Bedford Street Brigade 02 - Love Unbidden (40 page)

Reid turned his head when the door opened and watched Mack enter the room.

“Is there any change?” Mack asked when he pulled a chair next to Reid and sat down.

Reid looked at Millie’s pale countenance and shook his head. “She doesn’t have a fever. That’s a good sign.”

“She’s a brave lady,” Mack said. “If she hadn’t stepped in front of the boy, Robbie would probably be dead now.”

“I know,” Reid answered. Millie was brave. She loved Robbie more than her own life. But he couldn’t help but wish he’d been the one who had taken the bullet. Robbie needed her.

Reid raked his fingers through his hair.
He
needed her. He didn’t want to think of even one day without her in it. He didn’t want to think of a future without her in it.

Reid reached for her hand and held it. “Have you settled things with the authorities?” he asked as he rubbed circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.

Mack nodded. “Strothum took care of that. He explained what happened, and turned over the papers to the proper people in the War Department. The rest is up to them.” Mack shook his head. “I still don’t understand why Rogers resorted to stealing the papers. Was it for the money?”

Reid breathed a heavy sigh. “Millie said that was it. She said he’d been in love with her sister Rose for years and when she died, he changed. If he couldn’t have Rose, he wanted her son. But he needed money to take Robbie someplace far enough away where no one knew him. He needed money to support the boy until he found employment.”

Mack and Reid sat in silence for several moments. Finally Reid brought up the subject he’d dreaded talking about. He turned in his chair so he faced Mack squarely. Looking Mack in the eyes when he resigned was what Mack deserved.

“I want you to know that it’s been an honor to be called a Bedford Street investigator. But I know it’s impossible to remain a Brigadesman.
I’ll hand in my resignation in the morning.”

To his credit, Mack looked offended that Reid intended to resign. But Reid didn’t want this to be an uncomfortable situation. When Mack opened his mouth to speak, Reid held up his hand to stop him. “I know what you’re going to say, Mack, so I’ll save you the trouble. You’ve worked too long and hard…hell, every one of the investigators have worked hard to build an impeccable reputation for the Brigade. I have no intention of being the one to destroy that.”

“And just how do you think you’ll destroy our reputation?” Mack asked.

Reid couldn’t help but smile. “You know the group’s reputation will suffer as soon as people discover that I pretended to be someone I’m not. And that I killed a man.”

“We’ve all killed, Reid,” Mack answered. “And you were only protecting yourself.”

“Yes, but I was glad he came after me. I wanted him dead. I wanted to kill him because he killed my brother.”

“Your motives aren’t any of my business. How well you do your job is.”

Reid lowered his gaze and focused on Millie’s pale features. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”

Mack was silent for a moment, then he spoke. “I’ll make you a deal. Whether or not you resign isn’t a decision I intend to take responsibility for. It will be a decision made by all of us.”

Reid shook his head. “I already know the outcome. The brigadesmen are the most loyal men I know. They won’t turn against me, even if they know it will hurt them in the end. I won’t put them in a position where they have to defend my reputation.”

“You’ve made up your mind?”

Reid nodded. “I always knew my actions would have consequences. Now I have to face up to those consequences.”

Mack didn’t have a chance to argue further because Millie shifted slightly, then uttered a pain-filled moan.

“Millie?” Reid said, leaning over her. “Can you hear me, Millie?”

First her eyes fluttered, then they opened a slit. She tried to speak once, but failed, then tried again. “Reid?”

“Yes, Millie. Oh, Millie, I’m so glad you woke up.”

“Robbie?”

“Robbie’s fine. He’s just worried about you.”

“Rogers?”

“We’ll talk later. Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes,” she answered.

Her voice was hoarse, her words raspy. But she was awake. She would live.

Reid lifted Millie’s head and put the glass to her mouth. She drank a sip. Sputtered on the second sip and stopped drinking.

Reid lowered her back to the pillow and sat on the edge of the bed. “Get some rest now. That will do you more good than anything.”

“Will you… be here when I…wake?”

“You know I will. There’s no place else I intend to be.”

. . . . .

When Millie woke again, Reid was by her side. This wasn’t the first time she’d opened her eyes, but it was the first time she opened her eyes that she felt as if she might survive. She always thought she tolerated pain quite well, but during the last several days, she discovered just how weak she was. She still heard her voice cry out when the pain became too much to bear.

Finally, though, the pain in her shoulder was just a dull ache—an ache she could manage, as long as she didn’t move.

“Are you awake again?”

His voice was like a soothing balm. It had comforted her from the moment she’d been shot. “Have you managed to get any sleep yet, Reid?”

“I’ll have plenty of time to sleep when I’m sure you’re all right.”

“Then I think you can go to bed now and not worry.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

He rose and held a glass of water to her lips.

