The Secret of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 4) (23 page)

Fifty-Four

     
T
albot raised his hands in front of himself. “What is it, Louisa? What’s wrong?” he asked.

      “Stop it, Talbot. Just stop it,” Louisa snarled. “Now you’re the one lying to me. I never said I heard the men talking at the gazebo. How did you know where it was unless you were there?”

      Talbot smiled. “Ah,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t my accent. No, I do the best British anywhere. Even your adorable mother didn’t catch it.”

      Louisa kept her gun trained on him, listening. His entire dialect had changed, replaced instead with a slow drawl. It was a voice she recognized.

      “You’re Clayton!” she gasped.

      “Well done, Miss Louisa Elgerson. Still, you ain’t the great sleuth I counted on. It took a long time for you to find that damned secret passage. And I guess you only know about the diamonds because you heard us talking. Where are they, Louisa? Have you found them?”

      “What makes you think I know anything about any diamonds?”

      “I am out of time and out of patience, my dear. It’ll be better for everyone involved if you just give them to me now.”

      “I’ll decide what happens now,” Louisa said, waving the Old Maid at him. “You just keep your hands up.”

      “Oh, Louisa. Give it up. I’ve been two steps ahead of you since I met you in New York. Nothing’s any different now.”

      “New York? What are you saying?”

      “Listen, honey, it was no chance meeting that day in the park. Victor Leach and I planned that whole thing. I traveled all the way to New York to meet you, to court you, to, shall we say, sweep you off your feet.”

      “Who is Victor Leach?”

      “Who
was
Victor Leach is what you mean, Louisa. He was the other chap you heard at the gazebo. He was Jude’s ghost across the field. But he’s his own ghost now and you won’t be seeing him anymore.” He chuckled more to himself than anything else.

      “So now you only have to share the diamonds with Luc. Or do you plan to kill him too?”

      “Luc?” Talbot was surprised. “Oh, honey, you disappoint me. He’s no partner to me. I don’t know who he is or how he fits into all of this but he has been a thorn in my side since the day I arrived.”

      “Then, Luc isn’t a part of this?”

      “Only that he competes with me for your attention and distracts you from the task at hand here at Stavewood.”   

      “What task, Talbot? Why did you bring me here from New York?”

      “To find the diamonds, of course. We knew they had to be in the house because we eliminated all the other possibilities. Victor never knew where the secret passageway was, so we needed a way to get into Stavewood. That’s where you came in. You’d get me into the house and together we’d find the diamonds. I knew you couldn’t resist the challenge of a good mystery.”

      “So, you never planned to help me with my mother’s story. You were never going to publish any of my books, were you?”

      He laughed again. “I never gave a damn about your books, honey. I simply blew off my appointment with Mr. William Widener and made up a story that I bought his publishing company. You’re really quite gullible, Louisa.”

      Louisa fought back the tightness in her throat. “If I was, Talbot, it was because I trusted you. I believed in you. I thought you loved me.” Tears began to roll down her face.

      “Sorry, honey. It’s all about the diamonds. It always has been.” Talbot lowered his hands.

      “Get your hands back up!” Louisa barked at him, raising the derringer towards his face.

      “Why? Are you going to shoot me, Louisa?” He put out his hand to her and in his British accent said, “Give me the gun now, love. You don’t want to kill me.”

      “I will, Talbot. I swear I will!” Louisa’s hand trembled and she wept freely but she kept the Old Maid pointed at his head. The conflict in Louisa’s heart tore at her emotions and logic. One moment he was Talbot the friend she had trusted and the next he was a killer named Clayton, a man who used and manipulated her. But he only ever was Clayton and Talbot never existed.

      “No, I don’t think so. You see, I’m a killer, Louisa, but you are not. I’ve killed two people just since last night. No one will ever find Victor Leach’s body and everyone will always believe poor Birget met with a tragic accident.”

      “Oh!” Louisa choked. “Talbot, no.”

      “Yes, my dear, I’m afraid so. It became necessary. So you see, as I said, I’m a killer. But you, Louisa, you don’t have it in you to become a killer. And not even knowing that I killed Birget will make you one.” He stepped towards her with his hand still extended. “Now, give me the gun.”

      Louisa did not lower the weapon, but she could not fire it either and Talbot took it from her shaking hand. He turned it around, pointed it at her face and very calmly pulled the trigger.

      Before she could scream Louisa realized she was not shot. The derringer hadn’t discharged, it had simply clicked. She felt faint.

      Talbot laughed heartily. “Oh, Louisa. If you could only see the look on your face. I told you I have always been two steps ahead of you. I unloaded this little toy as soon as I knew you had it back in New York.” He reached behind his back and pulled out a large revolver which he pointed at her. “However, this one, I assure you, is fully loaded.”

Fifty-Five

        
C
layton’s face was stern. “Alright, honey. Enough of all this. Give me the diamonds.”

