"I'm wondering if we can try a little blackmail," Charlotte said. "If he thinks I've got something on him and have already told someone else, he might just hesitate until he checks out my story. I'm not totally alone in this rescue, Teddy. I believe I just need to gain us some time."
Then she remembered how close help could be. "Not to mention find a telephone!"
She didn't wait for her brother to offer an alternative plan or to dissuade her from the poor one she'd already formulated. She jumped up and banged on the thick wooden door until one of their beefy guards opened it.
"What is it?" he yelled at her without ceremony, and she almost lost her nerve.
"Tell Mr. Farnsworth that I want to speak with him. Tell him I know about Sergeant Sheffield," she added, taking an educated guess that the policeman who'd failed to check Thaddeus's identity was corrupt.
He hesitated but then slammed the door. Charlotte listened to his footsteps and then silence. Thaddeus got to his feet and put his arms around her. "I know we're damned if we do and damned if we don't, Charlie, but be careful. And I'm not letting you out of my sight, by the way."
"Don't worry. If the situation gets out of control, we'll just retreat. Then we can die together," she added, with just a touch of mockery. Oddly, she felt brave, especially with Teddy beside her, and with all the upheaval she'd already weathered in a few short months.
The footsteps returned; the door was wrenched open and one of the men grabbed her by her upper arm and dragged her out.
"She's a lady," her brother yelled at him, following closely behind. "Don't be so rough." He was stoutly punched in the stomach by the other man and shoved back into the store room.
Charlotte had time for one backward glance at her brother, doubled up on the floor, before the door swung shut. You'll pay for that, too, Jason, she vowed silently.
* * *
"So, you know about Sheffield," Jason said, confirming her supposition. "The question is, what else do you know?"
"No," she said taking the seat that he offered in a small partitioned section of the warehouse that seemed to serve as an office. Jason sat behind a large desk on the corner of which lay a pistol. One of the men remained blocking the door behind her. "The question is, whom have I told?"
He blinked once, twice, then he laughed in short barks. "Between mid-day when I told you to stay put and dinnertime? Since you've lived in Boston a relatively short time, Charlotte, and since I've monopolized nearly all of that time, I can't think who would believe your half-cocked story about seeing your brother. Except perhaps your doddering Aunt Alicia, and I do plan to deal with her soon."
The threat to her aunt sent a bolt of white hot fury through her. The arrogance! That Jason should think himself free to harm people as he saw necessary for his own plans. And then the image of Reed, dangerously powerful but infinitely gentle, came unbidden to her mind.
It occurred to Charlotte then that Reed had taken her at her word about Thaddeus, never questioning whether she had actually seen him. What an extraordinary man who had come into her life. She would be damned if she'd allow Jason to ruin everything now. Her anger gave her the necessary courage. She countered.
"Yet in my stay here, as you know, I have met people, including the Post's editor. It doesn't take long to pick up a telephone," she added, noticing that there wasn't one in the warehouse office.
Jason shot her a narrow look.
"Is it Greene, then? What does he know?"
She didn't want to endanger Mr. Greene by saying anything more. If she didn't come through it alive, he would be next on the list after Alicia. Jason took her silence as evidence of not cooperating, and he gestured almost offhandedly to one of his men.
Large hands grabbed both her arms from behind and held them behind the chair. Jason was quick then, moving toward her while she was still trying to figure out what there was to be afraid of in this new posture. Then she saw the knife he held in his hand.
Charlotte opened her mouth as he reached toward her.
"Scream and I'll draw blood."
She stifled her terror as he slit open the top of her gown where it strained over her breasts. She struggled to free her arms, but it was like pulling against stone. This, she thought, was when she should retreat to the relative safety of the store room, but she hadn't accomplished anything yet.
"He will come. He was on his way to my aunt's house. When he learns I have been abducted, he will put it all together and find me."
Jason, who plainly thought she was still talking about Charles Greene—the slight, bespectacled editor with an unassuming manner—laughed again. He pulled down her dress on one side, and caressed her shoulder. She didn't flinch but stared him squarely in the eye.
