Page 23 of Betrayal from Beyond
“I’ve been thinking about it all day,” Kara said. “The woman is diminished and alone. Who do we go to when such circumstances strike us? We go back to the beginning. We go to family.”
“Except we know that she has none,” Gyda objected. “Wooten already checked with the couple that raised her. Clémence is dead. Barnstaple has disappeared. Isn’t that what the inspector said?”
“There were more than three children involved in that educational experiment,” said Kara. “Five of them were raised together.”
“You are thinking exactly as I have been,” Niall told her. “I remember what she said that night, when she was speaking of her life. Five children in the experiment. Barnstaple was a merchant’s bastard. Clemence was the child of a slave, while Petra was a royal by-blow. But there were two more. A nobleman’s natural son and a babe from the streets. The first three were the ones who excelled when granted the boon of a fine, extensive education. The other two she implied were…ordinary.”
“The other two did not seem to be involved in the League of Dissolution, either,” Kara recalled. “But Petra seems the type to keep tabs on anyone and everyone who might somehow become useful to her.”
“So, she might be holed up with one of them?” Gyda asked. “But how do we find them? We don’t even know their names.”
“No, but Petra did tell me the names of the couple who ran the experiment. The pair that raised her.”
“Didn’t Wooten say they were uncooperative?” Gyda frowned, trying to remember.
“He did,” Niall confirmed. “I asked the inspector to go back to Matthew Hanlin and find out the names and directions of the other two children. Mr. Hanlin declined to share the information.”
“Bastard,” Gyda grumped.
“Which is why we’ve been doing a little digging of our own.” He held up the report that had come in just this afternoon. “We have something that might help.”
Kara took it, and Gyda came to sit beside her. Together they read through the report, then looked up with matching frowns.
“The girl first,” Kara said. “I want to find the girl first.”
“We need the two boys. We’ve found a vulnerability to use against Hanlin, but it is time sensitive,” Stayme objected. “We need to move on him quickly.”
“No.” Kara stood firm. “She will be the sort of leverage we will need to force his hand. Find me the girl.”
Chapter Six
“Beggin’ yer pardon,ma’am, but if it’s to Walworth ye wish to go, might I ask that we consider takin’ along a footman?” John Coachman shifted uncomfortably in the gravel drive. “The area is likely safe enough in the daytime—in normal conditions. And ’tis early enough.” He glanced at the sun, just over the horizon. “But still, we ain’t operatin’ in normal conditions right now, are we?”
Kara looked to Niall. “Is that area really so bad?”
Her husband shrugged. “I have no experience with the place, but I trust John’s opinions. And he’s right about our situation.” He looked toward Tom, who stood at attention at the front door. “We’ll take one of the guards at the gate, but could you please send one of the footmen down to take his place?”
“Yes, sir.” Tom headed inside. John took his place on the bench. Kara allowed Niall to hand her into the carriage, and they started off.
“I’ll have to speak with Stayme about hiring a suitable man to accompany us, at least until this mess is over,” Niall said as they stopped to take up a guard.
“Better to be safe.” Sliding over to sit next to him, she leaned in, happy to absorb a bit of his warmth—and his strength. In her mind, she rehearsed the arguments they meant to make with Matthew Hanlin and his wife, Sarah.
After a while, Niall heaved a long sigh. “I’m sorry, Kara.”
“For what?” She tilted her head back so that she might see his face.
“Petra is a complication from my past. It’s just so damned frustrating. Even with the secrets of my family connections out in the open, still, they keep creeping in, stirring up trouble.”
She pressed against him. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve both had specters from our past rise up to cause trouble.”
“Yet somehow my specters seem to materialize larger, more solid, and armed with sharper teeth,” he said wryly.
“Nonsense. And do not forget, some of our exploits have originated with neither of us.”
“And yet we are sucked into the mists, just the same.”
Kara sat up. “Must I remind you of what you said to me at our wedding? Our life is sure to be a whirlwind.”
