In Deep (25 page)

Jaidyn pursed her lips. “Are you crying?”

Looking skyward, Neil blinked a few more times. “Most certainly I am not.”

“It looks like it, though.”

Shaking his head, her father waved the ridiculous notion aside. “My eyes always turn red around birch trees.”

Her forehead wrinkled as she looked up. “This is a poplar tree.”

“So? I can’t stand poplar trees, either.”

“Birches are over there,” she said, pointing with her chin over her shoulder.

Neil cleared his throat. “Are you going to wait here now?”

He did sound a little impatient. Jaidyn ripped a leaf off a branch next to her. Crushing it in her fist, she gave in with a sigh. “I’ll stay here.”

“I’ll be back in no time.” Neil sounded relieved.

“You’d better,” Jaidyn grumbled, dropping the leaf from her fingers. “Or I’ll storm the house.”

With a sheepish grin, Neil nodded. “I know.”

Kieran was beside himself with fury, but he thought it beneath him to let any of it show. His guarded countenance appeared passionless. He stood at the top of the front steps as he watched Gabrielle Talbot, Baroness Wickfield, ascend the coach and back out of his life. Again.

Even though he felt like snarling his implacable hatred, he refrained from it. Why had she come now? Why hadn’t she said something earlier? Kier could have saved his brother’s reputation and would still have him by his side. Ronan would have never started hating him, and he surely would have never run away because he couldn’t stand Kier’s presence.

The Baroness Wickfield had just given him all the proof he needed to get his brother back home. If his brother didn’t want to stay, fine, but at least his name would be rid of that black stain that branded him a criminal.

Well, provided she had spoken the truth. She’d taken up the habit of lying as soon as she opened her mouth on her wedding day.

No, she’d perfected her skills at deceiving even before that, Kieran recalled bitterly.

He told himself that it didn’t matter that she’d remained silent all this time. Nor was it any of his business why she’d suddenly decided to no longer cover her husband’s scheme. For the first time in years, Kier held the key to proving his brother’s innocence. And surely Talbot wasn’t so twisted that he’d get rid of his own wife, like he’d done with all the other witnesses Kier had found, who suddenly disappeared or died in some mysterious way. On the other hand, Talbot was a deceitful, murderous bastard and there was no telling what he’d do once he found out his wife had finally told the truth.

Kieran didn’t have time to concern himself with Gabby’s fate. His brother came first. Once Ronan was cleared, Kier would have to find a way to undo what he’d done with the incredibly offensive Jaidyn Donnelly. Kier had thought if she was Neil’s daughter, she’d be like him in a way. Good God, could he have been more wrong? A pity that woman was the apple of Neil’s eye, because this apple had fallen very far from the tree. Granting Neil that favor had probably been the biggest mistake of his life–and he’d made quite a few, he added to his train of thoughts as Talbot’s coach jumped and slowly left Kier’s driveway.

As soon as the coach was out of sight and Gabrielle with it, Kier whirled around, heading back into the house and to his study. He had to reach his brother. He’d probably docked somewhere out of the way toward the end of the bay. He’d write him a letter first, telling him that it was imperative they meet in Charleston right away.

On the way to his desk, Kier searched his brain for a vague enough wording that would clue his brother in. Something like …

Looking at the letter before him, Kier decided it was perfect for his purpose. He called for Malory, his butler, and folded the note.

Quick footsteps announced Malory was on his way, and Kier looked up to tell him–

Neil Flaherty stood in the door instead of his butler. His eyes darted around the room before settling on him. His shoulders slumped a little with relief, but Neil still looked anxious.

“You’re alone?” He said in a clipped tone as he looked around the room once more.

“Yes?”

“Good,” Neil mumbled and started pacing the room. “Jaidyn is waiting outside.”

“Oh?” What was it that she’d complained about this time?

Nodding, Neil rubbed his face. “I thought it best for her to stay outside in case the authorities were here.”

“Why would–” Gasping, Keir realized why Neil would think the authorities might be here. “What do you know? Where is he?”