"So this is how Jason Farnsworth has to get a woman," she sneered, feeling outraged by the liberties he was taking.
He slapped her for that as he had done in the carriage, and her cheek stung with the blow. He was not deterred and cut away the strap of her chemisette. Below that was a corset, but he already had a full view down her décolletage.
"Not the only way, Charlotte, but an undeniably amusing one. And I'm sure you'll agree that I'm infinitely more appealing than, say, Bertie here, though that would be interesting entertainment. For me, at least."
The idea of Jason watching and taking pleasure in such an assault revolted her. "You're vile," she said, still struggling between the two men.
Jason bent his face very close to hers. "You know, I think I will let him have a turn if there's time when I'm through."
Charlotte leaned her head as far away as possible, understanding then that she was not dealing with normal sexual desire. He enjoyed something with pain involved.
"You've got a mother, a sister," she started, while watching him gesture over her head and then feeling Bertie begin to tie her hands. "Would you allow them to be treated this way? I am no different from them," she added.
Jason seemed to ignore her words. He sent Bertie from the room then heaved her from the chair and bent her backward over the desk, crushing her arms under her.
"There is a difference," he whispered fiercely into her face, as she struggled and kicked at him to no avail. "You are not my mother or my sister, and you are getting in the way of my business, which is to make money."
"And how will assaulting me help?" Charlotte asked, trying to twist and turn and impede his progress. How had she ever thought him pleasant? Good Lord, how did such horridness masquerade in everyday society as normalcy?
It took all her wits not to panic despite her growing fear. She knew her intellect might be all that could save her, as the odds that Reed would find her in time seemed slim.
Jason had shredded the entire top of her dress along with her chemisette, and was tugging at her corset. His eyes, riveted by the upward curve of her breasts, never met hers as he started to pull up her skirts with one hand while unfastening his trousers with the other.
"It will give me great pleasure to know that your body was not wasted before you died. Though it will only be for a few minutes, I will show you what earthly delights you are leaving behind. I hate to think of any beautiful young woman dying a virgin."
He was grinding his pelvis into her hips, which were pressed painfully against the edge of the desk. She could feel the hardness at his crotch, and a wave of revulsion nearly made her faint.
Yet as Jason's words filtered through her despair, it seemed to Charlotte as though a bell rang in her head. His mouth was now on the curve of her breast, and his hand had clawed its way up under her gown and was touching the lace at the bottom of her pantalets when she said, "But I am not a virgin."
Every part of him, each assault, by mouth, by hand, and by pelvis, halted, frozen by her words. Then he relaxed. "You are lying." And he struck her again, this time, catching her lip on her teeth and immediately, she tasted blood.
"I will be the only man you'll ever know, dear Charlotte. But don't worry, I have taken care of virgins before. Every one of
them exceedingly grateful that I—"
"I'm not lying," she insisted, though it hurt to speak. She grasped that here was a man so insecure, he could only be sexually intimate with a woman who had never been with anyone else to whom he could be compared—and found wanting.
A textbook example was the term she'd read in one of the psychiatric case studies at the library. Textbook, indeed. Here in the real world, it was terrifying, but she had to press on.
"I've already had extreme pleasure with a man whose prowess you could never match. When he took my virginity, it was the most wondrous day of my life. His manhood was huge; his skill at lovemaking was... was beyond magnificent."
She couldn't believe she was saying these things, but the effect was almost immediate. He withdrew his probing hand from under her skirts. He stood up and looked down at her as if she were filth.
"And who is this man?"
"The same man who will rescue me," she told him, struggling again to twist away from him while he was considering her words.
Jason looked puzzled. "Greene?"
"No." As she said the word, the door came bursting inward with such force that wood splintered in all directions. Jason grabbed for the pistol on the desk, and Charlotte kicked at him as she dropped to the floor, instinctively curling into a ball to protect herself.
