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While he said that, the thought of Marguerite vanishing made him shift restlessly. He stood beside the door of the stable keeping watch over the yard while his colleagues saddled the horses and got the carriage ready. It left him with enough time to be able to explain what was going to happen to her and think about what his life would be like once she wasn’t in it. He was disconcerted to realise he was dreading that day happening.
“I hope Sayers hasn’t gotten him,” she whispered.
“Like I have said, Sayers can be brutal. While I have no reason to think he may have hurt your father, that situation may change if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
“He wants me,” Marguerite replied.
Joe stood upright and landed a hard glare on her. “You are not going to hand yourself over to him. Do you hear me?”
Marguerite nodded. Just the thought of it made her stomach churn. “I couldn’t.”
“Good,” he whispered. “See that you don’t.”
He knew he would protect her with his life to stop her from doing anything like that. She meant more to him than anybody else in his life right now, only he couldn’t quite understand why. He knew it had nothing to do with his work with the Star Elite. The need to protect her was elemental: the raw need of a man to protect his mate. Where had it come from? Why now?
Mate? Really? He mused. I hate to acknowledge it, but I know that she is.
His thoughts were confirmed as fact when he found himself unable to stand even a few feet of distance between them any longer, Joe moved to stand before her and rested his head against hers for a few moments, silently offering her reassurance as well as taking it. He welcomed the moment that brought them closer together and revelled in this brief moment of intimacy.
“I just want my father back. I don’t understand any of this. I mean, my father is just an ordinary businessman. Why him? Out of all the people in London, why has Sayers become interested in us? We have done nothing to anybody,” she whispered.
Sensing her rising anxiety, Joe hastened to reassure her.
“Sayers doesn’t need a reason. If someone has something he wants he takes it, it is as simple as that. He doesn’t care about kith and kin or hearth and home. None of that matters to him.”
“He needs locking away,” she whispered.
“He will be, Marguerite. Before he is arrested, though, we need to make sure we get information on all of his crimes so that he is unlikely ever to be released to harm anybody again. Not only that, but there are innocent people drawn into his crimes, and forced to co-operate, sometimes quite brutally. These people are ruthless, Marguerite, and all need to be rounded up and put behind bars. It isn’t just Sayers we need to arrest. We need to get as many people as we can in one go, but to do it means that we have to investigate all of Sayers’ crimes thoroughly, and identify those responsible. It takes time, and a lot of manpower and effort. We will get there, though, I promise.”
“I know,” she whispered. She really did believe they would. After today, she had complete faith in him and his men. After what they had shared, how could she doubt him?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“This is who you are,” she whispered. It was evident in the passion with which he spoke. She knew instinctively that this was where he felt comfortable and wasn’t surprised when he nodded.
“It is my life, my work. Everything I do right now is focused around capturing that man. We will get him, it just takes time.”
Marguerite nodded. Something inside her felt a little defeated, as though she was expecting something from him he was in no position to offer her. She couldn’t survive in a world like his. She would be dead within a week and knew it. While she could understand his need to put someone like Sayers, and his men, behind bars, she couldn’t understand why he would be so willing to put his life at risk.
“It is going to take more than five men, though,” she whispered as she watched Kerrigan lead two horses out of the stables.
“We have a veritable army at our disposal as well,” Joe replied wryly. “Don’t forget we have connections with the War Office. There are men up and down the country who can be called upon at a moment’s notice. Believe me when I tell you there are many people working on capturing that crook. It isn’t a case of if he is going to be arrested it is a case of when.”
Marguerite nodded, secretly thrilled and proud of him at the same time. She could only hope they would be able to find her father before Sayers persuaded him to do something rash, like get involved in his crimes.
To her surprise, Joe handed her into a carriage. She didn’t stop to question him, though, and instead, settled back into the plush seat with a heartfelt sigh. Surprisingly, Joe sat next to her. He sensed she was thinking through everything he had told her. When the door was closed, he rested their clasped hands on his knee and waited. He didn’t have to wait long before the questions began.
“Why does Sayers want to get into the ton? Is he looking for influential people to join his network of people?” She asked with a frown.
“Partly,” Joe replied, a little surprised that the question hadn’t been about her father. Still, he could appreciate her need to understand Sayers a little more, and had no hesitation in discussion what he knew. “The houses of the ton are usually stuffed with valuable items of all shapes and sizes, including expensive jewels. Sayers, if he can get his hands on the jewels, can sell them on for a hefty profit. It doesn’t matter to him that he has to send men in to steal them for him. He won’t dirty his hands himself, by the way. He has some thieves to do it for him. Once he has the gems, he then pays someone else to split the gems from the gold. The gold is the melted and remoulded into something else while the gems are then broken down, polished and set into the new pieces. They are then sold on at Sayers’ prices.”
“That man in the house?” she whispered.
“Which one?”
“The dead one.”
“He was one of Sayers’ thieves. A few months ago he stole some gems that Sayers had told him to steal. Sayers usually sees them hanging around women’s necks at the social engagements he attends. We think it is why he is pretending to be a Russian Count. It gets him into places he otherwise wouldn’t be allowed to enter, and he is then able to watch and pick his victims at will.” Joe lifted a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “Before you ask, I have no idea why he chose to be a Russian Count. It is just odd, and so far removed from his normal life that he probably suspects nobody would link the two together. It may be that he could master the Rus
