by Rebecca King
“God, I will kill the blackguard myself if he has hurt her.”
“You care about her,” Will replied. “But don’t forget you are here to do a job.”
“I know that,” Niall snapped.
When they reached the attic, Niall and Will looked at each other. The solemnity on Will’s face said it all. The news was not good. Clara was not in the house.
“Where is she? He cannot have gone too far.”
“She has to be in one of the outbuildings,” Will growled. “She has to be here.”
Together, the men made their way downstairs and met with Oliver, who was rounding up the last of the now wounded guards.
“She isn’t here,” Niall grunted.
“Check the outbuildings and the cellars. I don’t have spare men. They have gone after Smidgley, but they have told me that they watched Smidgley carry someone onto the property. It must be Clara. She has to be in here. Find her,” Oliver ordered.
“She must be in the cellar.” Will was already racing after Niall.
Together, the men searched the cellars, but Clara wasn’t there either.
“Where in the Hell could she be?”
“Maybe there is a secret room or something?” Will shrugged to prove he was guessing.
“Let’s search again.”
“We haven’t searched the servant’s quarters. She has to be there.”
Niall wasn’t aware of just how much yearning was in his voice, but Will gave him a sharp look that was thoughtful and full of worry. He and Harry had watched Niall change over the last few weeks in Serpentine. It had started the evening Niall had rescued Clara from Erasmus Boyle’s lecherous clutches. Since then, Niall had been almost obsessive about Miss Clara Potter’s safety. He had seemingly taken it upon himself to protect her and keep her safe and had practically rendered Harry and himself useless.
Thankfully, Niall’s worry wasn’t allowed to grow too much more because they found Clara in a small room tucked away at the rear of the servant’s quarters.
Niall raced into the room the second he set eyes on her. He didn’t even glance at the room she was in. First impressions were that it wasn’t all that big and didn’t contain anything more than a single bed positioned against the far wall, and a dresser which was located behind the bed Clara was tied to. Without saying a word, Niall yanked the bindings off her, and hauled her into his arms. All he could do was hold her tightly and savour the fact that she was unharmed. The relief that flooded him was nothing to do with his job. Clara mattered to him on a far more personal level, far more than he dared admit right now.
“Did he hurt you?” he whispered, his voice shaking with the strength of his relief.
“Not really,” Clara replied.
When he leaned back to look down at her, she followed him, narrowing the distance he tried to put between them. Thankfully, he didn’t try to pull away again. Instead, he held her as tightly as he could and waited for the trembling in his limbs to ease.
“This is interesting,” Will murmured from his position in front of the dresser.
“A man was in here.”
“That was Claude Smidgley, the man we are after,” Niall told her.
“Smidgley? Now, where have I heard that name before?”
“Your father has probably mentioned the Smidgley twins. They are questionable young fops who had taken to a life of crime to go with their affluent lives of privilege,” Niall replied.
“What is he doing here? Where am I?”
“Did he not tell you?” Will asked.
“He told me that he was responsible for the kidnap of the young women. He planned to make me a servant of one of his cronies,” Clara whispered.
Niall closed his eyes because he knew that servant was a euphemism for prostitute but didn’t remind her of the fact. Clara’s next words made him blink and stare at her.
“He said that he only used some of the women for prostitution, but I was too ugly.”
Niall and Will looked askance at each other.
“He said I would make a good servant for one of his friends.”
Niall’s voice was deadly when he spoke. “He told you that his friends use the women as servants?”
Clara nodded. “He said it would be funny to be able to use the Secretary of State’s daughter as a servant.”
“Mother of God, no wonder we cannot find them,” Niall breathed.
“How in the Hell do we find out who does have them?” Will demanded.
Niall’s thoughts immediately turned to Sir Hugo. Was that why he had vanished? Had he gone undercover in London’s wealthiest houses to try to find the missing women? If so, it was a hell of a dangerous task, and one that was going to get him killed if any of the house owners involved in using kidnap victims as servants found him.
“I don’t understand why a kidnap ring snatch women to be servants. I mean, there are plenty of people looking for that kind of employment. They don’t get paid much, and Smidgley’s contacts can afford to pay a willing servant,” Will reasoned.
“I think that maybe the women were probably used as servants to suppress them. If they were not likely to be subservient, they would be turned into servants until they lost the will to live, their identities, whatever, or gave up trying to escape.”
Will nodded. “Then they would be used for prostitution.”
“Or maybe they were used as servants to keep them busy but out of sight, i.e.., below stairs where nobody would be able to recognise them. We don’t know where they are kept. I doubt they will be in London. There is far too much opportunity to escape there. One can get lost in those city streets relatively easily.” Niall was really thinking aloud.
“They have to be somewhere like this, don’t you think? Look at where he has put me. He didn’t put me in the main body of the house, but in the servant’s quarters. If you were searching for him, or someone he had snatched, you would look in the main body of the house, not where the servants lived, wouldn’t you?”
“That’s what we have just done,” Will assured her.
