Page 51 of Introducing Miss Joanna (Once a Wallflower 2)

“I think you might be right, Sally. Well done. But I must leave you here. Can I rely on you to tell Mr. Dalrymple? Do it gently, please. I will return Jo to them as soon as I can.”

“Mr. Dalrymple dines with Mrs. Millet this evening. But Miss Hatton is at home.”

“Then inform Miss Hatton, Sally, and say I shall have Jo home directly.”

Sally went up the steps, and Reade leaped into the curricle with Black.

“That devil has taken her,” he growled. “Take me to the stables. I’ll ride to Virden’s house, although I don’t expect to find him there.”

“Move on!” Black slapped the reins.

As Black drove, Reade tried to think where Virden might hide Jo. It wouldn’t be the brothel where he’d kept Charlotte. Did they use other such places? He dragged in a breath at the dispiriting thought. Their meeting was to take place tomorrow. Somewhere near the docks. He must find Virden. Reade did not intend for Jo to endure a night with him or in a brothel. He would find her if he had to employ the large number of ex-army men he knew to help him.

“Pull Rivenstock in for questioning at Bow Street,” he said through his teeth as Black pulled up outside the stables. “He might be a lord, but I’m not above getting rough if threats don’t work.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Up,” Virden ordered.

Jo raised herself to gaze out the window as the coach juddered down a drive. It pulled up outside the house Jo had discovered that morning. Mrs. Millet’s house! Was it only this morning? It seemed such a long time ago.

“Right! Out! We can’t stay long.” Virden dug his fingers into her arm and pulled her out the door onto the ground. Jo almost fell. She fought to stay on her feet as he hauled her along.

“Who is Mrs. Millet to you?” she asked when they reached the porch.

“She’s Mrs. Virden, and she’s my mother.”

“Mrs. Virden.” Her breath hitched, and she tried to pull away from him. “What do you want with me?”

“You are the holy grail, my dear. I was on the lookout for someone as things have become desperate. And there you were.” With a hand on her arm, he opened the door and hustled her into the hall. “Good thing we let all the servants go after you and that maid of yours popped up uninvited. Upstairs.”

In a bedchamber, he forced Jo onto a chair. She sat watching while he removed clothes from drawers and packed a portmanteau. Her terror had subsided a little, and her curiosity took over. She wanted the truth. All of it. “Why did you kidnap Charlotte?” She still didn’t know how Reade found her friend.

“You know about her then.” He tucked his brushes into the case. “When I returned your maid, I needed to replace her to appease our buyers. We were sending your friend Charlotte to Algiers.”

Jo shuddered. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“The slave market. A wealthy sheik wants to expand his harem. Fair-haired women are in demand there. I haven’t found another suitable girl since last year.”

Her blood ran cold. She shivered and searched for a means of escape.

He noticed the movement and turned to her, his eyes cold. “Don’t think you can fool me. Stay where you are, or I will tie you up.”

“Was that girl you took Anabel Riley?”

“It was some chit my mother enticed from the street.”

Jo hated him more deeply than she believed possible. He cared for no one but himself.

“So, your name isn’t Ollerton.”

“Ollerton was a gentleman I knew who died. Virden was my stepfather’s name. Millet is my mother’s maiden name.” His face pinched, and Jo saw Mrs. Millet in his features. She held her head in her hands. Oh, Papa!

“Our plan was for Mother to marry your father and then assist him into the grave, or I abduct you and hold you for ransom. But none of that will happen now. It’s got far too hot in London for me. I need money, a ticket out of here.”

“You are vile.”

“You do not understand how ruthless these people can be,” he said in a pitiful tone. “They will have me killed and throw my body into the Thames should I fail again.” He looked triumphant. “But I now have you.”

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