Chapter Ten
As the sun set over Bristol Harbor the next evening, Diana stared out the window of Rives Shipping’s wharf-side offices and tried to appreciate the small joy of a beautiful view.
The plush chair she sat on and the bitter hot coffee she sipped at were temporary comforts.
She hadn’t slept on the journey from London, and there had been too much to do when she’d arrived in Bristol to stop for rest. Widow’s new orders compelled them to depart two days earlier than planned.
Diana couldn’t sleep until her crew was ready to make sail.
Birdie knocked on the open door. “Miss Hunter and Captain Virgil are here, ma’am.”
Diana motioned for them to come through and rose from her desk. “Will we be ready to leave by midnight?”
“All-a-taunto. The crew has signed on to the special conditions,” Amelia confirmed. They were paying the sailors handsomely for their silence about the first voyage of the company’s newest ship, the Ever Hart.
“Her Majesty’s Navy is keen to understand how the ship will maneuver along the Channel Islands,” the captain added. “They’re giving us a long leash on our navigation plans. And paying a generous incentive if we can prove Ever Hart will surpass fifteen knots.”
Diana nodded. She’d written the contract herself. Payment from the navy offset the costs of the Stags’s operations and would make the ship more attractive to potential commercial buyers. “Well done, sorting this out so quickly. How are we on cargo?”
“Ready to load after sundown,” Birdie said. She managed a crew of women trained as sailors and deckhands, but their first duty was guarding the precious shipment the Ever Hart carried.
Diana massaged the back of her neck so her head would stop throbbing.
Normally she was clearheaded before departure, but following her tumultuous escape from London, she found herself vacillating between hypervigilance and feeling completely dazed.
“Make sure there’s enough light at the pier so no one trips over the gangway, but don’t blaze the place up.
We don’t want to draw unnecessary notice. I’ll meet you on deck within the hour.”
Virgil ducked out quickly, but Birdie lingered in the office. She observed Amelia for a long moment before addressing Diana.
“Holt’s on the move from the hotel. He’s headed to the docks. Alone.”
Diana made a concerted effort to keep her expression from revealing any overt signs of relief. She’d been on pins and needles throughout the night and most of the day, dreading the possibility that she’d pushed Ian too far with that kiss. “We were expecting him to follow the emeralds.”
Birdie crossed her arms. “He’ll want onboard.”
“If so, we’ll interview Mr. Holt, exactly like any of our hands.
” A steamship the size and scale of Ever Hart—even when running with a fraction of its occupancy—depended on a cadre of staff: cooks, maids, and the strong men who performed the back-breaking work of feeding the coal boilers were as important as the sailors who manned the lines.
“And will Holt pass inspection?”
“Is it your job to question if he will?”
Birdie ducked her head. “It’s a risk, ma’am. He’s not one of us. Widow won’t like it.”
Their handler would, in fact, hate it.
After years of proving her loyalty to the Stags, Diana now oversaw her own operations. Her frustrations with the secrecy and the blind allegiance the Stags demanded of her faded every time she shuttled women out of danger, to a place where they could flourish.
But this mission would be different. Diana couldn’t comply with Widow’s strict orders to leave Ian Holt behind.
“I will manage Mr. Holt. Please let Virgil know to expect him. He’ll be arriving any moment.”
On her way out, Birdie stole another furtive look at Amelia before she slammed the door.
Amelia made a throaty noise that sounded surprisingly aggressive. “She really dislikes me.”
“Nonsense. She doesn’t trust you.”
“It’s what happens when one asks too many pointed questions.”
Amelia and Diana each had their own reasons for passionately taking to the mission of the White Stags. And they both knew the danger involved with rescuing women from abusive situations and helping resettle them in new lives.
But last year, Amelia had uncovered a disturbing pattern. Funds that were supposed to be dedicated to specific Stag operations vanished. The missing money correlated with the dates and locations of targeted acts of violence. Against criminals known for trafficking people.
Diana placed her hand on Amelia’s arm. She would have embraced her friend, had Amy not been so uncomfortable with hugging. “Dear, if you hadn’t asked those questions, we could still be oblivious to the fact that there’s a traitor in the ranks.”
“It took a while to convince you.”
“I was furious with you, for doubting the cause,” Diana admitted with a faint wince. “It felt like a betrayal, which was so childish. Other than Beatrix, you’re the closest thing I’ve had to family.”
