Phantoms In Philadelphia (40 page)

My wound was healing nicely, and the pain in both my
shoulder and where my head struck the table were growing less
noticeable with each passing day. I had ample time to think over
the happenings of the battle, but there were too many unanswered
questions. Bess had not written me or come to see me, and that was
distressing.

Gideon was out visiting a sick
parishioner, so I moved around the shelves of his library,
searching for something I had not read. My eyes roamed over the
titles until they landed on one that made me laugh.
The Mysteries of Udolpho
.
The novel was not at all the sort that Gideon read. It was a
different side to my mentor that I had not seen before. I plucked
the novel from the shelf and an envelope slipped from within the
pages of the book, dropping to the floor. I bent to retrieve it.
Turning it over the words WA Phantoms leapt at me.

Could Gideon be a traitor?

Not liking where my thoughts threatened to take me,
I glanced toward the open door. After checking the empty foyer, I
opened the envelope. Taking out two folded letters, they were blank
sheets of paper. Or were they? I took them to the fireplace and
knelt. As the paper heated the words appeared. And there Gideon was
scoffing at George for using invisible ink all the time having this
hiding in his bookshelf. I felt my lip curl as I devoured the
words. One was a report about Pierre’s capture. The other was
startling. After reading the papers twice I refolded them and set
both the letter and book on the table.

I closed my eyes and tightened my hands into fists.
I squeezed as hard as I could to keep from hitting something. How
did I not see it? How did I not know? My jaw was so tight it hurt,
but I did not unclench my teeth.

Gideon entered the house a few
minutes later and came in, apologizing for leaving me alone. Even
though my back was to him, I knew the instant that he saw the book
and letter. Tenseness covered the room.

“That is why you befriended me; why you never
appeared surprised with any news that I shared with you about the
Phantoms.” I turned toward Gideon, not reining in my anger. “How
long did you hope to keep this a secret?”

Gideon lowered himself onto the sofa, his face pale.
“Allow me to explain.”

“Yes, pray do explain how you
managed to hide the fact that you are the
fourth founder of the Phantoms
, how
you were once a Culper spy, and how you are the leader of the
Washington Phantoms.” I ran a hand through my hair, wanting to pull
it out. “How did I not see it?”

“My dear fellow, only a few people know. After I had
been wounded during the war, I returned home to find my house
burned and my wife dead.

“As I was a wounded soldier, I decided to enter the
church and spent years studying and learning until I was ready to
take holy orders. That was when I met your father.”

Never having heard Gideon’s story, I sat across from
him, interested, despite my anger.

Gideon told my father his story. My father persuaded
him to join his cause, but silently and secretly. My father thought
it best that he be was only active leader. He made plans for the
Phantoms from the beginning; plans to turn them into a branch of
authority. That was why he needed a politician as a founder;
someone who could make a way for the Phantoms to gain
notoriety.

That was all new to me. My father never spoke of
those plans for the Phantoms. I knew that George always sought
notoriety but that my own father did as well was hard to
accept.

“Why did you never tell me?” I inquired.

“Your father did not want it known, and your father
could be most persuasive,” Gideon said, wearily.

“My father is dead,” I snapped. “You could have come
forward at any time. What are you hiding?”

“I can answer that,” George said from the door.
Gideon rose, and I stared at George as he came into the room. He
sat upon the sofa, crossing one boot over the other and looking
entirely at his ease. “I discovered who Gideon was from my father’s
book of codes. Gideon was my father’s accomplice in the Culper spy
ring. Gideon is the mastermind behind all the codes that we use
now.”

It seemed to me that everyone was keeping secrets
from me. Gideon, George, my mother, Guinevere, probably even Bess.
But then, I had secrets of my own that I had not shared with my
mother or sister.

“It is time for him to learn the truth, George,”
Gideon said from beside the door.

George’s expression never changed. He stroked his
chin with his hand. “When I told you that your father died on a
mission, it was true, but I neglected to tell you what mission.
Your father was disguised as a member of Levitas.”

My pulse started pounding in my ears.

“Jack, Levitas discovered who your father was, and
they murdered him.”

My eyes slid shut. When I thought that there was
nothing left that could surprise me George threw a life-altering
secret at me. My head was spinning. “How did he die? I want to know
everything.” My eyes flipped open.

“When William found Levitas, he had no way to
connect them to the murders other than the pyramid brand. Your
father wanted in, so he masqueraded as one of the twelve.

“You know that your father was the master of
disguise, and for weeks his disguise went unnoticed. He uncovered a
plot and he set a meeting with the rest of us to discuss what to
do.”

“What was this plot?” I demanded.

George shook his head which sank my heart. “He never
arrived. For two weeks, we could find no trace of him. A man named
Lewis was the leader of Levitas at the time. From what we could
discover, someone unmasked William’s disguise and brought him
before the court of Levitas.”

“So that Lewis is the man who killed my father?” I
asked, barely keeping my calm.

“No. It is true that Lewis gave the order, but the
head of the Levitas guards was the one to carry out the
execution.”

“And his name?” I asked.

“Richard Hamilton.”

I looked down to my hands that were gripping the
edge of the chair. I started to count, but it did not help. I had
never wanted to destroy someone more. Inhaling sharply, I tried to
keep from lashing out, but my entire body shook as I rose to my
feet.

“Jack, I did not tell you so that you could act
rashly. You have the chance to make your father proud. Take the
path of a Phantom and outwit, and out fight the enemy.”

George was right. I would do as my father would
have, but first I needed to see Guinevere, even if she knew who I
was.

I nodded my agreement. “I must go.”

“There is one more thing that you should know.” I
looked at George, for what was one more thing to add to the ever
growing list. “Levitas has Bess and Levi.”

