She stiffened. “Well, as you say,yet. Perhaps she hasn’t noticed whatever was stolen. Or perhaps the thief—”
“This Fox person,” Barber added helpfully.
She swallowed. “Yes. Perhaps he was interrupted.”
She was talking too much. And she knew better. Silence was a great weapon against curiosity or suspicion. And yet she couldn’t stop talking. She actually bit her tongue to keep herself from continuing to explain herself into a corner.
Barber leaned over his papers and wrote a few sentences. How Selina wished she could read his notes, but they were in a small, tight hand, upside down and too far away to be deciphered. When he was finished writing, he glanced up at her, almost dismissively.
“I think that’s all for now, though we may have more questions for you later.” He stood and she staggered to her own feet. “I would like to speak to Mr. Huntington alone for a moment, if you don’t mind. Perhaps you’d like to go talk to the duke about this update yourself, as it is his gift to you gone missing.”
She barely kept herself from flinching as guilt ripped through her yet again. “Y-Yes. I suppose that would be a good idea. Thank you, Mr. Barber.”
She moved toward the door, and Derrick stood and walked behind her. When she reached it, she turned back to look up at him. Would this be the last time she could do it without irons around her wrists? Without him scowling at her as if she were a stranger?
He leaned closer. “All is well,” he reassured her beneath his breath, though his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “We’ll…we’ll resolve this, I swear to you.”
She forced her own false smile, even though she didn’t want them to resolve anything. Resolution was ruination, for everyone. Because of her.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and slipped from the room.
Only she had no intention of going to Robert. No, she had someone else to speak to. Someone else who might have the answers to how she’d ended up in this trap.
Chapter 19
Derrick quietly closed the door as Selina stepped into the hall, and leaned his hand against it for a moment, unready to turn and face the barrage he was sure was about to come.
“So…” Barber said, dragging the word out too long. “Let me see if I understand. You discovered Selina Oliver knew about our true identities upon our arrival and you didn’t tell me.”
Derrick finally pivoted and faced his friend in silence.
“And then,” Barber continued as he stepped around the desk and came closer, “you found out about her glove in a potential victim’s chamber and spoke to her about it before me, as well.”
Derrick forced himself to hold Barber’s stare. He owed him that. “Yes,” he said softly.
“Also you’re fucking her,” Barber added.
Derrick flinched at the bawdier term. One meant to raise his ire, he thought. Barber was using investigation tactics against him, it seemed. “I won’t lie to you. I’ve taken her to bed.”
“You won’t lie to meagain,” Barber corrected. “Because I think we both know you have been lying to me. Over and over for the past week or more. I assume there’s even more you haven’t told me between ‘she eavesdropped on a conversation’ and ‘her glove was found in a suspicious location’.”
Derrick scrubbed a hand over his face. “You have every right to be angry with me.”
“Oh, thank you for that.” Barber snorted. “And Iamangry. I’m also concerned. You don’t involve yourself with suspects, Derrick. You never have.”
Derrick blinked at Barber’s use of his first name. It was a rare thing. Something that highlighted the seriousness of this infraction. “Is that what she is now? A suspect?”
It was said weakly, and Barber rolled his eyes. “Of course she is. And I can see from your eyes that you bloody well know she is.”
Derrick walked away to the window and stared out at the stables so Barber wouldn’t see how much further he’d already gone with his suspicions. He wasn’t fully ready to share them. To say out loud what echoed in his head. To say out loud what would doom her, and them, forever.
“Why have we always believed that the Faceless Fox was a man?” Barber asked.
Derrick bent his head and gripped his hands at his sides. This was a snowball let loose at the top of a hill. It was already rolling, gaining momentum and mass. It was inevitable that it would crush everything in its path.
And yet he still struggled to slow it down. “Barber,” he said in a weary tone.
“Answer the question. Why?”
