Temptation & Twilight (31 page)

“Did you suspect?”

Iain shook is head. He slid the badge back to Sheldon, who pocketed it once again.

“Good. Then no one knows, and I’d like to keep it that way, Alynwick.”

“Then you had better start speaking,” he suggested.

“I am all ears.”

Taking another drink of Scotch—this time a sip—

Sheldon finally sat back in his chair and contemplated Iain.

“You’ve been an admirable adversary, although it was never my intention to have you as one. Imagine my surprise when I discovered my study had been breached.

And that you were the culprit.”

“You’ve poor locks, Detective. A novice could have picked them.”

“No, they couldn’t have. And you’re not a novice. I knew that the moment you put your elbow to my throat.

You knew the most vulnerable spot on a man, and with one quick press you could have fractured the cartilage and eviscerated my larynx and trachea, killing me within seconds. I knew then that I had to find out more about you, and what complication you might be to me and my case.”

“The Scots can be savage when provoked, and you provoked me.”

“You took me by surprise, Alynwick, and I’m not eas-BOUND GALLEY EDITION March 23, 2012

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ily surprised. Ask my superiors, they’ll tell you. I’m thorough, methodical, meticulous and I can always outwit an enemy. But you… You have the brawn, brains and cunning of a jungle beast.”

“Thank you, but I’m still not letting you see my naked arse.”

Sheldon grinned and shook his head. “You won’t let me live that down, will you?”

“Never. That voice… God, it was like being in a salon with all those tosser artists.”

“How do you think I came by it? I studied them most carefully. I can also be a convincing Arab, with a little kohl and dye for my hair.”

“What are you doing in England? What is this case you speak of? Are you truly an earl, or are you yet again posing as someone you’re not?”

“A fair question. I am the legitimate earl, but as a son of a second son, I never expected to inherit. My father was a diplomat, but he was also high in Scotland Yard.

He trained me. I attended a special branch of the Yard at the embassy. Highly secret. I trust you won’t tell of it?”

“You have my word.”

Nodding, Sheldon plunged on. “I became a sort of spy for British and Arab affairs. As a cover, I became an archaeologist, which allowed me a large and varied contact with the Arabs. I had a great interest in archaeology, but it was always a cover for what I loved more, espionage.”

“Explains how you so easily dug up the skeletons in my family closet.”

“Partly. I had some help from Special Branch. Your father was on their watch list for decades, and they themselves had acquired quite a bit of information on him. I merely helped myself to it. I needed to see if you were in on Lasseter’s scheme.”

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“And?”

“There’s no connection with you. But there was one with Black.”

Iain narrowed his gaze, senses alert. “What sort of connection?”

“Actually, it was with Lady Black.”

“You will tread very carefully, Detective. The lady is a good friend, and wife of a man whom I consider a brother.”

Damn, his tongue was getting loose, but he could not allow Black or his wife to be maligned. Damn Brethren Guardian secrets. He was tired of them.

“Lady Black, when she was Miss Fairmont, was being courted by Wendell Knighton, curator at the museum, and a protégé of Nigel Lasseter. It was Lasseter who funded Knighton’s expedition to the Holy Land, because Lasseter himself could not return, not after what he did to me. He feared that I might be alive, you see, after he left me for dead. He would never dare set foot in Jerusalem after that, so he needed someone to do the work for him. That’s where Knighton came in, a young man eager to make his mark not only on his profession, but the world. Lasseter could not have begged the devil for a better or more eager dupe.”

“And where is it you come in, Detective?”

“I was preparing to leave Jerusalem. By then, I had heard all I needed to know of Lasseter, and my revenge, while sanctioned by Scotland Yard, had become rather personal. When Knighton mysteriously died, I knew it was Lasseter. The man will kill whomever gets in his way.”

“In the way of what? What does he want?”

“I don’t know. I never could reason it out. While he BOUND GALLEY EDITION March 23, 2012

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pretended to be my friend, Lasseter kept his secrets close to his heart.”

