Light to Valhalla (50 page)

Bloody hell
.
Iron bars loomed before his mind’s eye, taunting him
.
What was the punishment for conspiring against a marquis?
                

“
I want you to kill Alex t
onight.”

Sid’s
eyes
snapped to Veronica’s
.
“Tonight?
 
I can’t do it now
.
T
hese things take time
,
Roni
.
Planning
.
We don’t want his death to appear
a murder
.
We want
everyone to believe he committed suicide.
”

“I don’t care if it’s murder or suicide or a complete accident
.
Alex Rawlings will be dead tonight or
you
will be.”

Sid narrowed his gaze, refusing to be cowed even though he had little doubt she meant what she said
.
In all he could not quite fathom how quickly a scheme to create scandal
and exact a little revenge
had turned murderous
.
He hadn’t entirely
come to grips with her scheme—wa
sn’t entirely certain co
ld murder was in his repertoire
—and
had spent the last weeks stalling her… hoping she’
d come to her senses and forget the plan to do away with Alex.

“
Veronica
, he may already have gone to the magistrate
.
Killing him now will just cast suspicion onto you.
”

Sh
e shook h
er
head
.
“No
.
H
is wife showed up
outside my house
and created quite a scene
.
He
will
hav
e his hands full with her for a while.
”
A mischievous smirk pulled at her lips
.
“I happen to know
the magistrate was
called away on a rather urgent matter so Alex
will
likely have difficulty sharing his evidence today.”

Sid ground his teeth
.
Her conniving nature knew no bounds.

Sashaying forward
Veronica
traced a manicured finger along his chest
.
Lids lowered to a sultry
half mast
she gazed up at him with a kitten soft expression
.
“Besides isn’t it time
you
get what you deserve?  Old Lord
Coverstone
treated you like muck beneath his shoe.”

Age old anger lit in Sidney’
s chest
.
Reginald had intentionally pitted Sid and Alex against each other,
perversely proving Alex to be the superior son
.
All those years of resentment… of being half a man
… carrying
a name that wasn’t really his
…
threatened to consume him
.

“Tell me, Sidney,”
she
purred, “when did you learn
you
were
…
different?
”

Gazing down into her
crystal eyes, Sid could see
himself as
clearly as
though staring into a reflecting pool
—he didn’t much like what he saw
.
B
itterness
twisted in his gut
.
“
Just barely seven,” he murmured
, falling back to
the memories of
a bygone day
.
Dark
recollections
clouded his mind
.
To this day Sidney’s mother looked to him with naught but
disgrace
in her aged brown eyes
.

“
Veronica nodded
.
Sympathy all but dripping from her visage—he detested sympathy
.
“You’re older than Alex
,” she reminded gently
.
“
Everything he has should be yours
.
It is your true birthright.”

Years before Sid had learned that Richard too was a bastard son
.
Reginald had given Richard everything
.
His name
.
His legacy
.
What was wrong with Sidney that he’d been granted none of the same?
  He clenched both hands into fists at his sides.

“You’re angry,” Veronica coaxed, running slender fingers along his arm
.

Angry
barely scratched the surface of his feelings
.

“Hold to that.
”
She stepped so
close the swell of her breasts
joined with
his chest
.
She exhaled against his mou
th, her breath warm and intoxicating, before
breezing her lips across hi
s
.
She opened her eyes
.
“After today you’ll have everything
.
Me… 
The
life denied to you…
”

Wordlessly Sid exhaled.

Veronica
smiled
.
She
knew she had him exactly where she wanted
.
“It will be done tonight.
”
She broke away, gliding to her desk
.
“
I have it on excellent authority Regina gave most of the
Coverstone
servants the day off,
and fortunately for you I’ve tracked down a bit of help.”

“Help?”

“Y
es
.
A man named,
Josiah Baker
.
He’ll make his move in about an hour.”

Sid ground his teeth
.
“
Fool.”

She start
l
ed
.

“Don’t you realize the more people involved in this little plot of yours, the greater the odds of getting caught? 
I’m not working with a man I don’t know
.
Who’s to say he’s trustworthy?”

