My Lord Deceived (28 page)

With a quick
glance around them, he studied their view of the doorway and urged
her to get up. When she tried to speak to him, he placed a gentle
finger on her lips and drew her over to the wall next to the door.
He placed her back against it and stood before her, his eyes glued
on the doorway only a few feet away. If anyone kicked the door
down, they would see an empty room at first glance. It would give
Jonathan the split second he needed to take a shot.

They listened
as booted feet climbed the stairs. There was no familiar whistle
from Stephen. This was Dubois or Bernard.

Kat was
terrified. She dropped her forehead onto Jonathan’s shoulder and
clutched his shirt while she listened. If it wasn’t for his solid
warmth in front of her, she was certain she would have started to
scream and continued to scream until half of the town came to
investigate. She felt sick. Her stomach churned, driven by nerves
and she gulped loudly as they waited. The footsteps stopped for
several moments, then started again. Once. Twice. Closer and closer
they grew until they stopped outside their door.

Kat watched the
latch lift clear of its holder. The soft rattle of the door was
accompanied by the soft chink of the latch as it was dropped back
into place. The footsteps continued on to the next room across the
corridor.

Jonathan
dropped a gentle kiss on her shoulder and silently willed her to
stay calm. He was proud that she had held her panic at bay for as
long as she had.

“Not long now,”
he whispered, directly into her ear.

“He is looking
for us.” Kat closed her eyes and began to pray that Billy had
returned to the market stall to help mother rather than go back to
the alleyway he had chased Jonathan down. She couldn’t bear the
thought of him being caught up in all of this. She glanced up at
Jonathan, who stared avidly at the door, his gun pointed in
readiness.

“Billy.”

“If he has
found Stephen, he will be fine. Stephen won’t let anything happen
to him,” Jonathan breathed, trying to put as much reassurance into
his gaze as possible. Her eyes really were the most beautiful
colour up close. He caught himself as his head started to lower and
gave himself a mental shake, along with a stern lecture to keep his
mind on the job. Still, the man in him couldn’t ignore her rounded
curves pressed so closely against him, or his body’s wayward
response to her nearness.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A soft scuffle
from directly outside the door, followed by two grunts and a heavy
thump was accompanied by a low whistle that was barely discernible
to Kat. She stared in horror at the door and clutched at Jonathan
to stop him when he began to move away from her.

“It’s alright,”
he reassured her. He paused long enough to place a tender kiss on
her lips, and caught her hand in his as he moved to slide the bolt
back.

Stephen stood
on the other side of the door, a dark scowl on his face and an
unconscious Frenchman at his feet.

“Took you long
enough,” Jonathan drawled. He bent down to study the relaxed face
of Bernard, who lay unconscious on the floor.

Stephen studied
Kat for a moment. He lifted his brows at Jonathan and waited for an
explanation.

“Come in.”

He helped
Stephen drag Bernard into the room where they secured his hands
with belts and strips of bed sheet.

“Dubois is
around here somewhere,” Jonathan sighed. He moved toward the window
to study the crowds. He glanced across the square and saw Agnes
busy with the stall. As she worked, she threw quick glances around
her, clearly on the look-out for either of her children.

“Where is the
boy?”

“He will be
there in a minute.”

Jonathan
watched and, sure enough, Billy slammed to a halt beside his
mother. Even from a distance Jonathan could see that the boy panted
heavily, even if he ignored the wind-swept hair and his cheeks that
were flushed with exertion.

“He is fine,”
Jonathan smiled Kat’s. “I will escort you and your family home. By
the look of it, Billy and your mother are nearly finished with the
stall for today. The cart is just about packed. When you are at
home, I will come back here and help Stephen with Bernard.”

“If you see any
sign of Dubois, don’t engage with him unless you have to. We can
find him later,” Stephen warned and shot Jonathan a careful look.
They both knew that Dubois was by far the more ruthless of the two
Frenchmen. It was going to need all of Jonathan’s dexterity to get
Kat and her family home in one piece, without having to out-run
Dubois. He glanced down at the unconscious man at his feet and gave
him a nudge with his boot, but got no response.

