One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1) (19 page)

Luke

Just thinking of him brought a smile to her lips and a soft sigh that came straight from her heart. Her smile grew when his arm tightened around her waist and drew her tighter against him. The kiss he placed on her shoulder made her grin, and she looked a little sheepishly over her shoulder at him.

“Morning,” he murmured, tugging her around until she faced him.

“Morning,” she replied, unsure what the etiquette was for such an occasion.

Luke smiled back at her. He felt inordinately proud of the telltale blush that stained her cheeks, not least because he was the one responsible for it. Before she could find some excuse to get up, he captured her lips and rolled her over without giving her the chance to say anything else. For a long time the only sounds in the room were soft whispers and sighs.

An hour later, she lay curled against him once more, a little stunned that after everything they had shared last night her body could still respond in such a way.

“What happens now?” she whispered after several moments of comfortable silence.

“Well, you are not going back to Cumbria,” he replied firmly.

“I didn’t mean that,” she replied, blushing profusely. “I meant about what happened last night. He is still out there somewhere.” She glanced out of the window over the broad expanse of Luke’s chest. The sun was shining now and had obliterated all trace of the smog that had hung over London most of the night. Outside the window the green leaves of the tree danced gaily against the glass, teased by a gentle breeze. Birds chirruped happily from within those leafy depths and, for all intents and purposes, everything was right with the world. She didn’t want to bring their current problems into the room, and let it break the wonder she felt at being with Luke, but she couldn’t just let him leave without knowing where he was going and what danger he might face today.

Luke kissed her and tipped her chin up until she was looking at him. He understood her worries and slid down in the bed so he could face her.

“Well, I need find Toby today. I think it is safe to say that the attacker was out there waiting last night, and he can only have followed us when we left here. That smog was too thick for him to have seen us anywhere else. Unfortunately, I have no idea how much of my conversation with Toby he overheard. The boy may be in just as much danger as you right now. I need to warn him.”

He didn’t add that as soon as the first flames of desire had been slaked, and Poppy had slipped into an exhausted sleep, he had crept downstairs and spoken with his colleagues, Marcus, Barnaby, and Jeb, who had been about to leave for the Riverside Club. They had already seen the state of the cloak and agreed that Luke needed to remain with Poppy.

Unfortunately, the possibility that he might have put Toby in danger last night didn’t sit well with him. He needed to see with his own eyes that the boy was alright and tell him about the attack so he would remain extra vigilant.

Unfortunately, he just couldn’t risk Poppy going outside and being subjected to another attack. Next time she might not be so lucky. It was imperative now, to his own future happiness, that she remain alive and safe because without her in his life, well, he had no life. It was as simple as that. As far as he was concerned, what they had shared last night had changed the dynamics of their relationship, and secured their future together. She appeared to have accepted that her future most definitely lay with him. Now all he had to do was ensure that they actually had a future to enjoy. With that in mind, he had to find a way to persuade her to remain indoors, even if it was by herself.

“Do you have another cloak?”

“You are staying here,” he warned her darkly, aware of the direction of her thoughts. He might have known she would be prepared to accompany him again and shook his head with a mixture of pride and disbelief.
He mi
“I will wait until one of my colleagues return. Then I will go and meet with Toby. Marcus can keep an eye on the house in Camden for him, and will send the lad away if he sees him in the area. For now, you are perfectly safe as long as you don’t answer the door to anybody. There is someone watching this house, of that I am sure, but they cannot get in or out without breaking in. I doubt they would do that given the number of men who have been coming and going of late.”

“Don’t put yourself in danger, Luke,” she pleaded quietly.

“I won’t. I can take care of myself. I have to do this, Poppy, because I have a responsibility to Toby. It seemed like a good idea to involve him in the investigation at the time because he is able to blend in with the crowd better than we can and is good at noticing things. However, I didn’t realise just how much danger surrounded us. Until we can find this assailant, Toby needs to be in a place of safety.”

