman. He was doing resurrection work for the ice company on the list.
Vic remembered the case. She had insisted upon going to businesses and verifying they had sold no bonds, even though Tubs told her they weren’t legitimate companies. When they went to the first company on the list, she almost got herself, Davy, and Tubs killed. As it was, Tubs got shot. After that, she just took Tubs’ word as to whether a company was legitimate or not.
She looked up and met his worried, sad eyes. “I understand your need to protect your brother, even if he is a disappointment. God knows, Claire has done some really terrible things, but if she were arrested, I’d do everything possible to get her out, even if it meant breaking her out of jail.”
Tubs nodded. “I’ve had to do that a couple of times, as well.”
“Not since you’ve worked for us, I hope.”
“No. Earlier.”
“Good. If you need to do so in the future, we’ll have to let Xavier know, so he can get your brother out some other way. He is serious about no side jobs. If you break his rule, he’ll fire you, and I’ll probably get myself killed within a week.”
Tub snorted. “More like a day.”
She gripped his hand. “So you know how important you are to me?”
Tubs smiled, but it quickly faded as he focused on the road behind her.
Vic turned to see what had him worried. A carriage was driving up to the manor, followed by a wagon containing several policemen holding rifles.
“Good thing you didn’t shoot her again,” Tubs whispered.
“And you let your brother go. They don’t look friendly at all.”
Chapter 13
When the carriage pulled up, Stone stepped out and walked straight to Vic. “Where’s Xavier?”
“Inside with four of the criminals. The other one—”
He cut her off. “Let’s discuss this in private.” Stone gripped her arm and headed to the door.
“Unless you are arresting me, then allow me to walk on my own,” Vic snapped.
He released her at once. “Sorry. It’s been a very difficult week,” he muttered.
“Join the club,” she replied. “This is the worst case we’ve ever taken.”
Stone huffed. “You don’t know the half of it.”
Once inside, the Inspector yelled for Xavier.
Thomas’ eyes rounded in mortification. “Sir, allow me to retrieve Mr. Thorn, properly.”
“Thank you, Thomas. We’ll wait in the library.” Vic gripped Stone’s arm and rushed him to the library. The Inspector halted at the door and focused on Tubs who followed behind. “Tubs, you are not welcomed.”
Tubs nodded, staying in the hall.
The moment Vic closed the door she glared at Stone. “That was damnably rude!”
He sat down in one of the two comfortable chairs. “But necessary,” he snapped.
Vic grabbed the other chair before Xavier arrived and claimed it. “Then say you need to speak of private matters, not that he’s not welcomed. You made it sound like you planned to incriminate him in more crimes and did not wish him to be present to declare his innocence.”
“Point taken. I hope he did not perceive the truth as easily as you did.”
“What?” Vic stood in outrage. She stormed out of the library, closing the door behind her. “Xavier, get in here now!” she bellowed at the top of her voice.
She then whispered to Tubs. “If you hear me yell ‘cottontails’ then get out of here as fast as possible.”
Tubs’ eyes grew worried and his forehead wrinkled as he nodded his understanding.
A firm hand clamped down on her shoulder. For a second, she feared Stone had come out and discovered her attemp
t to protect Tubs. Fortunately, upon glancing up, she discovered it was her irate partner.
“I was in the middle of my interrogation,” he snapped.
“This is more important,” she assured him.
He pushed into the library, leaving her to close the door, which meant he took the last comfortable chair.
It didn’t matter, she was too angry to sit. “Inspector Stone is planning to place new charges against Tubs.”
Xavier’s eyes turned predatory as he looked to Stone.
The Director of Scotland Yard rubbed his temple. “Before either of you react, you need to listen to my evidence. I am sorry to say, it is rock solid.” His stern eyes turned to Vic. “And I hope you did not advise Tubs to escape before I arrest him because the men I brought have orders to shoot to kill if he attempts to leave the house. And they will aim for his eyes.”
Xavier frowned. “Vic, if you gave such an order, you need to retract it now.”
Vic stopped her pacing by the door and spoke loudly. “No, Tubs has no reason to run because I intend to shoot down whatever nonsensical accusations you’ve contrived. So your sharpshooters will have to forego shooting him in the eyes.”
Xavier’s eye softened for a brief second as he stared at her, then they turned steely as he returned his focus on Stone. “Get to your proof so Vic can tear it apart and we can close up this damnable case and go home with all of our staff.”
Stone sighed. “I wish it were possible, but this case you are currently on is far bigger than you realize. Last night, per your request, we went to the address you provided and a young man was getting the body of the young woman ready to deliver to a private home.”
Xavier threw up his hand. “Yes, yes, she was a beautiful young woman, I know what some demented gentlemen do with such bodies. Get to how you believe this connects to Tubs.”
“When I told the young man he was implicated in the girl’s death, he sang like a canary.”
“Doesn’t mean his song was true,” Vic snapped.
The Darkest Days (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 6) Page 10