“When he is
awake and able to answer a few questions, we will decide what to do
with him.”

Kat shuddered
at the ruthless tone in Stephen’s voice and sidled closer to
Jonathan’s reassuring bulk.

“Let’s go,”
Jonathan checked the shot in his gun for the fifth time. For some
reason he was tense and on-edge. This part of his job was by far
the most important. He couldn’t even stop to consider the
possibility that he would not succeed in escorting Kat safely
home.

Several minutes
later he led Kat out of the room. She closed the door on the sight
of the Frenchman with a shudder and hurried after Jonathan.

Their return to
the market stall was fraught with tension that shimmered in the air
despite there being no sign of Dubois. She stared at Billy who,
rather than looking frightened and nervous, seemed to have relished
the mad dash for reinforcements and the hasty race back to market.
His eyes glowed with anticipation and Kat almost groaned at the
expectation on his face as he studied Jonathan.

“Is everything
alright? Did I do a good job?”

“You did a
wonderful job, Billy,” Jonathan assured him and gave him a friendly
clap on his shoulder.

“Job? What
job?” Agnes demanded as she glanced from Billy to Jonathan, then to
Kat. She studied her daughter’s flushed face and wondered what she
had been up to with the rather too handsome Jonathan, and then
considered that she would rather not know.

“I -”

“Did a little
job for me,” Jonathan finished for Billy as he gave him a look that
warned him to keep quiet. “He was very good too.” He was about to
hand the boy a coin but then stopped and looked at Kat. He didn’t
want her being offended, and wasn’t sure how she would perceive the
monetary reward he wanted to give the boy for his efforts. Instead,
he smiled at Billy. “I will give you an extra long riding lesson
next time you come to Dentham Hall,” he promised and slid a look at
Kat, who merely rolled her eyes.

“I give in,”
she grumbled. She hefted the last box onto the back of Molly’s
cart. Once they were all on board, Jonathan climbed onto the back
with Billy and they trundled through the traffic toward home.
Jonathan studied the area, as did Kat, but neither of them saw any
sign of Dubois.

By the time
Jonathan had stored Molly and her cart in the field and returned to
Kat’s house, his mind was firmly on the need to return to
Tattersnell and question Bernard about his contacts. Still, despite
his urgent desire to conclude his Star Elite business, he couldn’t
forget the most important part of his operation. Kat.

At the front
door, he placed a hand on Kat’s elbow to keep her beside him for a
moment. Once she had turned toward him, he stepped closer and drew
the front door closed. He was aware of the curious looks of a
couple of the villagers as they passed and nodded politely to
them.

“I am sorry
about what happened in Tattersnell. You should never have been
involved like that.”

“Do you have
rooms in all of the villages?” Kat wondered why someone would need
to use run-down lodgings like that unless it was to meet a woman.
She was shaken by the depth of the jealousy that consumed her.
Sometime over the past several weeks she had started to think of
Jonathan as hers. It was ridiculous really because he never could
be, but that didn’t stop her feeling slightly predatory towards
him, especially given the kisses they had shared.

“I don’t want
Star Elite business on my doorstep. I cannot bring danger to
Dentham Hall because it is not only my home but also my uncle’s. It
isn’t fair to place him in danger. I was sent back home to take a
break as I told you, but I was also instructed to search Dadington
for any sign of French spies. I chose rooms in Tattersnell, because
it is half way between Dadington and home.”

Kat nodded and
puffed out her cheeks. She had no idea he had been so busy and
realised then just how much she had really underestimated the man
before her. Once again her thoughts turned toward the smuggling
and, in particular, her own involvement. She could only hope that
Jonathan would be busy tonight with the French spies in
Tattersnell, and wouldn’t get time to investigate the village’s
nocturnal activities. Once tonight was over, and the goods were
sold at Smisben market the following day, she could breathe a sigh
of relief.

