A Traitorous Heart

by Tammy Jo Burns

  “Yes, he told me.”

  “One of our cargos just arrived, and we need to make an appearance at the docks to take stock of everything.”

  “Docks...” her voice trailed off. They were separated for the next twenty-four counts of music, but when they came back together, she had a distant look in her eyes.

  “My lady?”

  “Docks, that is the missing piece. Brutus at the docks.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I don’t know how I forgot that one piece of information for so long.”

  She looked to where Derek had been standing, but he had disappeared. She searched the dance floor frantically but still did not see him. She needed to tell him. Where was the man?

  The music ended and Gabe led her to where Kala stood. A very handsome man in peacock blue came up to Kala and bowed deeply over her hand asking her to dance. She accepted, but missed hearing the word “fop” escape Gabe’s lips in distaste.

  “I hate to leave you alone, but I have a meeting in a few minutes.”

  “Please, by all means go. I am certain Derek will be back shortly. I am a little warm, and think I will walk on the terrace.”

  “Perhaps I should accompany you.”

  “No, please. I will be fine. Go on, I will watch for Derek.” She saw that Gabe still hesitated. “The doors are open and the terrace is lit almost as brightly as inside. I will be fine.”

  “If you’re certain.”

  “Go.” He bowed, disappearing into the crowd. Tessa stayed to the edge of the people, making her way outside to the terrace. She stood alone, except for a couple hidden in the shadows giggling and sighing. She paced back and forth, thinking. When Gabe had mentioned the docks, it had triggered a last errant memory. She did not know what Danny’s involvement was, but now felt sure she knew where he could be found. She remembered his urging her to seek Brutus’ help at the docks should they become separated.

  She heard the receding footsteps of the couple as they rejoined the throng of people inside. Tessa stood on the edge of the shadows and searched the room for Derek. She thought she caught a glimpse of him talking to a distinguished looking older man. She saw him scan the room and started to step in to wave at him when she heard a voice call to her from the shadows.

  “Lady Blackburn?”

  “Yes?”

  “Miss Simmons asked me to pass this note to you,” a footman gave her the note, but his face remained hidden in the shadows.

  “Thank you.” She quickly unfolded piece of paper.

  Tessa, please meet me at the fountain. I need to talk to someone. M

  “Oh dear, what now?” Tessa heard the gurgling sound of water and made her way that direction. She passed several large hedges, but she reached the fountain to find no one waiting on her. “Kala, where are you?” she called loudly. “Kala!”

  She did not hear the sound of footsteps behind her. She only knew someone had come up when she felt a strong arm around her waist and a hand closed over her nose and mouth. Tessa tried to scream and kick, but the man who held her could be compared to a giant. He lifted her, squeezing her around the waist, holding her arms pinned to her side. She saw a man standing before her with a lantern lifted, barely lighting the area. Her eyes widened in recognition.

  She tried to struggle against her captor, but felt herself becoming weaker. She could not draw a breath and black dots had begun to swim in front of her. Tessa tried to peel back her lips and bite the man’s hand, but all she received was a cut lip and a mouthful of her own blood. As blackness descended upon her, her last thought turned to Derek and how much she loved him.

  * * *

  Lucas stood near the carriage when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A large man that looked like his father carried something over his shoulder. Another man dressed in the duke’s livery followed close behind.

  “Now, why would Da’ be here?” He snuck as close as he dared when he heard a crunch under his foot. He stopped and bent over to pick up the item he had stepped on. In all of his twelve years, he had only seen an earring that beautiful once before, on Lady Tessa. “Crimey,” he muttered under his breath. His father had taken the countess. He had to tell Lord Blackburn right away. He had a fairly good idea where they would be going, and prayed he guessed right, because the countess’ life was at stake. He took off running toward the house.

  Chapter 37

  “Lord Blackburn, are you listening to anything I am saying?”

  Derek’s head cut around to look into Castlereagh’s eyes. “Yes, sir, I am. We are apprehending the man as quickly as possible, as I have told McKenzie.” He had told the man this several times over, and it seemed as if he would have to tell him again. Derek cursed McKenzie for having mentioned this to the man at all. He looked toward the terrace doors where he thought he had last spied Tessa. She should not be out there alone, dammit.

  “Blackburn, Castlereagh, just the men we wanted to see.”

  Derek inwardly groaned as the Duke of Portland along with his brother-in-law, George Canning, cornered them. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary joined him and Castlereagh in the corner of the ballroom. Did none of them understand that he just needed to find his wife?

  “What can we do for you?” Castlereagh asked politely. All of England knew that Canning and Castelreagh did not see eye-to-eye on matters.

  “How close are we to wrapping up this traitor business? It is enough that we may actually have to go to war against Bonaparte, let alone have to worry about betrayal on our own soil,” Portland finished somewhat pompously.

  “Indeed it is, Your Grace,” Derek attempted to sound as humble as possible. “New evidence is showing itself every day, Your Grace. The man should be apprehended very soon, which is what I just told Castlereagh.” Derek hated doing it to him, but as soon as he mentioned Castlereagh, the other two men’s eyes shot straight to him. Derek began easing into the background as the men began arguing France and other issues that Canning and Castlereagh differed on.