“What has this to do with the House of Orpheus?”

“I didn’t know of the club until tonight—when I followed you. You see, the lady you were with, Marie Lalonde, was Lasseter’s lover and fugitive accomplice.

Naturally, when I saw you, I had to discover your connection to her.”

“Marie Lalonde? I’m sorry, Detective, but I’ve never met a woman by that name.”

“I believe she goes by the name of Georgiana Larabie.” Admiration lit Iain’s eyes. “I thank you, Sheldon.

You’ve saved me an evening of inconvenience, for I was planning on investigating the most duplicitous Georgiana myself.”

“Oh, she has raised your suspicions?”

“Indeed.” He’d known the bitch was hiding something, and here it was Nigel Lasseter all along, his enemy. Orpheus himself, the man she had promised to take him to. Obviously, he had played right into their hands. He’d been a fool, and it didn’t sit well with him—not at all.

“Might I ask how she raised your guard, my lord?”

“No.” Taking a sip of Scotch, Iain set the glass back onto the desk and thought through his plan. “I sense a breach of hostilities between us, Sheldon, at least temporarily.”

“Yes?”

“I can only give you my word of honour that what I was doing with Lady Larabie has nothing to do with her time spent in Jerusalem with Lasseter, or any crimes she committed in France. You’ll have to trust me that if I discover anything that might aid your case, then I will share it. Until then, I must keep my own counsel.”

“That’s fair, I suppose. Should I keep my own coun-BOUND GALLEY EDITION March 23, 2012

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sel tonight, and not share with Elizabeth whom I saw you depart with?”

He wanted to hate this man, but the bloody determination he saw in Sheldon’s gaze made Iain admire him instead. “I know how it looks, but nothing happened.

Elizabeth…” He swallowed hard, thinking of her, thinking of her with Sheldon. “I’d never do anything to harm her. Her…opinion of me at the moment is not very good, and while I will admit that I deserve it, I do not deserve to be labeled for something I didn’t do. I did not betray Elizabeth with Lady Larabie.”

“Fair enough. I believe you.”

Nodding, Iain motioned for Sheldon to continue. “Tell me about Lasseter, and your connection with him. I’m afraid your explanation has been somewhat convoluted and I am left rather confused by the whole matter.”

“Forgive me. I had assumed that you would know. I told Elizabeth the story of my connection to him.”

“And you thought she would spill your secrets? Detective, your opinion of her is rather low, is it not?” Sheldon had the grace to blush. “In my experience, there are few true, honest people in this world.”

“In mine as well, but you will find that Elizabeth York is one of the few good ones out there. She is an angel, and can be trusted with a man’s life. The secrets of his soul.” Sheldon studied him in the gaslight, and Iain had the urge to hide in the shadows. But something shifted in Sheldon’s gaze. A perception. An understanding. He spoke no more of Elizabeth, but instead continued his story.

“My business with Nigel Lasseter, who is a French émigré and wanted for a string of robberies in France, began in Jerusalem nearly three years ago. He made his way to the Holy City, where I was working as an archae-BOUND GALLEY EDITION March 23, 2012

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ologist at Temple Mount. I was investigating a rebellion plot involving the Turks, while disguised on a British dig.

Lasseter befriended me. He was interested in excavating, and had a real obsession with the Templars. We struck up a friendship because I, too, have a genuine love of Templar lore. At that point I had no knowledge of his past.

We discussed at length the Templars, and their method-ology for hiding sacred relics, money and escape routes.

He was especially interested in those—in the Templar method of building underground crypts and tunnels.”

“Why?”

“I believe it was something I said that piqued his interest. I mistakenly informed him of how the Templars’

preferred mode of hiding their cache was in their crypts.”

“Ah, I see. So he somehow persuaded you to allow him to assist you.”

