Wit & Intrigue (An Assignation to Remember Book 1)

by Angela Johnson

  “Was Rilla in on this?” Alex shivered from the cold.

  “No. She is dumber than those two idiots over there.” He pointed to the abductors. “She will never know, even if I told her the truth of it, she would claim I was incapable.” He stood and paced back and forth in front of Alex. “The only problem I have now is you. You were not supposed to survive the robbery. You were supposed to be killed during the struggle. So, what choices do I have to make certain you do not turn me in to the constable?”

  Alex tried to swallow, hoping to get some moisture into his mouth. His legs and hands were still bound, so escape wasn’t an option, yet he tried to get his hands out of the ropes by twisting them. Even as the thought of absolute failure hit, he fought. “How long have I been here?”

  “It has been a day. We have to plan this precisely.”

  With all of the effort to escape, exhaustion set in. He didn’t know how that could be, since he had been sleeping, but he could barely keep his eyes open.

  George gave one last look at Alex before he turned to his coconspirators. “Kill him. I sent the Duke of Waverly a letter of ransom this morning. We will deliver his body for exchange.” Turning back to Alex he touched his forehead, “You do not look well, and that cough sounds deep in your chest, I think it could be pneumonia. They might not have to kill you.” Baker walked away from him. “There will be more money in it for you, if you do as I say and kill him this time.”

  “We told you we wouldn’t commit murder.” This was the British man speaking.

  Baker picked a bottle of whiskey off the table and threw it at the wall above Alex. It shattered pouring the contents and glass on Alex. His body yearned for liquid. At the moment he would take anything, just so long as it would quench his thirst.

  “Hold on govn’r. That’s our whiskey,” the Irish man yelled.

  “You went off script, boys. You should have done the job the way I told you to do it and then you would not have to get your hands dirty. How hard would it have been to rob the coach and kill him?” Baker threw their payment on the table holding a few bills back. “You can let him stay awake now, since he will not be alive to turn any of us in. You will get the rest of your payment when this is over. Take care of the earl and deliver the corpse when told.”

  As soon as Baker was gone, Alex begged. “Drink?” He coughed until they brought a glass of ale. He choked as it went down his throat. As soon as he was finished drinking, he decided to try and talk the men into letting him go. “If you release me, I will pay you the seventy thousand pounds. Baker will not get any of it.”

  The men stood over by the table, ignoring him.

  “Please, listen to me,” he said rolling his head against the wall to look at them. “I will give you more than seventy thousand. I have access to much more.”

  The men ignored him.

  He tried again. “If you release me now, I will make certain neither of you are charged and you will leave with your pockets full.”

  “Be quiet.” The Irish man yelled as he walked over and hit Alex in the head with a bottle of ale. “We should’ve done the job right the first time.”

  “Why will you not listen to me? I have money.” Glass cut into his face, head, and arms as he fell sideways and landed on the shattered pieces. He tried to move, but glass cut deeper into his skin, so he stopped. Still trying to free his hands the movement caused one of his fingers to slide against a piece of glass slicing it open. He didn’t care. He realized if he could maneuver his hand correctly, he could cut the rope.

  Alex knew he was cutting his hands and arm more than the rope, but he had to keep trying. He listened as his abductors drank and sang ballads to their ale and their mothers. He rolled his eyes in annoyance but continued to slide the glass up and down on the rope.

  He dropped the piece of glass as the British man, came over with a cup full of ale. He slurred some words. “Do you need something more to drink?”

  Alex did want something to drink, but he didn’t want another sip of the cheap liquid. “No thank you.”

  The man sat in front of him, legs crossed, and looking pleased with himself. “My name is Barney. Teddy is from Ireland.”

  “Charmed, I am sure,” Alex drawled and rolled his eyes. “Tell me, when are you meeting my father for the ransom?”

  “Baker will take care of that. We just have to do what he says.”

  “I promise to pay you whatever you wish. Just let me go.”

