She pressed a finger at the first date on the timeline and shook her head. “Only this man could have stopped it all,” she said. “Onlyhecould have turned back to the right path and kept that terrible day from happening.”
He nodded slowly but his expression was incredulous. Like he understood but did not believe.
“Let’s carry on,” she suggested, moving away from him. “Were there any big moments in your case once you took over?”
“Yes.” He shuffled papers around on his desk and then motioned to the one before him. “We look for patterns in cases, you see. And the first one I found in this case was here, right after I took over.”
She looked at the paper he indicated and caught her breath. “The cases that led to shared information with enemies, the things that the traitor did, all came after cases were taken over by other agents.”
“Every case was one where one agent had taken over from another. Now, the agents who came off cases and the ones that took over, there’s no pattern there that I can find. Different men. But somehow our traitor was aware of the transition and used it to his advantage.”
Diana glanced over at him. His face was lit up in the same expression she could feel her on her own. She smiled gently at him. “I can see why this is so thrilling to you. For the first time I understand it a little better.”
He wrinkled his brow. “Well, there are times it is exciting, certainly. Finding a pattern like this one is a thrill unlike any other. Moving forward in an investigation and knowing you’re one step closer to uncovering the truth, it’s…”
“Intoxicating,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Yes, that’s the word for it. There is no other drink or drug or vice that I’ve found that feeds my soul like this one.”
“It did the same for my father,” she whispered as she traced her finger along the length of their timeline.
Lucas was quiet for a beat, and then he said, “Did he tell you much about what he did for the department?”
“He was a surgeon, of course. It’s all I thought he did until he showed up with…with that man two years ago. It was obvious there was more to it. So I don’t know, perhaps Stalwood put his mind in use when his hands were not.”
Lucas looked away, and something in her heart dropped at the unexpected expression on his face. Like he had something to hide.
“What?” she asked.
He shrugged his good shoulder. “I never knew him to be assigned to cases. Stalwood said he didn’t, either. It surprises me, is all, that he would…would be working on something neither of us knew.”
Diana stared at him. There was a cautiousness in his demeanor now. She didn’t like it. “You live in a world of secrets. I’m frankly shocked that you think you know them all.”
“You’re right, of course,” he said after a long hesitation. “But—”
He didn’t get to finish whatever thought was in his head. At that moment, there was a light knock on the door and then Jones put his head into the room.
“Your Grace, you have received a missive. You said you wanted it the moment it arrived.”
Diana watched as all of Lucas’s confident bravado faded, replaced by an almost boyish nervousness. He rose from the desk and crossed to his butler. Jones held out a folded sheet and Lucas took it, his hands shaking slightly. “Thank you, Jones. We will come in for supper shortly if Mrs. Cox is ready for us.”
Jones inclined his head. “She will be within the half hour, Your Grace. Is there anything else you need?”
“No,” Lucas said, still staring at the letter in his hand. “That will be all.”
Diana shifted as the butler shot her a look, that same judgmental one he’d given her every time he saw her, then left the room. Once he was gone, she shoved her discomfort aside and focused on Lucas. “What is that?” she asked, taking a cautious step toward him.
He jerked his head up, like he’d forgotten she was there. “I-it’s from the friend I wrote to today. Simon Greene, Duke of Crestwood. I didn’t expect for him to respond so swiftly, but this is his hand. I would recognize it anywhere.”
He made no move to do anything else, and Diana now took the remaining steps toward him. “Are you going to open it?”
He glanced at her again. “In truth, I am…I’m afraid to do so.”
She drew back at the unexpected honesty of that response. There was an intimacy required for a man like Lucas to admit he was afraid to anyone, but certainly to her. She longed for more of it, for that connection she had been seeking all her life and yet knew was foolish to look for in him.
“Because you pushed them away for so long?” she asked, her throat suddenly dry.
He turned the letter over and over in his hands. “Yes. It wasn’t always like that. I was the youngest of the group, some would say the most sober. But it never kept me from being included, cajoled, loved equally.”
