A Lady of High Regard (35 page)

He closed the door behind him and Mia strained her head up to look around. The room was empty except for the bed and table. The room was no bigger than six by eight, and the walls were a weathered wood that had never been painted or papered.

Falling back against the smelly mattress, Mia turned her attention to her hands. Barrill had bound her wrists together, then criss-crossed the rope and tied it off tightly at the side of the bed. There was no head or footboard to tie her to, so no doubt Barrill had used the frame.

Mia pulled at the rope, trying to force her small hands through the loops. The rough hemp cut into her wrist. Barrill had done an excellent job of securing her. No doubt his experience in stealing children and keeping them captive had taught him a thing or two. This might be the same room where some of the children had been forced to stay.

Despair settled over her like a heavy wet blanket. Mia shook off the hideous thoughts that came to mind.
Someone will come for me,
she told herself.
Garrett . . . always seems to know where I am. He’ll find me.
But then she remembered that Garrett’s father was dying that very night. Garrett would hardly be concerned about her or where she had gone. No one would know she was missing until her parents questioned her whereabouts. The hopelessness of the situation hit Mia hard. No one would come—because no one would even know where she’d gone.

Garrett returned home in complete frustration. The Smith woman and her son weren’t at home when he’d arrived. He’d asked around the area as to whether anyone knew where she’d gone or if anyone had seen Mia, but no one had any news for him. The people seemed hesitant to even speak to him, which left Garrett even more aggravated and angry than when he’d first arrived.

Where had she gone? How could she just so completely disappear?

He stepped from the buggy and shook his head as the groomsman came forward. “Do not unhitch the buggy just yet. I may need to go out again.”

Garrett started for the Stanley house when his stepmother called to him from the back door. “Garrett, come quickly. The police are here.”

The police? Garrett wondered at this for a moment, but presumed that Mr. Stanley had sent for them. “What do they want?” he asked Mercy as he joined her in the kitchen.

“You need to talk to them. They’re waiting for you at the front door. I’m afraid it’s very bad news.”

Garrett rushed through the house. What had happened? Had they found Mia? Was she injured? He went to the two uniformed officers and quickly asked, “I’m Mr. Wilson—what has happened?”

“Jasper Barrill escaped custody.”

“How?”

“He overpowered the men who were taking him to a different location,” the taller and older of the two men announced. “We came here to let you know, because the man made serious threats against your household.”

“Such as?”

“He said he knew where the Wilsons and Stanleys lived. He intended to see you all dead. Especially, as he put it, ‘that crazy Stanley woman.’ ”

Garrett felt the truth wash over him. “Have you talked to the Stanleys yet? Their daughter—the crazy Stanley woman—is missing.”

“No, sir. We only arrived here a moment ago and planned to go there next. How long has she been gone?”

“Only a couple of hours. I was speaking with her in their garden when word came that my father was about to die. I came here, leaving her to go speak with her father. She never was seen again. I found her shawl discarded on the ground in the garden. Barrill must have taken her.”

“We should go next door to speak to the Stanleys,” the officer declared.

“I want a guard posted to this house,” Garrett demanded. “I’ll get additional men here to watch over the place, but my stepmother and sisters should not be without help.”

“Merryman here can stay,” the older officer replied. “He can remain until you have your additional men.”

Garrett nodded. “Let me speak to the butler, then I’ll accompany you next door. News like this should not be given without a friend in company.”

Garrett went quickly to the butler and explained the situation. “Speak to the groomsmen and drivers. Oh, and Cook too—she has four sons. Get as many men as possible here to guard the perimeter and house. I don’t want my stepmother worried for any reason.”

“You have my word. I’ll see to it personally.”

Garrett went back to the foyer and found Mercy. “I have additional men coming to offer protection,” he explained to her. “In the meanwhile, this officer will stand guard here in the foyer. If anyone tries to get into the house he will surely hear it. You stay upstairs with the girls. Keep everyone together—understand?”

Mercy nodded, the worry registered in her expression. “What of you?”

“I’ll be fine. I have to find Mia. Barrill most likely has her.”

“Will he . . . hurt her?”

“God help him if he does, for I most certainly will see him dead.”

Lyman Stanley took the news as well as a father could be expected to. He had ushered Garrett and Officer Ambley into the library.

“What are we to do?” he asked, looking to Garrett for answers.

“We’ll put more men on the job. We’ll go to the docks. Mrs. Smith is bound to have returned to her house. It’s quite late and she’ll need to see her child to bed, if nothing else.”

“I’ll return to the station house and get additional men to help us search,” Officer Ambley stated. “Barrill could not have gotten far. My men are already looking for him in all the obvious places.”

“Barrill is very smart,” Garrett said as he considered the man and his methods. “He knows he can’t go home. He knows he can’t go to his office. Those are the first places anyone would look for him. We need to find his cronies and see if there aren’t other places where he owns or rents property.”

“Do you know any of his conspirators?” the officer asked.

“I have a couple of names,” Garrett admitted. “I’ve been pursuing this man’s history and operations for some time. Hopefully one of these men will be able to shed some light on Barrill’s hideouts.”

The officer soon departed, leaving Lyman and Garrett to consider what else should be done. “I think,” Garrett began, “that we should take Mrs. Stanley to be with Mercy. I have additional men coming to guard the house, and it would be easier to protect one house rather than two.”