“Worse,” Sheldon muttered, and Iain saw the anger and shame in his eyes. “I didn’t just allow him to assist, I showed him how to excavate. How to find the gems of the Templars.”

“And then?”

“I came across a cache. Lasseter wasn’t with me at the time, but I brought him later to show him what I’d found.

Along with the treasure there was a scroll outlining the story of three Templars. He became very excited about it. Almost…possessive, I would say. He waited for me to dig up the entire treasure, and when I did, he accosted me one evening in the tunnel, tried to stave my head in with an excavating pitch and leave me for dead. I fought him, and was winning until darling Marie came to save the day for Lasseter. She brained me with a large rock, and I fell to the ground. I’m sure they thought me dead.

It took me months to recover.”

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“So Lasseter and Marie stole the cache and began selling off pieces to fund their return to England.”

“Exactly.”

“You said you told this story to Elizabeth. Why? What interest would she have in it?”

“I was hoping to discover if either you or Sussex had any connection with Lasseter. I already knew there was a very thin connection to Black. I did not learn of your link until tonight, till I saw you with the woman I know as Marie.”

“You will not find more than that, Sheldon. I personally guarantee it.”

“Well, when I woke from my extended sleep, I informed Special Branch of what had happened, alerting them to the fact that I believed Lasseter to be on the run, and most likely headed to London. Where else can one get lost in the throngs of humanity?”

“And they separated,” Iain mused. “They knew Scotland Yard would be looking for two people, a man and a woman.”

“It would appear so. And in the meantime, Marie found a new persona, and was able to dupe poor old lecherous Larabie into marrying her. No doubt Larabie is unwittingly supplying Lasseter with money to keep afloat.” Sheldon sat forward and peered into Iain’s eyes.

There was an implacable determination in his gaze. “I want him, Alynwick, and Marie, too. I want them to stand trial, to suffer for their crimes.”

“I want him as well, but for something very different.”

“Tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“Is it illegal?”

“No.” How could he confide in Sheldon about the Brethren Guardians? He couldn’t. Absolutely could not BOUND GALLEY EDITION March 23, 2012

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betray Black and Sussex, no matter the cost. But he did need to know how Lasseter knew so much about them, and what he was planning on doing with the information.

“You will have to take my word for it, Sheldon,” he said at last. “My reason for wanting him is my own. If I get him first, I’ll hand him over to you after I’m done with my questioning. If you manage to get him before me, I ask only that I am allowed to interrogate him—in private.”

“And you swear to me that there is nothing more to it than that?”

“The matter is a long one, Sheldon. A matter of family, and secrets. But as far as I know, nothing illegal.

And nothing to do with what he did in France, or what he did to you.”

Sheldon sat back and studied him thoughtfully. “I’ll let you keep your secrets, Alynwick. For now. But at some point I fear that they might all come tumbling out.”

“Then I shall have to deal with it, won’t I? Until then, I will keep them to myself.”

Rising from his chair, Sheldon stuck out his hand. “To a temporary truce—in this matter.” Iain accepted the handshake, knowing they shared a truce in the business of Lasseter and the House of Orpheus. But the matter of Elizabeth, he knew, was far from settled.

“HAVE A CARE, Elizabeth. The steps are uneven and crumbling. There now,” Sheldon said, clasping her hand carefully. “Two more steps and you’ll be standing on the floor, which is really quite uneven, so you’ll have to hold on to me.”

The smell of earth and mould burned her nose. The sound of water tapping against stone echoed in the distance. Jack’s bark ricocheted off the walls, which she BOUND GALLEY EDITION March 23, 2012

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imagined were curved medieval arches carved into the stone. Here she was, beneath the Templar church, where no soul had ventured in hundreds of years. What secrets awaited discovery? What treasures were to be found?

How she wished she possessed sight so that she might see the great arching caverns, the crypts made of stone, complete with effigies of knights who had served hundreds of years ago.

Jack barked again, only this time he took off running down the corridor, his paws scratching against the dirt and stones.