Page 55 of Silence of Deceit
“You are right. I don’t want to kill you.” The blade disappeared from her throat, though his hand stayed latched around Audrey’s arm. “But I also cannot let Bow Street take me.”
He jerked her arm and before she could wonder at his intentions, a sharp blow to the side of her head rocked through her. It wiped out all sound and feeling, and all she knew was the folding of her legs.
It felt as if she were falling forever, never landing upon the floor, but sinking through it. Down and down, she spiraled, ears muffled against sound, eyes cemented against light. And then, all went still.
A throb of pain at her temple and an excruciating thirst was what finally forced her eyelids to open. It was a chore. She wanted quiet, stillness, peace. And yet, deep inside, she knew she could not have those things. Not just yet. There was something to do. Something important, but the details eluded her.
The stiffness in her legs and arms became impossible to ignore. With a groan, she tried to move. Slowly, she remembered. The closet. Bedlam. Warwick.Mr. Starborough.
Jolting awake, Audrey realized her dry tongue was caused by a ball of fabric that had been stuffed into her mouth and wrapped around her head. Starborough had not only gagged her, but her ankles were tied, and her wrists too, behind her back. The door to Warwick’s third-level closet was firmly closed; it was utter blackness within. How long ago had Starborough left? Carrigan and Greer…they had to be still outside, waiting. Worrying. How long until they came looking for her?
Audrey wriggled on the floor, trying to position herself onto her knees, something that might have been more easily done had she been wearing trousers instead of a dress. The humiliation of being trussed up like a sow and shut away in a closet tempted to overwhelm her. She had to keep her wits. Taking a deep breath, she gave up trying to get onto her knees, and rolled onto her back instead, arms pinned beneath her uncomfortably. Tucking her knees in toward her chest, she used the motion to rock herself forward. Before she could flop back down again, she twisted to the side and landed on one elbow.
Below, the sound of an opening door and low male voices caused her to freeze. Warwick? She burned with anger and mortification. If only she could get herself out of this bind without help! Audrey continued to strain into a sitting position. Until one voice climbed above the others.
“Audrey!”
Her heart stuttered, then leaped. It wasHugh.
She tried to shout his name, but it was nothing more than a muffled scream. What was he doing here? Writhing in both embarrassment and the need to stand, Audrey continued to scream through the gag. She managed to get onto her knees, but with her ankles pinned together she couldn’t stand as she normally would.
“Audrey!” Hugh called again, his voice clearer as it traveled up the stairwell. She slammed her shoulder against the door, needing to make some noise to draw him up.
As she was about to slam her shoulder against the wood for a fourth time, an ache blooming, the closet door fell away. Audrey toppled out, onto the floor in the hallway.
She lay on her back, looking up into Hugh’s alarmed face. She was both overjoyed to see him and utterly mortified.
“Audrey? What the devil?” He ripped the gag from her mouth, untying the knot at the back of her head.
“Starborough.” Her mouth was as dry as sawdust and the word came out as little more than a rasp.
He touched her temple and grimaced. “You’re hurt. Starborough did this?”
Her head throbbed but that was the least of her worries. “Esther. She’s—”
Warwick appeared on the steps and Audrey bit her tongue. It seemed Mr. Starborough had not done him in after all.
Hugh nodded. “I know,” he whispered, then set about untying her wrists and ankles.
“You do?”
“Sir. He told me it was Delia who stabbed him. She’s alive, and so…”
Audrey nodded, understanding that they had each come to the same conclusion. Though to tell Warwick now would be premature.
“What in hell is going on up here?” the doctor asked, a look of pure mystification upon his face. “Miss Haverhill, an attendant said you were waiting for me, but what are you doing in my private rooms?”
“Doctor, it’s a complicated story and there isn’t much time,” she said, extending her hand to Hugh. He took it and helped pull her to her feet. She wobbled, the hallway tipping a little bit.
“Someone from Bow Street will be calling on you soon,” Hugh said, “but we must go.”
Doctor Warwick looked between them, a hopeful glint in his eye. “Is this about my wife? Have you found her?”
Though it had been a wretched thing to deceive Mr. Starborough as they had, Audrey could see that the doctor did truly love his wife. He would be devastated when he learned the truth. But now was not the time.
“There is a lead,” Hugh provided, and then bid him goodbye.
He and Audrey hurried down the stairs, back through the office door, into the hospital’s main corridor, and past a puzzled attendant.
