Michael listened with a horrified look on his face. “We have to stop this.”
“You have to find someone who is brave enough to come forward.” Liam told him. “Just working for you puts our lives at risk.”
“I’ll see that you are all well-armed and paid well,” Michael let them know. “But let me tell you this. If I find one of you is a spy for the Horsemen, you’ll wish punishment came from their hand instead of mine.”
Liam and William nodded. Gerald deflected his gaze. Michael would keep an eye on him.
He looked toward the entrance and grinded his teeth. Where was Charlotte?
He heard the doors downstairs open and then clang shut. “’Tis us,” her voice came to his ears like blessed music. “Do not shoot us.”
He heard Colin laugh. They weren’t hurt. She hadn’t run off.
His heart began to beat again. He left the hall and went to the stairs.
“Were you getting worried that I ran away?”
He shook his head. “In truth, I lost track of time.”
“In truth?” She grinned as if she saw right through him, and his bald-faced lie was obvious.
Colin had most of the sacks, so Michael helped him first. He could smell the wine sack tossed over his first-in-command’s shoulder. He ignored it. He could feel Charlotte’s eyes on his back. He didn’t ignore that.
“How did you pay for all this?”
“I did not,” she replied. “My father will be informed, and he will pay.”
Clever, Michael thought with disdain. The duke was keeping tabs on her. She knew it. She wasn’t stupid. He looked over his shoulder at her. “Why not buy the other things you need in the same way?”
“I do. But I cannot drain his coffers.”
He saw her point, hauled a few sacks over his shoulder, and hurried up the stairs. He called to the others and dumped the sacks, which didn’t contain liquid, onto the table. There were apples, a few pears, four loaves of black bread, a loaf of bread with raisins or dates in it, a hunk of butter…or cheese, another hunk of cheese…or butter. They both looked almost exactly alike. Some wrapped packages of dried, salted meat. They weren’t sure what kind of meat. But Michael decided when in Rome…
They all sat at the table together and passed the bread and everything else around. Michael wanted the wine, but he wanted to hold on to this feeling of being able to get past his previous life, even more. He wanted to enjoy his time with Charlotte because he really wasn’t sure if it was permanent. Did he want it to be? Yes. That’s why he was planning to lead a police force. To start over. A new day. He looked at the faces around the table and was suddenly overcome with the feeling of nostalgia.
Arthur had a table. Did it mean something? He didn’t care. He had a castle keep. He had men, and he had a woman who was going to keep his life interesting.
“So, tell us about what you did in York, Sir.”
Michael gave Colin a cool glance. It was a question that was bound to be asked at some point. Michael had thought about it. “I’m an investigator. I investigate crimes. I wasn’t in charge in York, I had a partner. He’s…um…still in York.”
“Are you going back?” William asked.
Everyone around the table grew quiet, waiting for his answer. Charlotte was waiting as well. “I don’t know if I’m going back. I don’t—” he paused to clear his throat. “I don’t want to, but it may not be up to me.”
“Oh, now let us not talk about such melancholy things,” Charlotte suggested. “Detective Pendridge does not want to spend the day talking about where he came from. Do you, Detective? Will, why do you not tell us about your dear mother, Gladys Reynolds. She was a friend of Rosie’s…”
She didn’t want him to talk about his time traveling adventure and sound like a fool to the men. It was thoughtful, but should the men know the truth? He could make better decisions if he knew if he were staying or not.
He glanced at Charlotte. She appeared a bit distracted. Was it because of him? He wanted to smile to reassure her. But he didn’t. He couldn’t reassure her when he didn’t know himself.
“Colin,” he said, pushing the rest of his food away and signaling that supper was over. “You and Gerald go recruit some men. Men that you know and tr—”
“Oh, send William instead,” Charlotte cut him off with a touch of her hand on his arm. “He is friendly enough and I need Gerald to help me in one of the rooms I was looking in. The shelves are very high, and since he is the tallest—”
Michael held up his hand to stop her and looked at Colin. “Take William with you instead.”
He then turned to Gerald. “Gerald, go see to Lady Charlotte’s needs,” he allowed and watched Gerald as he passed him. He was the taller of the two.
