Tarnished Angel (34 page)

    How could he have been so stupid? How could he have failed to recognize that difference? The hand that had gripped his in greeting had been hard, callused, the hand of a laborer. It had not been the hand of a doctor! Charles Carter's hands were as smooth, as unused to physical labor as his own. But the face had been the same, the smile, the voice…

    No!

    The color draining from his face, Harvey paused only a moment before striding into the living room to face the guests assembled there. With great urgency, he signaled the musicians to silence. He raised a trembling hand toward his guests. In a voice that quaked with emotion, he spoke into the expectant silence, "I should like to request… no, to beg the aid of each and every man in this room. I desperately need your help. My daughter has been abducted."

Chapter XII

   Charles had abandoned his struggle to break free of his bonds. The chair to which he was bound was too solidly built, and his bonds were too tight to allow him to slip free. He had accepted the realization that he would have to wait to be discovered, wait until someone came pounding at his door.

    Frustrated, his agitation growing stronger by the minute, Charles went over the situation again in his mind.

    Charles's brow furrowed into a worried frown. He did not want to see Devina hurt, and he did not know what to expect from a brother who was a virtual stranger to him. What were Ross's intentions toward Devina? To kidnap her? To hold her for ransom? Was that all? Would he return her safe and sound if Harvey met his demands? He supposed Ross's veiled threats in regard to Devina were made for his benefit in the hope that he would urge Harvey to meet Ross's demands. He hoped that was so, but there had been something about the light in Ross's eyes at the mention of Devina's name that made Charles uneasy.

    Damn, if only he could free himself, get to the party in time to stop Ross from making a dire mistake. If only he could persuade Ross to stop his dangerous attempt at vengeance. If only he could persuade Ross to attack the matter legally. If only…

    The sound of running footsteps on the board sidewalk outside his window broke into Charles's thoughts. He responded to the sudden pounding on the side door of his living quarters with a muffled shout for help. Within moments the door burst open to reveal, among others, a panic-stricken Harvey Dale.

    Charles's eyes closed in dreaded realization. Oh, God, it was too late.

    As the sheriff's deputy untied him, Charles met Harvey Dale's enraged gaze.

    "Where's my daughter? Tell me now, or I'll see you in a cell next to that criminal brother of yours! Where is she?"

    Charles struggled to his feet, which had been numbed by the bonds. He faced Harvey Dale unsteadily. "I don't know what's happened to Devina, Harvey."

    Grabbing him by the shirt, Harvey gave him a rough shake. "Don't pretend innocence with me, Charles Carter! Damn, I don't know how I could have been such a fool! I knew you were Brad Morrison's son, but you appeared to be a sensible man, well educated and raised in affluence. You weren't a common ruffian like your brother. I trusted you! But you were just playing me along, weren't you?"

    Charles dislodged Harvey's grip on his shirt with carefully controlled anger. "Harvey, I don't know anything about this."

    "Your brother received an early release from prison, didn't he? Either that or he broke out. You took advantage of my trust. You used both Devina and me to help him conduct this vendetta against me."

    Sympathy welled up within Charles at the sight of the man's distress. It was obvious Harvey was almost beside himself with fear for Devina's safety.

    "Harvey, I was busy with a patient and late getting ready for the party. When I returned here from the baths, Ross was waiting with a gun. Until this minute, I wasn't certain what he was going to do."

    "Liar… liar!" Harvey's face flushed blood red. "I welcomed you into my home as a companion for my daughter, and you betrayed both of us."

    "Harvey, calm down, please." Charles's eyes assessed the purple tint flushing Harvey's face. He frowned. "It'll do you no good to push yourself to this level of agitation."

    Push myself to this level of agitation! My daughter has been abducted, damn you! Now tell me where she is and how I may get her back. Tell me or I swear I'll" Turning swiftly, Harvey tried to seize the gun from the holster of the man standing at his side, but did not succeed.