“Jaidyn told me they’d sailed here together and last night he ventured out and didn’t come back. She learned that one of the crew had ratted on him and she immediately came to me for help.”

“Neil, you are aware that you don’t make any sense at all. Jaidyn has been here for a few weeks already. I know my brother arrived yesterday, and let’s hope he’s already left.”

“So he was here? Then you know already?”

“That he was here?” Keir shook his head. There was something he was missing.

“No. That he brought Jaidyn.”

“What are you talking about?” Keir’s patience was wearing thin.

“The woman you think is Jaidyn isn’t. The real Jaidyn is outside and she’s going to storm this house if we don’t start searching for your brother right away. And heaven help us then. She’s inherited not only her mother’s looks, but her temper … well, the red hair she’s got from me.” Neil grinned sheepishly as his chest puffed with pride. “Unfortunately, she also inherited my occasional lack of restraint. That other wench you thought was her was just an impostor. The maid, in fact.”

That sounded much more like what Kier had thought Neil’s daughter would be like–

Something clicked in Kier’s head. His brother had spoken of a woman …

Sweet Jesus, and he was going to pay with his life if Kieran didn’t find him before the authorities did!

Well, Ronan was smart. He’d find the perfect hiding place unless their stepbrother acting the constable found him sooner.

“Neil, there are several hideouts we must try.” Kier dipped his quill and started scribbling on a piece of paper. “If we want to find him fast, we’ll have to split up. Here’s a list of places. You’ll start looking for him from the top of that list. I’ll try the others. If we’re lucky, we’ll meet somewhere in the middle and find him in time.”

Taking the piece of paper from him, Neil stalked out through the back of the house the way he’d come in.

Kier bellowed for Malory again and the butler showed up, out of breath and his wig a little crooked on his head. Keir’s coat and hat dangled from his arm. “I’ve taken the liberty to have your horse ready, sir.”

Good old Malory had his eyes and ears everywhere. Keir slipped into his coat, donning his tricorn on his way out.

_____________________________

T
he trapdoor stood wide open. Connor attached the fine rope that he’d found above to the trapdoor, then to his wrist, and swung himself down, careful not to tread on the dusty old stairs that hadn’t been used for years. He landed with a dull thump, small clouds of dirt puffing around his ankles and covering the tips of his black boots with brownish dust. Turning, he grunted his approval at the still undisturbed stairs.

Reaching for the rope around his wrist, he loosened it, turned around, and tugged on it until the trapdoor fell shut. Slivers of daylight from the crude timbers over his head streaked the darkness surrounding him. Connor didn’t need to see anyway; this was a hidden basement of one of Kieran’s old warehouses and he knew it by heart.

After one more twirling of his wrist, the rope slid out of the hook on the trapdoor and Connor rolled it up.

The warehouse might have been old, but it was frequently used and it didn’t look like the typical hiding place. Maybe this place would keep Connor alive until sundown, when he’d sneak to his ship and leave.

Hiding far back in the darkest recess of that basement, Connor made himself as comfortable as he could get. His eyes got used to the gloom in no time and if he leaned back and peeped around the crate hiding him, he had a very clear view of the stairs and the only entrance. He shucked his coat and waistcoat and sat with his back against the wall. One knee bent, he propped his head in his hand. He had quite a few long hours ahead of him.

Here he was, alone, hiding in the basement … and for what? So that he didn’t get hanged for a wrong he didn’t commit?

But there was someone he had wronged. Connor cringed. After having stewed in his anger for hours, he’d sobered enough to realize that.

Jaidyn. Her scent, her beauty, the taste of her skin, the feel of her body melting into his … he’d tried so hard to banish each and every memory of her. But it was in vain. It was probably easier to chop his right hand off than get her out of his system.

Connor’s feelings were a massive knot of confusion. He felt possessive about her and it terrified him. His yearning for her burned and had ice-cold shivers run down his back.

He wanted her, but she belonged to another man. Jealousy speared him again at the thought that she could be just as happy if not even more so with that other man.

Connor would have never thought he could feel for a woman that deeply. He wanted to keep her safe and whole. He wanted to be the man she wanted, someone who understood her, who could give her what she needed, what her mind sought, what her body craved.

