A Taste of Paradise (37 page)

“What is this about, Chris? If you've come to berate me for taking up with Caldwell, I don't want to hear it.”

“I'm not here for you, Amanda. I'm married. I love my wife.”

“You love her?” Amanda choked out. “I don't believe you.”

“Believe what you want. Did you know Caldwell has kidnapped Sophia?”

“Kidnapped her? Why ever for?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

“I haven't seen him in days. His creditors are hounding him; he's probably left the country.”

“With Sophia?”

She tapped her chin. “No, I don't think so. Why would he want her tagging along?”

“He took her for reasons I do not understand. Had he asked her for money, she might have given it to him. She had access to my bank account. Do you have any idea where he sought lodgings after you tossed him out?”

“Someplace cheap,” Amanda guessed. “Why don't you ask his wife?”

“I intend to do just that. If you hear from him, please contact me at the Thorn and Thistle.” He turned to leave.

“Chris, wait! Is this good-bye?”

“We said our good-byes a long time ago, Amanda. I'm going to find my wife and never let her out of my sight again.”

Turning on his heel, he left her without another word.

Chris rode posthaste to the stately home of Lord and Lady Warpole, where Claire resided with her parents. He was told to wait in the parlor while the butler fetched Lady Caldwell. Claire, a plump, mousy woman, arrived a short time later.

“What can I do for you, Captain Radcliff?”

“Do you know where I can find your husband? It's vitally important that I locate him.”

Claire grimaced, her disgust apparent. “Don't tell me he owes you money, too? If I never see that man again, it will be too soon.”

“Have you seen him recently?” Chris asked, trying a different approach.

“He called here a few days ago. Papa sent him packing.”

“Jeeters told me we had a visitor,” Lord Warpole said as he strode into the room.

“Here's Papa now,” Claire said. “Captain Radcliff is inquiring after Rayford.”

Warpole acknowledged Chris with a nod. “That cur had the nerve to ask me for money. I sent him packing and told him never to darken my door again.”

“Papa has friends in high places,” Claire explained. “He has petitioned the court in my behalf for a divorce. When it's granted, I'll be rid of Rayford for good.”

“Do you have any idea where I might find him?” Chris asked. “He kidnapped his stepsister.”

Claire gasped. “Oh, poor Sophia!”

“Is he demanding ransom?” Warpole asked.

“Not that I know of, but I'm desperate to find him. Sophia and I were married in Jamaica some months ago.”

“I didn't know that,” Claire said. “I do wish I could help you, but Ray made no mention of Sophia during his brief visit.”

“Caldwell's pockets are empty,” Warpole said. “I took the liberty of having his finances looked into. He'll probably seek cheap lodgings.”

“Thank you,” Chris said. “I'll start with some of the dives along the waterfront. If you happen to hear from him, I can be reached at the Thorn and Thistle.”

Chris took his leave and reined his horse toward the river. The sun was setting and all his leads had dried up. If he didn't find Caldwell soon, or find someone who knew where he had taken Sophia, he could lose her.

Chris spirits began to flag after visiting three waterfront inns without success. As he came out of the third, he ran into his brother.

“Justin, what are you doing here?”

“Dunning told me what happened. I knew you'd want to find Caldwell and decided to check on a few of the likely places he might be found. I guess we had the same idea.”

“I don't know what I'll do if I don't find Sophia, Justin. I love her. I was going to tell her today.”

Justin gripped Chris's shoulder. “Buck up, old boy. We'll find your wife. Shall we split up and meet back here in three hours?”

Chris nodded. “When I find Caldwell, I'm going to kill the bastard.”

Three hours later, neither Chris nor Justin had found the missing Caldwell. But Justin had some good news to impart.

“I found where Caldwell has been staying,” he informed Chris. “I suggest we wait and see if he turns up.” Hope was a fragile emotion. Embracing it wholeheartedly, Chris followed Justin to the disreputable inn Caldwell called home.

A light flared in the cottage. Her heart pounding, Sophia faced her worst nightmare.

“We are finally alone,” Sir Oscar Rigby drawled. “I've waited a long time for this.”

