Trade Winds (Choc Lit) (15 page)

Her thoughts returned to Mr Kinross, her mind’s eye conjuring up a disturbing image of him smiling as he bent to kiss her, his extraordinary eyes intense. She shivered. Kinross was trouble with a capital T and he could protest his innocence all he liked – she still didn’t believe him. He may not be a hardened gambler, but he
was
reckless. By his own admission he dared anything and she was sure he would come to a sticky end.

That wasn’t her problem. She, for one, would take care not to be alone with him again. What he did on his own was none of her business. A thought struck her suddenly. Perhaps she ought to find out exactly what he knew? Another visit to the warehouse so soon after this one was out of the question. But there was one other place where she saw him regularly and where he had sworn to sit next to her whenever he could – at church.

She smiled to herself. So far she had thwarted his attempts, but she rather thought it was time to relent.

Killian continued to attend church every Sunday, because he didn’t want to offend anyone until he was his own man. So far, Miss van Sandt had managed to avoid sitting next to him again and he had to endure the mind-numbingly boring sermons without any diversion. It didn’t help that he now actually understood a lot of what the minister said. He would have preferred not to.

He had tried to outwit Miss van Sandt a few times, but she always found some excuse why it was necessary for her to move. Her mother needed help with the boys, Mrs Forbes was beckoning for her to sit somewhere else or the bench had a loose nail or some such. All very convenient, and naturally he couldn’t protest since that would have been considered suspicious. In the end, he admitted defeat and stopped trying.

It was therefore a great surprise when he found her at the end of the pew the following Sunday. She even went so far as to move over slightly to make room for him. He raised his eyebrows at her, but she pretended she hadn’t seen the question in his eyes. Instead she turned the pages of her hymn book with great concentration.

‘Good morning,’ he said and sat down beside her, intrigued by this new development. She nodded absently and turned to say something to Mrs Forbes. Killian decided to be patient. Whatever she was up to would no doubt be revealed in good time.

Her brothers were fidgeting as usual. The youngest soon managed to fall off the bench and scrape his elbow, although judging by his howls one could have been forgiven for thinking his entire arm was broken. Mrs Fergusson tried to hush him, since the minister glared in her direction. When that didn’t work, she lifted the little boy into her arms and hustled him outside.

That meant Mrs Forbes had to move over to sit with the older boy, who seemed put out by his mother’s departure. Young Ramsay started to kick the bench in front of him and refused to stop, despite being reprimanded both by his father and Mrs Forbes. In between each kick, the boy whispered the words, ‘Want Mama’, over and over again.

The result of all this disruption was that Killian found himself virtually isolated at one end of the pew with Miss van Sandt. He was just about to take advantage of this when she whispered, ‘I need to speak to you. Please pretend you’re concentrating on your hymn book or something.’

He threw her a brief glance, but did as he’d been asked. ‘What about?’ he whispered back.

‘What you said the other day. Why were you so adamant I should stay away? I’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘Your stepfather doesn’t seem to agree. I heard him arguing with Mr Holm. I think you’ll find yourself back in the forest for good if you don’t stay away from the business. He was quite determined about that.’

She made a frustrated little noise and Killian was tempted to take her hand and squeeze it in reassurance. ‘But why?’ came her anguished question. ‘What is he hiding?’

‘You think he’s hiding something? From you?’ Killian hadn’t considered that before. He thought the hostility between them had only come about because she disliked Fergusson usurping her father’s place.

She nodded and told him briefly the true circumstances of the marriage proposal from Mr Adelsten the previous year. ‘So you see, I’m sure he’s up to something.’

‘Why are you telling me this? How do you know I won’t tell Fergusson?’

She shot him a quick look of fear, but he saw resolve in her eyes at the same time. Perhaps even a touch of desperation. ‘What do I stand to lose?’ she asked. ‘I can’t find the answers any other way, so I had to take a gamble you wouldn’t betray me. You were kind enough to warn me earlier, so I thought … but perhaps I was wrong? Will you tell?’

‘No, I won’t, but I can’t give you any answers either. So far, the only proof of wrong-doing I have found are some properties owned by the company where the rent money seems to be going straight into Fergusson’s pockets. That’s nothing to do with your situation though. And although Mr Holm must know about it, he hasn’t said anything so I don’t suppose it’s that much of a crime. The company is doing well enough that he should be able to provide you with your full dowry at any time.’

He sensed her despair and saw her shoulders hunch over in defeat. ‘Then I don’t know what else to do. I just feel there is something not right. Why would he go to such lengths to keep me away otherwise?’

‘Don’t give up yet. I’ll let you know if I find anything, but please don’t come to the warehouse again. It really is too risky.’

‘If you say so.’

‘Have you thought of looking in his study?’ Killian suggested. ‘If I was hiding something, I would keep it close to me, not at my place of work.’

‘You’re right. Perhaps I should, but … what if he were to catch me?’

‘Make sure you do it when he’s not at home. He’s out most days, isn’t he?’

She nodded and he saw her clench her fists with determination. ‘Yes. I’ll have to try.’

‘Well, sit with me again next Sunday so that we can communicate. I’d like to know what you find.’

‘I will. And thank you, you’ve been very helpful. I’m afraid I can’t repay you in any way.’

‘Oh, I don’t know, I’m sure I could think of something.’ He smiled at her and saw understanding dawn in her eyes, only to be replaced by outrage.

‘Why, you …’

‘Shhh.’ He put a hand over hers under cover of her skirts, his smile widening. ‘I was only teasing. You are delightfully easy to rile, you know.’

She relaxed a little, and even managed to smile back. ‘Is that so? Well, I’ll just have to be on my guard then.’

