Chapter 42

A pounding knock at the door awakened Saffron an indeterminate time later. She'd fallen into bed fully clothed, and scrambled out of bed now, squinting at the bright light coming in through her window telling her it was still morning.

She stumbled into the hall, imagining Alexander had returned, and stopped short when she saw Elizabeth, in a similar state of dishabille, emerging from her own bedroom. They stared at each other for a moment before renewed knocking jerked them out of their confusion.

"You get it," croaked Elizabeth, turning for the kitchen. "I need sustenance."

Saffron peered through the grate and started when she found Colin Smith's face not two inches away. She leaped back with a little shout.

"Miss Everleigh!" Colin cried, pounding on the door again. "I must speak to Elizabeth! Please!"

"I don't believe she wishes to see you, Colin," Saffron called to him, loud enough that Elizabeth could hear from the kitchen.

She poked her head out with a scowl. "Tell him to shove off."

"I don't wish to speak to her for my own sake," Colin said, muffled through the door. "They telephoned Lord Tremaine's office to contact her. It's her brother."

Elizabeth stomped past Saffron to jerk the door open. "What's wrong with my brother?"

"He's been hurt," Colin said. "Come along, I'll take you to the hospital. Quickly!"

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment before turning on her heel and dashing into her bedroom. Saffron stared after her, sadly not at all surprised that Elizabeth would snap into action on Nick's behalf.

Just behind her, Colin said, "I think you ought to come too, Miss Everleigh." She turned to him in surprise. His expression was grave. "Nick is … he is in a bad way. Elizabeth will need your support."

Heart in her throat, Saffron hurried to tidy herself. Not two minutes later, she and Elizabeth were pulling on their coats and following Colin down the stairs and into a waiting cab.

The door slammed shut, and Colin, on the far side of the vehicle next to Elizabeth, sighed.

"Where is Nick?" Elizabeth asked. "What happened to him?"

Saffron peered around her to look at Colin when he didn't answer. His eyes were closed, his head resting on the uncomfortable back of the seat.

"Colin!" snapped Elizabeth.

"Oh, do shut up," he groaned. "I was awoken terribly early this morning and five minutes of quiet would be ideal."

Elizabeth inhaled sharply. "What?"

Behind his spectacles, Colin opened one eye. "Shall I speak slower? Even you can understand simple words. Shut. Up."

Elizabeth went totally still. Perhaps she was as completely baffled as Saffron, who was just realizing that they were not alone in the cab. The driver was driving, of course, but the other seat in the front was occupied, and the man had turned around in his seat to watch them.

Saffron swallowed. She recognized him from the gaming room. She nudged her friend. "Elizabeth."

"Don't interrupt me, Saff, I'm deciding how I want to kill this imbecile next to me."

She jabbed her with her elbow. "Eliza."

Elizabeth swung around to glare at Saffron, who pointed to the man watching them with a crooked grin. Elizabeth blanched, then scowled. "Damn you, Colin Smith."

"Is my brother actually hurt," Elizabeth said, turning back to Colin, "or was that merely a ruse?"

"Oh, no, he is definitely injured. Unfortunately, he is nowhere near a hospital."

Her hands itched to hit him or close around his throat. "Where is he?"

"You ask so many questions, Elizabeth," he drawled. "It makes you seem so simple. Better to hold your tongue until I want to make use of it."

Red-hot anger flooded her, fueled by humiliation. This cad had used her, and in more ways than one. The suspicion had taken root while she'd dug out yet another set of files Colin had demanded the previous day, and now she'd seen his true colors, it blazed to full life.

"What does Alfie Tennison want with records about immigrants?" she demanded.

Colin's eyes shot open, and he stared at her for a long moment before a cruel smile curled his lips. "What, brother dearest didn't tell you? You'd think he'd crow it from the rooftops, all he'd discovered about me and my friends. He made such charming little comments about my preferred entertainments."

"Like visiting the gaming room hidden in Le Curieux Cabaret's back room," Elizabeth cut him off. "You owe Alfie Tennison an exorbitant sum. That's why you're doing his bidding."