Spinning on her heel, Sophia turned and ran. He caught her at the door.

“Oh, no, you don't. Not this time. You owe me, and it's long past time that you paid.”

“If you don't release me immediately, you're the one who will pay. I would be very afraid of Chris if I were you.”

“I think not,” he sneered. “According to Caldwell, you and your husband are estranged. He says there is another woman waiting in the wings for Radcliff. Amanda Dartmore is a fetching piece.”

“Then why don't you court her instead of coming after me?”

“You should know the answer to that. No one makes a fool of me and gets away with it. This time I have you right where I want you, and there is no one who cares enough about you to stop me.”

Sophia prayed that wasn't true. Chris would care. He had to. She needed to believe he had been informed of her abduction and was searching for her. If she hadn't decided at the last minute to take Peg with her, no one would know she was missing until it was too late.

“You're wrong, many people care about me. I asked my maid Peg to accompany me. When I got into the carriage, Ray shoved her aside and took off with me in the carriage. Peg will tell Dunning what happened; he will inform the earl, and the earl will tell Chris. They will find Ray and force him to tell them where he has taken me. You're not as smart as you think, Sir Oscar.”

Rigby cursed, raised his hand and slapped Sophia, knocking her head back. “Damn you and damn Caldwell! If you think to thwart me, you're mistaken. Caldwell knows better than to betray me. I paid a small fortune to get him out of debt.”

“Why me when can have any woman you want?”

“I cannot forgive and forget. If you had submitted that night I came to your room, I would have taken my pleasure and forgotten you. But you thought yourself too good for me. You tricked me and broke a vase over my head. I almost had you in Jamaica, but then Radcliff foiled my plans.”

“Let me go and I'll forget this ever happened,” she pleaded.

“Do you think I'm stupid? I've booked passage on a ship sailing to Jamaica tomorrow. I'll release you in the morning and not before. I expect Caldwell to come for you long after I've left the cottage.”

He grasped her arm and pulled her toward the bedroom. “Come along, I fancy you in a bed.”

Sophia dug in her heels. “I'll fight you.”

“I'm stronger than you are. I can hurt you if you refuse to accommodate me.”

“If you hurt me, you'll hurt the innocent babe I'm carrying.”

He stopped abruptly and stared at her middle. “I don't believe you.”

“I'm not lying.”

He shrugged. “It doesn't matter. Your stomach won't get in my way. It's up to you whether or not you get hurt, Sophia.”

“Please,” she begged, “don't do this.”

“There's no escape,” Rigby sneered. “I want you beneath me, just like Caldwell promised. Not just once, but many times. We have until daybreak.”

He set down the lamp, grabbed her arm with both hands and dragged her into the bedroom. Sophia punched him with her free hand and aimed for his groin with her foot. To her surprise, she connected. Her success prompted her to kick him again. Rigby roared and clutched his privates with one hand while maintaining his grip on her with the other.

His face turned white with pain. “Wildcat! You've unmanned me. You'll pay dearly for that.”

He shoved her to the floor and limped out of the room. Sophia fell hard, clutching her stomach to protect her babe. “Come at me again and I'll make sure you never assault another woman,” she threatened with more bravado than she felt.

The door slammed in her face, leaving her in total darkness. She heard the key turn in the lock. “You can't escape—the windows are shuttered,” Rigby called through the door. His voice sounded unnaturally high. “As soon as I've recovered, I'm coming in with a rope to bind you. Then we'll see how brave you are.”

Sophia picked herself up from the floor and huddled in her cloak. It was cold in the bedroom; no fire had been lit in the fireplace. Had kicking Rigby bought her sufficient time for help to arrive? Her hopes rested on Chris's ability to find Rayford. Knowing Ray, he would cave in during questioning and reveal her location. But only if he could be found.

It was growing dark when Caldwell returned to his lodgings. Hiding in an alley way beside the building, Chris could tell that Ray had been drinking by the way he staggered through the door.

“There he is,” Justin said quietly. “I was beginning to fear he wasn't going to show up.”

