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“All right. Then tell me how you decided to become a Runner.”
“It wasn’t something that came to me right away. It just seemed to develop over the course of my childhood.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “Surely, there must be something that started you down this path. If I am to be your wife, I should at least know something personal about you. I already know you’re a Runner, and I figured out what you do as you’re out running around.”
The corner of his mouth turned up at the way she worded the final part of that sentence. “All right. I’ll share something about myself. It’s not an exciting story, but it’s true. While growing up, my sister and I played hide and seek a lot. She’s older than me, so she was smarter than I was, and she used that to her advantage. She got so good at the game that she’d lead me to believe she had chosen one hiding spot when she had really chosen another. The better she got at hiding, the more enjoyable the game was. It was like piecing a puzzle together. I eventually became good enough at picking up clues that I didn’t fall for her fake hiding spots anymore. I could find her right away.” He chuckled. “Of course, by then, she lost interest in the game.”
“So what did you do for entertainment after that?”
“One of the younger children we grew up with lost a toy. My sister encouraged me to look for it. It took me two whole days, but I finally found it under the bed. It had gotten lodged between the leg of the bed and the wall. After that, other children started asking for my help in finding things. Someone said I’d be a good Runner. When I realized he was right, I found an experienced Runner who taught me what he knew, and here I am today.”
She smiled. “Up to now, I could never envision you as a child. It’s nice to learn this side of you.”
“What side?”
“The side that isn’t serious all the time. There’s a part of you that likes to have fun and play. You’re still playing hide and seek. You’re just doing it as an adult.”
“I won’t deny that I enjoy what I do, but some jobs are more serious than others. In hide and seek, no one’s life is at stake. It’s different with my job. Sometimes the best I can do is prove who murdered someone and see to it that the murderer is brought to justice. Thankfully, murders don’t come up often.” He hesitated to add more, but since she was attentive to everything he was sayingand, as she had rightly pointed out, she was going to be his wife, he supposed he owed it to her to be honest with her. “My sister’s first husband was murdered. I didn’t think the situation was that serious, but he turned up dead while I was on another job. With the help of my sister’s second husband, I was able to find out who did it.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes, but I wish I had been more diligent in watching out for him. He shouldn’t have died. In the past, I only had to investigate situations where someone was already dead. This was the first time when someone died while I was on the job.” He shook his head. “I’m never going to let that happen again.”
“Do you think the Duke of Winnett is going to kill me? Is that why you keep checking the carriage, blocking the doors of the room, and staying up all night at the window?” She paused. “I understand him trying to stop our marriage so he can marry me instead, but it makes no sense that he would kill me. How would that accomplish anything?”
“Some people murder out of spite, but the most pressing issue is stopping him from kidnapping you.”
She gave a slight shiver then settled under the blanket. “I can’t imagine being married to him. Every time he’s near me, I feel like snakes are crawling all over me.” She tucked the blanket around her. “I’m glad you’re here. With you keeping watch, I don’t have to worry about it.”
She closed her eyes, signaling an end to the conversation. She may not have come out and said she was happy he was going to be her husband, but at least he knew she felt safe when she was with him. And that made him feel a lot better about the future he was able to give her.
