The Lady's Command by Laurens Stephanie

Author:Laurens, Stephanie [Laurens, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance
Published: 2015-12-28T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

An hour later, Declan returned to the bungalow, walked into the drawing room where Edwina was waiting, and slumped into an armchair. For several seconds, he stared unseeing across the room at the long windows open to the terrace, then he raised both hands and scrubbed them over his face.

Silk rustled as Edwina rose; he heard her footsteps on the polished floor, followed by the clink of crystal.

As he lowered his hands, she halted beside his chair. She held out a crystal tumbler with two fingers of whisky. “Here. You look like you need it.”

He hadn’t even told her where he’d been, much less what he’d seen. Gratefully, he took the glass. “Thank you.”

While he took his first sip, she returned to her chair. She sat and clasped her hands in her lap. Her blue gaze traveled over his face. “So—where have you been and what did you learn?”

Her crisp tone helped him refocus. He took a larger mouthful, swallowed, and felt the burn all the way down his throat. The potent liquor hit his stomach, the warmth spread, and he felt a little better. He fixed his gaze on her face. “I’ve just come from the morgue.”

She frowned. “Do you have reason to think the four men have been killed?”

“No. Quite the opposite.” He cradled the glass between his hands and outlined the way he and his men had spent their day. “We found nothing to support the notion that any of the four men just up and went off to find their fortunes.” He arched a brow, his expression cynical. “The more one hears that excuse, the less believable it seems. However, we did find evidence that all four had expected to return to their quarters as usual. Their belongings were all there—brushes, combs, shaving kits, and clothes all left at the ready. On top of that, Hillsythe’s room had been searched, in secret, after he vanished. All of that strongly suggests they’ve been kidnapped.” He paused, then went on, “Following that reasoning further, if they were attacked and captured, then each of them would have fought back—one or more might have been killed. We needed to know, so I went to the morgue.”

“Were—had any of them been there?”

“No. Given the weeks that have passed, I didn’t expect to find their bodies still in keeping—not in this climate, especially. But I went through the records for the last five months. There were no unidentified European male corpses that might have been them.”

He sighed, then swallowed another mouthful of whisky. “Morgues are never pleasant places, but in the tropics…” He still hadn’t got the stench out of his nostrils.

“But they weren’t there.” She frowned. “From that, can we assume they’re still alive?” She widened her eyes at him. “Couldn’t they have been killed elsewhere and their bodies buried or thrown into the sea?”

He considered, then grimaced. “We can’t rule that out, but to my mind, that none of the four have turned up dead anywhere in the settlement significantly increases the likelihood that they’re all still alive.

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