Poppy nodded. The young lad had his entire life ahead of him. Even if it was a life of pick-pocketing, it was still a life and he shouldn’t have it stolen from him because he had chosen to help someone in exchange for a few pennies. The very thought filled her with quiet horror, and she couldn’t help but feel proud of Luke for his concern over the younger’s welfare. He was not only protecting her, but also looking after Toby, and was prepared to put his life on the line to do so.

“I can stay here, I don’t mind. I won’t go anywhere. Not after last night. It is best if you go to Toby sooner rather than later. He needs to be here too,” she replied. “Do you think that man is connected to Clarence? Or do you think he has something to do with Sayers? I cannot help thinking that he was too violent to have anything to do with Clarence. I mean, Clarence is a bully but is more verbal than physical. That man last night was a brute, and lethal with that weapon. That doesn’t strike me as something Clarence would get involved in. He moans a lot, but he isn’t a -” She lapsed into silence when she remembered the way Clarence had hit her on that last day and she frowned at the wall as she tried to decide whether she really knew him.

Luke watched the tentative way she touched her cheek. “He hit you, didn’t he?” He saw the confirmation in her eyes when she looked at him. She didn’t answer, just lay her head back down on his chest, but then she didn’t need to answer him. He knew. “Don’t discount anybody, Poppy, that is all I can say. Don’t underestimate what they might be capable of. It is one thing I have learned throughout the years I have worked for the Star Elite. Until you get proof otherwise, everyone has to be guilty.”

“It wasn’t Clarence who attacked you, but it may have been someone he knows. I cannot see Sayers’ sending anyone to attack you. Believe me, Poppy; if Sayers wants someone dead, they die, it is as simple as that. They will be killed with brisk efficiency, and there are few mistakes.”

He didn’t want to say it aloud for fear of upsetting her, but that only pointed to the fact that the attacker last night was most likely connected to Clarence, and that meant her father wanted her dead. Unfortunately, that theory left her with another problem. If the attacker wanted to kill her when she didn’t have the money on her why did he want her dead? 

“What made you get involved in this?” she asked curiously.

“What? Sayers?”

“No, the Star Elite,” she corrected. “I have to admit that I have never heard of such an organisation before. How did you come to know about it?”

“You shouldn’t. There are people in the upper echelons of society, most of who work with or around others in the War Office, who do know of our existence, but they rarely speak of the work we do. It is why we are so effective.” He played with her fingers while he spoke. “My father wanted me to join the blacksmith business he had built up, but I didn’t want that kind of life so I joined the army as soon as I was able. I wanted to see the world and travel a bit. The army seemed like the right choice at the time. So I joined up and went straight into battle in France. It was horrendous, but taught me a lot about who I am and what I want out of life. I got injured.” He lifted his leg clear of the bed clothes and pointed to a long, jagged gash down his thigh before he tucked it out of sight again. “I had to return to England to recuperate. Although I was prepared to go back to fight as soon as I was able to walk properly I was told to report to the War Office. They had received some kind of missive from my Captain, or something, I am not entirely sure how they learned about me but, as soon as I was physically fit again, I was set to work with the Star Elite. To begin with we protected the borders from smugglers who were bringing French spies into the country. As soon as the war ended, rather than disband us and allow us to return to civilian life we turned our attention to domestic crime. Then last year, several people in the highest realms of society began to report thefts from their houses. It soon became apparent that a serial burglar now operates in London, but it isn’t just any serial burglar. This one is only targeting the larger houses of aristocracy.”

“How do you know?”

Luke smiled. “Because the only items stolen were jewellery and paintings.”

“That’s incredibly foolish, isn’t it?”

“How so?”

“Well, those houses have staff everywhere,” she replied thoughtfully. “I should imagine it would be incredibly difficult to get anywhere near them without someone noticing. Surely someone would see a man climbing out of a window with a painting on his back.”

“I know. It is why we suspect an insider is providing the burglar with information. It is either that or the thief is one of the
ton
, and familiar with all the houses targeted. Either way someone somewhere is experienced enough to get in and out of these places without being caught.”

Poppy nodded. “They have to have some sort of insider information to be able to know not only where the jewels are kept, but how to get in and out without being caught.”

