Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
A delaide’s steps down the familiar street were slower than usual. She had never enjoyed coming to this place, but even less so when leaving someone so beloved behind.
Her baby.
But this had to be done. She knew Michael would want to be involved, but he had done enough for her already. She had only asked for his assistance because Jack had included him in this scheme.
Now, it seemed the note they had passed on had brought this merry trio of criminals back together, which meant that not only was she an accomplice to it all, but so was Michael. They were trapped.
She knew better than anyone that there wasn’t much good left in Jack, but perhaps he would listen to reason.
The tavern was quieter tonight than when she had last worked there. She wondered if Jack had allowed the quality to lower so much that most patrons had found another place to indulge themselves.
It also meant that it wasn’t long before she was noticed.
“Adelaide, what are you doing here?”
Abraham was pouring drinks tonight, and Adelaide greeted him warmly.
“Good to see you. I am looking for Jack.”
“He’s in the back in a meeting, though I don’t know with who,” Abraham said, leaning over the bar. “I thought I told you that you shouldn’t come back here, that it was good you got away.”
“You did,” she said, drumming her fingers on the bar as she looked around for her brother or anyone else who might be a threat. “And I appreciate that. Trust me, I am trying to stay as far from here as possible, but first, I need to free myself from something Jack is holding over me.”
“What would that be?” Abraham asked, his brow furrowing in concern.
“I’ll take it up with Jack,” she said flippantly. “I don’t want you to be involved and have any of this come back on you. But thank you, Abraham, truly. What room is Jack in?”
“His office off the kitchen,” Abraham said, and she nodded her thanks before pushing through the door into the back rooms.
She heard the voices echoing through the kitchen, even from the closed door between it and Jack’s office. She wondered if he was meeting with one of the partners from the smuggling ring. She crept closer to the door, quieting her footsteps, hoping to hear something of value.
Then froze when she recognized the voices within.
That was Jack, yes.
But that was not Lord Gregory or Rawlins with him.
It was Michael.
Michael had been a fool to hope that Jack would be reasonable.
He was, in fact, the exact opposite.
When Michael had arrived at the tavern, Jack had appeared as though he was a terrier who had caught a rat. He had led Michael into his office to sit in a hard wooden chair before taking a seat across from him in a much more comfortable one.
“Surprised to see you here,” Jack said. “Usually, you send your brother to do the dirty work for you.”
“I did in the past,” Michael agreed. “I can admit that I was a coward.”
“What has changed?” Jack asked, his voice so soft and sweet that Michael wanted to be sick.
“Much has changed,” Michael said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think you know most of it.”
“Are you referring to my sister? The one that you tried to pay off?”
Michael gritted his teeth, hating the reminder. When he had found out that Adelaide was pregnant, yes, Edward had come here to The Red Lion to try to pay off Jack to absolve Michael of the responsibility of the baby. Still, when Edward had seen how awful the man was and had understood the life the child would be born into – and that Adelaide would have to endure – he had ensured that Adelaide was looked after directly.
It hadn’t taken long for Michael to decide that he was the one who had to look after her and the baby, then and forever. He never did anything in half-measures, and when he decided to go all in with her, he had done so in the extreme.
She had just never quite agreed to his idea.
“I had a lapse in judgment, but one that I will never make again,” he said quietly. “Which is why I am here. Adelaide needs to be free of you. She has never wronged you, Jack, in any way, and you must release her from the threats you have made upon her.”
“You will have to tell me more about what you are referring to,” Jack said with a sly smile that told Michael he knew exactly what he was talking about.
“You have threatened her, telling her that she must do your bidding or you will accuse her of being involved in your counterfeit scandal.”
Michael felt intense satisfaction at the surprise that lit Jack’s face.
“Who said anything about a counterfeit scandal?” Jack said. “Perhaps you are the one who is framing me.”
“Enough of this,” Michael scoffed. “I have enough evidence of what you are doing that I can expose you. I know what you will say – that you will take Adelaide down with you. But you will preserve yourself, Jack, I know you will. You are not going to risk your life. I have evidence against you, while all there is against Adelaide is hearsay.”
“You are willing to take that chance?” Jack said, a sly smile crossing his face. “Risk her life?”
“There is one thing you must know about me, Jack,” Michael said, standing and placing his hands on the table and leaning toward Jack menacingly. “I am not skilled at many things, but gambling is one of them. I know how to read people. And right now, you are bluffing. Not doing a very good job of it, either, for a man who owns and lives in a tavern.”
Jack’s face turned furious, his entire facade dropping as he stood, his hand reaching into his pocket before pulling out a pistol and holding it up to Michael’s face.
“Get out.”
“Here I was hoping for a reasonable discussion.”
“You do not come into my place of business and threaten me,” Jack snarled, and Michael sighed. Jack could have made things so much easier on himself.
“You do realize that my offer is not to turn you on or to halt your… production,” he said, holding his hands up, hoping that Jack would have enough rational thought to realize that killing a nobleman in his place of business would bring him nothing but trouble and certain death. “My only request is that you release Adelaide. Tell her that she does not have to be involved anymore and that you will keep her name out of this.”
“Here is what you do not understand,” Jack seethed, inching closer toward him. “I do not want Adelaide to go anywhere. She should be here with me, where she belongs. You find her, and you tell her that. Then you can be released from this.”
