Chapter Nine

Jack dropped his arms from around Lena and deliberately stepped in front of her. He was desperate to shield her from the new arrival.

"Mr. Barnaby," Jack said in a less-than-welcoming tone. "I wasn't aware that you were coming, or that you had been invited. How did you get past my men?"

Barnaby chuckled. "You have some very suspicious guards, Corbin. I had to practically give them my life's history as to how we were connected in order for them to allow me to see you. My assurance that I was here on your invitation to discuss some very important issues concerning the railroad was the only thing that impressed them enough to let me pass."

"Let me assure you that today is the last time you will be allowed anywhere near my office."

"That's not very hospitable of you, Corbin."

"I don't intend to be hospitable. My offices are off-limits to anyone other than staff and invited guests."

"Nor are you very polite. Who is the lovely lady you are…uh…entertaining?"

"That's none of your concern."

Jack opened the door and shielded Lena as he escorted her out. He stepped back into the room, but before he closed the door, he called for Brad to join him.

"What are you doing here?" Jack demanded.

"What reason would I have for coming, Corbin? The railroad, of course," Barnaby replied.

Before Jack could respond, Brad entered the room. His shock at seeing Barnaby there was evident.

"Prescott," Barnaby said, greeting the fellow.

"Mr. Barnaby. To what do we owe your visit?"

"My, my," he said with a grin that Jack found irritating. "You are lacking in cordiality, the same as your friend."

"Perhaps that is because I'm as pleased to see you as Jack is."

Jack tired of the insults and wanted nothing more than to get Barnaby out of Lena's office. There was too much here he didn't want the man to see.

"Follow me," he said, moving Barnaby to the door. "My office is down the hall."

"Oh, that's right. This must be the lady's office. You were just visiting."

Jack opened the door, and Brad nearly shoved their intruder from the room.

"Now, why are you here?" Jack said when they reached a spare office he kept on the floor below. An office without a window that overlooked the gaming hall.

"I came to Willowbrook to check on the progress of the railroad, and to make sure you received the list of materials we need."

"Construction on the railroad is progressing as it should, and the workmen have the materials they need to continue working."

"Then why haven't I received any orders to fill for materials, or a check to pay for what our workers need?"

"Probably because we are able to purchase what we need right here in Willowbrook."

"What! Surely you haven't been able to get everything here in Willowbrook."

"We have," Brad said.

"How? I can't believe your merchants are able to purchase everything you need in Willowbrook."

"They are, and if there's anything we need that they don't have, they purchase it from their suppliers," Jack replied.

"And pay double what it would cost if we purchased it from London manufacturers instead of purchasing it direct."

"No, our suppliers sell everything to us at a reduced price."

"How can they?" Barnaby asked.

"They can because it is worth it to them in the long run. The sooner the railroad is up and running, the sooner profits will increase for every merchant in Willowbrook."

Jack watched Barnaby's expression darken. Instead of being impressed that work on the railroad was progressing at a rapid pace and they were saving money by buying locally, he was angry.

"Is there a problem, Barnaby? Aren't you pleased by the progress the workers are making?"

"Yes, yes. Of course I am."

"Then what is it?"

"N-nothing," Barnaby stammered. "We're simply not used to doing things this way."

"Well, it's how I intend to do things. The citizens of Willowbrook have put their hard-earned money into building this railroad, and they deserve to reap the rewards."

By the look of fury on Barnaby's face and the hostile glare in his eyes, Jack could tell how furious the man was with him.

"Well," he said. "I've found out what I needed to know."

"Will you be in Willowbrook long?" Jack asked.

"No. I have a room at the hotel for the night, then I plan to leave for London in the morning."

"Very well," Jack said. "Have a safe journey back."

Jack and Brad sat in silence while Barnaby left. It wasn't until he was long gone from the club that either of them spoke.

"What do you think he wanted?" Brad asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Neither am I, but did you see how livid he seemed when you told him that we were buying the supplies we needed locally, and not getting them in London?"

"Yes," Jack said. "It was almost as if he was angry because we weren't going through him to get what we needed."

"Why should he care?"

"I don't know. You'd think he would be glad."

"But he wasn't," Brad said.

"No. He was far from it."

*

Lena sat inthe library and waited for Jack to arrive. They hadn't made plans to meet, but after the way he'd almost pushed her out of her office when Mr. Barnaby showed up, she knew he would come to explain why he'd been so curt with her.

She sat with a glass of wine in her hands and took a sip. Before she could take a second swallow, she heard Franklin open the door and greet Jack. A few seconds later, she heard a soft knock on the library door and watched Jack enter the room.

"I came to apologize," he said from across the room.

"I've been waiting for you."

"I'm sorry, Lena."

"Why didn't you want him to see me? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?"

"No! Heavens no!"

"Then why?"

"Because he is not a good person, and I don't like him. I especially didn't want you to have anything to do with him."

"Who is he, and why did he think he could come up to your office—even though it was my office?" she asked.

"His name is Josiah Barnaby, and he is one of the managing contractors of the railroad."

"Oh. For being so important, you weren't very polite to him."

Jack smiled. "I wasn't, was I?"

"No," Lena said before taking another sip of her wine. "In fact, you were extremely rude."

Jack walked to the sideboard and poured himself a glass of brandy, then carried the crystal decanter back with him and set it on the table. "If you think I was rude when you were there, you should have stayed. I got a lot more impolite."

"I would have stayed," she said, giving him a pointed look. "But you practically threw me out."

"I did, didn't I?" he said with a wink as he sat down beside her.

"Yes, you did. So, what did he want?"

"He wanted to know how we are getting the supplies for the railroad construction. He expected me to go through him for anything Sean Mason—he's our construction foreman—needs."

"But you haven't, have you?"