“How did you know?” she asked after she’d taken a drink.

“You forget. I’ve been shot once or twice myself.”

“Then I hope there’s never a next time.”

He smiled. “Me, too.”

“How long has it been since I was shot?”

“Four days.”

“And you’ve been here the entire time. Hasn’t Mack missed you?”

His expression turned serious. “I’m not with Mack anymore. I’ve resigned as an investigator.”

“No. Why?”

“Have you forgotten? I pretended to be someone I wasn’t. The life I lived was a lie.” Reid rose from his chair and stood over her. “Mack holds his investigators to the highest standards. Each one of his investigators has to be beyond reproach. His clients demand it. The future of the Bedford Street Brigade demands it. I would only put their reputation in jeopardy.”

“Is that how Mack feels?”

“You know it isn’t. He doesn’t think my past will affect the Brigade. And if it does, he’s certain they can weather the controversy. But I refuse to put them in a position where they have to defend me.”

Millie had to think. She needed time to digest what Reid was telling her. “What have you decided to do?”

“I’ve considered my options. I’m a good investigator. I can go out on my own. Or, I have a former employer that we did work for a year ago. He said if I ever decided to leave the Brigade, he’d hire me as private security.”

“Would you be happy doing that?”

Millie could tell he wouldn’t, but he would take the position if that was all that was available.

“I would be happy doing anything—as long as you were with me.”

Millie looked at him—really looked at him. He was serious. “Are you…are you asking me to marry you?”

“This isn’t how I’d planned on proposing, sweetheart. Not with you lying in a bed, unable to move. Not with me having such an unsure future. Of course I don’t expect an answer now, not before you know what the future holds for you and Robbie, but if and when you’re satisfied that I can support both of you, then yes, I’m asking you to marry me.”

Millie’s eyes filled with tears and she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Then my answer is yes. Yes, I’ll marry you!”

Reid knelt at her bedside and took her hand. “I love you, Millie.”

She smiled. “Well, I guess you had better, if you know what’s good for you, mister.” She chuckled, then winced, but continued. “After the past you’ve lived, and the things you’ve done in your life, I imagine you’re going to need someone like me to keep you on the straight and narrow. And besides,” her smile turned shy. “I love you, too. And I can’t imagine living the rest of my life without you.”

Reid leaned in and kissed her.

His kiss was gentle. It wasn’t filled with the earthy passion his other kisses had contained, but it indicated a depth of the love he felt for her. She was happier than she’d ever been in her life.

He rose from beside her and pulled the covers up beneath her chin. “Get some rest now. I’ll send someone in to help you. Then later, I’ll bring Robbie and the children to see you. I know they’re anxious to see you. They’ve been worried about you.”

Millie caught Reid’s hand as he turned. “Reid. Please. Don’t leave me. Not just yet.”

She closed her eyes and smiled to herself as he knelt beside her and
laid his palm on her cheek. He was a good man. A kind man. A man who would make a wonderful father for his nephew. For their nephew.

And she loved him with all her heart.

The carriage stopped in front of Mack and Cora Wallace’s home on Bedford Street and Reid helped Millie to the ground. This was the first time she’d been out since she’d been shot, but she assured him that she was more than well enough to accept Mack and Cora’s dinner invitation. Cora had issued the invitation to celebrate the birth of their son almost a month earlier. They’d named the strapping fellow Maxwell James.

Reid thought it was a fitting name for the son of someone he admired as much as he respected Mack.

Reid was sure the rest of the brigadesmen would be there and he was anxious for Millie to meet them, and to meet their wives. And, he was anxious to see them himself.

It had been nearly two months since the six of them had been together. Oh, he’d seen each of them individually. They all made a point to stop by his house to see how he was doing. He was always glad to see them, but when they arrived, he asked each one not to mention his decision to leave the brigade. His mind was made up and nothing any of them could say would change it. He’d accepted Lord Pinkerman’s offer to stand as guard in one of his banks. It promised to be a quiet, even boring, job, but it was work. And he could hardly expect Millie to marry a man who couldn’t support her. His job started next week.

“I can’t wait to see the brigadesmen again and meet their wives,” Millie said as they approached the house. “I’ve tried to imagine what each of them is like, but I know I won’t have been close to being accurate.”

Reid laughed. “Well, you’ll find out soon enough.” He reached for the knocker and lifted it.

Before the knocker struck a second time, the door opened and Mack stood there. Cora was at his side.

“Come in. Come in you two,” Mack said.

“And you must be Millie,” Cora said, wrapping Millie in the warm hug that everyone received upon entering her home. “I couldn’t wait to meet you. I’ve asked Mack to tell me everything about you so often he stopped telling me when he’d gone to see you to avoid more questions.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wallace. I can’t tell you how much I admire your husband. He has been wonderful to us.”