“That’s a good idea. I have to break the news to her, however.” Mr. Stanley rubbed his temples. “It won’t be easy.”

“I’m sorry about this. I tried to protect your daughter.”

Lyman Stanley looked up and shook his head. “This is not your fault. Neither is it hers. She was, after all, in her own yard. Barrill is to blame, and we need to remember that. He’s cunning and vengeful. That makes for a most dangerous adversary.”

Ten minutes later they were escorting Mrs. Stanley to the Wilson house. She cried softly into her lace handkerchief as her husband tried his best to comfort her. Garrett knew, however, there were no words of comfort to be had. Barrill might be well out of the city by now—especially if he had help.

After seeing Mrs. Stanley safely inside with Mercy, Garrett and Lyman took a buggy and headed out for the docks. For several blocks an awkward silence settled over them, but finally Garrett got up the nerve to speak.

“No matter what’s happened to her, I love Mia and will see her well cared for.” He wanted to speak positively, as if finding her alive was the only possibility.

“There’s no telling what that animal has already done to her.” Stanley finally said. “You know what he’s capable of—what he’s already done. He won’t be inclined to treat Mia any differently. If anything, his anger toward her interference in his livelihood will only drive him to more desperate measures. We’ll be lucky to find her alive—or even to find her at all.”

“We have to have hope. We cannot go into this believing the worst.”

Garrett turned the horses onto Water Street and snapped the reins to hurry their pace. The streets seemed strangely quiet, as if the people who inhabited the area sensed the evil at hand.

“Mrs. Smith lives just over there,” Stanley said as he pointed.

“Yes, I remember.” Garrett guided the horses to the location, narrowly missing a man who was sprawled beside the road. They knocked loudly on Mrs. Smith’s front door and waited. Several neighboring doors opened, as was often the case in close quarters.

Garrett urged them all to join in the search. “There is a matter of grave concern and we need your help.”

The people started to back away and close their doors. They appeared to want nothing to do with upper-class society problems. Garrett threw out the only thing he knew would make a difference. “We’re paying a reward for information.”

This caused the doors to reopen, along with several new doors. People came out murmuring comments to one another.

Mrs. Smith’s door finally opened. The woman seemed stunned to find Mr. Stanley, Garrett, and what appeared to be half of her neighbors on her doorstep.

“What’s wrong? Why are you here?”

“Jasper Barrill has escaped from jail.”

She put her hand to her throat. “Is he coming here?”

“We don’t know. We’re looking for him because we believe he has Mia Stanley. She’s disappeared.”

“Miss Stanley is in danger?” another woman asked. “She’s done nothing but help us.”

“It’s true,” several women added in unison.

“I saw Barrill,” a man spoke out. “Not but an hour ago. I knew my wife said he’d been arrested, but I figured the police let him go.”

Garrett pushed his way through the crowd to where the man stood. “Where was he? Do you know where he was going?”

“He was headed down along the waterfront. There’s some older buildings where I think Barrill has rooms. I can show you the direction he took, but I don’t know exactly where he went.”

“I might know,” another man said, pushing forward. “If there’s a reward involved, I’m sure I know.”

Garrett tried to push back his anger. “Then both of you come with us and show me where he’s gone.”

Mrs. Smith came to Garrett. “We’ll all go look. We owe a great deal to Miss Stanley. We won’t desert her now.”

“That’s right,” another woman declared. “Let’s get our lanterns and go look for her.”

Lyman Stanley nodded with tears in his eyes. “Thank you,” he barely whispered. “Thank you for helping my daughter.”

CHAPTER 28

M
ia heard people calling her name, and at first she thought she’d dozed off and was dreaming. As the voices grew louder and then faded, she fought to understand it all without becoming hysterical.

They’re looking for me.
She reassured herself that all was not lost.
There are people out there looking for me. Barrill will never be able to take me from here now.
She told herself this over and over, feeling a little more encouraged as the minutes passed.

“Well, it seems,” Barrill said as he entered the room, “that you have caused quite a stir.” He closed the door and leaned against it. “You do seem to cause trouble wherever you go, don’t you, Miss Stanley? But that’s all right. I like trouble. It’s long been my companion.”

She tried to speak, but her gag would not allow for anything more than a few muffled grunts. Outside, several people called to her.

“Mia Stanley! Mia, where are you?”

She wanted desperately to let her searchers know where she was, but there was no chance to answer. She was helpless to save herself, although help was just on the other side of the wall, a few feet away.

Barrill smiled, as if reading her mind. “Funny, isn’t it? To have something you want so badly—and it’s just out of reach.” He came to her and sat down on the narrow bed. “I’ve lived my entire life that way. Never being good enough for people of your society, while being too good for people of their society.” He nodded toward the wall.

“I’ve always wanted more than life afforded me, while you have always had everything given to you.”

Mia tried to pull her body away from his, but there was no room to move, even if she could. He studied her for several minutes as people continued to call to her from outside.

“You are very lovely. Few women have your beauty.” He traced her cheek and Mia jerked her head to the other side. He wasn’t deterred. “You might as well not fight me. I have the matter well in hand. You have no chance to escape me.”