"No. I get all the supplies I can from merchants in Willowbrook. I go to the hardware store for any tools, nails, and anything else the men need to construct the railroad. I gave our lumber yard a contract for the ties. And a contract to Floyd, the blacksmith, for the iron joints that hold the rails together, and for at least one-third of the iron spikes. It's amazing how much we can provide locally."

"And Mr. Barnaby wasn't happy about that?"

"Not only was he not happy, he was extremely angry. I was completely surprised by his attitude."

"I'm not," Lena said.

"You're not?"

"Absolutely not. He wanted you to send him an itemized payment for the goods you had him purchase in London. He would either deposit the money and keep part of it back, or he would increase the amount he required and keep the overage. Or bill you for premium products when he's buying the lowest quality. Or—"

Lena bit her tongue and watched the full force of Jack's embarrassment sweep across his face. He'd been so preoccupied by his end of the project that he had not given careful scrutiny to what his purchaser was doing. He just expected honorable dealings from the man, as he did all of those involved in the massive project.

"Of course," Jack said. "He could be skimming off the top."

"Is that what you call it?"

"Either skimming or outright stealing. How did you figure that out?"

"I think my mind is just focused on people stealing. It's what people who need money seem to resort to."

"I imagine it does seem like that to someone who would never consider stealing from anyone."

"No, that is something I would never do. I can't think of anything that would make me so desperate for money that I would steal what isn't mine."

"You probably wouldn't. But not everyone is as good and moral as you are."

"You make me sound so virtuous, and I am anything but that."

Jack smiled at her as if he doubted her denial. She loved his smile, and broadened her own. Which was a mistake. She saw his eyes suddenly warm, and worked to quell her own eager response. She had to distract them both. And quickly.

"I've been wanting to ask you something," she said, sitting back on the sofa. "Something that has nothing to do with the railroad."

Jack relaxed beside her, sitting so close that the warmth from his body traveled through her clothing to heat her flesh. It wasn't helping. Not a bit.

"What would you like to know?"

"Actually, it's a question about Brad."

"Ah…" he said. "You want to know more about how he got the horrific scars he can't hide."

"Essie is the one who wants to know. Because she can't see, it helps her if she can outline a person's face with her fingers. That way she can tell what they look like."

"And she tried to touch Brad's face, but he wouldn't let her."

"Yes. So she asked me what he looked like, and I described him as best as I could, but I didn't do him justice."

"What did you tell her he looked like?" Jack asked.

"I said he had some horrific scars on his face that started at his temple and ran to below his jaw. As if someone had peeled the skin from his face."

"That's a pretty fair description. What did she say when you told her?"

"She wanted to know more about what happened. I said I didn't really know any more, but I would ask you."

Jack stared at the liquor in his glass, then breathed a heavy sigh. "What happened to him was my fault."

"Your fault?"

"Yes. As I told you, during the war, I was sent on assignment to infiltrate the Russian camp and get certain information—vital information concerning the enemy's next battle strategy. I was sent because my commanders didn't want the Russians to know we saw their battle plans if maps went missing. So, I was sent to memorize the maps without the Russians knowing we had seen them. Brad volunteered to come with me to watch my back."

"And they sent you because of your ability to remember everything perfectly just by seeing it once."

"Exactly. The same way I can remember the cards that have been played. I can read something once and recall it exactly as written."

Lena looked at him with admiration. "That's an amazing gift, Jack."

"It's unusual, I'll grant you that, but I'm not sure whether I consider it a gift, or a curse."

"I consider it a gift," Lena said. "A rare gift. But go on."

"Things didn't go as planned. Brad and I made it into the Russian camp and found the papers. I read them, then put them back where they were, but as we were leaving, we were caught.

"The enemy officers interrogated me. They wanted to know what I'd seen, as well as a list of details about what our plans were for our next confrontation. They wanted to know how many soldiers were in our platoon, and when we were going to attack. Of course, I didn't tell them anything."

"So they tortured you," Lena said in a soft, husky voice.

"The officer who interrogated me had a whip, and he enjoyed using it," Jack said through gritted teeth.

Lena reached over and held his hand.

"I vowed I wouldn't reveal anything, no matter what they did to me. As if they realized I wasn't going to tell them anything, they gave up torturing me and tortured Brad instead. Day after day they beat him, even though I told them Brad didn't know anything."

"But they didn't believe you, did they?" Lena said, fighting the tears that filled her eyes.

"Oh, they believed me. They knew Brad didn't know anything, and they told me that any time I wanted them to stop, all I had to do was tell them what they wanted to know.

"Every time they brought Brad back and threw him into the cell with me, his body was so bruised and bloody I hardly recognized him. Then they stopped beating him and started to skin him alive."

Lena couldn't comprehend how anyone could do something so horrific to another human being. The tears she'd struggled to keep from falling ran down her cheeks.

Jack paused to fill his glass with more brandy. He took a long swallow, then held the glass in his hands and stared at the floor. "Dear God, I couldn't bear his screams when they ripped the flesh from his body. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer. I told him to pretend he was dead and I'd take out as many of the enemy as I could."

"Did you?"

"Yes. It was a brutal struggle, which I nearly lost. But by some miracle, my commanding officer arrived to rescue us, though not until I'd been shot and stabbed several times. That was the closest I've ever come to dying. When Brad and I healed, I knew if I intended to realize my dream of opening my gentlemen's club, I needed to get on with it."

"That's why you made Brad your partner, isn't it? You felt you needed to repay him for what he went through in your place."

"No, I made him my partner because he's the best friend anyone could ever have. And I love him like a brother."

"You are very lucky to have a friend like Brad, and he's lucky to have you."

"Like I'm lucky to have a friend like you," he said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close.

Lena had not been prepared for the ambush and could summon no defenses. There was nothing for her to do but surrender.