“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to try to locate the person responsible? Don’t you think he should pay?”
“Of course I do,” Reeves said, fists clenching. “I opened an investigation with the constable as soon as she went missing, Gareth. You know that. I won’t rest until that villain is held accountable. He has to pay. And I’m sure that the constable will figure out who it was any day now.”
“But the constable didn’t do anything worthwhile. Maybe he won’t.”
Reeves took a deep breath—that had been on his mind too. “I know,” he said. “But I still think it will be all right. Now that Emma is home, I’m in no particular hurry. I can bide my time. We can do this slowly and steadily. I’m confident there’s no rock a monster like that can hide under. Eventually, he’ll be found, and I’ll make sure he suffers for what he did to my daughter.”
Gareth nodded slowly. “I’m sure you will,” he said. “But what I wonder is … will you have the time to pay attention to that?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said yourself that you were just happy to have Emma home. I don’t blame you for that. But don’t you think, the more time goes by, the less attention you’ll have for this investigation? And the constables… they don’treallycare. Not the way you and I do. She isn’t their family. I’m sure they’ll try, but there will be other crimes for them to deal with, and eventually they’ll move on from this one.”
“What do you suggest I do?” Reeves asked.
Gareth frowned for a moment. “I could take over the investigation for you.”
“You? Take over the investigation? Why is that a good idea? You don’t know anything about investigating crimes,” Reeves said. “I’d do it myself if it were just a matter of looking around for a culprit. But we both know it’s not that simple. We need the resources the constable has to offer.”
“Or maybe we need the resources I have to offer,” Gareth said. “I do know people. No offense, but I’m more socially connected than you are—and to less law-abiding people.
He wasn’t wrong. Reeves knew that Gareth spent enough time in gambling houses and pubs to have connected with the seedy underbelly of London society. He probablydidknow people who could help. But even so… “I couldn’t ask you to take over the investigation,” he said.
“Of course you could. Like I said, she’s my niece.”
“But it might be dangerous,” Reeves said. Even though he wasn’t close with Gareth, he didn’t want the man to come to harm. Seeking out justice himself was one thing—if he’d known where to start, he would have been all too willing. But Gareth… “I don’t like to think of what Rosalie would say if she knew that you were in danger on our behalf.”
I think it’s what Rosalie would want, too,” Gareth added. “She’d want the kidnapper brought to justice for his crimes.”
“I know that, Gareth. That doesn’t mean I want you to start a private manhunt,” Reeves said. “Whoever this person is, he’s obviously willing to cause harm to get what he wants. I don’t want anything happening to anybody else in this family. Let the law handle it.”Or let me handle it, he thought, but did not say. If Gareth knew that he was considering getting vengeance on the kidnapper himself, he would push even harder to be involved, and Reeves didn’t want that.
“If you insist.” Gareth frowned—apparently, he had really wanted to do this his own way. “I just don’t have much faith in them, I suppose. They were so little help to you in getting her back.”
“The important thing is that we did get her back,” Reeves said. “That’s what I care about most of all. I want the kidnapper brought to justice. Of course I do. But what I really want is to enjoy the fact that my daughter is back at home with me, and out of danger. Everything else comes second to that.”
Gareth brightened slightly. “You’re right about that,” he agreed. “We got her back. We really ought to celebrate that fact.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you should have a ball.”
Reeves sat back in his chair, incredulous. “You think I should throw a party? That’s your response to this situation?”
“Don’t criticize me. My first response was to try to find the culprit, and you know it. I’m not going to go against your wishes in that regard. But yes, I do think we should have a party to celebrate Emma’s return home.”
“Emma is too young to attend something like that. What would be the point?”
“She’s not too young to stop in and say hello at the beginning of the evening,” Gareth countered. “It would be good for everyone to see that she’s home and doing well. It’s one of the surest ways to stop tongues from wagging.”
“Oh, you know as well as I do that nothing will ever stop the ton from spreading gossip,” Reeves said. “All we can hope to do is change the nature of the things they say.”
“And I think seeing your daughter doing well would do exactly that!” Gareth said.
“Are people really spreading gossip about this?”
“You’re not even surprised to hear it. You knew they would. Nothing is off limits for these people.” Gareth frowned. “Do you mean to say that you haven’t heard any of the talk?”