She heard her name called out; it was Reed's voice. Then footsteps and a shot rang out. Then silence. After a moment, Charlotte looked over her shoulder to see Reed clutching the now limp body of Jason Farnsworth. He released him instantly, where he fell like a flour sack to the floor, and rushed to her, dropping to his knees beside her.
"Charlotte," was all he said as he turned her to get access to the rope that bound her. "It's going to be all right."
"I didn't know how long it would take you to get here," she said quietly, mindless of the fact that her whole body was trembling. "I was running out of ways to stall for time." She was unable to continue and tell him how she wanted to adjust her clothing. Instead, she waited almost dispassionately as Reed untied her.
When her hands were free, she tried to pull her tattered chemise and dress closed with shaking hands. Reed stripped off his coat, enveloping her in it before helping her to put her arms through the sleeves and pull it closed.
Crying now, she was feeling almost hysterical with relief. And then he was holding her to him, crushing her against his chest, and she wanted nothing more in this world than the familiar, beloved smell of him against her tear-stained face.
"Charlie," she heard her brother's voice, hesitant as if he wasn't sure what to make of this stranger comforting his sister. Reed squeezed her tightly then released her, and she turned to see her brother escorted by a policeman. Thaddeus opened his arms, and she stepped into his embrace.
"Teddy," was all she could say as a fresh stream of tears started.
"Thank God, you're safe," he said, holding her close. But then he pulled away and looked at her face. "That bastard struck you. I'd like to—"
"Too late for that," Reed said, flatly, gesturing to the corpse, now covered by a dingy canvas sail with two policemen standing by to remove Jason's remains. She could hear other men's voices outside the room, including the man who'd tied her up, along with the familiar one of John Trelaine.
"I think we'd better take your sister home," Reed said, seemingly unable to stop himself from touching her, as he stroked her hair for another moment, before letting his hand drop.
"Home?" Thaddeus questioned, looking down at Charlotte.
"Aunt Alicia's," she explained. "Oh, dear Lord," she added. "The children!" She couldn't wait to hold them.
"Children!" Thaddeus exclaimed.
Charlotte nodded. "There is so much to tell you, Teddy, and so much I want to hear."
Chapter 29
It seemed as if there would be no end to the revelations that night. After a brief interrogation at the police station, Reed, Charlotte, and Thaddeus, along with John Trelaine, sat in Alicia's parlor, drinking coffee and later brandy. Everyone had a part to play in telling the day's events, including Alicia, who had been looking out her bedroom window and had seen Jason Farnsworth take Charlotte away.
"Though it didn't look to me as if she was forced into the carriage," Alicia added. "I didn't know what to make of it."
Charlotte explained her stupidity in that matter, drawing frowns from both her brother and Reed. She was glad when John took over, drawing the unwelcome attention off her.
"Before we knew anything of Charlotte's abduction, Reed spoke with a trusted friend on the police force, who agreed to remove the man known as Jeremy Dawson from the Lunatic Hospital and place him in the holding cell at City Hall. Naturally, I decided to accompany the officer."
He paused to take a biscuit from the tray beside him, clearly warming to the task of explaining his part in the proceedings.
"You can imagine my surprise when the hospital room was empty and the superintendent acted as if there never was a Jeremy Dawson. It was obvious that Mason was hiding something, so the officer took Mason in for questioning," John explained. "And as I understand it, he confessed and pointed the finger at Sergeant Sheffield."
"That's right," offered Thaddeus. "It was Sheffield who came to the cell and said I was being moved. I was starting to feel unsure if I'd seen Charlie or not, but I didn't want to take the chance of moving somewhere she couldn't find me. Unfortunately, I had little choice. My head has been used as a nail by too many hammers lately."
Charlotte moved over to her brother and rubbed the back of his head. Reed's eyes never left her. He had been watching her like a hawk watches its prey ever since he'd rescued her, as if he feared losing sight of her again. It had been difficult to get him to leave her alone to change clothes when they'd first arrived at Chestnut Street.
