Seducing the Ruthless Rogue (5 page)

“And how does my father fit into this?”

“You get me the information, and we release your father.”

“But Papa…”

“Used to be in the hands of your most excellent government, but we have relieved them of their burden.”
 
Cassie struggled and attempted to turn around, but the man held her firmly in place.
 
“Now, now,
mademoiselle
, just listen and no one will get hurt.
 
Oui
?
 
Good,” he said as she settled down.
 
“We believe Director McKenzie is in possession of highly confidential maps.
 
These maps are future battle plans.
 
We want them.”

Cassie remembered seeing maps in the study when she had entered it.
 
“It seems you have not heard,
monsieur
, that Director McKenzie is no longer in the war business.”

“What?”

“He has been removed from his position.”

“Ah, well, that is too bad for your dear Papa.”

“Wait!” Cassie said as the man started to leave.
 
“I will do what I can, please, just give me a chance.”
 
A pregnant pause greeted her.
 
“Please,” she begged.

“I will give you a week to find the information I seek.”

“A week?
 
How am I supposed to do that?”

“Again, ingenuity,
mademoiselle
.”

“And when I find what you seek?”
 
He rattled off an address where the information should be sent.
 

“How do I know this particular map from any other?”

“Now that is an interesting question.
 
One to which you will have to determine the answer.”

“I want proof that you truly have my father,” Cassie demanded.

“Ah, I thought you might.”

Cassie stiffened as a muffler was wrapped loosely around her neck, before being tightened enough to cause her heart to race in panic.
 

“Are you satisfied now with the proof,
mademoiselle
?”
 

Cassie nodded jerkily as the scent of her father’s pipe assailed her.
 

“Excellent.
 
I am going to leave you now.
 
Count to one hundred, very slowly before you come out of this nook.
 
Oui
?”

“Yes.”

“Begin.”

“One, two, three—”

“Slower.”

“Four…five…six,” Cassie continued counting, her heart pounding in her ears.
 
She made it to fifty before she stepped out of the dark chasm.
 
Looking around, she found the streets to be almost empty.
 
She made her way back to the house and let herself in before locking the door.
 
Cassie leaned against the door letting emotion finally overtake her.
 
She began to tremble.

“That you, Missy Cassie?
 
Supper almost ready.”

“Yes, Chang,” her voice warbled.
 

“Missy Cassie, what wrong?” Chang asked when he entered the hall and saw Cassie.
 

“Oh, Chang,” Cassie threw herself into the arms of the wiry old man.

“There, there, you tell Chang what wrong.”
 
Cassie told the man, who was more like a dear uncle than a servant, everything that had happened.
 
“Where is this man?
 
I find him and take care of him for you.”

“No, Chang.
 
They will do something to Papa.
 
I must play their game, unfortunately.”

“What will you do?”

“I will search McKenzie’s house tonight.
 
He had a lot of papers scattered across his desk.
 
Some of them were maps.
 
If I don’t find what I am looking for there, then I will search his old office.”

“I go with you.”

“No, Chang.
 
I can take care of myself.”

“You did a good job of it today, Missy Cassie.”

“I was not expecting him, Chang.
 
Next time I will be ready, I can promise you that.”

Chapter 3

Mack was returning home from Gabe and Mikala’s after celebrating the news of the addition to their family.
 
What started out as a family gathering turned into an impromptu party after several other couples had been invited, including Mikala’s brother Derek and his wife, Tessa.
 
Gabe and Mikala’s good friends, Justin and Clarissa Southerby also came.
 
Mikala and Derek’s aunt and uncle, as well as her parents had been present as well.
 
Thorn Wulfe and his wife, Rebekah would have been there if they had not just welcomed a new child of their own into their family and were currently rusticating in the country.
 
Thorn was the little brother of Mack’s best friend, Teddy, who was murdered last year saving Mack’s life in an assassination attempt.
 

Mack attempted to leave earlier in the evening, feeling claustrophobic amongst all the deliriously happy couples and their children, but all the men, except Gabe, pulled him in demanding to know why he was no longer acting director.
 
Though they respected Presley, most of them had worked closely with Mack in the past and found it difficult to automatically trust another that easily.
 
When he didn’t have a good answer, they turned on Gabe, and that is when he took the opportunity to slip out.
 
Gabe’s coach dropped him off in front of his house.
 

He walked up the short walk and noticed a faint light moving back and forth in his den.
 
On the alert, he moved stealthily to the servant’s entrance.
 
The doors of his house were well-oiled, allowing him to slip into the house undetected.
 
He stayed close to the wall as he moved down the hallway, so the boards beneath his feet would not squeak.
 
Mack entered the study and allowed his eyes to adjust to the dim light.
 
A single candle fluttered in the air on the desk, but he saw no one.
 
He heard a muted, “Yes,” from behind the desk.

“Find something interesting?”
 