“I am not concerned about my involvement,” Michael said. “No one will believe it. Speaking of noblemen, what will Lord Gregory think of being exposed?”
“He will think he needs to find a new friend,” Jack returned, pressing the pistol against Michael’s forehead. “Now?—”
Just as Michael began to say his prayers, the door scraped open behind him, and he swung around.
“Adelaide?”
“Michael?”
“Oh, perfect timing,” Jack said with a vile grin. “Our lovers are back together.”
“Adelaide, what are you doing here?” Michael said, watching the horror fill her eyes as she stared at the gun. “You must leave. Now.”
“I cannot leave you here with him alone!”
“I assure you that I can take care of myself. You need to go. We cannot leave Mabel without either of us.”
“I hate to interrupt,” Jack said, leaning in, waving the pistol from one of them to the other, “but as it happens, neither of you make the decisions here. The two of you have stuck your noses where they don’t belong, and now you know more than you should. My original plan was to blame all of this on you, but it seems you might be able to prove the truth. So, onto the next.”
Michael didn’t like the sound of that.
“It will be too messy in here, though,” Jack mused.
“You are going to kill us?” Adelaide gaped, moving closer to Michael, except she didn’t hide behind him as most people would. Instead, she took his hand in hers, standing with him unitedly.
“I am going to kill him ,” Jack said, pointing at Michael. “You, I am going to keep for myself. I should kill you, but I just don’t seem to have it in me. I need you with me, but instead, you let this fool plant a sprig.”
“Jack, counterfeit is one thing, but murder is another,” Adelaide said, and Michael wondered whether Jack also heard the desperation in her tone, as matter-of-fact as she tried to be.
“Is it, though?” Jack said with a shrug. “I’m already this far gone, what’s another crime? Now, to the back, Mr. Redgrave , or I will shoot Adelaide, whether I need her or not.”
Michael swallowed. If he had been the only one threatened, he would have attempted to wrest the gun away from Jack, but he couldn’t put Adelaide at risk.
He nodded, running his hand down Adelaide’s arm to her palm.
“It will be fine,” he murmured before leaning down and whispering in her ear. “You must escape. As soon as he is occupied with me, run. As fast as you can. Take Mabel and go to Edward. He will know what to do.”
“Michael—” she whispered back, but Jack stepped forward and waved the gun between them, forcing them apart.
“That’s enough sweet nothin’s between the two of you. Let’s go.”
“I will not stay with you, Jack,” Adelaide said as he nudged them forward, and they walked in front of him, Adelaide still gripping Michael’s hand. “You cannot force me to.”
“You are right, we are not staying,” he said. “I’ve saved enough. I am going to cut my losses and get away from here. Find somewhere else, be someone else. And you will come with me. Maybe we can follow that dream you were chasing, together.”
Michael noticed he said nothing about the baby. He had either forgotten or didn’t care.
“Where are we going?” Michael asked, trying to gather information.
“Outside. Don’t want to have to clean up any more than I have to.”
Jack led them out the back door, through the kitchen and the storeroom, destroying any hope Michael had of catching the attention of a tavern patron or worker.
When they stepped outside, he turned to Jack.
“I will make this easy on you, but you must release Adelaide.”
Jack laughed menacingly. “Have you heard nothing I’ve said? She’s staying right here. Now, take two steps forward.”
Michael looked at Adelaide. “You have to let go,” he said, urging her attention to their joined hands.
“I will not,” she said, tears seeping out of her eyes as she stared at him. “Michael, I?—”
“Enough!” Jack said. “If you don’t want to ruin your dress, Adelaide, do as he says. You have ten seconds.”
“Stop this, Jack,” Adelaide begged. “Please. I?—”
“Five seconds.”
“No! Michael, you need to know. I?—”
“Two.”
Michael tore his hand away, not wanting to leave her, but knowing that it was the only way.
“I love you,” he said, staring at her. “Run.”
“One.”
He braced for impact as Adelaide’s horrified stare looked back at him, and he decided that if he had to go, her face was the perfect last memory.
The shot, however, never came.
He cringed, waiting, and he did hear a crash and a thud, but it was much softer than expected.
He and Adelaide turned together, their mouths dropping open at what they saw.
For Jack was no longer standing there. Instead, he was lying on the ground, the pistol dropped from his hand next to him. He was knocked senseless.
In his place was the man Jack recognized from the kitchen last time and the bar today. He held a bottle in his hand that was now nothing more than jagged edges as bits of brandy washed over Jack and the ground next to him.
“Abraham!” Adelaide cried. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I?—”
“Go,” Abraham said, gesturing to the side. “Before he wakes up. I told you not to come back here, Adelaide. He has the strangest designs on you.”
“But—”
“I was about to step into the kitchen when I saw him holding the gun on you,” he said. “Go now, I beg of you.”
Michael didn’t know anything about this man, but he owed him his life – his and likely, Adelaide’s.
“If you ever need anything, come to Brook Street in Mayfair,” he said. “Ask for Lord Mandrake. He is my brother and will take care of whatever you need.”
Abraham nodded his understanding, gratefulness in those warm brown eyes.
Michael looked over at Adelaide. “He’s right. We need to go. And we need to go now.”