“It is a foolish plan, but if other servants working in wealthy houses were paid enough to keep quiet and were ordered to keep a close eye on the new arrivals, it would suppress any chance the victims had of escape, especially if they had no money or proof of identity or anybody to help them escape. Some of the large country estates are out in the middle of nowhere. If a victim wanted to make an escape they would have to run for miles, most probably with no money, idea of where they were, proof of identity, or means of transport.”
“It would be impossible,” Clara whispered. “They hit me over the head. I feel like the room is covered in a thick fog. If I was forced to set to work, and made to keep going until I dropped, I don’t think I would have the energy to try to escape.”
“That would break any innocent young woman. Fear would compel them to keep quiet and not do anything that would draw any undue attention to themselves,” Will added.
“We can only surmise, but it gives us a better starting point to try to find the victims than we have ever had before.” Niall smiled gently at her. “You are right. I think there is a message in where Smidgley has put you. It was in the servant’s quarters, most probably where the other victims ended up and where he intended to ensure you were left.”
“Where do you think they are?” Clara whispered. Snuggled against him as she was, she didn’t feel any urgency to get up and leave.
“It is going to be difficult to find out. All we can do is visit the homes of the men Smidgley calls friends and hope we are lucky enough to find one of the missing,” Niall whispered. “For now, we have to find Smidgley.”
“Let’s go,” Will growled, already heading to the door.
He didn’t stop to wait for Niall and Clara to join him. Instead, he went to join his colleagues, well aware that Niall needed a few moments alone with the woman Will was starting to suspect Niall was beginning to fall in love with.
“If he isn’t in love wi
th her already,” he growled as he slammed out of the house.
“What was that?” Oliver asked, pausing his conversation with Rhys to lift his brows at him. “Where is Niall?”
“With Clara.”
“Clara now, is it?” Oliver’s brows shot skyward. Despite the severity of the work they had to do, the men grinned.
“As you were with Emmeline,” Will replied ruefully.
“So, it is like that, is it?” Rhys snorted. “I might have guessed. It is foolish to send any single man to look after someone like her. Clara Potter, I ask you. She is the boss’s daughter.”
“It doesn’t matter who she is really, does it? If they are meant to be together an attraction will be there no matter what stands in the way. I mean, I doubt Niall planned to romance the boss’s daughter. He was always determined to avoid marriage.” A hint of melancholy in Will’s voice made the men laugh.
“You make it sound like he has been struck down by some incurable illness,” Rhys teased. “He is getting married, not murdered.”
Will rolled his eyes. “Either way, his life as he knows it is dead, isn’t it? I mean, he isn’t going to be the same from now on. Everything he will do is going to be driven by her, the need to be with her, the need to get home with her. Look at you.”
Will pointed a finger at Oliver who merely smirked. “When love strikes there is not a damned thing a man can do about it. You have to go where the heart leads you. Emmeline was meant to be my wife, I don’t doubt it. I am sure that if Niall feels for Clara what I feel for my wife, they will be very happy together.”
“You don’t know what he is like when it comes to her,” Will warned, not seeing the funny side of the situation at all.
Oliver and Rhys looked at each other in concern.
“What do you mean?” Oliver rapped when Will turned around to walk away.
“I mean that the man is in denial. I hope he is in there proving to her that he wants to make her a part of his future but somehow, I don’t think he is as amenable to feeling about her the way he does as you would like him to be. He doesn’t want to be attracted to the boss’s daughter, much less wed her.” With that, Will went in search of his horse to join the hunt for Smidgley.
Oliver puffed out his cheeks and decided to linger outside, just in case he had to escort Miss Potter home. One of them had to do it because until Claude Smidgley was behind bars, the threat to Clara Potter’s life was still very real.
Inside the small room, Niall eased Clara to her feet and moved over to the door.
“When you are ready, we have to get out of here. We cannot run the risk that Smidgley might circle around and come back for weapons or something. It isn’t safe to stay,” he urged gently.
Clara awkwardly pushed to her feet. The room swirled a little, but she was able to stand on legs which shook alarmingly. Still, she stumbled over to him, not least because she felt safer standing as close to Niall as she could get. Before she could ease past him, he touched her chin with gentle fingers.
“Are you sure you are not hurt?”
“I am going to be all right once I get home,” she assured him.
Without saying another word, Niall hauled her into his arms and held her once more. He rested his head against hers and savoured this precious moment of unity. He had to make sure she truly was all right. Secretly, he needed to be close to her once more. After a moment or two, he felt the hesitant slide of her arms around his waist. Together, they stood locked in each other’s arms before Niall was compelled to lift his head.
Clara looked hesitantly at him, dreading the moment he would tell her they had to leave.
Without saying a word, Niall lowered his head to hers. Words weren’t necessary. The kiss was a silent request for reassurance and was answered by loving tenderness neither of them could withhold.
“Come on, let’s go,” Niall whispered several moments later.