Before he could comprehend what happened, a body fully encased in black barreled towards him, knocking him sideways.
 
The person rushed past him, but he grabbed an ankle, causing them to fall to the floor.
 
He tried to pin them down, but the person twisted and used their body in a manner Mack had never witnessed before.
 
The next thing Mack knew, he was flying through the air, his head landing perilously close to the brick of the fireplace.
 

“Sir, are you all right?”

“Stop him, John!”
 

Mack slowly got to his feet as the intruder began fighting with John.
 
John jabbed with his right arm, and the intruder lunged to avoid it, using John’s momentum to spin him around.
 
The person pushed him causing John to crash into Mack.
 
They fell in a pile of tangled arms and legs.
 
The intruder raced into the hall.
 
The men heard the door open and close as they tried to untangle themselves and regain their feet.
 

“Go!
 
Go!” Mack instructed, as he slowly got to his feet, his side causing him difficulty.
 
He followed at a slower pace.
 
By the time he made it out the door, John was doubled over at the end of the block.
 

“Gone, sir,” he heaved.
 
“I had ‘im in my sights and then he just disappeared.”

“That’s all right, John.
 
Let’s return to the house.”

“I’ve never seen someone fight quite like that,” John said.

“It had a feel of the Orient.
 
The person was very light on his feet and used our own weight and momentum against us.”

“Did he take anything?”

“I don’t think so, but I won’t know until I have gone through everything.”

“Should I send for the Runners?”

“No.
 
I think we will keep this between us for the time being.”

They made their way back to the house, and John saw that everything was locked up.
 
Mack went to his study and sat at his desk.
 
He used the candle to light a lamp and turned it up so that he could see better.
 
Mack walked across the room and folded back the rug on the floor.
 
He found the loose board and wiggled it free.
 
There were three long pieces of paper rolled into tubes.
 
He untied the first one and unrolled it.
 
Before him lay the coastline of Europe with various markings.
 
The others were similar.
 
These were the maps that had been scattered about the study earlier when Miss Graham had intruded on his solitude.
 
They were still safe.
 
He released a pent up sigh.
 
Several packets of paper lay tied up with rough string as well.
 
He replaced the maps and the board, then spread the rug back in place.

Mack returned to the desk and the open drawer that had once been locked.
 
The intruder must have picked the lock.
 
He pulled out everything from the drawer and laid it all out on top of the desk in one stack.
 
He then spent the next two hours going through each and every piece of paper.
 
Mack placed the pieces of paper in various stacks but found nothing missing.
 
He put everything back in the drawer and shut it.
 
He would have to see about having the lock repaired.

Mack stood and scrubbed his face with his hands.
 
Something was going on, and he did not like it.
 
He paced the floor trying to work everything through his mind.
 
Who had been in his house and what were they looking for?
 
His pocket watch chimed twice.
 
He stood in the middle of the room and slowly turned, studying every facet, looking for any and all clues.
 
Nothing.
 
Whoever had been here was extremely adept at what they were doing.

He blew out the lamps and left the room.
 
Mack made his way down the hall and up the stairs to his room, entered it, and shut the door.
 
He felt like things were out of his control, and he hated that feeling.
 
He despised not knowing what was going on in the War Office, not making the decisions.
 
Mack ripped the cravat from around his neck and slammed it onto the dresser.
 
He undressed before crossing the room and slipping between the covers.
 
He could not sleep for listening for every creak, so he ended up spending the rest of the night with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

***

Cassie lay in her bed replaying every event of the night in her mind.
 
What had gone wrong?
 
She had not expected him back so soon and that had been her fault.
 
She would have to make another foray into Director McKenzie’s private quarters.
 
Cassie had just managed to master the lock and slip open the drawer when he walked in on her.
 
One thing was certain, the maps were not in plain sight, but she felt certain they were there.
 
A quick glance told her they were not in that drawer.
 
She flipped over onto her stomach, her long, blonde hair trailing off the bed.

“What am I going to do?” she asked the room at large.

Now the occupants of the house would be on full alert.
 
Should she beg Chang to join her?
 
No.
 
He would not approve of what she was doing.
 
He would want her to go to someone that could help, but she had no one to turn to.
 
She had to find those maps so that she could exchange them for her father.
 

For the first time in a very long time, she felt very much alone.
 
Even with her father gone for the last year, she received some strange amount of comfort from her Monday non-meetings with the Director.
 
Deep down, she knew they had been keeping her father safe, and if something serious happened to him, they would have let her know about it.
 
Now she had no one to ask for assistance.

“Grrr!” she growled into her pillow in frustration, slamming her fist into the mattress.
 
She flipped over once again to stare at the ceiling.
 
Her eyes burned with the tears that were building.
 
Cassie blinked furiously, successfully refusing to let them fall.
 
“I
will
find you, Papa,” she promised huskily.