“I received the first note and my old apron over a month ago, and then Timmy’s shirt next. But there were still no demands, and then tonight Doddy woke me whimpering, and I went to my brother’s room and found him gone. The note in his bed said they’d taken him and his n-nanny.” She stopped to take a deep breath. “I saw a carriage out the window and thought I heard Timmy crying. I ran outside with Doddy, but it left as I reached it.”
Patrick closed his eyes briefly. Even now, she could have been taken from him.
“So you came to me?”
“Yes. I didn’t know who else to turn to,” she said.
He was pleased she’d thought of him first, even as his body chilled over what could have happened to her.
“Do you know who took him, Sophie? Someone who would want to cause you this much pain?”
“I-I can think of only one man,” she whispered. “I thought about it as I ran here.”
“You ran here in your nightclothes?” Visions of her being abducted and dragged into some seedy alley filled his head. He might never have seen her again, and that thought alone scared the breath from his body. “You will never take such a risk again. Do you understand?”
“I will to protect someone I love,” she vowed, showing him a glimpse of the woman he’d come to know.
“Anything could have happened to you, and I would never have known,” he added, although this time his voice was calmer.
“I had no choice.”
“You could have called a hackney, Sophie.”
“I didn’t see one,” she said. “So Doddy and I ran as fast as I could, keeping to the shadows.”
“And now I need to ask if you are all right after what happened between us?”
Her eyes lowered, but he raised her chin with a finger until their eyes met. “Sophie?”
“I am well,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry I hurt you.” He kissed her softly.
“’Tis not your fault, as you did not know I was innocent,” she whispered.
“And there is no time to discuss this further now, but we will talk about what happened the other night soon, Sophie.”
She nodded.
“I need to know who you believe has your brother.”
“I can think of only one man ruthless enough to do this. His name is Jack Spode. A man from my past.”
He would commit that name to memory. “I will dress now, and then we will go downstairs, as I want Stephen to hear your story.”
She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “He is a good man, and you can trust him, I promise.”
“Very well.”
“One more thing, Sophie, and I will have your word on this.”
“What?”
“No more lies. You will tell me only the truth now.”
Their eyes clashed for long seconds before she nodded again.
“Good girl. Now wait there while I dress, and then we’ll go and work out how to get your brother back.”
