Clenching his jaw, he moved toward the lifeless corpse. The stranger didn’t look familiar, so he decided that he must have been a local patron of the establishment. Upon closer inspection, Harlan realized that wasn’t it at all. He recognized the clothes as the same Mr. Bernard had been wearing, except for the shirt, which was covered with blood.
Apparently, Mr. Bernard had the same idea as Harlan. Change quickly to disappear from sight. It must have been how he’d managed to escape the party after he’d stabbed Benjamin, whereas this man hadn’t been so lucky to escape the villain’s wrath.
A shuffle behind Harlan had him turning around, but he didn’t see anything else in the alley. Nevertheless, he wasn’t taking any chances. He withdrew his pistol and held it at his side, prepared for any trouble.
“Harlan?”
As a head slowly poked around the edge of the building, Harlan narrowed his gaze. He could have sworn he had heard Leah’s voice, but the figure that stood in front of him looked like a young lad. He strode forward, his finger poised and ready to pull the trigger as he stared hard at the face beneath the cap.
It wasn’t until he drew closer that he saw the features more clearly. With a muffled curse, he glanced around and grabbed Leah’s arm, sheltering her with his body, his face inches from hers. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Following you,” she announced, almost proudly. Suddenly, she sniffed and put a hand over her nose. “Dear God, what is thatsmell?”
“Part of my allure,” his jaw ground together. “But we aren’t discussing that, are we?” He gave her a light shake. “Have you gone daft? You are not safe. Or have you forgotten what happened last night?”
She lifted her chin and he didn’t know if he wanted to kiss her—or throttle her. “I am well aware. And yet, you forget that I can be an ally if you will just allow—”
“No.” His voice was adamant. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that before it will finally sink into that stubborn head of yours.”
Her amber eyes filled with fire. “You say that, and yet you leave without a word to anyone and go outalone. After what happened to Benjamin last night, I would have thoughtyouwould have more sense. At least I left a note for Matthew should he wake up before we return. You didn’t leave anything but your absence.”
Harlan lifted a brow. “Be that as it may,youare going back this instant. I am trying to conduct an investigation.”
She crossed her arms. With her face scrunched with such determination, he couldn’t help but admire her spirit, even if he wanted to growl at her. “I thought you said you wouldn’t send me away again.”
“You know this isn’t what I meant,” he snapped. “Stop twisting my words.”
“Then admit my abilities. Stop trying to dissuade my help when I have managed fine thus far.” She waved a hand over her attire. “You didn’t know I was standing there until I made a noise to alert you. And you certainly didn’t guess it was me beneath this garb until I spoke.”
Harlan remained silent. She was right, but he wasn’t going to give her the benefit of an answer. Instead, he asked sharply, “Where did you get those clothes?”
She had the grace to look a bit sheepish. “I traded that horrid dress to another lady at the lodging house. She was quite impressed. She was the one who took me to see a family with several sons who was able to outfit me with—”
He held up a hand. “You are resourceful. I will admit that, but you are not immune to the danger we are facing. Mr. Bernard is not a simpleton. He is skilled and I am beginning to wonder if I might be outmatched. Each time he appears to be one step ahead of me.”
She softened her tone as she reached up and set a hand against his cheek. “All the more reason for me to join forces with you.” She shook her head. “Because you keep forgetting one thing. Don’t underestimateme.”
Leah wasn’tsure if she was getting through to Harlan or not, but she had to try. If he would give her the chance to join forces, they could be an unstoppable team. She had made the mistake of misjudging Mr. Bernard’s prowess herself, but no longer. Until he was captured, she wasn’t going to turn a blind eye to anything—or anyone. If he was the threat that Harlan claimed, then it would be wise for them all to work together toward a common goal.
Harlan reached out his hand and laid it gently on her cheek. Leah appreciated the gesture, but she had to struggle to keep from holding her nose in light of his aromatic “disguise.” “I have never underestimated you. Not from the first moment I laid eyes on you. From that moment, I knew that you would probably be the death of me.”
He released her and returned to the corpse where he removed the knife from the center of the victim’s chest. Leah had nearly gasped in shock, giving herself away when she’d spied the man propped up against the side of the building, At first glance, she feared that Harlan had killed him, but when she’d watched a bit more closely, she could tell that he’d been deceased for some time, his skin the ashen gray color of someone who had passed some hours previously. Leah would have liked to spend the rest of her life without that particular sort of knowledge, but it was forever burned into her memory.
She would never forget the sight of the man whose lower body had been crushed during an excavation in Egypt. She had just turned seventeen when she’d gone with her father to identify the body the next morning. They had both worked closely with the man on various projects, and the tragedy had struck them both particularly hard.
She remembered looking at the fixed set of the eyes and the odd shade of his skin. Thankfully, she was spared viewing the mangled shape of his body after the terrible accident as the lower half had been covered with a sheet for modesty.
A shiver passed over Leah’s skin now as Harlan patted the man down and then turned to her. “Let’s go.”
She could feel some of the blood recede from her face. “Are we not going to report this? Or… bury him?”
“We could,” he agreed. “But we don’t know if we can trust the local authorities. Trust me, he will be discovered in short order. The ladies of this brothel will ensure he is removed so that the gruesome sight won’t disrupt business.”
He led her out of the alley and together they headed back for the lodging house. “It seems a shame to leave someone like that,” she whispered.
“You should know that life is full of such unfortunate moments,” he returned gently. “It can be difficult to turn a blind eye, but sometimes it is necessary.”
She nodded, but her chest tightened.