When Jaidyn had told him she was married, it had been like the red flag to a bull. Desperation had him fling all those scathing words at her.

He’d seen it in her eyes–had seen that he was the reason for her anguish. She’d never forgive him, and knowing that felt like a punch from a battering ram.

Trying to release the tension, he rolled his shoulders, but nothing helped to take the frustration away.

Pride demanded he let her go. Desolation gnawed at him, urging him to hold on to her. He was fighting a losing battle and he knew it. Even if she weren’t married and he could be the man she wanted, there was still this bounty on his head. So there was no way in hell they had a future together.

All he could do was pick up the sad scraps of his hurt pride and shattered heart and move on, and come nightfall, he would. He’d said good-bye before. So many times in fact that it shouldn’t hurt so much. But this time it was different. This time he was in love and he wasn’t sure if his heart could ever recover from the blow.

Dirt rained down on him from the slits in the timbers above. Rubbing the dust out of his eyes, Connor looked up.

He could hear footsteps. The streak of sunlight glinting through a knothole disappeared as someone approached the trapdoor above him.

More footsteps. Connor thought he could distinguish three different sets. He held his breath, his gaze fixated on the moving shadows.

Seconds ticked by. Connor felt his lungs burn, the deafening beats of his heart drowning out every other noise.

The hinges of the trapdoor squeaked in protest as it was lifted. Connor scrambled farther back into the shadows.

No one would find him here, he was sure. Only somebody who knew …

Kieran?

Hope had Connor’s heart beat even faster and he dared to take a brief glimpse around the crate he hid behind.

Lantern light blinded him. It flickered over the interior, illuminating bits and pieces as if sniffing out the basement, trying to find something or someone.

Connor could hear a low sound that resembled a chuckle but was more like a sniff.

Kieran didn’t snort that way.

“You can come out now.”

Connor felt his heart plummet. He’d recognize that voice anywhere. There was only one person who could fill it with so much derision that it sounded like it was made of brass.

Hugh Talbot had found him.

How stupid had Connor been, hiding here where there was just one way in and out? His feelings for the woman had him so mixed up he’d made the same asinine mistake twice now. At this rate he wouldn’t last much longer.

Talbot’s footsteps came closer, like he knew exactly where to find Connor.

Well, there wasn’t much Connor could do now but face his stepbrother like a man. Standing, he left the sanctity of the shadows and met Talbot’s gaze.

Hugh hadn’t changed much. The corners of his thin mouth seemed to be perpetually curling down and the long nose in his oval face looked as if he was constantly sneering, giving him an aristocratic air, which epitomized that he was the sole heir to the penniless and quite useless title of Baron Wickfield. But the title had had its advantages; it had served to make him the only acceptable suitor for Gabby. Her parents were eager to attach their name to a title–not to that of a common, albeit rich Irish merchant. In his capacity as governor, Talbot’s father-in-law had appointed Hugh Constable of Georgetown.

“I thought I’d find you here.” Talbot’s eyes gleamed like those of a vulture having spotted a juicy carcass. He flicked his wrist in an effete gesture. His pretty clothes and his foible for fancy wigs had reached new heights, Connor noted. Despite his overall weak and feminine appearance, Connor knew not to underestimate the man. He was even more dangerous because he didn’t look like it.

“Not in a very talkative mood?” Talbot crooned, pursing his lips. His whole stance seemed to light up with glee. “I knew when my men came to wake me up this morning that there was only one place you could have run to. Kieran’s house was actually first on the list. It’s under surveillance, of course. But I knew I’d find you here. You’re too smart to hide in the usual places like caves and such.”

Connor pressed his lips into a fine, pale line.

“You’re probably asking yourself how I knew you were here?” Talbot waited all but two heartbeats for an answer he’d never get. “Don’t forget, I had years to find and catalogue each and every place you and your despicable brother played hide-and-seek in.

“Oh, I forgot,” he added, waving at the two soldiers behind him that were guarding the door. “Sullivan and Brown. Gentlemen, this is our criminal.”