“Y-yes, Miss White.”
“Good. Go put some powder on your face. You’re all red. I want you looking your best by evening.”
“Yes, Miss White.” Footsteps shuffled to the hall door.
“You and I have been friends up until now, Kitty. Don’t let that change. You won’t enjoy being my enemy.”
“Yes, Miss White,” Kitty whispered, barely audible.
“Go.”
The hall door opened and closed. A feminine chuckle sounded. The incongruous emotion baffled Madelina so, it took her a moment to realize the laughter drew near.
Madelina jumped away, flattened her back to the wall behind the door, and drew her scarf to cover all but her eyes. She tightened her grip on the pistol. The door opened.
A curvaceous figure topped with flowing auburn locks strode into the room. Even from behind, Madelina recognized the woman who’d interrupted her set with Mister Mclintock. The woman who, with a single gesture, had summoned him from Madelina’s side. Miss White, his mistress and, apparently, business associate.
Before Miss White could turn to close the door, Madelina stepped around it to shove the barrel of the pistol into the woman’s back. A startled cry left Miss White’s throat.
Madelina kicked the door closed. “Be still or I’ll shoot you.”
“Who are you?” Miss White craned her neck in an effort to see Madelina’s face.
“Who I am means nothing,” Madelina growled, voice as low and rough as she could manage. “Where are the girls Mclintock bought last night?”
Tension left Miss White’s frame. “Why, you must be Little Hook,” she said, voice light. “Jasper told me about you. He thinks you wanted the girls for Madam Dequenne, but I think you rather fancy yourself a hero.”
Little Hook? Had Mr. Mclintock dubbed her that? “Where are the girls?” Madelina repeated, jamming the barrel harder against Miss White’s back.
“You’re far too late, Little Hook.” Amusement sparkled in Miss White’s tone. “They’re already safely back with their family. But I am grateful to you. It’s not often I get to prove Jasper wrong.”
“Safe with their family?” Madelina repeated, incredulous. The idea that Jasper could be a champion of innocent young women thrilled her almost enough to offset the memory of Miss White framed in the ballroom doorway, beckoning to him. “Why should I believe that?”
Miss White shrugged narrow shoulders. “I care not what you believe. Jasper Mclintock doesn’t deal in abducted virgins. All of the women in The Black Aspen are here of their own free will.”
“That’s not how it sounded a moment ago in your office,” Madelina snapped, talking to purchase time to settle her rapidly churning thoughts. Could Mclintock have purchased the girls to save them? Was liberating rather than enslaving the young women the reason he’d hurried from the ball?
“Eavesdropping?” Miss White tsked. “What a reprehensible young man you are, Little Hook.”
If Miss White told the truth, that would explain why Madelina couldn’t locate the young women, and why Mister Mclintock had sounded so sure she’d come to steal them from him for the Madam. Regardless, now that her presence was known, it was high time Madelina left The Black Aspen.
“We’re going to the wardrobe, and you’re going to take two belts from those robes,” Madelina ordered, pistol barrel pressed firmly between Miss White’s shoulder blades. “Then we’re going to the bed.”
“Why, Little Hook, this day just became far more interesting,” Miss White purred.
“To the wardrobe,” Madelina reiterated. She marched Miss White across the room. “Get two belts.”
Miss White did as she was bade. Madelina pushed her to the bed. There, she took the silk cords and bound Miss White’s hands behind her back. Keeping the shorter woman facing away from her, she tied Miss White to a bedpost.
Miss White craned her neck to look over her shoulder at Madelina, a wide smile curving her lips. “Now that you have me where you want me, what are you going to do with me?”
Keeping the pistol pointed at Miss White, Madelina moved to the head of the bed. She tugged free a silk pillow cover and came back. “I’m going to gag you.” She shoved the silk into Miss White’s mouth, hard enough that it would take her some time to spit it out. Above the gag, hazel eyes flashed with anger.
Gun level, Madelina backed away to Mister Mclintock’s room. When she reached the door, her searching hand quickly found the knob. Miss White glared impotent furry as Madelina edged the door open and slipped through.
She darted across the room and into the hall, startling several women. Screams followed as she ran out the back of The Black Aspen and spilled into the alley. Aware that the women’s bleating would alert the men at the other end of the alley, Madelina broke into a run. Assuming the men would give chase, she didn’t look back, hitting the borough’s warren of narrow allies and streets like a hare pursued by hounds.
When her breath grew ragged and several glances revealed no pursuit, she ducked down an empty street and slowed to a walk. A moment later, she turned into an alley. Making sure not to stand beneath any windows, she quickly uncocked and unloaded the pistol, then tossed it into a midden heap.