  “If we let you go,” Teddy said walking toward him with a bottle of ale, “you will turn us into the magistrate. We’ve done a few jobs for Baker. He won’t turn on us.”

  Teddy walked away with his bottle of ale, swaying with the new ballad he started. He hiccuped and the two men burst into laughter as Barney poured the ale over Alex’s face. Alex groaned and lay back on the ground where he had been thrown earlier.

  “Do either of you know when you need to meet my father?” Asking the question again seemed pointless, but perhaps as they continued to drink the answer would slip.

  “Why?” Teddy asked coming closer and crouching down by his head. “Why do ye care? We have to kill ye first.”

  “I would prefer to be dead than listen to your singing,” Alex said scowling at the men.

  They burst into laughter and banged their cups together. Barney took his cup and put it to Alex’s mouth. Alex kept his mouth tightly shut, choosing not to drink the rotgut. But Teddy bounded over and pinched his nose. Although he spit most of it out, some went down his throat causing him to gag and cough. Again, they laughed as they reveled over his reaction. Everything he did brought them some sort of sick joy.

  He thought they were going to leave him and go back to their singing when Barney called out, “What’s that?” Barney pointed to his back and grabbed his arm. “You hoping to escape?” Barney picked him up and threw him away from the glass.

  Despair gripped Alex and he thought of giving in and waiting to die as the worry of putting up with their foul behavior for another minute was too much. A person of his rank should not have these experiences. He’d been raised a gentleman and should be home or at parties. The thought of home took him back to the fight and partial reconciliation with Debra. She had every reason to be angry with him. When Margaret approached at the opera house, he should have taken advice from Joseph in the Bible and run as though from Potiphar’s wife. It was strange the memory of the boy Joseph who was sold into Egypt came so clearly to his mind. His family had not been strict in the reading of the Bible, but he had learned the stories from when he was a child.

  If I get out of this alive, I will devote more time to the study of God’s words. It was a passing thought and he hoped one he would remember when the time came. Living was the only option, as he had to make it back to Debra.

  The men burst into laughter and doubled over as they continued to mock his attempt at escape. Teddy kicked him in the side, stopped and grabbed his hair lifting him off the ground. “We should kill him now.”

  It was a blessing his thoughts of Debra, the Bible, and God kept him from hearing their taunts.

  Barney rushed forward, “Shhh…” He hissed as he put his fingers to his mouth. “We don’t want him to hear.” They doubled over again in laughter.

  Alex rolled his eyes at the idiocy of the men. He wasn’t going to allow them to kill him, if he could stop them. But he wanted to know when they were going to make the attempt. They staggered back to the table, as they realized they didn’t have any more ale. With the renewal of fresh drink, the room filled with their singing. When they finally passed out, Alex scooted back to the glass and began sawing away at the ropes. Ignoring the pain each time he cut into his skin, his mind focused solely on escaping as he needed Debra. Life without her would not be one worth living.

  Chapter 31

  Debra held Portia in her arms, clinging to the dog as though she were a line to life. The replay of events leading to the abduction fresh in her mind. Her eyes weren’t focused as she looked into
the fire. Flames dancing as though the increasing cold of the season had no effect.

  “What assurances do we have they will keep from harming him?” Samuel asked as he stormed through the room.

  “We do not have any assurances. They did not agree to leave him unharmed,” her father said. She imagined he, along with everyone else avoided looking in her direction. A loneliness she’d never experienced crept into her heart, and she shivered from the emptiness it left.

  “How long until the money for the ransom can be raised?” the constable asked.

  Debra focused her eyes and hearing. She wanted the answer as well.

  “My solicitor is working on it now,” Waverly said in frustration, “it is taking longer than I would like, but they have not given us a location for the exchange.”

  Turning to Debra the constable asked, “Has Lord Trenton confided any information regarding enemies?”