"Jason didn't let much slip about his reasons for all this," Charlotte chimed in, as she took a seat next to Thaddeus, "but he did say that I was standing in the way of his making money, though I haven't figured out what killing a man, framing Teddy, and kidnapping me has to do with profit."
"Farnsworth was a black marketeer, a common smuggler," Reed began. "John caught up with me after his wasted trip to the hospital. I'd have to say it was mostly instinct that first made me suspicious of Farnsworth—"
"Instinct made you suspicious?" Charlotte asked sweetly.
Reed paused, his mouth slightly open, ready to continue. She tilted her head to one side and cocked an eyebrow.
"Instinct," he insisted, though they both knew that jealousy had caused Reed to dislike Jason from the first moment he saw her dancing with him and to suspect him of just about anything.
"I discovered quite by chance that the shay that nearly ran us down the other day belonged to Farnsworth's foreman. After we knew which crime Thaddeus was supposed to have committed, I considered the docks and where Arthur Harvey's body was found; it occurred to me that the Farnsworths owned some of the warehouses on Rowes Wharf."
"But why frame my brother?" Charlotte asked.
"I'm getting to that," Reed said, sounding slightly exasperated though he fixed her with a crooked grin and warm glance that didn't go unnoticed by Aunt Alicia or Thaddeus.
Charlotte, for her part, lowered her eyes demurely, unable to help the warm tingle that raced through her like lightning in a stormcloud.
"I believe you were acquainted with Farnsworth previously," Reed continued, looking at Thaddeus.
"Yes, we met a few years ago, when we were both traveling—"
"At least that was the truth," Charlotte interrupted once more. "He told me that one day when we were sightseeing...," she trailed off at the look on Reed's face.
"Sightseeing!" Thaddeus exclaimed. Charlotte shrugged sheepishly, feeling ashamed by her ill-judged choice of companionship.
"Go on," she told her brother.
Thaddeus shook his head before taking a deep breath and another sip of brandy.
"Jason said to look him up if I was ever in Boston, which
I did a few months ago. He offered me a job, running his counting house. After a week or so, I realized I didn't care for the way he did business, and I told him so. It's not enough that he has a trust fund from his parents. He wants to own Boston by selling illegal goods and putting in his pocket anyone who can be bought."
"But why didn't you come see me, dear boy?" Alicia spoke up, looking hurt.
Thaddeus was abashed. "To tell you the truth, Aunt Alicia, not ever having any contact with Mother's side of the family, as you know, I just assumed you were closed to us. I was fairly young when she died, but she'd indicated that we shouldn't expect ever to be welcomed by her family. It never occurred to me to come knocking on your door."
It was Alicia's turn to look sheepish. "We should have kept in contact with my sister," she offered. "But I want you to know now that you're always welcome." She sniffed.
After that, Charlotte wished someone would break the morose feeling in the room, but her brother's next words didn't help.
"I confronted Jason about his dirty dealings, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a police holding cell charged with attempted murder. You know the rest. I ended up at the Lunatic Hospital for evaluation. I can't believe that no one checked Sheffield's investigation."
"They had no reason to suspect he was being paid off," Reed told him. "He doesn't get too close to anything dirty."
"He will now," John added. "Sheffield was at the police station when I returned from the hospital with Mason. It was more than convenient, in fact. He went from one side of the prison bars to the other."
Reed leaned over and topped off Thaddeus's brandy glass. "I don't think Farnsworth would have kept you long in the position of overseer even if you hadn't told him how you felt. Anyone handling his affairs learns too much and becomes a threat. No doubt, Arthur Harvey had long been aware of Farnsworth's dirty dealings and had even started to use the information to make his own fortune on the black market. Word reached Farnsworth, and he had the man killed."
Charlotte shuddered at the brutality. "And as soon as Jason knew I was in town, he looked me up. To think I spent so much time in his company?"
The Defiant Hearts Series Box Set Page 38