Lord Black Heart (Secrets & Scandals Book 4) by Tiffany Green

Author:Tiffany Green [Green, Tiffany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-12-14T00:00:00+00:00

Jack eyed the dark clouds building overhead with a scowl. Now was definitely not the time for rain. He maneuvered his horse around a bend in the road and took note of the rice powder covering his hands. If it rained, it would ruin his disguise.

“How much longer, Porter?” Jeremy asked.

The investigator nodded toward a small cottage in the distance. “Just there.”

Jack’s heart lurched. They would soon have answers. He prayed the maid would give them some information to help clear his name. Perhaps the man had blue eyes or a scar. Torie needed him. His hands tightened on the leather reins. And dammit, he needed Torie as well. She was the air he breathed. He might as well hang if he couldn’t have a future with her.

They neared the small house and Jack noticed the door dangling at an odd angle, swinging slightly in the wind. The bottom hinge was broken.

“What is this?” Porter asked. “The door was secure yesterday.”

Jack halted his horse beside Jeremy and Porter, a bad feeling stirring in his middle. He scrambled to the ground and hurried to the house behind Porter.

“Miss Whittle? Are you in there? It’s Mr. Porter. We spoke yesterday.” The large man placed a hand on the weathered front door, careful not to break the other hinge, and entered the house. Jack followed, Jeremy just behind them. “There.” Porter pointed to the far corner of the room where a body lay on her back. A woman’s body.

Jack ambled closer. Her dark, gray streaked hair peeked out of a mob cap. Her lips held a bluish tint, set in a thin, wan face. Her eyes were still open but insipid, lifeless. And a small open vial lay near her hand.

Jeremy swore and shook his head. Mr. Porter bent down to examine the body closer. He moved two of her fingers back and forth. “Rigor mortis hasn’t set in yet. Probably hasn’t been dead more than a couple of hours.”

“That would explain why there is no smell,” Jeremy pointed out.

Porter picked up the vial and sniffed. “Poison, I think.” He sighed and rose. “I cannot be sure without a doctor examining her.”

“Let me take that to Amelia,” Jeremy said and wrapped the tiny bottle in a handkerchief. “She will tell us what this is. Could provide clues of some sort.”

Damnation! Jack closed his eyes. How did this happen? They had been so close.

“What is this?” Mr. Porter lifted an object from the ground near the body. It glistened, even in the dim interior of the cottage.

Jack shuffled closer. “It looks like a watch.” He sucked in a breath. “It cannot be,” he whispered, recognizing the bird of his family’s crest carved into the gold. The raven.

Mr. Porter opened the lid. “It has an inscription.” He held it up to the window’s light.

Closing his eyes, Jack hung his head. He knew exactly what the inscription read.

“Birthday wishes to Jackson from your father,” Mr. Porter said.

“I thought I had lost that,” Jack said softly, unable

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