  “No. I am not aware of anyone unsavory in his life. Alex is trustworthy and only has the best of friends.” As the words exited her mouth, she knew instantly there was truth to everything she said. Her husband was kind and gentle. He would never have been unfaithful to her, and she should have trusted him the night of the opera. Her actions that night would haunt her for eternity.

  “I realize it is normal to idolize your spouse, especially being newly married,” the constable began in a tone of annoyance, “but we need as much information as you can provide if we are to have any chance of finding Lord Trenton.”

  Debra sat curled up on the couch pulling her puppy closer. She looked at the constable and said, “I am not idolizing my husband. I know he has faults. Believe me, Constable, I have spent more time than anyone pointing them out to him. I do not know of any enemies.”

  “Did you get a look at the abductors?”

  “I already told you they were wearing masks,” Waverly said in frustration. “Do you not believe Lady Trenton’s version of events? We are wasting time on these idiotic questions.”

  Debra didn’t want to think about the moment they entered the carriage and pulled Alex’s unconscious body away. If they hadn’t knocked her against the carriage, she would have fought the men. She had dark blue and purple bruises to show for her attempt at keeping Alex in the carriage.

  Debra held tight to Alex’s hand and was pulled halfway out before she was thrown back. Every time she dreamed about it, she woke in fear. Alex was gone, she only hoped he was alive. They’d had him for a week and the abductors hadn’t contacted them since the morning after they took him. “Why do you think they have been silent since the first letter?”

  “We do not want to entertain such a question,” her father said patting her arm.

  Debra wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled her puppy closer. This was one gift from Alex she would always treasure. For a moment, she allowed her mind to drift to a life without him, and then pulled back from the darkness the thought produced. He would come home. He had to.

  “Your Grace.” Mr. Drury rushed into the room with a letter on a tray. “This just arrived. It looks similar to the previous letter.”

  “Thank you, Drury.”

  She watched and held her breath as the duke broke the seal. He read it to himself, and then read out loud.

  “Midnight. Bring the money. Below London Bridge.” He finished and handed the letter to the constable.

  Debra closed her eyes. She wanted this to be over and Alex to come home.

  “You do not have the seventy thousand yet?” Samuel said turning to the duke.

  “No, I do not. But they will not know until the money is counted. That is if the swine know how to count,” Waverly said in disgust.

  “We only have a half hour to get to the meeting point,” her father said as he walked from the room. “I will have the coach readied.

  Debra adjusted herself on her seat as her mother handed her a glass of water. Her muscles were sore from the fight and the stress she’d been under. Her mother adjusted the blanket over Debra’s legs.

  “Are you comfortable, dear?”

  Tears were constantly close to the surface. She spent too much time lying in bed thinking about the carriage ride and the abduction. Horrified with her accusations and lack of faith in her husband, but more than anything, she’d spent a great deal of time worrying Alex would never return.

  Debra wiped tears from her eyes as she settled back on the couch. “I am sorry. I do not want to be so emotional,” she whispered so she wouldn’t be the center of attention.

  “It would be surprising if you were not affected by the situation.” Her mother again straightened the blanket as if needing something to do.

  Debra turned as her father and Waverly walked back in the room. Waverly opened a cabinet and pulled four guns out. He handed them to her father and brothers. “We are getting Alex back tonight.”

  “Just wait to shoot until we have him back,” Samuel said taking a weapon.

  Both her father and Waverly turned to look at Debra, which made her crumple into tears again. She heard her father speak, “We will get Lord Trenton back and then kill the abductors after finding out who hired them.”

  Debra’s mother rubbed her back. “It might help if you would talk about it.” Debra knew it would help to talk, but she didn’t want to relive the fear and terror she went through. She wanted to forget.

  Chapter 32

  Alex nearly had the rope cut. At least that was what he kept telling himself. He passed out from exhaustion and possibly loss of blood somewhere between “A Health to All Good Fellows” and the “Ballad of Liquid Refreshment.” He was certain one of them was the last song the two idiots sang as he was drifting off.