Veronica narrowed her eyes to slits
.
“
I involved him because he’s the perfect scapegrace if
our plans
turn
sour.”

He quirked a dubio
us brow
.
“Oh?”

“Mr. Baker
has a rather p
ersonal vendetta against Charlotte
Rawlings
.
It seems a couple of years ago she helped the man’s abused wife run away from him
.
If t
his
attempt
goes
awry
,
h
e takes the blame and we walk away clean.
”

Sid
straightened, fixing Veronica with a quizzical glare
.
“You hired Baker
to murder Charley
a few weeks back
.
”

Veronica smirked
.
“A
lex was supposed to be mine.
”

“Imagine
.
T
he angel of the ton
…
jealous
of an unfashionable redhead
.”

She threw him a daggered glare
and jabbed a finger at the clock
.
“Tick tock, Sidney.”

“So you
keep
tell
ing
me
.
”
Mind buzzing
with this new information he turned on a heel and quit the house,
unable to banish
a deep seated unease gnawing his gut
.

Frustrated and ambivalent
Sid stopped on the street corner and scrubbed both hands through his hair
.
He stood at a crossroads
.
Literally
.
Down one path lay everything denied him… title, prestige, a beautiful woman… but at what cost?

He looked to the darkening sky and drew a deep breath
.
“What the hell,” he muttered to the wind before straightening his shoulders and turning left.

*
             
*
             
*

             
Fully contented, Alex strode into his study, relaxed for the first time in weeks
.
Dressed in boots, trousers, and a simple linen lawn shirt he enjoyed being
free of his restraining waistcoat and cravat—as though by shedding the stuffy garments he’d shed a measure of society’s shrewd speculation
.
This holiday in Scotland would be exactly what he needed
.
Perhaps he’d never leave.

             
He ambled to the cabinet, intent upon opening the secret compartment and having a stout drink with his father’s prized whiskey
.
He tried not to dwell on the fact his plans for the entire
day were
ruined
.
He’d intended to confront Veronica and then stake out her house to discover the identity of her cohort
.
She must be working with someone
.
Veronica was smart, but resources were limited to women and he was convinced she must have a man at her side
.
But then Charley had shown up and foiled everything—not that he was complaining
.
However, if Veronica had sent for her partner, or partners, after Alex’s visit, he’d never know…

             
Alex slid a hand down the broken side panel, searching for the handle to pop the hidden door open
.
Nothing
.
Nowhere to be found
.
Frustrated he stepped back and cocked his head to the side
.

He could always get a bloody axe and hack the damn thing open
.

             
In the end he tried one last time to locate the door, shifting his hand just a little lower and—
click…
Success
.
The small door swung open revealing the long lost hidden stash of liquor
.
A twinge of sadness touched Alex—his father was the last person to touch these bottles
.
He and the late marquis had never been close, but the memory of loss left him hollow nonetheless
.

             
All the more reason to have a drink
.
Perhaps he’d even toast the old man.

             
Alex plucked the three quarters full bottle from the shelf, popped the cork and took a long drag straight from the bottle
.
Fire scorched a path straight to his stomach—he liked it
.
The burn distracted him
.
He took another smaller drink and then another.

             
Suddenly—and much too quickly for a man who usually had no difficulty holding his liquor—his head swam nauseatingly and his stomach lurched, threatening to spill
it’s
contents
.
Unsteady, he staggered to his desk and grasped
the corner
.
His vision blurred and his head spun and swished until he feared he might truly be spinning
.

             
Alex crashed backward into his chair
.
His head… so heavy… lolled to his chest
.
His heart pounded in his ears and through the haze he became acutely aware of everything
.
Every sound separated
.
Every second an eternity in and of itself
.
Am I dying? 
The uncertainty settled deep in his soul, and he knew he could never be at peace with it
.
Not now
.

             
“Hastings,” he wheezed, fighting the blackness rippling around the edges of his vision
.
Unable to hold himself upward he slumped forward onto the cluttered desk surface, succumbing to nothingness…