He grabbed the man by the collar and brought his face to his. There was only one man desperate enough to go stark raving mad. And it was him. “Where are the other girls?” He snarled, a beast coming alive inside him ready to tear the guard limb from limb. “The ones you caught this evening.”
“You mean the whore and her maid?” He grunted.
He shook the man. “Where is she?”
The guard pointed toward the stairwell. “Second floor. That’s where they’re all kept.”
Simon threw the guard away from him and ran for the stairs with Robbi close behind. “Stay with him, Payne. Robbi, don’tyou dare point that pistol in my direction while you’re running.” He said over his shoulder.
“I know how to handle a pistol,” Robbi yelled back.
“Watch for other guards. It could be a trap!” Payne yelled after them as he began tying the man up with a nearby piece of rope.
“We know!” Simon and Robbi yelled together.
On the second floor, they opened the door and were struck with the smell of human waste and misery. One lantern illuminated the room from the far corner, offering minimal light due to stacks of haphazardly organized crates throughout the room.
“Edeen!” Robbi yelled.
He would have glared at her, but he was too busy watching for a guard to come around the corner as he approached the narrow pathway on the opposite side of the room.
“Robbi? Robbi is that you?” A tentative and hopeful female voice called back.
Robbi began to run toward it, but Simon grabbed her by the scruff of her jacket, nearly pulling her off her feet. He raised one finger to his lips and whispered. “Ask her how many guards are in the room.”
“Edeen, how many guards are with you?”
Joyous laughter broke out on the other side of the room. “Get over here and get me out, scamp.”
Robbi smiled up at him and he released her jacket before she took his arm with her. They ran to the Blair sister Simon hadn’t seen in ages. What he saw, however, nearly stopped him in his tracks. Edeen was wearing only a corset and drawers.
“That is taking a disguise a bit to the extreme, dear sister,” Robbi said as she eyed the locks on a five-foot-tall cage that encompassed the entire west end of the room. The sheer numberand ages of girls inside the cage were enough to make his skin crawl.
“How many girls are in there?” He asked, trying to look anywhere but at Edeen.
“Thirteen, counting me and Violet,” Edeen responded. “But the other girls say there were more before we arrive who were just…” She hesitated. “…moved.”
The implication of where the girls had been taken steeled his resolve. They had to work fast to get thirteen girls out of this hell before the other guards returned.
“Bugger,” Robbi muttered as the lock pick slipped without triggering the latch. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she concentrated on the task. He gazed at the girls ranging in age from as young as eight, to as old as Edeen’s twenty.
“Violet’s here?” He asked, sending a silent prayer up for Pembrock’s sister.
“She’s in the corner over there. She’s with Elizabeth Weldon.” She lowered her voice. “Her brother refused to pay her ransom. Said he didn’t believe she was alive, and if she was, she was better off dead.”
Simon drew back as if her words had struck him. Viscount Weldon was Ross’s cousin and had recently had his engagement broken off when his fiancé eloped with another man. Weldon had his sympathy, until that moment. Now he wanted to pound the man senseless.
“Yes,” Robbi whispered as the lock snapped open and she pulled it from the door. Edeen picked up the youngest girl and carried her in her arms. “Don’t worry, Cora. I’ll get you to your mama, I promise.”
Simon looked down at the little girl with strawberry blond hair and cherub cheeks. Tiny bare feet dangled from Edeen’s hip.
“They took our shoes in case we escaped.” Edeen’s voice hardened with hatred. Shrugging out of his jacket, he smiled gently at the young girl in her arms. “Let me hold you while Miss Edeen puts on my jacket.”
Cora looked up to Edeen who said, “It’s alright. He won’t hurt you.”
Slowly he reached out for the girl who hesitantly went to him while watching Edeen for any hint of trouble. Once Edeen had the jacket on, Cora nearly leapt from his arms.
Two girls Edeen’s age came forward, the smaller of the two, hugged a big-boned girl who sniffled against her friend’s shoulder. “Just leave me. My brother doesn’t want me back.”
