Chasing Eliza (11 page)

Silence
stretched between them for several long moments until Edward began
to wonder if she would continue her story. He was about to prompt
her when she jolted, and stared blankly down at the mangled apple
now sitting in her lap.

“
Then the bodies started turning up. At first nobody thought
too much of the two men who were found. One was a renowned drunk.
My father thought that while in a drunken stupor he had fallen on
his way home and died of head injuries before anyone could find him
in the morning. Then old man Macleary was found with a broken
neck.” She watched as Edward leant forwards in his chair, his
attention locked firmly on her.

“
What was so strange about that?” Edward murmured softly,
studying the paleness of her face. She was systematically turning
the fresh apple into pulp, but it seemed to help her and at least
she was confiding in him.

“
He was on the doorstep of his cottage. Nothing was around him
that he could have fallen over that would cause a sufficiently
heavy fall to break his neck, nor had anything fallen on him. He
wasn’t found for two days. When a couple of days had passed and his
boat hadn’t left harbour, some of the villagers became concerned
and went to check on him. Someone, I don’t know who, hinted to my
father that he had been murdered but refused to say
more.”

Eliza
stared blankly down at the pile of mulch on her skirt. “Then Mr
Travers went out to sea and didn’t come back.”

Edward
couldn’t really see anything unusual about a fisherman being lost
at sea, but hated to cast doubt on her story sensing there was much
more to come.

Her eyes
met and held his calmly. “Mr Travers was a fifth generation
fisherman. He had been going out every day of his life whatever the
weather, since he was five years old. There had been no storm, no
high winds, and his boat was kept in pristine condition. Nobody
knew what had happened to cause him to just simply disappear. My
father couldn’t prove anything, so there was little he could do.
But then Mr and Mrs Bartram were both found dead. Mrs Bartram was
inside, and Mr Bartram outside. It appeared he had died while
digging his garden.” Eliza glanced up at Edward briefly. “Again,
nothing suspicious about it, only that he had been hit on the head
with a blunt object and had bled profusely. His wife was found
several days later tied and gagged and left in a cupboard in the
kitchen. Nobody knew she was there. She had choked on her gag
whilst being stuck in the cupboard.”

“
I can understand the last two being murders, but the others
could have just been circumstance.” Edward argued softly, wondering
if there was more to the story she was letting on, or whether grief
was skewing her viewing events as they really were. He hated to see
her so upset and bring her further distress by expecting her to
recount such disturbing events, but there was little he could do.
If he had a hope of keeping them both safe, he had to know
everything that had happened – however distressing.

“
This was all in the space of two weeks Edward.” Eliza’s voice
became sharp, her eyes full of absolute conviction as she stared at
him. “You are talking about a small fishing port where nothing much
really happened. Oh, it was busy. Ships of all sizes came and went
all the time but in essence it was a busy fishing harbour, not a
major port accommodating warships or the like. It was also a
village and like any other village up and down the country there
were deaths, but mainly young children, babies and old people. For
all of these people to die in the space of two weeks was suspicious
on its own, without the question of Mr Macleary’s unusual
circumstance and the murders of Mr and Mrs Bartram.” It wasn’t lost
on Edward that she believed the accuracy of what she was
saying.

“
There were also the rumours.”

“
What rumours?” Edward settled back in his chair, wondering if
any of this had anything to do with the men chasing Eliza, or
whether she was rambling through the grief brought about by the
events of the past day.

“
Two or three people became vocal about the suspicious nature
of the deaths. They spoke to my father about it, and told him of
some other facts that made my father begin to suspect
Scraggan.”

“
But that’s two or three people in a small village. Gossip is
bound to be rife, especially if nothing much else happens and
people are trying to get your father’s attention off the smuggling
activities.”

“
Edward, the people who became vocal and suggested that
Scraggan was involved in the murders all turned up dead.” Eliza’s
voice became harsh in the silence as she leant forwards in her
chair. She had completely forgotten she was still holding the knife
as she stared at him, urging her to accept the gravity of the
situation that had unfolded.

“
Can you really consider that just circumstance too?” She
snorted inelegantly and settled back in her chair, returning to her
whittling of the apple mulch as she stared absently into the
fire.

“
My father didn’t, and he began to investigate. Before the
month was out, Scraggan had taken over one of the big ships in the
port and had several of the more troublesome fishermen in his
employ. They bullied the smaller fishermen into joining them. Those
who didn’t join lived in fear for their lives. Some disappeared,
leaving their families behind. Some disappeared with their
families. As weeks passed Scraggan’s group became bigger and more
threatening. Before long, someone mentioned to my father that it
wasn’t just goods they were smuggling.” Eliza looked pointedly at
him, watching wariness appear on his face.

“
You mean spies?” Edward’s voice was hard and uncompromising.
He immediately thought of his brother Dominic, who had been sent to
deal with a ruthless band of smugglers in Norfolk prior to Isobel
being kidnapped.

Eliza
nodded slowly. “My father began to investigate. There were some in
the village who carried on regardless, keeping a wary eye on
Scraggan while remaining a healthy distance from him. They watched
and reported to my father, but obviously lived in fear of their own
lives.”

“
Why didn’t your father send you away? He must have known you
were in considerable danger yourselves.”

“
We were a close knit family. I was eight years when my mother
passed away, leaving myself and Jemima to depend upon my father. He
idolised mother and never seemed to recover from losing her.
Instead he turned his attention to raising us as best he could.”
Eliza saw the scepticism steel over Edward’s face and became
defensive.

“
It might not be your kind of upbringing, but it was
sufficient for me.” She snapped waspishly, feeling emboldened by
her small display of temper. “When I was old enough I began to look
after the house. Jemima, being older and at the time faster with
her writing, helped my father with his papers.”