    Compassion surged anew inside Charles as he realized the true   depth of Harvey Dale's agitation. The man was an arrogant, self-centered bigot, but he loved his daughter and he was suffering. Charles stared into Harvey's pain-filled eyes. "Harvey, please believe me. I had nothing to do with the abduction of your daughter. I'm extremely fond of Devina. I would never do anything to hurt her. And if I had maintained any hope for vengeance against you for the injustices my brother claimed, I certainly wouldn't have waited this long to get my satisfaction. Now, please, tell me what happened."

    Harvey was still straining for control when George
Tillson
stepped forward to respond in his stead. His narrow, lined face reflected his incredulity. "Charles, it's still difficult for me to believe the man who attended the party this evening wasn't you. But now that I look at you more closely… perhaps there is a severity to your brother's features that is absent from yours, a look about the eyes, a hint of menace in the gaze. Perhaps we should have realized…" His voice trailing away, George shook his head. "But none of us had reason to suspect your brother had been released, or that he would attempt such an unexpected way of striking back at Harvey. We all spoke to him and never suspected for a moment that it wasn't you. Devina was obviously taken in, also. She was last seen walking in the garden with you… I mean with your brother."

    Uncertain whether he was more deeply concerned for Ross or Devina, Charles turned back to Harvey, his expression sober. "Harvey, I give you my word that I'll do my best to find Devina and bring' her back."

    Harvey stared into his face in silence before suddenly giving a short, harsh laugh. "This whole situation is my fault, isn't it? I was a damned fool to trust anyone with the tainted Morrison blood, no matter where or how he was raised. But I've learned my lesson in the most difficult way possible, and you may rest assured I'll never make the same mistake again."

    Harvey's aristocratic face twitched with emotion as he continued in a low, quaking voice, "I want you to know something, Carter… if that's what you still call yourself. I'm going to find your brother and get my daughter back. Then I'm going to see your brother back in prison where he belongs. And just for the record, you're no longer welcome in my home. When this is all over, I hope I'll never have to look at your face again."

    Turning on his heel, Harvey Dale walked stiffly through the   crowd that had gathered at Charles's doorstep and out onto the street. The rigidity of his posture and the determination in his face portended poorly for Ross's future, and the future of Charles Carter as well.

    Harvey was trembling with rage as he eyed the two Oriental women standing a few feet from him. They were so distinctly different in appearance. One was short, broad in girth, her small nondescript features lost in her round face. The other was tall, slender, as exquisitely beautiful and graceful as the lily for which she was named. The only similarity between the two was in the expression of bland innocence they wore so blatantly.

    He took a firm hold on his emotions. "Do you expect me to believe you know nothing about my daughter's abduction?"

    China Mary's singsong voice was pleasant. Her lips curved into a smile. "That is correct, Mr. Dale."

    Harvey's handsome face grew stiffer. He had left Charles Carter's quarters and come directly to the establishment of China Mary. He had demanded that Lily join China Mary and him in the back room, and Lily had responded immediately to his summons. Despising himself for his own spontaneous reaction to the beauty of his mistress, Harvey had immediately begun his attack. He was still pursuing it to his end.

    "So it was merely a coincidence that Lily showed up at my home tonight. It was merely a coincidence that she distracted me with her presence, enraged me with her gall in coming to my home. It was merely a coincidence that she managed to keep me so thoroughly off balance that Ross Morrison was successful in entering my home masquerading as his brother without my realization!"

    Lily nodded, her expression serene. "Yes, it was a coincidence, Mr. Dale."

    Her calmness pushed Harvey over the edge of rage. He gripped Lily's slender shoulders and shook her roughly. "Tell me the truth, damn you! I want to know why you came to my house. It was a ploy to distract me, wasn't it? You're in league with Ross Morrison. You're using him to seek revenge on me."

    "Revenge, Mr. Dale? I seek no revenge."