  Derek made his way to the terrace. He looked around but saw no one, save a couple standing in the shadows whispering low. He could have sworn he had seen her here just a few minutes ago. He cleared his throat loudly, which effectively parted the couple.

  “Pardon me but did you see a woman here a few minutes ago in a sapphire dress? She has red hair,” he began to describe Tessa, but the gentleman cut him off.

  “She went toward the fountain,” the man waved off-handedly.

  “Thank you.” Derek began walking towards the fountain, holding his cane in a defensive gesture. He reached the fountain, but found no sign of Tessa anywhere. He looked down and saw a creased, square of paper flittering on the grass. He reached down, picked it up and read the words.

  “Kala! Tessa!” No response. He turned and walked quickly back to the ballroom, scanning the lawn as he went. Once he reached the house he searched the room for the two women, but did not see either one. He went up the stairs and down the main hall and looked down a hall to his left. He spied Kala, her ear pressed to the keyhole of a door. She looked up when she heard Derek coming toward her and gasped, her eyes held a look of fear and worry. She quickly kicked the door before moving towards him.

  “Derek, you look harried, what’s wrong?”

  “What is going on?”

  “Nothing, I swear. Why?”

  “Have you seen Tessa?” At that moment, the door opened and Gabe stepped into the hall. He saw Derek and Kala and pulled the door shut, but not before Kala saw an exotically beautiful woman inside. She wore a very risqué dress that showed more cleavage than even the widows dared and currently tried to straighten her bodice.

  “Rake,” she muttered under her breath.

  “What is going on?” Gabe asked.

  “You have lipstick on your lips, Your Grace,” Kala informed him coldly.

  “Would you two shut it?” Derek roared. They both turned startled eyes to him. “Have either one of you seen Tessa?”<
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  “Not since I danced with her.”

  “No. Why?”

  “I cannot find her and I found this out by the fountain,” he passed the note to Kala.

  “This is not my handwriting, Derek and I would never sign a note to a family member with an ‘M’. I would use a ‘K’.”

  “Bloody hell,” Derek bit out. “I can’t find her.”

  “We’ll help you look,” Gabe grabbed Kala’s elbow and propelled her down the hall and away from the room. “Look in the lady’s retiring room and we’ll meet you at the base of the stairs in the ballroom.” Kala nodded and quickly followed his orders.

  “She’s not there,” Kala whispered to them five minutes later.

  “Nor is she here,” Derek said forcefully.

  “Grab Richard and meet us at the fountain.” Kala ran off to find Richard and Drucilla. A few minutes later they were all at the fountain, the men holding the torches that had lit the terrace. “There were others here besides Tessa,” Gabe announced.

  “A rather large man,” Richard seconded. “I do not see imprints the size of a woman’s leading anywhere.”

  “They carried her,” Derek said quietly.

  “What?” Kala broke in. Drucilla stood beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. “Someone took Tessa and used me to lure her out here? What is going on?” She looked back and forth between the three men. Each looked guilty, but would not respond to her questions.

  “Come, Kala, let’s go back to the ball. Richard, come home to me in one piece,” she whispered and rose up to kiss him before leading Kala away.

  “Derek, where could they have taken her?” Richard questioned.

  “I don’t know. She’s had her memory back for some time and she is certain Danny is the responsible party.”

  “When we were dancing, she got excited when I mentioned taking you to the docks. In fact she even said a man’s name, Brutus perhaps? She thought it was the final piece of the puzzle and acted anxious to find you.”

  “My lord, my lord, wait.”

  Derek looked up to see Lucas racing towards them, his face flushed.

  “What is it Lucas?”

  “My Da’,” he paused to take a deep breath. “My Da’ took her.” He held out the earring as evidence.

  “Who is your dad, son?” Richard questioned.

  “Danny?” Derek cut in eagerly.

  “Na, me Da’ is Brutus.”

  “Can you take us to him?”

  “Sure.”

  “Come, let’s go to the stables. I am sure a few of our male guests would not mind us borrowing their horses.”

  “Weapons?”

  “There are some in the stables so we will not have to disturb the guests.” The two other men nodded and followed Richard.

  Upon reaching the stables, each man busily prepared a horse. Richard went inside and came back with a myriad of weapons that he passed out to the men. They were just preparing to leave when a familiar face rode up on a horse.

  “Leaving so soon?” Stuart McKenzie questioned the trio.

  “Tessa’s been taken. We think we know where and are going after them,” Gabe answered for Derek who had already mounted his horse and pulled Lucas up in front of him.

  “I will go with you,” the man’s tone brooked no argument.

  * * *

  Tessa came to in a darkened room. Her eyes were blurry and her head pounded. When she tried to sit up, the pounding in her head intensified and caused her stomach to churn sickeningly. She moaned and lay back down. Turning her head slowly she saw she lay on an old cot. A grimy window resided high above her head on the opposite wall, but she had no way of reaching it. Even if she had, the window was far too small for her to crawl through.

  The door handle rattled before a thin, tall man appeared through the doorway, still dressed in the duke’s livery. She quickly closed her eyes. The door shut and she heard a chair scrape across the floor.