“They also have to be aware of just how much the paintings are worth. Can you remember Lord Hampton? Well, his house is littered with paintings yet only one was taken – the most expensive one.”

“Was it that man in the park, do you think?” she asked hating to even think of that fateful morning.

Luke slowly shook his head. “It would make life simpler if it was, and all the burglaries suddenly stopped, but a few days ago a member of the
ton
, a highly respectable man with no seedy connections whatsoever as far as we can tell, suddenly upped and vanished from his own house.”

“Did he run away with a mistress or something?” She couldn’t help it she was captivated by his story and began to understand why his work appealed to him so.

Luke grinned at her. “It would be better if he did, but that doesn’t explain why he took quite a valuable painting with him.”

“Is he dead too?” she whispered with a shudder.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. For now, all we can do is wait to see if his body turns up. If it does then it is safe to say that the killer isn’t done yet, and anyone who is aristocracy is at risk.”

Poppy shivered and snuggled deeper beneath the covers. “Just be careful.”

“I will. I promise,” he replied huskily, delighted that she cared so much. After several moments of gentle kisses, Luke settled her against him once more and stared blankly at the wall. “I will go and see your cousin, Peter, today. I went just after you arrived here, but Peter was away. He should be back by now.”

“I think it is safe to say that Clarence wants the money desperately, but I cannot see him having anything to do with the body in the park,” Poppy sighed.

“I agree. Although what happened with the assailant last night is worrying, I just don’t think the assailant killed Joshua Samson. Your father accosted you on the street for the money. Money that from what you have told me, he is aware isn’t his yet he accosted you for it anyway. His willingness to challenge you in broad daylight is a testament to just how much he wants it.”

“He is in debt. He told me that much,” she reminded him.

“Yes, he
told
you that, but let me just ask you a few things?” When she nodded he thought for a moment. “How did he find the house here, the hovel? Do you know?”

“I knew nothing about it, but we came here we didn’t go to any agent or anything, so I really have no idea how he learned of the house.”

“Did you go straight to it when you got off the carriage?”

She nodded. “Clarence had the address written down, but who it came from I don’t know.”

“He didn’t meet with a landlord when you moved in?”

“We didn’t meet with anyone.” Poppy frowned and sat upright. “Now that I come to think about it, he knew where to find the key. It was behind a loose brick on the wall just beside the back door.”

“You didn’t go to a tavern or something first?”

“Clarence said we didn’t have any money to pay for luxuries like that. The house was sparse, I can tell you. There was barely any wood for the fires. We had practically no money to buy food. Even when we had the bag full of money, he took out only enough to buy bottles of rum for himself, and gave me the smallest amount to pay for a loaf of bread. There was never much in the way of food. I had to go out and buy whatever I could afford, but only with pennies, you understand. The rest remained untouched.”

“Until the day you packed it up and took it to the park,” Luke finished for her.

“The day after I collected the money from Peter, a note was pushed under the door. Clarence read it and instructed me deliver the money to a man in the park first thing in the morning. I asked why because I thought the money was for debts back in Cumbria. Clarence told me that his concern was to deal with the debts first. We could discuss Cumbria later.”

Luke tugged her back into his arms and tucked her beneath the warm covers. “Can you remember much about the stranger who delivered the note? What did he look like?”

“I didn’t see anybody. The note just appeared one day. Someone pushed it under the door.”

Luke nodded. “So, Clarence then put pressure on you went to make the payment in the park.”

“I didn’t want to. I knew it was foolish to go out without a chaperone but I wanted to get back to Cumbria. I also wanted to see who the creditor was more than anything. In the end, by the time I reached the meeting point I had almost talked myself out of it. Then those pick-pockets appeared. By the time the body turned up, I knew then that I wasn’t going to meet with anyone in a park. I don’t know why the contact didn’t turn up for the money though.”

“I think the person you were supposed to give the money to was the man I chased out of the woods,” Luke said. Now that he came to think about the size of the attacker last night was similar to the man who had hidden in the trees.

“What happened when you left? Did you see anyone?”