“I want you to
promise me that you won’t go to work tonight. I will send your
apologies to Harry but, because we have to track Dubois down and
have no idea in which direction he is headed, I don’t want you out
and about on your own. I have to go back to Tattersnell and then on
to my contact in Dadington, so I cannot escort you to work or back
tonight. I am going to be busy elsewhere. Keep an eye out for Brian
as well. Even though he has gone quiet since Mr Barnaby’s death, it
doesn’t mean that he has forgotten you.”

Kat nodded and
wondered how life had ever got this complicated. She had spent the
last several months going about her business. Between the market
stall and smuggling, she had been busy but relatively untroubled.
Now, in the space of only a few short weeks, not only had Harrison
arrived and turned village life upside down, but Jonathan had also
arrived and turned her life upside down, to the point that she
wasn’t sure what she wanted any more, or even knew what was
possible.

She stared up
at him and felt strangely closer to him because of the afternoon’s
events. She still wasn’t sure what to make of this new side to him,
but she had to admit that she wanted to know considerably more; as
much as he was prepared to tell her.

“I want you to
promise me that you won’t tell anyone about those rooms, especially
Billy. He is a good lad but rather inquisitive. I don’t want him to
come and try to find me there the next time you are at market. I
don’t know how many other contacts Dubois has in the area, so I
don’t want either you or Billy to go too far unless it is off to
market and back.”

Kat nodded.
“When will you be back?” She hated to ask. She didn’t like him
aware that she was that worried about his welfare, but she couldn’t
hold the words back. It was really important to her own peace of
mind that she knew when he was going to return to her.

“I don’t know,
darling. One big problem with the work I do is that it can take me
away for weeks at a time. I have no way of knowing how long my work
will take because of the people I investigate. They aren’t exactly
predictable. I am lucky now because I have the help of Stephen and
Rupert, but I cannot just leave them to it.”

“Of course
not,” Kat sighed. She knew that she had no right to ask really.

Despite the
fact that they were outside, in plain view of everyone in the
village, Jonathan cupped her cheek. “I will be back as soon as I am
able,” he murmured gently. In reality, he would be back a damned
sight sooner than she realised, she just didn’t need to know that
yet.

“I know it is
none of my business, but I just didn’t expect to spend this
afternoon being chased by French spies,” Kat sighed. She shook her
head and blanked out the mental image of the Frenchman, unconscious
and tightly bound on the floor of the lodgings. “I don’t mean to
pry.”

“If anyone has
the right to pry, it is you, Kat, you should know that. I don’t
mind. I am glad of your concern. It shows me that you truly care,”
Jonathan smiled. He watched colour flood her face and took pity on
her. Before she could object, he lowered his head and placed a soft
kiss on her lips. He knew that this was probably the last time for
a few days that she would allow him the liberty and intended to
take full advantage while he could.

He knew that
after tonight, he would be very lucky if she ever spoke to him
again.

“Are you sure
you want to do this?” Stephen growled. He tugged on his black
gloves with a rough jerk. He glanced around the room and studied
Jonathan and Rupert, who were both dressed and ready for their next
mission. Simon, Rupert and Archie, who had all arrived later that
afternoon, stood just in front of the fireplace. After several
hours of questioning, they had handed the Frenchman over to the
custody of Hamilton-Smythe, who had him under armed guard. It left
them all free and able to take part in the next part of their new
investigation.

Jonathan had
learned that Hamilton-Smythe had been busy following his own lead
and had uncovered several interesting facts about the smuggling
that was rife in Bentney on Sea. What he had uncovered had not
surprised Jonathan in the least but, at that moment, he couldn’t
allow it to cloud his thoughts. Although Harper had discovered that
a contact had regularly fed information on the smuggling to
Harrison, who was using the information to know when to search the
village. Nothing had been found as yet, but that didn’t mean that
it wasn’t being found, just that the seizure inventories hadn’t
been completed to officially register the findings. He had also
uncovered one or two anomalies on the seizure list from a raid that
took place further around the coast in Newhampton. The seizure
inventory hadn’t matched the disposal inventory. It indicated that
someone had held on to some of the stash. But did that make
Harrison guilty of theft?