    Harvey dropped his hands as if he had been burned. "You lie, Lily. How very well you lie! You know you despise me… just as I despise you".

   ''You despise me, Mr. Dale?" Lily's thin eyebrows rose in a delicate expression of feigned surprise. "You demonstrate your hatred in a very unusual way."

    Harvey could feel the blood rushing to his face. He fought the urge to force the smile from Lily's finely drawn lips. "Bitch! Lying Hop Town slut!"

    The light tic in Lily's smooth cheek was the only indication of her reaction to Harvey's harsh words. She ignored the stiffening of her mother's smile as she responded in a light, even tone, "As you say, Mr. Dale."

    Fury pounding through his veins, Harvey roughly gripped Lily's chin with his hand. The contact with her smooth skin sent a chill down his spine despite the heat of the moment. He whispered into her upturned face, his voice a low venomous threat. "Lily, you will tell me what you had to do with Devina's disappearance, and you will tell me now, or you will bear the weight of the consequences on your shoulders.
Tell me!
"

    Aware of China Mary's nervous twitching behind him, Harvey continued to concentrate his attention on the beautiful woman whose
doelike
eyes looked up without fear into his, her gaze moving over his flushed, tense expression. When she spoke, her words were soft but unyielding, "I can tell you only what I have told you before. I had no part in Miss Devina's disappearance. I came to your house because Lai Hua was hiring servants for your party."

    "Servants! You've never worked a day in your pampered life, much less as a servant!"

    "Oh, yes." Lily's eyes moved to his lips. "I have worked as a very personal servant indeed."

    Her openly provocative gaze was beginning to weave its usual spell, and Harvey dropped his hand from her chin. He stepped back, a sneer twisting his mouth.

    "Whore! You cannot forget your training, can you? I have no time now for your services. I came here for the truth, but it appears you are incapable of speaking it."

    Interrupting unexpectedly, China Mary spoke with an uncommon sobriety. "We have told you the truth, Mr. Dale, but you refuse to accept it. We can do no more."

    Harvey took a short step backward. "All right, all right. I'll accept what you say for now, because there is nothing else I can do. But I will find my daughter, and I will bring her abductor to   justice. And when I do, I will find out the extent of your involvement."

    "And if you find out we have no involvement, Mr. Dale?" Lily murmured.

    Harvey was well aware that a part of his rage stemmed from his desire for her. As incredible as it seemed even to him, in the depth of his despair over the loss of his darling Devina, he still wanted the beautiful Chinese tart who had helped to turn his life upside down.

    Harvey turned without another word and walked out the door. He was on the street and walking rapidly out of Hop Town a few minutes later. Uncertain where to go from this most recent defeat, he was closer to despair than he had ever been in his life.

    Lai Hua stood on the veranda of the Dale residence as the last lanterns were extinguished. The final guests had departed a short time before, and she had taken it upon herself to dismiss the musicians. The party had ended the moment Harvey Dale learned that his daughter was missing.

    Issuing quick, precise instructions in her native tongue Lai Hua directed the silent army of servants to finish setting the house in order.

    She quickly inspected the premises. The dining room buffet had been cleared. The food was now stored and the room returned to its former appearance. As she watched, the last remaining signs of the party were systematically removed from the living room. The floor had been swept and the rug replaced. The furniture was presently being rearranged. Within minutes the house would be as it was before, with one very large exception. The light, the excitement that was Miss Devina, was missing.

    Sadness pressed at Lai Hua's heart, and she fought to swallow against the thickness that choked her throat. The memory of Mr. Jake's beautiful laughing face returned to her mind and lingered there. She saw yellow hair, thick and heavy, curling appealingly around her fingers as she ran her hand through its glossy weight. She saw pale blue eyes, eyes that stirred in her a warmth of spirit previously unknown. She saw light skin peppered with freckles, freckles as she had seen before only on the faces of the children of Mr. Jake's race.