Poppy shook her head. “I went straight back to the hovel. I told Clarence I had handed the money over but hid it in the kitchen cupboard. Someone called around, but Clarence didn’t answer the door. He tried to get me to answer it, but I refused.”

“Was he worried, or scared?”

Now that she came to think about it, Clarence had looked worried. “He wasn’t trembling with fear or anything like that. He was just determined not to answer the door. It was like he knew who it was and knew he wouldn’t like what they had to say to him, so he never bothered to answer it.”

“Did you get a good look at them?”

Poppy shook her head. “There was only an outline through the glass but it was distorted. I was more pre-occupied with what I was going to do, and whether Clarence would find out I still had the money.” She paused for a moment and thought carefully. “Do you think he has contacts in London?”

Luke nodded. “It looks like it. I also think that Clarence is an entirely separate entity to the body in the park. That is part of our investigation into Sayers. The issues with Clarence are an enigma in their own right but have nothing to do with the Star Elite’s investigation into the burglaries.”

“I am sorry. I have brought so much trouble to your door.”

Luke grinned at her. “We are used to it.”

“Do you think the man is out to kill Clarence?” She frowned when Luke slowly shook his head.

He didn’t want to frighten her but had to make her understand. “The man, the attacker, whoever he is, is after you. The fact that Clarence, who has ostensibly been living all alone in that hovel in Camden, is alive is a testament that the attacker doesn’t want him.”

“So he could be connected to Clarence.”

“Exactly. Because Clarence accosted you in the street outside of the coaching office, we have to assume that the two, and the woman in the coaching yard, are all linked.”

“My own father would want me dead?” She felt sick at the very notion, but then Clarence had never hidden the fact that he hated her. “He did say that he couldn’t wait to off-load me because I had been a burden to him for too long.”

“I am not saying it is him, but it looks likely,” Luke whispered. When he saw the tears in his eyes he immediately hugged her. “I am sorry, Poppy. It is my investigator’s head talking. I am thinking things through aloud. I don’t mean to upset you. I know this must be difficult because this is your father we are talking about.”

“It is all right,” she assured him. “I know he is my father. Although he has always been cold, I just never thought he would be this ruthless.”

“Where money is involved, people have been known to do incredibly nonsensical acts of violence that have driven them to criminality. The Star Elite investigate matters like this so we can, and will, get to the bottom of what Clarence is up to. Let Toby do his work. Once we have a list of the people Clarence is in contact with we can piece everything together, and will know if the assailant last night has anything to do with your sire.”

Poppy nodded, but couldn’t stem the flow of tears that trickled steadily down her face.

“I am sorry, Poppy,” he murmured huskily.

“It isn’t that. I came close to dying,” she whispered. “That man could have killed me, and I would never have had the chance to experience this – you – me – us.”

Luke couldn’t argue because it was the truth. The knowledge of just how close he had come to losing her just made him more determined to keep her safe. Now that he had started to get her to trust him, they were closer than ever before, and it was wonderful. He had never had this closeness with another human being and, until now, hadn’t been sure he ever wanted it. To share moments like this, where the investigator in him was able to put his boots by the door and focus on the pleasure of the here and now, and the woman in his arms he cared about. It proved just how much Poppy had changed the way he viewed life.

For the first time since he had joined the army many, many moons ago, he felt as though he wanted to stop, rest for a while, and savour the world, preferably with Poppy.

They lay together for a very long time. The silence within the room was broken only by the rhythmic ticking of the clock in the hallway downstairs. Eventually, the slow and steady pace of her breathing and the limpness of her hand as it rested in his warned him that she had fallen asleep. His own eyes started to droop until the clock in the hallway chimed. Tenderly easing a few stray stands of hair away from her face, his eyes roved lovingly over her refined beauty. She really was perfection personified with peach flushed cheeks and a delicate rosebud mouth.

“Poppy?” he whispered, but failed to rouse her.

Easing away from her, he tucked her in and gathered his clothes. It was only when he was on his way out of the room that he realised that for all of his curiosity and questions, he had forgotten to ask her probably the most important question of all: where she wanted to live once this was all over.