Chapter 26
T he Dove approached the man leaning against the lamppost, hands in his pockets, light and shadows dancing over his face. He was relaxed and casual, but she knew better than to underestimate the former army colonel and half of the duo she’d hired to track down Miss Fidelia Turner. She was unsurprised when Mr. Zachariah Denholm turned, alerted to her presence far sooner than most would be, and the corner of his mouth tugged upward. He inclined his head, and she did the same.
“Why am I not surprised to see you here?” he asked, adjusting his cravat. It was an unassuming gesture, a lazy indulgence, but Zachariah Denholm was anything but lazy. He was one of the most persistent detectives she had ever known. “Have you come to check on our progress? You do know we are supposed to be on our honeymoon, but when Emily found out our first case was for her governess friend Frankie she refused to pass it up.”
The Dove smiled despite herself and held her black-gloved hand out to the side, halting the catlike movements of the woman who’d been approaching her from behind, no doubt wielding a wickedly sharp dagger. “You got closer to me this time, Mrs. Denholm.”
Emily Denholm—the former Miss Emily Leverton and governess—sighed noisily and stepped into the radius of lamplight. “One of these times I shall surprise the great and mysterious Dove.”
The Dove sincerely hoped not. She had made a lot of enemies. If she ever lost her touch, very few would hesitate to take her down. She tilted her head toward Emily. “How did you know I was coming?”
“I was late meeting Zach when I spotted a shadow on Crescent Street and decided to follow.”
That was a good five minutes ago. Perhaps she already was losing her touch.
Emily approached her husband, and the ice faded from his blue eyes. He wrapped his hand around her arm and tugged her indecently close, and the Dove had the distinct impression that he’d have kissed her on the public street if the Dove were not standing right there.
An ache, familiar and old, throbbed in her chest. She had once had that kind of love. She had fallen for a man who looked at her exactly as Zach looked at Emily, who’d thought the sun and stars had hung on her every word. And then he’d died, and all of the light in the cosmos had gone out.
The Dove shook away her melancholy and said, “Have you found her yet?”
Zach was too busy tracing his wife’s cheekbones with a heated glance, but Emily turned her face and answered. “No, but we made progress before we had to return for Mr. Davies’s engagement ball.” Deputy Commissioner Wright Davies was second in command at the Metropolitan Police, and Zach’s former employer. He was also the person the Dove sent most of her anonymous tips to—she did not trust the commissioner—and despite all of Mr. Davies’s grumbling, he never let her information go to waste. He’d recently become engaged, and she’d gambled on Emily and Zach making an appearance at the celebration.
The Dove nodded, encouraging Emily to continue with her report.
“They are keeping it tightly under wraps, but it seems Lady Elizabeth Scarson—or Lady Pierson as she is known now—has disappeared. Lord Pierson is telling everyone they are on their honeymoon in the country, but when I posed as a maid and infiltrated his household, I discovered that the lady in question has been missing for several weeks.”
The Dove inhaled. “She is with Miss Fidelia?”
Zach finally tore his gaze from his wife to contribute to the conversation. “We tracked Lady Elizabeth Scarson by following her trail of horses,” he said. “’Twas an enjoyable challenge.”
Emily smiled indulgently at him.
“We lost her two days’ ride from her estate, but at the last stable we tracked her to, we were told she met with another woman, and they both left on the post carriage. We may have another lead, though,” Zach said. He brushed a loose curl from his wife’s neck.
“Is Frankie doing all right?” Emily asked with genuine concern. “I met her only a handful of times, and the last time she seemed worried about more than her sister.”
The Dove did not know how Frankie was doing emotionally, but she did know that she had made a deal with the governess, and the Dove always upheld her end of a bargain. “I believe she is fine.”
Zach reached for Emily again, his gloved hand encircling her wrist. She shivered slightly. “As soon as we are free from our obligation here, we will track down our latest lead,” he said. “We will find Miss Fidelia Turner.”
The Dove nodded once, her thoughts already shifting to her next task. “Of course you will. I work only with the best.”