A Thin Line (40 page)

“Gabe, please.
 
Besides, I can’t see anything, remember?” She justified, lying glibly.

“I should be kicked, but fine.”
 
He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the house.
 
Once outside, she practically had to jog to keep up with him.
 
They reached the area, and Kala almost gagged at the smell of the decomposing body.
 
It had only been a few days that she had been missing, but it had been above average temperatures for Autumn.

She squinted until things began to focus and saw the poor girl lying there.
 
Her head lay at an odd angle, and her legs were splayed open.
 
The bodice of her dress revealed her naked torso.
 
Her body had bloated, making her look grotesque.
 
“Was she?” She couldn’t finish the question.

“It appears she was raped, and her neck snapped,” the guard stated matter-of-factly.
 
“Someone hid the body here and covered it with moldy hay and trash.
 
The rain we had last night didn’t help either.”

Gabe watched Kala carefully and with suspicion.
 
He looked down at the girl.
 
Flies were swarming the area, and it appeared other varmints had been around as well.
 
Bits of her flesh were missing.
 
Kala stiffened beside him and faced away from the scene before them.
 
He had to ask the guard a few questions before he could take her inside.
 
“Did you find any evidence?”

“I found this button clutched in her hand.
 
It appears she ripped it off in the struggle.”
 
The button had a cursive ‘J’ embossed on it.
 
He took the button, frowning.

“Anything else?”

“Afraid not.”

“Thank you for alerting me right away.
 
Call someone to take the body.
 
We will take care of notifying her family and pay for the burial.
 
Come on,” he took Kala’s hand and tugged on it, deliberately leading her near an obstacle.
 
He watched as she automatically scooted around it.
 
She
could
see.
 
How long had this been going on?
 
Had she been able to see all along?
 
Did she make up blindness to maneuver him into marriage?
 
No, don’t be ridiculous
, he scolded himself.
 
He found himself unable to damp down the anger.

He took Kala to the study and sat her down before pouring them both a brandy.
 
He held it out to her, giving her one more test.
 
“Drink this, it will help.”
 
She reached out and took it from his hand, her fingers brushed his and electricity arced between them.
 
He watched as she threw back the brandy in one swallow.
 
She impressed him when she didn’t even begin coughing.
 
He threw back his and took the glass from her, setting them both aside.
 

“You can see can’t you?” He watched as she stiffened.
 
“Kala,” he walked over and knelt in front of her, “you can see me can’t you?”

“Not well, but yes.”
 
She had started to deny his suspicion, but decided it would just drive them further apart when he learned the truth.

“You could see what happened to Tracy, couldn’t you?”

“Again, not well, but yes.”

“What do you mean by ‘not well’?”

“Everything is blurry, but now I can distinguish objects and there is light.
 
Before it was varying degrees of shadows.
 
If I squint and concentrate, things come in a little sharper than if I just look around.”

“How long?”

“Things have been blurry since before we went to the park.
 
Yesterday when I woke up things were becoming clearer.
 
I don’t know if something happened when I hit my temple,” she lightly touched the swollen area.
 
It was not as bad as yesterday, but was still tender to the touch.

“You knew you might be able to see, and yet you insisted on accompanying me?”

“Yes.
 
If it makes you feel any better, I wish I hadn’t.”

“Kala, Dewhurst and Southerby have both left town.”

“Why are you bringing them up now?
 
No.
 
You don’t think the maid’s death has any connection to what has happened to me?”

“I do think it is odd that a maid in my house has come up murdered near the time of your attack in the park.”

“I could be responsible for her death.”

“No, Kala.
 
Whoever killed her is responsible.”

“But I don’t understand.
 
If Southerby and Dewhurst are both gone, why bring them up?”

“Because they could be lurking around town without anyone being the wiser.
 
I have been told Southerby went to his country estate and Dewhurst has gone to Brighton.
 
Also the button had the initial of both of their first names—‘J’.
 
Jonathan and Justin.”

“For that matter, so does your middle name as well as Mack’s.”

“What are you saying?”

“I am saying that a lot of men in London have a name that begins with the letter ‘J’.
 
What are you saying?”

“I’m going to find them and question them.”

“I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes.
 
I.
 
Am.”

“Why?”

“Someone wants me dead.
 
I refuse to sit by and wait like some helpless female while everyone else makes sure I am safe.
 
I will go with you.”

“I’m not going to argue with you.”

“Good.
 
We will attempt to find Justin and then stop at Derek and Tessa’s for the Christmas holiday.”

“Fine.
 
Can you pack light?
 
If we take the phaeton, we won’t have to have a driver and the lighter the load the faster we can travel.”

“Of course.
 
When do you want to leave?”

“Within the hour.
 
I need to find out if this maid had any family and let them know what happened.”

He watched as she walked up the stairs and couldn’t suppress the smile as she began yelling the name Amy as loud as her voice would allow.
 
