Page 161 of Once an Angel
His sister glanced not at Emily, but back at the bridge. The elderly captain was slumped over the wheel, half dozing.
"She might own it after we dump her in the lap of her rich guardian," Doreen said. "The highfalutin
duke's heir is to pay us all the money he owes poor Miss Winters for looking after the evil little bitch
all these years. And a tenth of it's ours to keep."
"Ought to be 'alf," Barney muttered, fingering the shiny bruise beneath his eye.
Emily was tempted to agree with him.
Monday she had smothered all of their rations with salt.
Tuesday she had poured out Barney's whiskey and replaced it with the contents of his sister's privy pot.
Wednesday she had tossed his only suit overboard. He had been forced to dive after it buck naked while Emily sliced her finger and cheerfully dripped blood into the sea in hopes of attracting sharks. It had taken both Doreen and the burly engine stoker to restrain him from throwing her overboard.
Only this morning she had blackened his eye with her flailing fist as he and Doreen had stripped off her simple pinafore and crammed her into a skirt and bustle.
"She ain't even got the decency to wear a bonnet," Barney growled.
While his face blistered and Doreen grew more sallow with each day of the journey, Emily had the sheer audacity to turn her face to the sun and brown like a little butternut.
"At least we finally got a proper frock on the boyish little fiend," Doreen snapped.
Barney's gaze roamed up and down Emily's figure, making her shudder. Emily knew he found her less than boyish, much as he loathed to admit it. Her breasts still ached from the horrid press of his bony
chest as he had held her down for Doreen to tie the bustle tapes. She edged as far down the rail from
him as the deck would allow. Leering at her, he adjusted his trousers. Emily hoped he was strangulating.
Doreen boxed his ears. "Keep yer bloody hands where I can see em. We can't muck this up now. We
got this job only because Miss Amelia couldn't afford to send another detective."
Barney's answering whine was interrupted by the captain's drowsy cry: "Land ho!"
Emily's pulse quickened.
The steamer slowed. A green flush appeared on the horizon. Doreen gripped the rail, her drawn features made almost pretty by anticipation. When they drew closer, Barney fumbled at the ropes on the small lifeboat that would carry him ashore. He was determined to find the elusive Mr. Connor himself before
he risked Emily running away again on dry land. She had run away once in Sydney and twice in Melbourne. But Barney was as dogged as a bloodhound. He'd simply thrown her over his shoulder and carted her back.
Doreen sucked in an excited breath through her pinched nostrils. "Shall I go with you? Do you think
you can find him alone?"
"If this bloke is as fine and uppity as Miss Winters said 'e was, I'll march straight up to 'is fancy 'ouse
and fetch 'im. Then we'll be rid of the brat and rich to boot."
Emily waited until Barney had hoisted the little boat into the bucking waves before leaning over the side and waving her handkerchief at him. "Do take care, Barney. One of Mr. Connor's partners is dead. The other disappeared without a trace." She smiled sweetly. "I should so hate for the same thing to happen
to you."
Barney's complexion paled to green. Shooting her a nasty look, he steered around and began rowing for shore.
A gull circled the dingy steamer, then soared into the sky. Emily's gaze followed its flight toward the silvery rim of the island.
