Page 56 of Betrayal from Beyond
“Yes.” Kara’s voice rasped, equally ferocious. “We finish this.”
It was a vow made over the blood of a good man. Niall placed his palm over their clasped hands. “We’ll find her.”
Gyda’s eyes glittered. “And when we do, she is mine.”
*
Niall tried toinsist that Kara be taken straight to a doctor, but she refused. “We cannot waste time. We are going hunting, and it must start as soon as possible. Is Sculley still here? We need him.”
Niall settled her on a sofa in Ansel Wells’s studio and went searching. His artist friend was taking tender care of Gyda, for which Kara was beyond grateful. Ansel was surely facing the demise of the project they’d worked so hard on, but he concentrated on getting Gyda clean, warm, and plied with good brandy.
Ansel did look toward Kara with concern when she suffered through a couple of rough bouts of coughing. He raised a brow when he saw the blood on her handkerchief, but she glared him down. “Donotmention it to Niall,” she ordered him. “She gave me a couple of good wallops, but I will be fine.”
“If you say so.” He wrapped Gyda in a blanket and coaxed her into a high-backed chair with her feet up. Kara was glad tosee her friend close her eyes. She hoped she could find a few minutes’ respite from bleak devastation.
She refused to close her own eyes. She had no wish to relive the horror of the last hour.
Gyda slept on when Niall came back, bringing Stayme, but not Sculley. “He’s long gone,” he said.
Kara looked to the viscount. “Send one of your largest, most threatening men to Sculley’s rooms, straight away. I want every sketch he drew of Petra Scot. If he resists, tell him Wooten will arrest him for harboring a fugitive wanted by the Crown.”
“Sedwick!” They all came alert when the shout echoed from the front of the building. “Damn it! Where’s Sedwick? I need to speak to the duke!”
Niall blinked. “Is that…?”
Robert Preston burst into the studio. “Sedwick! Duchess! What in bleeding hell is going on here?” He waved a hand. “Never mind. Listen, you were right! ItwasTom masquerading as the footman at Wood Rose Abbey.”
Kara sat up. “Where is he?”
“I hauled him over to Bluefield and bade your butler to lock him away until I could find you. He had indeed been doing Petra’s bidding—and you will scarce credit what he’s said!”
“Petra Scot is not dead,” Niall said dully. “We are aware.”
“What? How—?” Preston stopped. “She was never here?”
“She was,” Kara answered.
“Is that why there’s a police van outside, discharging an army of constables?” He sounded hopeful. “Have you got her, then?”
“No.” Gyda was awake now and getting to her feet. “But we will.”
Preston placed a hand on his brow. “Who the hell was it laid out dead on that table, then?” He had been the first person brought in to identify the body. “Tom says he saw Petra just last night!”
Kara stood as well. “It was her sister on that table. Her twin sister. We’ll explain more, but we have to go. If Wooten gets a hold of us, it will be hours before we get away. I’m not waiting.” She looked around at all of them. “Based on what that woman said tonight, I can think of two paths to follow, to search her out. She spoke of using the time her sister’s death bought her. She said she was to use it to lay her plans. Plans that are meant togive this country what it deserves.” She looked to Stayme. “Can you look into that? What is going on in the government, in the royal family, or in foreign relations that she might exploit? Where is she going to try to wriggle in and wreak havoc?”
Stayme nodded. She could see the wheels in his head already turning.
“The other thought I had was that her sister’s death bought her more than time. It bought her a place to step into. An entire life to hide away in. We need to find out more about this sister.” She looked to Preston. “Which is why I want to talk to Tom Hawkins. Right now.”
Chapter Sixteen
“I’ll go andfetch Gyda.” Niall held out a hand to his wife, who was pacing in the hall at Bluefield, eager to enter the parlor where Tom Hawkins had been placed.
Preston had gone in first to reassure the man. He could hear the soft murmur of their voices.
“Kara,” Niall said softly. Tugging on her hand, he pulled her close. All he wanted to do was to take her upstairs and to bed and spend the night wiping away the realization of what might have happened to her. He needed to reassure himself that she was safe and unharmed. But she was right. They had to finish this.
He sighed and leaned in close to her ear. “If it takes me a while to bring her down, just…wait. Can you do that?”