      “I told you, I don’t know where they are.”

      “Louisa,” he sighed. “You have had enough time and you have gathered all the clues there are to be had,” he said, pacing the room slowly and gesturing with his pistol. “Now, we don’t know when your family will return, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. Or maybe in the next few minutes. But I promise you, it will not go well for any of them if we are still here arguing about whether or not you know where the diamonds are.” He stepped up to her and pressed the point of the barrel under her chin. “Find the diamonds, Louisa. Now.”

      Louisa stepped away from him and rubbed her temples. She moved to the table where her notes and drawings were laid out and went over every detail in her mind: the passageway, Jude, Corissa, Diana, the robberies. Someone had been digging. Digging in Mark’s garden where the Weintraub place had been, digging where the shack used to be, but why? There had been another place, she thought. She sorted through her sketches and found the floor plan she had drawn of Hawk Bend Station. As she studied it she realized she had left out the area that had been roped off because of the damage to the floorboards. “That’s it!” she thought. Victor Leach and Clayton had dug in all those places looking for the diamonds. Those were the places they had eliminated. They knew Jude had been here, in this house. The diamonds would be under the floorboards somewhere in Stavewood, but where?

      “Come on, honey. Figure it out so we can get this whole thing over with and I can be on my way.”

      “There’s nothing I’d like better,” Louisa snapped.

      She turned her attention back to the diamonds. Jude Thomas was hiding his stolen loot in the house somewhere under the floor. In the cellar? No, Louisa thought. The floor down there was stone. In the house then. There were fifty rooms in Stavewood.

      “Which one?” she thought. “Which one?”

      She closed her eyes and imagined Jude coming through the passageway into the cellar. Corissa would meet him there. They’d embrace. He’d kiss her passionately, smug that he had Timothy Elgerson’s woman and access to his beloved home as well. Corissa would leave him, and walk back upstairs through the house. Jude would have climbed the ladder.

      “The pipe access!” Louisa thought. He was coming up here, right here to this very room.

      “Move the table!” she shouted at Clayton. Louisa pushed away the rocker and knocked over the dress form. She shoved the furniture to one side while Clayton stood glaring at her, the revolver in his hand trained on her as she flew about the room. Louisa rolled up the big Persian rug.

      In the center of the room, one short board seemed out of place in the gleaming waxed finish. “There!” she said, pointing to it. Clayton pushed Louisa out of his way, pried it up and tossed it aside, revealing a dark hole in the floor. He reached into it, feeling around a moment, and pulled out his hand. He held a small, black velvet bag drawn closed with a dark ribbon. He sat back and pulled open the drawstring. The lamplight reflected off the diamonds as he shook some of them out into the palm of his hand. The precious stones sparkled brightly.

      “Yes!” he said, barely able to contain his excitement. He cinched the bag closed.

      He stood up and chuckled. “Well, Miss Louisa Elgerson, there may be hope for you as a great mystery writer after all.”

      He put the diamonds into his breast pocket, his eyes never leaving her. He pointed the revolver at her menacingly and Louisa held her breath, unsure of what he’d do next. He moved towards her and she stepped back. She was against the wall and could go no farther.

      “You know, Louisa, I’ve read all your notes. I know how Jude Thomas took Elgerson’s wife, right here in this room, whenever he wanted. She had fallen for him much the same way that you have fallen for me.” He smiled, pleased with himself and moved closer, pressing up against her. Louisa put her hands against his chest, trying to hold him back.

      “And now,” he threatened, “I will take his daughter.” She felt the revolver under her chin, forcing her head back as he kissed her throat.

      “Talbot, please…don’t!”

      “Admit it, Louisa. You want me,” he said in his British accent. With his free hand he cupped her breast. Then his thigh came up between hers and he pulled the robe from her. She gasped.

      “No!” She hit him with her fists but he was undaunted. He grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm back out of the way, tearing her nightgown at the shoulder. The back of his hand came down across her face and Louisa tasted blood.

Fifty-Six

     
L
uc Almquist ran his white stallion hard along the road from Billington. The big horse galloped with Luc laying along his back spurring him ever faster. He turned Avalanche into the entrance at Stavewood, digging his heels into the stallion’s sides. When he reached the house he leapt from the horse’s back and rushed to the door. It was locked. The stillness of the night was broken by a woman’s scream.

      “Louisa!” he called out at the top of his voice.

      “Luc!” Louisa screamed as loudly as she could and Clayton clamped his hand tightly over her mouth.

      “Louisa! Louisa!” Luc yelled again but this time there was no answer. He put his shoulder to the door but it didn’t budge. He tried again.

      Clayton took hold of her hair and dragged Louisa across the room. It was just a matter of time before Luc would break into the house. He took a position beside the bedroom door, thinking to shoot Luc as he entered. Louisa shook her head violently, sensing his plan, and tried to talk to him.