Chagrin leaked through Colin's sneer. "So Nick did tell you, then? That's why you threw me over, I suppose. Not rich enough to bail your family out of their troubles."

"I have no need for or interest in anything you might have offered me."

"Oh, we both know that isn't true." His displeasure melted into a leer.

Elizabeth regarded him coolly. "I was passing time with you, Colin, nothing more."

Colin placed a hand over his heart. "Oh, how that stings."

"Of course, you decide to have a personality now," Elizabeth grumbled, more to Saffron than Colin. Saffron gave her a worried look, angling her head toward the window. They were passing Willesden Junction. They were going out of the city, and Elizabeth was quite sure she knew where they were going.

She wished she could brazen this out, put Saff's mind to rest, but they had no way out of this motorcar, save risking getting smashed up trying to jump from it as it sped further and further out of London.

Very well. Colin was at least talking. They could get some answers, even if he wouldn't tell them what had happened to Nick. If anything had happened to him.

Frustration burned through her again, this time at herself. She was furious with Nick, and had told him she'd never speak to him again, yet the moment Colin had said he'd been hurt, everything had fled from her mind.

To make matters worse, Colin—Colin—was one of the villains in this drama. He'd not only tricked her into believing he was a respectable man but had apparently known her so well as to know the perfect way to trap her.

"What exactly are you doing, taking Saffron and me?" Elizabeth asked him. "You know we haven't any money, and neither does my family. You'll get nothing out of either of our families."

"Don't think so little of yourself, my dear. Besides, you are not the hostage."

"Who is?" Saffron asked.

Colin smiled banally. "You'll find out, soon enough. No use getting upset over it now." He closed his eyes again.

Elizabeth turned her questions to the fellow in the front. "You, there. What is your part in all this? Certainly, they didn't invite you along to brighten the place up."

He was a great brute of a man, with enough dark hair to make it hard to distinguish him from a gorilla. He frowned, bringing his heavy brow low. "No need to be insultin'."

"Quite right, my apologies," Elizabeth said briskly. "How did you end up carting this idiot around?"

The man flicked a glance to Colin, who snorted. "I do me job, miss. This is business. Don't take it personal."

"Seems awfully personal to me. Where are you taking us?"

She could see through the window where they were well on their way to going, but she wanted it confirmed.

"Boss sent us on a little errand," the man said.

"Would that be to the laboratory in Harpenden?" Elizabeth asked.

He squinted at her, then at Colin. "Maybe."

Blast and damnation, Elizabeth thought. He'd looked to Colin. That meant Colin was the one in charge, and that made this all the more complicated.

"Why are you taking us to the laboratory?" Saffron asked. "There are people there now. You can't break in to steal anything."

"Don't need to break in," grumbled the man driving. He was as bulky as the other in the front, but his bright red hair distinguished him. His eyes found Saffron in the mirror. "You can just waltz in there."

"I see," Saffron mumbled.

Elizabeth exchanged a look with her, and though they said not a word, they were in agreement. This was not good. From the panic on Saffron's face, Elizabeth took it that she'd discovered something worth stealing from the lab. If only they'd been able to speak before Colin turned up!

"Jeffery Wells was paying off his debt to Alfie with information, wasn't he?" Saffron asked suddenly. "The police found papers from the lab in Wells's house. But he started holding out on Alfie. Was that why he was killed?"

The two men in the front exchanged a look, all but confirming Saffron's guess. Beside her, Colin spoke without opening his eyes. "In a word, yes. Wells was an idiot. I didn't know him myself, but anyone crossing Alfie is digging their own grave. Unfortunately, the man Alfie works for is even worse. He was tired of Wells attempting to pull the strings."

"Ol' Alfie ain't going to be pleased you said he ain't the one in charge," grumbled the gorilla-like man.

Colin dismissed him with a superior sniff. "We all know I'm too valuable for him to do much about it." The man scoffed. "As I was saying, the other fellow involved in this is the sort to give even a man like Alfie pause. He called him a ruthless radical, and that's saying something, considering the people he usually consorts with. I hope that information inclines you to cooperate. We all know radicals can get a bit edgy when things don't go their way."