He caught her hand in his and tugged her gently toward the door. Their progress was slow on account of her slightly uneven walk. When Niall realised that she was struggling, he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the house.
“There you are,” Oliver murmured when he saw them. He lifted his brows at Clara. “I take it you are unharmed. I apologise that you were snatched.”
“At least you found me,” Clara replied.
Niall reported to Oliver where he had found her and what he now believed Smidgley had done with the missing women. His news made all the men from the Star Elite stop what they were doing and turn to listen.
“It explains why nobody can find them,” Phillip growled.
“We can interrogate Smidgley’s contacts and find out if any of them know where the victims were delivered. One of them will talk. All we need to do is find one of the wealthy to talk to us,” Oliver suggested.
Niall met his gaze. Oliver nodded, because he knew they were both thinking about Sir Hugo.
“Until we hear from him, we have to assume that he is on the hunt already. For now, let’s get Miss Potter home. I understand that your father is heading back to Serpentine and is due there any day now, Miss Potter,” Oliver murmured. “Best get home quickly.”
His pointed warning to Niall was received with a brisk nod. With more professionalism than he truly felt, Niall led Clara over to a carriage his colleagues had prepared and slid her inside. It wasn’t the carriage she had arrived in. Instead, it was one the local Star Elite men used. It was lavishly furnished, with thick shades at the window that protected them from prying eyes. Thankfully, Callum was driving, which gave Niall the ability to climb into the carriage after Clara and settle beside her.
“It is going to take us several hours to get back, I am afraid,” he informed her. “For now, try to settle down and get some sleep.”
Clara studied the distance between them and wished he would smile at her or do something that would give her the confidence to narrow the gap and lean against him as she yearned to do. Instead, he lowered the shutter and stared moodily outside while Callum steered the carriage around in a large circle.
“What do you plan to do next?” she asked after several hours of silence.
“When you have been handed over to your father, we are going to join the men following Smidgley. Now we know where to look for the victims, we can set about visiting the homes of everyone he has connections with. Hopefully you are right, and they are going to be fairly easy to find now. If not, then it is up the boss to decide what to do. I merely follow orders and do whatever I need to do to stay alive. My work, my life, is with the Star Elite. I will go where the job takes me.”
That tells me that this is going no further.
Clara couldn’t pretend that it didn’t hurt. She had to wonder why he had chosen to kiss her again if he didn’t care about her. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but pride wouldn’t allow her to beg. If he didn’t want to be a part of her life, there was nothing she could do to make him change his mind. She didn’t want to be the one to force him to be with her because the first chance he got to leave he would take it and she would lose him anyway.
A heavy silence settled between them. As the miles swept by, Clara felt her eyelids droop, but she forced herself to wake up, not least because she didn’t want to miss a moment of being alone with Niall. It was foolish, really, to do anything more than dismiss him as someone who didn’t seem to know what he wanted.
Niall forced himself to stop talking before he did or said anything that would upset Clara even more than she already looked. He had no idea what to do with a weeping female. Because he couldn’t offer her false hope, Niall was left struggling to find a way to placate her.
“Don’t you ever get tired of running around in the dark? Of watching other people live their lives while you suspend yours?”
“I am not suspending my life,” Niall replied heavily.
“Really? Because watching someone else isn’t living your own life, is it?”
“I am keeping people safe,” Niall gro
wled.
“Really. Well, what were you doing when I was taken?”
“Stupidly thinking you were at home where you were told you should stay,” Niall snapped. “How in the Hell was I to know that you would be foolish enough to go out again unchaperoned?”
“I went because Sissy was poorly. Only the severest of circumstances would compel me to go out again alone after what happened in town.”
“Really? Because you seem to have a habit of getting yourself into trouble, Clara. What are you going to do when I am no longer around to save you?” Niall demanded.
“I don’t see why I should do anything. I mean, I have managed perfectly well before you turned up in my life. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be all right again once you have gone. Regardless of what you might think, I am not some addle brained chit who is too stupid to recognise danger. I went to see my friend because I was told that she was seriously ill. How was I to know that Smidgley was lurking around the corner?”
“Well, he has other problems to contemplate now.”
“What have you done with Erasmus?”
“Nothing. The local men have him.”
“Local men?” Clara lifted her brows at him.
“The local Star Elite.”
“Is there such a thing?” Her father had never said.
“Yes. There is such a thing. They are a smaller group than the group who operate from our London base, and deal with more localised crime, but their work is no less dangerous. The local men just have a better understanding of the area than we do because we often are in places we haven’t visited before.” Niall ran a hand down his face. When he felt Clara studying him, he looked at her.
“Are they involved in your investigation?”
“They have been helping but like I have said, there aren’t that many of them and they are already dealing with other investigations. There is only so much they can do. Smidgley has been based in London. That is where the first of the victims were taken once they had been kidnapped, and where the first of the victims were found. Because we are based in London, we have taken over the major investigation and are supported by the local teams from Leicestershire and Derbyshire and in whichever county we end up in.”