His wife really was a hoyden, but he wouldn’t have her any other way.

Chapter 29

They left exactly an hour later after informing Judith of their plans.
 
She worried over Kala.

“Judith, I will be fine.
 
Gabe might not care for me too much as a wife, but he would never let any harm come to me if he can prevent it.”
 
She did not see the big man who had just entered the room or his reaction to her words.
 
He felt like the time his parents had taken him and his brothers to the ocean when they were little, and the water sucked the sand from beneath his feet.
 
Would he ever be able to gain any ground with her?

“Are you ready?” he asked, steel entering his voice.

“Of course.
 
I am sorry we will not be able to spend the holidays together.”
 
Judith gave her a quick hug.

“Think nothing of it.
 
We will have more holidays in the future.”
 

“Please be careful.”

“We will, I promise.”

His grandmother walked to him as well.
 
He bent over to accommodate her smaller stature.
 
“You must do something,” he heard her whisper in his ear.

“What?”

“You’re losing her.”
 
He looked at his wife who had walked out of the room into the hallway.

“What can I do?”

“Tell her you love her.”

“Grandmother, she has to want to stay.
 
Now that she is getting her vision back…” he just shrugged.

“If you don’t do something soon, you are going to lose her forever, despite your marriage being consummated.”

“Grandmother!”
 

“Convince her that you love her,” she said again.

“But I don’t know that I do.”

“Then you are a bigger fool than I thought.”
 
He watched as she turned away from him and left the room.
 
It amazed him that she could still make him feel like a recalcitrant child at times.
 
He left the room and spied Kala waiting for him in the hall.

“Are you ready?”

“When you are.”

“Let’s go then.”
 
He grabbed her by the upper arm and propelled her out the door and down the stairs.
 
Their small bags had already been stowed away.
 
He helped her into the phaeton and then went around climbing in as well.
 
His weight slid Kala into his side.
 
He found he enjoyed the warmth of her against him and missed it when she clutched at the side of the phaeton, holding herself erect and away from him.
 
Gabe started to say something on several occasions as they left London, but decided against it each time.
 
They finally crossed through the gate leading out of the city towards the North.
 

“How long do you think it will be until we reach Justin’s house?”

“I do not want my wife being so familiar with other men.”

“Well, my husband will just have to learn to get over it.
 
Besides, Justin and I are friends and I truly do not think he is the villain in this affair.”

“But you do not know that for sure.”

“Did you not hear me just now?
 
Justin is my friend.
 
In fact, he courted me.”
 
She looked straight ahead, enjoying the passing scenery even though it remained a blur.
 
She felt ecstatic at seeing colors once more.
 
Mikala found herself so caught up in the passing colors she did not sense the change in her husband.

“I do not want to hear about your former suitors,” he replied harshly.

“He was, until I told him we could only be friends.”

“Good.”

“I don’t believe in trapping someone into a loveless relationship like some people,” she said solemnly.
 
Silence reined for a long while after that statement.
 
“How much longer do you think until we arrive?”

“Probably another few hours.
 
I need to stop and rest the horse.”

“Will we be stopping at an inn?”

“I will see what I can do,” was the only consideration that he gave.
 
He had been considering her statement as well as his grandmother’s for the last hour.
 
He continually asked himself if it would have been better to allow the gossipy marquess talk and then combated the fallout as best they could.
 
Now he would never know, and they were both trapped in this marriage.
 
And then to find out that Justin had been courting Kala.
 
He felt jealousy eating him alive.
 
Knowing that Mikala had given her virginity to him and not to another man is the only thing that saved Southerby’s sorry life.

They came to a crossroads, and Gabe turned in the direction where he knew a nice inn could be found.
 
Ten minutes later they pulled into the yard of a coaching inn.
 

A young man came up to his side of the phaeton.
 
“Good afternoon, sir.”

“Please see that the horse is watered and rested.
 
My wife and I will be eating a quick meal ourselves before setting out again.”

“Yes, sir,” the young man bent.
 
“I would suggest the meat pies.
 
Mrs. Franks makes the best meat pies in all of England.”

“Thank you, young man.”
 
He tossed him a coin after exiting the phaeton.
 
Then he walked around to aid Kala.
 

“I really must use the necessary,” Kala whispered.

“Of course.”
 
Gabe caught the eye of a serving wench and motioned her to them once they had entered the common room.
 
He explained the situation and the girl willingly agreed to help Kala.
 
“I will reserve us a private room.”

“Please don’t do that,” Kala protested.
 
“The common room is fine.”

“Suit yourself.”
 
He watched the woman lead Kala away.
 
Within a few minutes they were back.
 
He saw a coin pass from Kala to the girl and her quietly spoken thanks.
 
He led her to a chair across from him and helped her to sit.
 
“I ordered ale and meat pies.”