***

Gideon’s antiquated carriage drove me into the city.
What I was about to do was reckless, but I did not care. The
carriage reached its destination, and I pushed the door open.
Stepping down, I raised my eyes to look upon Guinevere’s house.

At the door, I knocked twice and waited. A moment
had passed before the door opened, and an older woman who was not
Martha was on the other side.

“I have called to see Miss Clark. Would you be so
kind as to tell her she has a visitor?”

“Miss Clark?” The woman shook her head. “There is no
one here by that name.”

My smile was not at all pleasant, of that I was
certain. “So she means to play games does she? Do be good enough to
inform her that her betrothed has called.”

Again the woman shook her head. “Sir, there is not,
nor has there ever been any person living here by that name.”

The devil!
After clearing my throat, I asked, “Might I know to whom I am
addressing?”

“Mrs. Gunner. This is my house, and I have lived
here these twenty years.”

Anger slithered down my spine and melted into a
tingling pool of rage in my stomach. “Might I inquire, have you
only recently returned?”

“Fancy you knowing that, sir. I returned home only
yesterday from an extended stay with my sister in the
Carolinas.”

“Ah. That clears matters,” I replied, but it did
nothing to clear matters. “I apologize for wasting your time.” I
bowed and turned away. I directed the coachman to take me to my
mother’s country house. Once seated in the carriage, I clenched my
teeth, willing the horses on. My mother and sister were in
considerable danger.

Bess

H
ow many
days had gone by? I knew not, locked in a windowless dungeon. Every
part of me ached, but it was nothing to what Levi was enduring.
They had started the first night, with a brand. It was a pyramid
with the lightning bolt––the same that was on all of the bodies we
had found when first we were searching for Levitas.

They wanted names, to know how deep our organization
ran, who first created it. They had sat Levi across from me, and we
exchanged a look, his eyes hard and firm demanding that I give
nothing away for his sake. My jaw was still swollen, and I may have
had a broken rib from where Levi and I took pleasure in taunting
them, and one of my captors did not like being made a
laughingstock. They had grabbed Levi then and had branded him
before my eyes.

Swallowing back the lump that continued to rise to
my throat, I closed my one good eye. The other I had been unable to
open fully, so bruised and painful was it.

They granted us a reprieve but chained us across the
room from one another instead of side by side. Then, hours later,
they had come for him again, this time pulling him from our little
dungeon and leaving me alone.

When the door opened, Dimitri came toward me, and I
tried to back into the wall, truly afraid of what he meant to do to
me. He removed my shackles, grabbed my arms and lifted me off the
ground. My legs dangled in the air until Dimitri dropped me down
onto a chair. I cried out against the pain in my side as I landed
on the wood.

Dimitri bound my tingling hands and feet to the
chair, then opened the door so Richard could enter. It was the
second time Richard had come to visit. He was a fool if he thought
that a few days in his dungeon would break me.

Richard sat in a chair that Dimitri placed across
from me, leisurely crossing one leg over the other. He folded his
hands in his lap and smiled. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more in
life than to get my hands free, just one, and I could permanently
remove that smile.

“Your game as Raven has been impressive, I must
admit. It is a pity that your talents are wasted with the group
that you work for. Now, I have you, and I have the great Loutaire,
but I want the names of the rest of your little team.”

Yawning, I moved my head to look around the room,
anywhere but at Richard. I knew how to get under my opponent’s
skin, and Richard hated to be ignored.

Richard uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his
brown eyes narrowing. “I would hate, absolutely hate, for your
mother to take the punishment for your actions, but if you refuse
to cooperate, what other course is open to me?” He stood.

“Stop! My mother knows nothing about my actions,” I
said in a pained voice and cast my eyes down. “Come closer, and I
will tell you what you want to know.”

“Now we get somewhere.” Richard moved the chair
closer and sat, our legs nearly touching. “Who are the others in
your organization?”

I leaned my head forward, trying to look distraught.
Richard also leaned forward, to listen to my secret. I hacked up
spittle in my throat and sent it flying onto Richard’s face.
Richard growled as he jumped to his feet, knocking the chair to the
ground. I exploded with laughter at the sight of Richard wiping his
face with his lavender scented handkerchief.

“Shut your mouth!” he shouted, before striking my
cheek with the back of his hand.

My head snapped back and heat shot through my cheek,
but I choked down my pain as I forced a smile to my lips and
laughed again.

“The whip! Bring me the whip,” Richard shouted as he
glared at me.

Dimitri moved to the table of
horrors, and I knew that I pushed too far.
What do I do?
My gaze ran around the
room, searching for some means of escape. My salvation came with
the opening of the door.

Guinevere walked in, took one look at me, and
winced. My laughter died, but I quickly recovered, smiling at her.
There was grief in her bluish purple eyes as she pulled Richard
aside, speaking in low tones.

Dimitri stood near the table,
running the whip between his large
fingers.
What would make someone that sinister? I silently prayed that
Richard would be the one to use that weapon and not Dimitri, as I
looked away from the giant.

Seeing the guardian and his ward together only
hardened my resolve to make them each pay, slowly, painfully, for
what they had done to Levi, to George, to Jack.

Richard’s eyes moved back to me as he listened to
her, pure hatred written in those brown orbs. Richard nodded at
whatever Guinevere was saying and motioned to Dimitri. Dimitri set
the whip on the table and moved to open the door for Richard.

“Very well, we shall allow the court to issue the
final judgment against her sins. Dimitri, come, there is work to
do.”

“Farewell, Richard,” I said sweetly, then erupted
into mocking laughter. Dimitri left with Richard.

Guinevere picked up the chair from the floor, set it
in front of me and laid a scented handkerchief over the seat before
sitting down. She wore her white dress and cloak, but the hood was
not covering her hair, and her hair was auburn again.