      “You scream again and I’ll kill you right here and now! You understand me?” Louisa nodded. He let go of her mouth, changing his grip to her throat instead.

      “You don’t have to kill him. You don’t have to kill anyone. I’ll get you out, Talbot. We can get out through the passage.”

      Clayton quickly considered his options. If Luc got into the room he’d have to shoot him quickly and he’d have to kill him with the first shot. Louisa might interfere as well. The last thing he wanted was to find himself in a fight with big Luc Almquist.

      “Alright, Louisa. But if I even think you’re trying anything stupid I’ll kill you and your lover boy in a heartbeat.” He let her go. “Show me where,” he demanded.

      She yanked open the closet and began to pull out the bolts of fabric. When the closet was empty, she pulled away the panel at the back of the shelves. Being careful to keep his gun aimed at her, Clayton leaned in and peered down the shaft. There, between the pipes, was the wooden ladder leading down to the cellar. He motioned at her with the revolver.

      “You first,” Clayton said.

      Once inside the access shaft Clayton pulled the panel shut behind them. Now she could barely hear Luc frantically trying to get into the house as she climbed down carefully. When she reached the cellar, Clayton jumped down bedside her and took hold of her arm.

      “This way,” she said, leading him to the shelf with the old paint tin. She retrieved the massive key and took him to the secret door. She took several deep breaths to calm her breathing so she could hear the click of the mechanism and worked the combination. From the depths of the cellar she could no longer hear Luc at all.

      The door swung open and Louisa took a lantern from the shelf. Clayton struck a match and lit it, peering into the darkness inside the passage. “Go ahead,” he said. She ventured first down the slippery stairs.

      “Nice,” Louisa heard him say. He kept close behind her. “Very eerie and very imaginative.”

      Louisa led him on, along the rushing water and across it on the iron girder. A minute later they stood by the loud rushing of the whirlpool. She pointed to the narrow tunnel that led to the rings and up to the gazebo, trying to explain to him over the roar of the water that they would have to climb. He held up the lantern and squinted into the darkness.

      “We need to go in there!” she yelled.

      Suddenly Clayton’s feet slipped just as Louisa’s had once before. For a long moment he fought for his balance, waving his arms. Louisa saw her chance and lunged at him, hitting his hip with her shoulder and he splashed into the water. The lantern fell with a crash, flames flowing across the wet, stone floor.  In the flickering light, Louisa watched him struggle to keep his head above the surface, spinning around in the spiraling current. He cursed loudly and then disappeared, sucked down into the gurgling swirl of water.

      The fire blazed brightly until she turned the corner of the tunnel and Louisa had to fumble along the wall of the black passageway until she felt the first iron ring. She climbed in the total darkness as quickly as she could.

      Louisa hit her head hard on the trap door, reached up and pushed against it with all of her might. She sucked the night air into her lungs.

      “Luc! Luc!” she screamed as loudly as she could.

      Luc spun around at the sound of her voice and ran across the yard.

      “Luc!” Louisa called again.

      He ran around the gazebo, but he didn’t see her anywhere. He was certain her voice was nearby.

      “Louisa, where are you?”

      “Under the gazebo. Get me out! There’s a way out, find it!”

      Luc bent low and looked through the lattice under the platform. In the darkness he could just make her out, struggling with the trap door. He searched steadily around the foundation and, at the steps to the platform, found a hidden hinge. He grabbed the bottom step from underneath and pulled. The entire five-step staircase swung up easily.

      Louisa fought to keep her footing on the stone wall. Luc lifted the trap door and took her arm, pulling her up, and they both crawled out from under the gazebo.

      “I have to stop him,” Louisa screamed and began to run, stumbling in her torn nightgown across the yard.

      Luc whistled for Avalanche and was on his back in a quick leap. He pulled up alongside Louisa and she stopped, panting hard.

      “He’ll come up in the creek!”

      “Who?
      “Talbot!”

      “Does he have the diamonds?”

      Louisa looked up at him. How did he know? “You’re after the diamonds too? Leave me alone.”

      Luc reached out his hand. “Louisa, I would never hurt you. You have to trust me! Get on the horse.”

      Louisa clenched her fists and kicked the dirt. She looked up into his eyes and wanted it all to stop. She wanted to trust Luc Almquist more than anything in the world.

      “Louisa,” he said. His face was serious and sincere in the soft moonlight. “I love you. You can trust me.”

    She reached up and he pulled her onto the horse in front of him.

      “Show me where.” He handed her the reins and kicked Avalanche to a fast run. She could feel his powerful muscles beneath her and Luc pressed into her from behind. He leaned with her, his strong arms on either side. They cut through the woodland over paths only the families knew, rushing to Fisher Creek before Clayton would surface, swim free and escape.

      Louisa leaned close to the stallion’s back and he ran like the wind. She swung him around the Vancouver house and along the creek. Up ahead, in the moonlight she could see the pool where Clayton would emerge. If only they were fast enough.