  “You’re not breathing deeply enough to be asleep, my lady,” the man sneered. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked against the light from the lantern. “I will let Daniel know you are awake. He is anxious to see you.”

  Tessa felt confused. Why was Director McKenzie’s secretary here? How did he know Danny? She watched the man leave and in his place a larger man entered the room, a very familiar man at that.

  “Hello, Tessa. How have you been?” She remained silent. “Is that anyway to treat a childhood friend? Perhaps the ton has influenced you after all.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Evidently something that I cannot have,” he said somewhat longingly. He too wore the livery of the servants that Richard and Drucilla employed, but she had not seen him at the fountain.

  “Were you at the ball all night?”

  “Oh yes. I saw your grand entry. I saw you dance with your husband and then not one, but two dukes. You have come up in the world, haven’t you Tessa?”

  “My mother came from nobility,” she defended.

  “Yes, until she married a simple military man.”

  “That simple military man helped clothe, feed, and educate you,” she said with feeling. She hated the feel of him looking down on her in superiority, so she forced herself to sit up. She leaned weakly against the wall behind her and put one hand against her throbbing head, and the other on her churning stomach. “What did you do to me?”

  “After Brutus knocked you out the first time, I did not want to risk your waking until we were well and truly away. I gave you some laudanum in the hack and you have been sleeping nicely ever since.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why have you done all this?”

  “I had to get you away from your father. He never would have let me marry you.”

  “My father?”

  “Yes. You have not pieced it together yet? I was responsible for the attack that killed your father.” She inhaled sharply upon finally hearing the truth. “You see, I sent a message to Junot and let him know how close some of England’s best spies were to him. I did not know at the time that you would plan to marry the same night they attacked.”

  “You were not with us.”

  “No, I met with Junot, letting him know where to watch for ambushes. I had planned to sneak in and get you away. However, the battle became a little heavier than expected and it did not work out that way. Those villagers put up a valiant fight, but not good enough to defeat La Grande Armée.”

  “You bastard.”

  “Yes, we all have to be something. You see that is how I came to be in England and an orphan. My mother had been the mistress of an English diplomat stationed in France. She became pregnant, and he pushed her aside. When he brought his family home at the first rumblings of trouble, she followed him. Even after all those years she still loved him. However, Maman contracted a fever on the boat over. The diplomat summered in Scotland at his wife’s family home. Maman insisted we travel to Scotland for me to meet my father. She made it as far as your little village before she died. There I was, five-years-old and an orphan. The village took me in at that point, your family most of all.”

  “And you repaid us by killing my father?”

  “I loved you,” he exclaimed loudly, not caring who heard. “You dare question my love? Your father would not have let us be together.” They stared at each other before they both heard something. “What was that?”

  “I would not have let us be together! I thought of you as my brother! In fact, you became my brother after mine died. You were there to comfort me when he died.”

  He jerked her up off the cot, not at all pleased with the sounds he had heard outside. He pulled her back against his chest and held her still. She began to squirm, “Be still, or I will have to kill you.” He pulled a gun and held it against her temple. “Now where were we? Oh yes, dear Finn. Of course I was there for you. I created his little accident.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Shh, did you hear that?”
>
  “What did Finn ever do to you?”

  “He caught me looking at you in a highly unbrotherly manner and threatened to tell your father. I had to keep that from happening. It is surprisingly easy to have an accident on a rock-hiking expedition.”

  “You bastard!” She screamed at him, trying to claw and kick at him, not caring about the gun he held on her.

  “Please, do not keep repeating yourself.”

  Silent tears streamed down her face. She sent up a silent prayer that Derek would soon find her and save her before this madman killed them all.

  Chapter 38

  The five of them headed toward the docks at breakneck speed. Thoughts kept churning through Derek’s mind. He had to find her. He could not live without her. He had already tried once and found he preferred having her by his side, temper and all. They entered the seedier parts of London. Derek found it amazing that only a few streets separated the rich from the poor, and that Lucas had once lived down here.

  Derek took the lead, with the boy in front of him on his horse pointing out the way. He led them past prostitutes calling out to them and children scurrying about in filth and squalor. Old men, hunched from years of hard work, stumbled drunkenly down the trash filled streets spending what little money they earned now on cheap gin. This part of London had no hope.

  They turned a corner and Derek could begin to smell the distinctive aroma of the Thames. The stench was a mixture of refuse and fish, and it could be overpowering at times. Tonight the breeze blew the smell away from them, but it never truly went away. Derek looked around him and noticed the docks Lucas brought them to were the same ones where he and Gabriel had their shipping company.

  “What are we doing here?” McKenzie asked.

  “My Da’ isn’t very far away. We’ll be there in a flash.”

  “His father took Tessa,” Richard informed McKenzie.

  “So your Da’ is a dockworker?”

  “The meanest one there is.”

  The men carefully picked their way along avoiding dockworkers and cargo. The path was a veritable obstacle course for the horses. Finally, they reached the area that Lucas described. They saw no one about. The men climbed off their horses and tied them up in loose knots, just in case they needed to make a quick getaway.