Deception in Emeralds by Laura Landon

Author:Laura Landon [Landon, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-14T06:00:00+00:00

. . .

Barnaby was forced to wait until dark before making his way to the base of the cliffs near Cliffside Manor. Radburn had men positioned the entire span of the cliffs, and Barnaby only moved when the moon slid behind clouds to give him cover. Even then, he kept his back to the stone wall of the cliffs and stepped into any recess he found.

Judging from the view around the point, there weren’t as many cave openings here as there were on Radburn’s own property, but the caves here seemed larger. Barnaby had a lantern with him, but he didn’t light it until he was far enough into the cave that the light wouldn’t be seen beyond the cave opening.

Each time he stepped out of one cave he turned back the lantern’s wick to a small red flicker until he entered the next. One opening led to another and another as he crept along the base of the cliff wall. He gave a cursory investigation of each before passing to the next, and realized the moment he stepped inside the furthest opening that this was one of the largest caves he’d discovered so far. If any of the caverns were likely to be the hidden storehouse for the explosives, this one had excellent access from the beach and held the most potential.

He’d been nagged by several questions that refused to go away. First, why did Radburn kill Millicent’s parents? Just to get them out of the way? Or was it because Lord Renfrew discovered that Radburn was using one of the caves on his estate to store explosives he intended to sell to foreign radicals? Perhaps Millicent’s father threatened to go to the authorities, and Radburn had to eliminate him before that could happen.

Was that why Millicent’s father had written her such a stern warning to stay away from Radburn? Did he know what Radburn was involved in and wanted to protect his daughter?

Barnaby had so many unanswered questions. He stopped and adjusted his lamp when it was safe to do so, then continued deeper.

The cave split, and Barnaby followed the tunnel on the north. After what seemed a long distance, the tunnel came to an end, and he was forced to turn around.

He’d wasted valuable time. It had to be nearing dawn, so he hurried his pace and retraced his steps. When he reached the fork again, he took the tunnel on the south.

He held his lantern high and walked on. He was about to turn around when the tunnel opened wider. He took several steps until suddenly the cave walls opened up, and he found himself standing at the entrance of a great room. Beyond it was a large opening to the sea.

He lifted his lantern to illuminate a stockpile of explosives as large as any he’d seen in wartime. There were more than two score kegs of powder and case after case of rifles. Alongside the rifles were boxes and boxes of bullets and ammunition for a variety of pistols and rifles.

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