Amelia’s soft smile made her violet eyes crinkle. “Thank you for saying that. I feel the same about you. That’s why it was so hard to tell you about what I’d found.”
“I didn’t want to believe it.”
“Neither did I. It’s world-shattering to discover the reason one gets out of bed in the morning is a complete charade.”
“We won’t let it be. We’re going to track down and obliterate the turncoats. It’s the only way we can ensure the mission continues. It has to.”
Amelia glanced at the door. “What do you intend to tell Ian?”
Diana was relieved, and encouraged, that he’d followed her. But he’d want retribution for her deception. “He’s too furious with me for stealing the emeralds to think straight. I’m worried if he comes aboard, he’ll lash out and terrify a passenger.”
“Despite his devilish reputation, I find it hard to believe Ian would become…forceful with a woman or a child.”
“No. But he’ll want his pound of flesh for what I did, and he may not care who stands in the way of it.”
They both contemplated this as they evaluated the tranquil waves in the harbor.
“If your suspicion about the emeralds is right…” Amelia ventured.
“He has to come with us,” Diana finished. “For his own good.”
“He’ll be less angry if you tell him why we’re doing this.”
“Can’t risk it before we set sail. When he’s calmer, there’s a better chance he’ll believe me.”
“And what about San Genaro?”
Diana hesitated. “When it’s safe, I’ll tell him.”
Amelia remained quiet as she ran the length of her finger along the velvet seam of her sleeve in a rhythmic motion. Their schoolmistress had rapped Amelia’s knuckles countless times, but it hadn’t curtailed the habit.
“Is anything else bothering you, Amy?”
“We’re not putting Ian at more risk by taking him with us, are we?”
The same thought had chased Diana all the way from London.
“The emeralds have nothing to do with our mission to protect women. Someone in our organization is using the necklace as a pawn to entrap criminals who want to claim it. And Ian can’t extricate himself from the chase.
” She dropped her voice. “I think the Stags want him to become collateral damage.”
Diana wouldn’t allow it. And she’d never forgive herself if her efforts to capture the traitors in her own organization jeopardized him.
“Then I shall interview Mr. Holt about his interest in the ship,” Amelia resolved. “Let’s hope he has enough sense to pass inspection.”
Compared to London’s docks, Bristol’s floating harbor was practically quaint.
It made Ian’s skin crawl.
The narrow lanes and hundreds of workers employed in various ends of the shipping trade made for a densely populated square mile along the riverfront. As he strode along the docks, more than a few heads turned in his direction.
In London, he was used to people staring at him.
On the occasions he found himself in a packed ballroom, or on the streets in Mayfair, the olive shade of his skin and the thick, dark hair and eyes that he’d inherited from his mother made him stand apart.
But in his corner of the docklands, people knew him.
He’d taken the security of that infamy for granted.
He ducked into the narrow alleyway between two large warehouses belonging to Rives Shipping. Thankfully, he did not have to wait long before Hepburn made his way through the sea of bodies. Revulsion painted his features as he picked through the crowd to meet Ian.
“I packed the essentials.” Hepburn handed him a saddle valise. “Did you figure out which ship it is?”
“There’s only one moored at the pier. Everything else is in dry dock. It has to be that one.” Ian nodded to the nearest ship in the distance. “I take it the harbormaster did not confirm a sailing?”
“Nothing filed. But he said if it’s a commission from the Royal Navy, they wouldn’t alert them until after they set sail. The lad pulling pints at the Angler’s Arms was much more forthcoming.”
“Barmen usually are.”
“There’s talk at the tavern that a new ship pulls out tonight, at midnight. And not everyone’s happy about it. Apparently, the captain’s selective about who they take on as crew.”
“The smith in the yard said the same.”
If Diana wanted Ian to follow her, he wouldn’t stroll onto her ship easily, which he appreciated. It made it feel less like a trap.
More like a lure.
A little like a seduction.
“There are some letters I need you to attend to.”
Ian withdrew a stack of notes from his pocket and handed them to Hepburn. Even if he retrieved the emeralds from Diana quickly, he wasn’t returning to England. He buried the thought that if things went poorly, he’d never see its shores again.
“The first one is for Henry Eden. He’s in desperate need of a valet, although he will never confess it. Don’t worry, he’s got plenty of money to pay your demanding salary. It will benefit both of us to have you placed in his household.”
It would provide Ian with a back channel for Henry’s legal counsel, should he need it.