  He woke to Teddy taking the glass out of his hand and yelling for Barney to get more rope. “Ye almost had it,” he said as he kicked Alex in the back. “We can’t have ye escaping.”

  Alex glared at the man, and when his hands were free due to the pain, he slowly moved them from his back to front to see the cuts and sticky dried blood. Teddy held the rope out for him to see the progress he made as he laughed at Alex.

  “Ye don’t like yer accommodations?” Teddy asked spitting in his face.

  Alex closed his eyes and asked, “When are you meeting my father for the ransom?” His voice caught on the question and he started coughing. His chest rattled. The pain was excruciating as he tried to draw breath.

  “Tonight.” Teddy bent down and smiled at Alex. “Ye have a few more hours.”

  He hadn’t planned an escape beyond sneaking out while the men were in a drunken slumber, but with his hands untied, Alex planned an attempt at courage. Sweeping his legs out, Alex knocked Teddy to the ground before he realized his legs were tied together at the knees and ankles. I am an idiot. And yet, with Teddy on the ground Alex went to work on the ropes as though he’d be able to untie them fast enough to escape.

  Releasing his ankles, Alex again kicked at his abductor to give him more time with undoing the ropes around his knees. Barney had yet to join the commotion, as he wasn’t in the room. Covered in the wretched smell of his own fluids, Alex stood for the first time in days and limped toward the doors. Escape on the forefront of his mind, limping terribly, he kicked up dirt and coughed dramatically crossing the room. Reaching for the doorknob, a sense of victory sent a smile to his lips until his arm was pulled back.

  Having spent days tied up, his body ached, but he planned to fight until there was nothing left in him. Teddy pulled him away and with one kick to his head, Alex lost. The room spun, and when his mind blurred, he gave into the dark.

  Alex opened his eyes and closed them again as his head hurt. It was as if a hammer constantly pounded down on his brain. Thinking back to the last time he’d been conscious he remembered his escape attempt. It would be something to laugh at if he’d been successful. Instead, he must have suffered some sort of blow to the head. And then he registered his body sliding on the ground. Looking up to see if he were actually moving, Alex noticed Barney above him dragging h
im to a different spot. Barney tied him to a post and left him to find a way to either sleep or wake.

  The day passed slowly. Every time they came near him, he wondered if it was the moment they were going to kill him, until he heard their argument.

  “I told ye I don’t do killing,” Teddy said as he looked back at Alex.

  This could work to his advantage, giving himself reason to hope.

  “One of us has to do it,” Barney argued.

  “I don’t like it,” Teddy said.

  “If we don’t govn’r will find us and kill us,” Barney said with conviction. “We won’t enjoy the spoils of the ransom.”

  “’How about we don’t kill him, but we cause damage?” Teddy reasoned, “so if he doesn’t live, we didn’t do it on purpose.”

  Alex looked over and sighed, “Will you get on with it? You told my father you would meet him tonight. You have time to kill me and get your ransom.”

  “Ye think yer smarter than us govn’r?” Teddy said rushing across the room to aim a kick at his back.

  The kick caused the last of his breath to leave his lungs. He dragged a ragged breath into his aching chest which sent him into shaking and coughing. Recovering, Alex whispered, “I would like to know how I am going to meet my end— you spineless piece of garbage.”

  “Ye hear that, Barn? Ye hear that?” Teddy laughed in his face and kicked him again. “Ye ain’t getting out of here alive, boy.”

  “Then get on with it,” Alex said annoyed at the delay. He was tired of sitting in his own filth, the smell of himself and these men was horrendous, and he was hungry and thirsty. Closing his eyes for a moment, he tried to think of his wife. Debra would be fine. His parents would keep her with them, and perhaps one day she would find a man she could love. He prayed it was a better man than he, as Debra deserved love and commitment. She needed a man to remind her of her inner and outer beauty, and his mother would make certain anyone Debra set her cap at would be worthy of her kindness.