“I understand. It has always frustrated me that things take so much time, and every single clue you get usually leads nowhere.” Stark shook his head and swiveled in his chair, a frown wrinkling his forehead.
“It can be very frustrating. But it’s also gratifying when I catch the miscreant who committed the crime.” Apprehension of the suspect was always satisfying. It was one of the ultimate rewards of a grueling job.
Someone knocked on the door, and we both looked over to see a thin man with a balding pate. Stark’s secretary. Unlike Moran’s, his was not very appealing. I suppressed a laugh at my own internal joke. Mrs. Worth seemed to constantly be planting herself into my thoughts. I liked her cheek, and her kiss had incited my passions. Kissing Moran also stripped away my inhibitions, and to have both of them in my bed would be the ultimate fantasy.
“The commissioner is here to see you.” The little man nodded to me in greeting.
Detective Chief Inspector Stark met my gaze once more. The tension was back in his jaw. “I guess our time is at an end. If you could do that favor for me, I would gladly compensate Mr. Moran for the time.”
“I will let him know.” Lately, the Met had been cracking down on bribery amongst its members. It was moving into a new era and changing with the times. I stood and nodded to him, bypassing the secretary on my way out. I had to stop being so paranoid while around him. Eventually he would notice, and then there would be questions I didn’t want to answer.
In the short time I was in his office, most of the men in the common area had cleared out. It was time for me to leave as well. I usually exited through a side door leading to an alley that skirted the building, however, that access was closed, and I was forced to go through the lobby proper.
My footsteps echoed in the empty corridor until I approached the lobby entrance. I rubbed at my forehead and tried to will the encroaching headache back. Too little sleep had finally got to me. While Moran had slept after our encounter, Ihad written most of the night. Even now, my fingers itched to get back to my story.
The main character was loosely based on Moran, although he was adamant that he was nothing like the lothario. Indeed, in reality, he was not. However, he was who I imagined Moran would be if he let go of his strict control over his actions.
A flash of white caught my attention, and I noticed a woman outside the door, the feather in her plumed hat whipping in the wind in a jaunty manner. She had midnight black hair and a slender figure. My heart began to race, and I hastened my stride.Suzette.
Surely she hadn’t returned after three months of being away?
A crowd of people were on the streets, heading home after a busy day. The woman disappeared from my eyesight. Frantic, I quickened my steps, all but running to get out of the building.
When Suzette had originally told me she was leaving the country, I hadn’t believed her. Alberto, the man who kept her as his mistress, had treated her decently enough, but he was thrice her age and married.
The sun had almost disappeared, and I searched frantically for Suzette along the street. Several women were wearing hats similar to hers; thus, it was hard to distinguish her.
I had begged her to marry me, but she insisted on following Alberto to France instead. She claimed that her continued association with me wasn’t sustainable. Her past was rough and she had no desire to attach herself to law enforcement. Suzette clawed her way from the poor house by using her looks and keen wit. Her lightness of spirit drew me in from the beginning. I pushed past several gentlemen walking at their leisure, using my height advantage to look for the white plume.
After a breathless few moments, I saw the feather. Relief and renewed determination quickened my feet. A carriage was upahead, the black lacquered exterior polished to a shine. Whoever was getting into that was quality.
Suzette had told me that she aspired to be a lady. I thought it was naïve. One didn’t just wish to be a lady. They were born into it or married into it. I didn’t have the pedigree she needed, and I was glad for it. I scorned the aristocracy because every time I dealt with them, they scorned me. Moran was of the same mind, and his dislike was even stronger than my own.
A bobby was directing traffic with a whistle.
The sidewalk proved hard to navigate with so many pedestrians, so I took to the road to finish my pursuit, dodging several horse-drawn carriages. The shiny one pulled into traffic where the bobby was directing it. I ran faster.
One of her reasons for not wanting to be with me was my job. Her stepfather had been a bobby and had been abusive. Nobody said anything about it because of his position. Not that they would have said anything anyway. It wasn’t unusual for a man to beat his wife and children. “Suzette, stop.”
If she heard me, there was no indication. I had almost reached the carriage when the officer blew the whistle, and the carriage turned left. I caught another glimpse of a delicate profile. In the same instance, she looked over, and our eyes locked.
My stomach sank. The woman staring at me wasn’t Suzette. My footsteps slowed, my heart still racing with disappointment.
A coach driver yelled at me to get out of the road, and I stepped back. Suzette had left the country for her own safety. A maniac was out there, wanting to kill her because of what she had witnessed. She had made her decision, and I was forced to live with the consequences.
The lightness I had felt after my night with Moran seemed to leave me in a wave. I turned in the other direction to begin to walk home. Every time I thought I was over Suzette, somethingtriggered her memory. The only thing left for me was to pick up the pieces yet again.
