The housekeeper helped Nicole eat and once she was done, her body grew tired. Still, she fought it. She’d sleep after she wrote the letter.
Ashton had brought her a wooden pen, bottle of ink, and paper. Using the tray as hard surface, she wrote the letter. Ashton stood by her, and she knew he watched what she wrote.
Dearest Father,
Please forgive me for not contacting you sooner, but I have been hurt. I was shot accidentally in the shoulder when Mr. Nickerson mistook me for a thief. I’ve been unconscious for three days with a fever from infection, but I have a wonderful woman taking care of me. I’m staying at Mr. Lee’s residence while I recover. I beg you not to worry about me. He has been very kind and caring, as has his servants. For now, I have no reason to doubt his sincerity. And while I’m recuperating, I plan on digging deeper for more answers about the railway robberies. Please visit when you can. He will welcome you into his home.
Love, Nicole
Over her shoulder, she heard Ashton snort with disgust. “You plan on digging deeper for answers?”
She turned her head and looked up at him as he leaned against the bedpost. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “What did you want me to say? Remember, he still believes you are a suspect, and he will wonder about my assignment.”
“And pray tell, what was your assignment?” His voice rose as he stepped back, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Did they assign you to get close to their main suspect, charm him, and make a fool out of him?”
She hated the guilt boring a hole in her stomach right now, but it was the twisting of her heart that was more painful. “Yes...and no.”
“Explain yourself.” He arched an eyebrow.
“I wasn’t given the assignment until I arrived in Liverpool. If you remember correctly, we met at Lord Reynolds’ masked ball, and we both charmed each other, and we had gotten close during that time. Two weeks later is when I came to Liverpool. During a meeting with the other detectives, your name was brought up. I made it known that we were acquainted. That was when it was decided that I would get to know you better to discover if you were the thief or not.” All this arguing—and explaining—was making her tired, but she didn’t dare go to sleep until it was all out in the open.
His frown deepened. “So, I’ve been nothing but an assignment to you since meeting up with you here in Liverpool?”
Why did he make it sound so hurtful? “It wasn’t like that, and you know it.”
“No, Nicole, I don’t know it.” He snatched the letter from her and folded it before handing it to her again. “Write your address on the front and I’ll have one of my servants deliver it to your family.”
Tears filled her eyes again, making it hard to read. Naturally, he’d be very upset, but she vowed as soon as she was healed, she would work on healing his heart.
ASHTON DIDN’T SPEND much time at home with Nicole during the next week while she recovered. His heart couldn’t take it. But he heard from his servants that her father and brother had visited her. In a way, Ashton wished he could have been there to finally meet them. But then if he had, she would have tried to soften his heart. And right now, he didn’t want it softened.
It had been a while since he allowed a woman to crawl into his heart because the last one he let do that shattered it to pieces. Just as Nicole had done. Of course, the situation was different, but the pain was just as disturbing. The betrayal was as real today as it had been when he was in his twenty-second year, looking forward to his nuptials.
After all of these years, he wondered why he hadn’t seen Agatha Carlton’s reluctance. Why hadn’t he noticed how much she thrived on shopping more than being with him? Perhaps he hadn’t wanted to believe she was only after his money—or at the time, his father’s money and power. Back then he had dreams of a happy life with a beautiful woman by his side. Back then he had faith in mankind...and he thought all women told the truth.
He’d been so wrong!
Nicole wasn’t that different from Agatha. Not really. True, Nicole didn’t pretend to like him for his money as Agatha had done, but the detective just couldn’t tell the truth no matter what. The only time she felt the need to be honest was when she thought she was dying. Even now, he didn’t know what to believe. Had she told him the truth in everything? For some reason, he just couldn’t trust that she was being completely honest with him.
Irritated that he couldn’t get Nicole off his mind, he stormed out of his office and marched to the railway depot. One thing was for certain—Nicole would try to soften his heart, but he could never trust her again. Although, she was correct in thinking they needed to find the real thief together. It rather surprised him when she mentioned it to him. Why had she suddenly wanted to work with him instead of her detective friends?
It didn’t take him long to arrive at the depot. He leaned back against the building and watched the gathering crowd, getting ready to board the train. As he thought back to the times the railway had been robbed, it was when the train traveled between Liverpool and Meols. Perhaps the key to finding out who was taking the money would be to travel toward Meols. Talking to those who worked in the depots along the way might give him the answers he searched for.
Of course, if he told this plan to Nicole, she’d want to go with him. As much as he didn’t want her to, she was more experienced at this than he was. Another thought occurred to him...he might need to stage another money delivery and stay on the railway himself just to see what happened. One way or another, he was going to get to the bottom of this and get his name removed from the suspects’ list.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar face. Confusion swept over him as he watched the woman. He found it odd that Steve Larson’s wife took the train without her husband, especially when Steve commented quiet often about how his wife was always under the weather.
Keeping Marjorie Larson in sight, Ashton moved back behind a large beam to hide himself as he spied. The mousy woman—who’d always been afraid of her own shadow—stood waiting for the railway. She didn’t look around much, but when she did, Ashton could tell she was searching for someone in particular. A few times recognition shown on her face and instead of waving or greeting them, she quickly spun around. For some reason, she appeared as if she didn’t want anyone seeing her.
Strange...
A deafening squeal sprang from the train as the brakes ground the large railway to a stop. Many people left the car, and just as many began to board. Ashton kept his eyes on Marjorie Larson and nobody else. She had no luggage with her, and she didn’t seem too eager to climb aboard the car. Once again, she searched frantically; even rising on her tiptoes to look past part of the crowd.
Finally, her eyes widened, and she waved an arm above her head. Ashton’s attention shifted in the direction she was looking. A man, perhaps in his early to mid-thirties, nodded her way and rushed toward her.
Ashton inhaled sharply. Could Steve’s wife be having an affair with a younger man? Yet when the stranger finally met face-to-face with Marjorie, neither of them appeared to have lovers’ stars in their eyes.
The man bent his head as Marjorie whispered something in his ear, then the two of them hurried away from the crowd and into a carriage. Ashton followed as much as he dared, but once their conveyance took off, he decided not to follow. If Marjorie was indeed having an affair, Ashton shouldn’t be the one to inform Steve.
