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“Someone else had to know Herr was here. There’s no way Vance would have found him before us. He wouldn’t know what Herr looked like. It has to be Miranda,” Andrew said.
Was Miranda just an innocent pawn in all this? Or was she more devious than he had thought? There were too many questions, and the only way to get answers was to find her.
He went back downstairs and spoke to the innkeeper and his wife. They explained the barmaid was the one on whom Herr seemed to focus most of his attention. Andrew questioned the barmaid again, asking if anyone else had visited Herr over the last few days. She remembered seeing a lady come a few times. The description she gave matched Miranda, but she had seen no one else ask about Herr.
“I’ll have my men start searching for her tomorrow. You said the family won’t say where she is?” Darnley asked.
“I’m not sure if they won’t say or don’t know,” Andrew replied.
The body was taken away, and the innkeeper compensated for his trouble. Sir Darnley and Thorne discussed how best to pool their efforts to locate Miranda. Andrew and Phillip decided to speak with Tabitha and tell her of the day’s events. Phillip would stay at Andrew's home for the night, and they would gather in the morning to discuss how to find Miranda.
They entered the Bedford townhouse through the back door. Phillip nodded to the footman sitting by the fire. The man jumped to his feet when he saw the men.
“Good evening, sir.”
“Good evening, James. Where is everyone? It’s awfully quiet.”
“Lord and Lady Bedford are out for the evening, so they gave some of the staff the night off.”
“And where is Miss Crestwood?”
That’s exactly what Andrew wanted to know.
“She stayed home, sir.”
“Thank you, James.”
Andrew followed Phillip through the kitchen, up the servant’s stairs to the main hall.
“There are one or two things I want to gather from my room. I’ll meet you shortly.” Philip turned to leave when Andrew stopped him.
“Can you see if Tabitha is in her room? I’ll check down here.”
“If I find her, we’ll meet you in the study.”
“Very well, but don’t take too long.”
Phillip bounded up the stairs. Andrew went to the first room, which was the dining room, and found it empty. Same with the parlor and music room. Where the devil was she? Perhaps she had already retired for the night. Andrew called out Tabitha’s name but heard no reply. The silence was deafening. His heart raced as he approached the study.
The door was slightly ajar. Andrew pushed it open and crossed the threshold to see Tabitha. Her eyes were wide with fright, and her lips trembled as Lord Vance stood next to her, a gun against her head.
Andrew froze. Every instinct told him to rush toward Tabitha, but he didn’t make any sudden movements lest Vance shoot. As Andrew stepped farther into the darkened room, he noticed a slight cut on the side of Tabitha’s lip and that her hair was disheveled. Andrew drew his lips back in a grimace of rage. Vance would pay, and this time Andrew wouldn’t be so forgiving.
CHAPTER31
Tabitha had spent yet another day at home, leery to leave lest she miss a message from Andrew or Phillip. The wait was driving her mad. She’d lost count of how many turns she’d made in the garden and how many books she’d tried to read but thrown away in frustration.
When her parents left for the evening, she settled into a chair in the study with a ladies’ fashion magazine. After thumbing through the pages for an hour, she thought she heard a noise in the hallway. Most of the servants had been given the night off. Perhaps it was James, the footman, come to check on her before he retired. Hearing the noise again, she went to investigate.
Tabitha stepped into the hall. “James?”
There was no answer. She waited to see if the noise would come again. The floor creaked under the weight of something, or someone. She wasn’t alone.
The noise came again, louder. Was that movement down the hall? Tabitha’s breathing became shallow as she saw a figure emerge from the shadows.
Vance!
“Hello, my dear. We meet again.”