‘You can always try.’ He grinned at her, and just to prove she was no match for him, he kept hold of her hand for the rest of the sermon despite several attempts on her part to pull it away. Eventually, she accepted defeat and made a face at him, which made him want to laugh out loud. If they hadn’t been in church he would have been tempted to kiss her. Instead, he contented himself with circling her palm with lazy thumb strokes, which made her blush.

He was looking forward to the following Sunday already.

The
Lady Madeleine
wasn’t difficult to find and Farquhar strolled along the crowded quayside in the gathering dusk, slightly dazed at the sheer size of the vessel. Ever since Allan had reported the ship’s return, he had been trying to think how best to incapacitate it. He’d come up with several ideas, but none of them seemed plausible now that he could actually see the ship for himself.

‘Damn,’ he muttered.

There was still a lot of coming and going, with men running up and down the gangplank loading a new cargo. Farquhar watched them for a while. It would seem his cousin had set up in business and was trading Scottish goods in Sweden. That was exactly the sort of thing Lord Rosyth would approve of, which meant Killian had to be stopped.

There was only one thing to do and that was to strike him where it would hurt the most – the cargo. If Killian had no merchandise with which to trade, he couldn’t make any profit. A hazy plan took shape in Farquhar’s mind, becoming clearer the more he thought about it.

‘Yes, the cargo has to go,’ he said to himself. ‘All of it.’

He watched for a while longer, then went off to gather what he needed. He would do the deed himself this time. That way he’d avoid having to pay anyone for their silence, and he would do it tonight. It shouldn’t be too difficult.

Farquhar smiled to himself. He was so intent on his plans he never noticed the shadowy figure that followed him wherever he went, watching his every move. It never occurred to him that two could play the same game.

Chapter Thirteen

Gothenburg, Sweden

The door to Robert’s study stood slightly ajar and Jess paused on her way to the kitchen. The temptation to enter was irresistible. She knew he had just gone out and wasn’t due to return until suppertime. It seemed too good an opportunity to be missed. Looking around quickly, to make sure she was really alone, she slipped inside and pushed the door to without shutting it completely.

With a pounding heart and her ears alert to the slightest sound, she tip-toed over to Robert’s desk. It was neat and orderly as always, all the papers in tidy piles. When she riffled through them, she couldn’t see anything other than ordinary business correspondence and lists of goods and prices. She made sure she put them back exactly as she found them.

Oh, Lord, oh Lord, please help me,
she prayed silently, although quite what she wanted God to do, she wasn’t sure.

Kinross’ words echoed through her mind.
If I was hiding something, I would keep it close to me, not at my place of work.
It made sense and she knew he had to be right, but where to look?

A sound from the hallway made her freeze. Her heart stopped almost completely for an instant, but whoever it was moved on, the footsteps receding into another part of the house. She breathed out, shaking from head to toe, but was even more determined to continue her search. She had risked too much already to back out now.

She opened the drawers, one by one, but didn’t find anything until she opened the middle one. A half-finished letter suddenly stared her in the face. Scanning its contents, she read

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you regarding that most delicate matter we discussed a few years ago now, upon the demise of my business partner. I am sure I do not need to urge you to keep our dealings to yourself. However, I must warn you there may be those who will seek to discover the truth and as you know, that would not be to either your advantage or mine. I would therefore advise the utmost caution, should anyone ask you any questions.

In the meantime,

There, the letter ended and Jess was left with an over-whelming sense of relief mixed with curiosity and utter frustration. Here was some tangible proof at last, but who was the letter for? And what else had Robert intended to write? She turned it over, but there was no name or direction, only the letters AM. That could be any number of people. She wanted to scream with vexation.

As she lifted the sheet of paper, however, she noticed there was a clean one underneath, upon which there was a faint imprint of Robert’s words. She thought he must be one of those people who push very hard with the quill when writing so that it showed on the next page as well. This was definitely to her advantage. She snatched the clean sheet up and put it in her pocket. It might be possible to make the words visible by rubbing the paper with dirt or ash later. Since she didn’t dare take the original, it was the best she could do in the circumstances.

The following Sunday, she would pass it on to Kinross to see what he thought and he in turn could show it to Albert. Perhaps now they would believe that she wasn’t imagining things.

‘Captain Craig, it’s good to see you again. How was the trip?’

Killian was pleased when Mrs Ljung ushered the captain into his sitting room one gloomy evening and he hoped for good news.

‘The voyage itself was uneventful, but we had a bit of trouble before we left Edinburgh.’

Killian’s stomach sank. ‘What kind of trouble?’

‘The cargo caught fire.’

‘What? Oh, hell.’ He clenched his fists. ‘How did that happen?’ A frisson of fear shot through him, laced with anger. Was he never to be allowed to prosper?

‘Arson. Had to be, there weren’t any lanterns on board at the time and certainly not in the hold. I’d never allow it and my men know better than to disobey my orders.’

Killian stood up abruptly and began to pace the room. If it hadn’t been an accident, he knew only too well who was the likely culprit. Farquhar.
Damn him!
Quite how his cousin had found out about him owning the ship, he had no idea. He supposed someone present during his game with McGrath might have spread the word. ‘So you’re telling me you had to sail over here with no cargo?’

Captain Craig shook his head. ‘No, I was asleep in my cabin, but luckily there was a witness who managed to alert me to what was happening. Together we put the fire out before it could do much damage. We only lost a few sacks of grain.’

Killian breathed out a sigh of relief. ‘That was fortunate.’

‘Indeed. When I thanked the young man, he said he was a friend of yours, name of Adair?’

‘Ah, thank goodness for that. So he’s doing his job then. I did have my doubts, since he’s an idle young varmint.’ Killian was happy to hear that Adair hadn’t gone back to his thieving ways. At least not enough to stop him tailing Farquhar as he’d been asked to do.