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“I am telling you nothing.”
“You don’t need to,” Jeb warned him. “You have been seen by several people breaking into the Squire’s house, and stealing what you think are valuable jewels. Unfortunately for you, that box doesn’t contain what you want. Your friend will find that out soon enough.”
Bamber jerked and turned to stare at him. His eyes gleamed white in the darkness. Jeb knew he had just startled his opponent and grinned maliciously as he dragged Bamber unceremoniously toward the cart.
“I will be out by morning,” Bamber declared defiantly. “I know people in high places.”
“People don’t know you are here, though, do they? I mean, you are here, at the Squire’s house, in the middle of nowhere. Anything could happen to you, especially in your trade where the dangers are extremely high.”
“While you are in jail you will be held in solitary confinement and will not be allowed contact with the outside world so it is irrelevant who your contacts are. They will be of little use to you where you are going. As far as anyone is concerned, you will have just vanished off the face of the earth. Only the people who can be trusted will deal with you. Your name will be kept off the records until we decide when to put them on the register. At the moment, you are missing, presumed dead, and will remain that way until we say otherwise.”
It gave Jeb no small sense of satisfaction to be able to say that. To be able to get one scoundrel off the streets was one thing. Of late, they had taken several and that, as far as he was concerned, made not being with Sophia entirely worthwhile. There was now also the added satisfaction of having done what he needed to do. He was now free to head home to Briggleberry, and say goodnight to his future bride before she retired to bed.
She had made him promise to say goodnight to her whatever time he returned home. He suspected it was because she was going to worry about him until she knew he was safe. If he was honest, he quite liked the idea of that and didn’t mind appeasing her one bit. It felt wonderful to have someone pacing the floor and loving him enough to worry about his safety.
“You thought you would get away with killing Balgravia, Samson, and the Squire, didn’t you? Well, you hadn’t taken us into consideration. We don’t give up. We know who you are, and we will always get our man,” Barnaby warned.
Bamber glared at him. “I didn’t kill Samson. That wasn’t me. You can’t pin that on me. Balgravia was a buffoon, but I didn’t kill him either.”
“Myers did, I take it?” Jeb asked with a scowl.
Bamber snorted and glared dispassionately at him but didn’t bother to reply. Silent to the last, he climbed unprotestingly into the cart and sat still and motionless while the door was closed and the carriage rumbled into motion.
“Do you know something?” Barnaby murmured when he had gone. “I really don’t think he is going to be very easy to get information out of.”
“I have the
time,” Jeb replied carefully.
He didn’t care how long it took. As far as he was concerned the longer it took to question all three of the convicts, the more time he got to spend with his darling Sophia. Speaking of which…..
Sensing the train of his colleague’s thoughts, Barnaby nodded. “You need to stay, reassure the locals, and deal with the people on Myer’s list. That’s your job. We will go after that accomplice. Hopefully, Joe and Marcus will be in touch soon about where they are. I will stay here for the time being and wait to hear from them. I need to sort out some correspondence, and bring Sir Hugo up to date.”
“Use Delilah’s house as a base for now,” Jeb suggested. “I have written to Hooky to inform him Sophia is now at Briggleberry, and will be remaining there for the foreseeable future.”
“It is that serious?” Barnaby’s brows lifted, but he was unsurprised really. He had witnessed first-hand just how distraught Jeb had been when he had seen Sophia’s near death.
Another man down, he mused silently, not for the first time in recent months.
Once again, he had to wonder when he would be able to find a woman to go home to. Although his life had afforded him with opportunities many people never got the chance to experience, the one thing he truly wanted seemed to elude him.
“After what happened, I don’t intend to wait. I hope to make her my wife as soon as she is in good health again. Hopefully, once her father is here.”
“Good luck to you, my friend,” Barnaby said fervently, and shook his friend’s hand.
“Thank you. I will secure the house –”
Barnaby shook his head. “No. I will secure the house and, assuming our colleagues don’t reappear, will have a ride around to see if I can find them. If I don’t, I shall head over to Delilah’s house and get some sleep. I will meet you in the morning at the jail. We will get to work on Delilah first, I think.”
Jeb nodded around a yawn, eager to be on his way now that the excitement was over.
A short while later he let himself quietly into Briggleberry, with a sigh of relief. The sense of homecoming he felt was entirely new, but gave him a warm feeling deep inside that was wonderful.
Unsurprisingly, he saw the soft glow of candlelight beneath Sophia’s bedroom door but didn’t even get the chance to knock before it was wrenched open. He grinned in delight at the sheer joy on her face, and opened his arms as she raced out into the hallway and launched herself at him.
“I am back,” he murmured.
They were both trembling when he finally released her several moments later. Before he could say goodnight, Sophia tugged him impatiently into her room, eager to hear his news.