“I was prepared to wait forever. Caldwell is the only lead we have. Let's follow him up to his room.” Chris's lips curled in a grim smile. “Our business with him is best conducted in private.”

Apparently, Caldwell didn't see them as they followed him up two flights of stairs. It took him several tries to find the keyhole, but when he finally unlocked the door, Chris pushed him inside while Justin entered behind them and closed the door. A chambermaid must have been in earlier to light a lamp, for dim light chased away the dark inside the tiny room.

“Wha—” Caldwell said, staring bleary-eyed at Chris. “Get out of my room.”

“You call this a room? I'd call it a pigsty,” Chris said, kicking debris out of his way. “You really have fallen low, haven't you? Where have you taken my wife?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Chris grabbed Caldwell by the collar and shoved him against the wall. “You're lying.” A menacing growl rumbled low in his throat. “I want the truth, Caldwell. My servants saw you carry Sophia off in your carriage. Where did you take her?”

“Why do you care? You're not together. Did you think I wouldn't know? You never did care about her, did you?”

“You're wrong, Caldwell, dead wrong. As dead as you're going to be if you don't tell me where you took Sophia and why.”

Caldwell gave him a mutinous glare. “He'll kill me if I betray him.”

“Not if I kill you first.”

Chris dragged Caldwell to the window and threw open the sash.

“Wha . . . what are you going to do?”

“Remember how we used to play pirates when we were young, Justin? We would make each other walk a plank and jump into the lake.”

“I remember,” Justin answered.

“I've a fancy to make Caldwell walk the plank. Since we don't have a plank, this window will have to do. And in lieu of a lake, the cobblestone courtyard below will have to suffice.”

Caldwell's face contorted in fear. “You can't throw me out the window.”

“Of course not,” Chris replied. “You're going to jump.”

“I won't do it.”

Calmly Chris removed a wicked-looking blade from his boot and pressed it against Caldwell's throat. “Either you jump or I'll slice you up piece by piece, starting with your ears, which I'll toss to the dogs below.”

Caldwell began to blubber. “I can't tell you. He'll kill me.”

“I'll kill you if you don't.”

“Get on with it, Chris,” Justin said, stifling a yawn as if bored with the whole business. “We're wasting time.”

Chris made a small nick behind Caldwell's ear but stopped short of removing it. “Tell you what, Caldwell. I'll make a deal with you. Tell me where to find Sophia and who paid you to abduct her, and I will see that you are escorted aboard a fast mail packet to France. Your marriage will be annulled soon, and you can find a rich Frenchwoman to wed.”

Caldwell glanced down at the courtyard, two stories below. “Do you swear it?”

“Of course. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. Talk, Caldwell, and it had better be the truth.”

Caldwell sagged, apparently overcome with relief. “Rigby has her. He paid all my outstanding debts. In return, I was to bring Sophia to a cottage he rented in the country. I had no choice. My creditors were hounding me. I was one step away from debtor's prison.”

“There is always a choice, Caldwell,” Chris spat. “What is Rigby doing in London?”

“He's here on business, same as you. He left Jamaica shortly after you did.”

Chris cursed violently. “Bastard! Tell me where to find Rigby.”

Caldwell gave him directions to a cottage near a little village north of London. “It's a two-hour drive by carriage,” Caldwell revealed.

“I can make it in one,” Chris vowed. “Justin will remain here to guard you. If I return without Sophia, your life is forfeit. If I find Sophia unharmed, Justin will purchase passage for you to France and see you off.”

“Good luck,” Justin called as Chris hastened from the room.

“It may be too late,” Caldwell muttered after Chris had left.

“You'd better start praying that Rigby hasn't harmed Sophia,” Justin replied.

Chris left London and rode north at breakneck speed. If Caldwell had lied to him, he would cheerfully strangle the man. And if Rigby had hurt Sophia, he was as good as dead. Chris would make sure of it.

Chris blamed himself for Sophia's problems. Had he stayed with her instead of storming off and finding separate lodgings, he would have been able to stop Rigby's nefarious plan. But no, he had stubbornly refused to acknowledge his love for Sophia. Had he spoken the words she wanted to hear, none of this would have happened.