“We have a good idea,” Phillipa said. “A disgruntled former employee of Jeremy’s. However, where she heard them is a mystery.”
“Not entirely,” Rimple added. “That social club—the New Women’s League. She heard it at a meeting.”
“Is that the group started by Emily Coughlin and her ilk?” Dominic said. “Maybe it’s just another roundabout way to you get you to move.”
“Possibly,” Phillipa said. “But this is getting a little concerning. Thanks to Jeremy’s connections, we’ve managed to get several of our girls hired into some of the more reputable places in the city, including Government House.”
Dominic sat down on the settee and read over piece in question. “I could take a look into it.”
“I don’t know if you could get anywhere near the NWL,” Elouise said. “You’re too close to Everwell.”
“I don’t think there is such a thing,” he said, giving Elouise a warm smile. “I just spent the past hour with Veronica Turnbull, and she didn’t seem to mind.”
“You’re investigating the da Silva case for her?” Phillipa said, her brow furrowed.
“I am,” he said, then cocked his head. “And I think we have an opportunity here.”
Phillipa crossed her arms and started pacing in that way she did when she was thinking. He hadn’t said a word, yet, she already seems to understand what Dominic was proposing.
“And before you say no,” he said, raising his hands as he read her silent dissent, “consider it a chance to fix this. You know better than anyone that favours are a particularly useful sort of currency.”
“The NWL do us a favour?” Maddy interrupted, rolling her eyes. “Why would they even want to?”
He picked up the paper and pointed to the picture of Beau da Silva.
“He’s my newest client,” Dominic said. “I don’t think the ink was dry before I got a call from Veronica Turnbull herself.”
“Did he do it?” Maddy asked.
Dominic shared everything he knew, including a few pieces that were not in the papers.
“Someone is clearly eager to find him,” Phillipa said. “It’s not every day a reward like this is offered before the case even goes to trial.”
“Exactly,” he said. “We have to get him out of the city. That reward is too much of a carrot for even the casual fortune hunter. I’m going to Saint John as soon as he’s in a safe place.”
“So what do you want from us?” Maddy asked before she could help herself.
“I need someone to keep an eye on him. Someone who knows how to handle themself.”
Dominic’s eyes met Maddy’s and her heart jumped into her throat. Why on earth would she want to help Beau da Silva?
She opened her mouth to protest, but Phillipa spoke up first.
“Absolutely not,” she said, giving her head a quick shake. “It’s too much of a risk.”
Maddy stifled a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Phillipa had some good sense.
“Everwell would be doing The Turnbulls a tremendous favour,” he continued, clearly not yet willing to give up his case. “The man’s pockets are pretty deep. You’ll get a nice donation for your services, which I would add, would be one hundred percent legal. No sneaking around, no slipping keys into stranger’s pockets, no cracking safes—or skulls.”
“Men like Beau da Silva are not the people we are trying to help,” Phillipa said. “Nor Veronica Turnbull for that matter. They can snap their fingers and get whomever they need. And they can’t know about Maddy’s particular training.”
“They don’t need to know about the martial arts or the boxing,” Dominic said. “All they have to think is that Maddy is going as his housekeeper and cook.”
“I hate cooking,” Maddy said.
Dominic turned and flashed her a smile, which may have worked wonders on Elouise, but Maddy, thankfully, was immune.
“It’s an old stone cottage in the middle of nowhere,” he said, “with no one to bother you.”