Edward
watched the myriad of emotions flicker across her beautiful face
and felt a keen sting of respect and a small flicker of jealousy
for her ready defence of her family. Undoubtedly it had been tough
for her father to raise two girls alone, especially while carrying
out the duties of a magistrate. But Edward couldn’t accept that the
man had allowed the girls to remain in the middle of such impending
danger.

Any
daughter of his would have been safely ensconced in the most secure
place he could find and wouldn’t be allowed out until the danger
had passed. The thought of a daughter with amber eyes and long,
dark blond hair floated temptingly in his mind, teasing him with
possibilities.

“
Jemima knows far more about father’s work than I do.” Eliza
declared softly, watching the flames flicker in the fireplace
blankly.

“
Do you think that is why Scraggan is after you? To find out
what you both know?” Edward queried.

“
They knew my father was asking questions. He found something
out and suddenly announced he had to go and see someone in the War
Office.” Eliza shifted uncomfortably in her seat, choosing her
words carefully. “He said he would be back within a
week.”

“
But he wasn’t.” Edward finished for her flatly, unsurprised
when she shook her head slowly, tears shimmering on her beautiful
lashes.

“
On the day he was due back, I decided we should have a nice
celebratory supper. I began to walk into the village for some bits
and pieces for a treat. It was such a lovely day, the sun was
shining and despite the blustery winds, it was really quite
pleasant. As I walked down the lane, I came across a group of
horses standing by themselves, saddled but loose in the middle of
the road with no riders.” Her voice became husky with suppressed
emotion as she remembered that fateful morning when her life was
shattered.

“
I recognised my father’s horse and at first couldn’t
understand why she was there – or where my father was. She appeared
scared and restless and wouldn’t let me approach her. It took me
some time to calm her down, then as I turned I noticed someone’s
legs in the adjacent field. I wasn’t sure if someone had become
ill, or fallen off or something, so went to take a look. My father
travelled to London with his assistant and two out-riders for
protection. All four men were lying in the field.” Eliza’s voice
trembled with tears as she sought to find the right words to convey
the graphic scene that had met her.

“
They had been murdered. Each man’s throat had been cut.” She
couldn’t suppress the tears that flowed freely down her pale cheeks
as the memories of the grass stained brown with blood, and the
lifeless stare of her beloved father.

Edward
stood, and drew her gently into his arms. Suddenly her reaction to
seeing the men he had shot in the field made perfect sense. He
rested his chin lightly on the top of her head as she gave herself
over the grief of losing her father and guardian, made increasingly
raw by her witnessing the killing of the two men last
night.

He held
her while she vented the grief that until now she hadn’t allowed
herself to acknowledge. The tears suddenly seemed unstoppable as
she leant against the solid comfort of his shoulder, his long arms
around her waist holding her close as she sobbed.

“
My father had been beaten before he was-.” Eliza hiccupped
around the word, unable to finish her description of the graphic
scene that had awaited her that morning.

“
They were trying to get information out of him.”

After
several moments, she quietened down enough for him to ease
backwards and look down into her face. Her amber eyes were filled
with so much pain that his heart clenched with frustration at his
inability to ease her angst. He felt the physical pull of
attraction draw him closer and it took every ounce of self control
he had not to succumb to the tempting curve of her lips as she
gazed at him.

She
wasn’t a noisy crier. No raucous wailing or loud sobs. The large,
round tears that slowly slid down her alabaster cheeks unmanned him
and had more of a profound effect on his heart than he wanted to
acknowledge. He found himself wanting to do whatever she needed to
ease her heartache and offer her comfort.

In that
moment he knew that the possibility of just handing her over to
Peter to deal with had vanished and if he was honest, he wasn’t
sure if he was all that sorry. While he didn’t relish taking on a
band of marauding smugglers, he knew if he did hand her over to
Peter and go on his merry way, he wouldn’t settle until he knew
Scraggan had been dealt with and would worry about her safety and
wellbeing until the matter was closed.

Briefly
he wondered if this was how Dominic and Sebastian had felt when
they had dealt with the situations Isobel and Amelia had been
involved in. He began to wonder if his heart was more involved than
his common sense but knew there was little he could do about
it.

“
I’m sorry.” Eliza whispered, easing out of his arms
reluctantly after several long minutes of self pity. She brushed
absently at his shirt. “I seem to have gotten your shirt
wet.”

“
It’s alright.” Edward murmured, concerned with how reluctant
he was to release his hold on her. He kept her from withdrawing
completely by tightening his hold on her waist, settling her all
too comfortably against him.

“
I want to know where you are so intent on going
to.”

Eliza
sighed deeply and stared up at him in consideration for several
quiet moments. She had to crane he neck to look him in the eye he
was so tall. Even staring down at her as he was, he was so
incredibly handsome that he made her yearn for something she
couldn’t identify.

“
How did you find me in the inn?” She asked, carefully
delaying answering his question.

Edward
sensed her reluctance and wondered at the cause. As far as he was
concerned he had done nothing that would give her pause to doubt
him, or consider him a threat. He refused to relinquish his hold
when she would have eased away and instead, held her firmly in
front of him, silently demanding they deal with matters here and
now.

“
If we are to go any further, we have to be completely honest
with each other.” Edward warned, waiting patiently until her gaze
met his steady regard. “I am no threat to you. Everything I have
told you has been the truth, but I cannot continue to protect you
unless I know everything, especially where you intend to go. We
cannot go haring off across the country without any destination in
mind. Something tells me you know exactly where you are
going.”