Page 40 of Secrets of a Duke's Daughter (The Duchess's Investigative Society 1)

Not that he’d been interested in such an assignation in some time but that was not the point. He could be anywhere, other than here, practically torturing himself.

He bent to retrieve the door knob and shoved it back into the hole. “Can you put the other side in?” he called through the door.

He heard a huff and a clunk. “It’s in,” Cassie announced.

The doorknob fell away in his hand when he tried to turn it. He lobbed it to the floor with more aggression than warranted.

“Stand back,” he ordered and waited a few moments.

He took a few steps back and slammed his shoulder into the door. A groan escaped him when pain speared through his arm. The solid wood of the door barely budged as though the hard hit had been no more powerful than a puff of wind. He rubbed his arm and eyed the door.

“I need something to pry it open with I think. Stay there.”

“I can hardly do anything else.”

A glance around told him there was nothing he could use in the hallway so he set about exploring the rest of the building, coming upon a room crammed with what could only be described as junk. Fine luck indeed. There would surely be something he could use here.

He kicked an empty crate aside and peered at the carcass of a perambulator. Nothing about this building hinted at it being used by a shipping company. He had to admit, the more he allowed Cassie to drag him into this, the more he became convinced she wasn’t wrong—there was something odd about Parsons’ death.

“Hurry up!” Cassie called from down the corridor. “There’s spiders in here.”

He shook his head to himself, kicked aside another pile of debris and spied a length of scrap metal. As he went to grab for it, a floorboard behind him creaked. He stilled, straightened, but before he turned, an arm latched around his throat.

A thick, muscular arm belonging to someone clearly much taller and larger than him.

He grabbed the arm and tried to pry himself free. Blood rushed into his skull with the pressure on his neck, pounding hard, making his eyes feel as though they were bulging. He managed to croak out a protest as he struggled to break free. His assailant smelled of dung and smoke.

“Your money,” the man demanded.

Well, at least he was being strangled with good reason he supposed. “I can’t...” He fumbled to reach into his jacket pocket, his head swimming.

“Luke, what is happening?” Cassie called.

He felt the man stiffen. A chill ran down his spine, settling straight into his stomach. There wasn’t a chance he was letting his assailant get to Cassie.

With all the force he could muster, Luke slammed his head backward. There was a grunt and a crack, and the man cursed. The arm around his neck loosened enough for him to break free and he dove for the length of metal then twisted it and brandished it like a sword.

Towering above him and so wide Luke could not fathom how the man had fit through the window, his attacker lunged for him. Luke jumped aside and swiped at him with his improvised weapon but missed.

The man chuckled. “Give me your money then I’ll rescue your little lady.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Luke replied through gritted teeth.

The man dove forward and slammed Luke up against the wall, knocking the wind and his weapon from his hand. His hat tumbled to the floor.

The door rattled.

“She’s impatient. I should help her soon.” The man flashed a gap-toothed grin. “Now give me your money and your pocket watch and maybe I’ll only knock you senseless.”

“Not a chance.”

The words came out slurred, sticking to his thick tongue. He wriggled against the grip then thrust a fist into the man’s gut. His soft flesh gave way and he grunted, releasing Luke from the wall. He snatched up the metal, slammed it against the man’s head then added a punch to his jaw for good measure. The mountain of a man staggered a few steps backward, a hand to his jaw.

“That hurt,” he muttered.

“So will this.” Luke brought the rod down on his head again. The giant toppled to the floor, a cloud of dust and debris kicking up around him.

He edged over to the man and nudged him with a tentative foot. His eyes were closed but his chest moved up and down as though in deep slumber.

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