“Well, we won’t tell him how wonderful he is. He’s quite confident already and doesn’t need any more bolstering.” Cora gave Mack a wink of her eye, then patted Millie on the arm. “But none of this calling me Mrs. Wallace. I’m Cora. And you will be Millie. Friends always call each other by their first names and I intend on us being very good friends.”

The smile on Millie’s face warmed Reid’s heart. He didn’t doubt for a second that Millie and Cora would get along fine.

“Now, come in and meet the others.”

Cora hooked her arm through Millie’s and led them to Mack’s study. This was the room where the six brigadesmen held their meetings. It was the only room large enough to accommodate this many people, other than the dining room, which was probably the most important room in Mack’s house. It was important because the dining room was where Cora frequently entertained the brigadesmen and their wives.

Cora led Millie to a group of two couples, standing to the side of the room. Reid and Mack followed. It was always a treat to watch Cora in action as she played hostess and made everyone in the room feel welcome.

“Cora, I’d like to introduce you to Quinn and Nellie Walker. And Jack and Betsy Conway. Everyone, this is Millie Shaw.”

“Oh, Millie,” Betsy said, spreading her arms to envelop Millie in a hug. Nellie did the same.

“We’re so glad to finally meet you,” Nellie said. “Our husbands have told us all about you. What an ordeal you went through.”

“Yes,” Betsy said. “You’ll find out soon enough that we are one big family. We keep each other informed of everything that involves one of the brigadesmen. Even though we married into this group, we’re like sisters. It’s wonderful.”

“Thank you very much,” Millie answered.

The flush to her cheeks told Reid she was a little overwhelmed. And touched. How could one not be with such a welcome?

“Now, let’s meet the rest of the group,” Cora said, looping her arm through Millie’s and leading her to two more couples nearby.

Reid, Mack, Quinn, and Jack stayed where they were while the women went off. Reid watched out of the corner of his eye. It was easy to hear the introductions.

“Hugh and Lorna, this is Millie Shaw. Millie, this is Hugh and Lorna Baxter. And this is Briggs and Polly Murdock.”

“Millie,” Polly greeted, giving Millie a big hug. Lorna followed with the same.

“Isn’t it wonderful,” Nellie said. “We’re gaining another sister.”

Betsy reached for Millie’s hands and squeezed her fingers. “Yes, we couldn’t wait for Roarke —oh, I mean Reid— to complete our circle.”

“Yes, it took him forever to choose his bride,” Lorna said, giving Reid a sly look. “We thought we were going to have to parade a few beauties in front of him to help him out. But it’s obvious he found one on his own.”

Millie’s cheeks turned scarlet. But it wasn’t talk of marriage that caused him concern. It was that his friends’ wives still considered him part of the brigade. Because he’d been invited tonight, they assumed that he still worked for Mack. He needed to set the record straight.

Reid stepped forward, but Mack’s fingers tightened around his arm and stopped him. “Where are you going?” Mack asked.

“I need to stop them. They don’t know I’m not a brigadesman any longer.”

Mack’s expression turned serious.

Reid studied the look in Mack’s eyes. There was something there, something that frightened him. He looked at Jack, and Quinn. They had the same solemn look. A look that said something was wrong. Something very serious.

Mack turned to face the room. “Everyone, I was going to wait until after dinner to break the news to our guests, but it seems I need to move up the… the announcement.”

The brigadesmen who were farther away stepped closer until they surrounded Reid.

“Jack, would you like to tell our friend what we have decided?”

Jack cast a fleeting glance at the other brigadesmen, then they lowered their heads. “We left the Bedford Street Brigade. All of us. We disbanded.”

Reid felt his mouth drop. “You what? You disbanded the brigade?”

“That’s right,” Quinn confirmed. “We left the brigade.”

“All of us,” Hugh said.

“We had to,” Briggs said.

“But you can’t. You can’t walk away from what we started. It’s too important.”

“That’s what I told them,” Mack said. “But they wouldn’t listen to me.” Mack locked his hands behind his back. “That’s why I invited you here tonight. I thought maybe you could talk some sense into them.”

Reid faced his friends. “Fellows, you—”

Before he’d gotten the first sentence into the open, several hands lifted to stop his words.

Jack was the first to speak. “You might as well save your breath, Reid. Our minds are made up.”

Quinn followed. “We decided to disband. The vote was unanimous.”

“But why?” Reid said, nearly at a shout. “Why would you give up on something so important? The city needs you.
People
need you! Without you, crime will take over. You know that.”

There was a short silence, then Hugh spoke. “That didn’t stop you from quitting.”

“That was different,” Reid countered. “I had to quit.”

“Then we have to quit, too,” Briggs said.

Jack took a step closer to Reid. The expression on his face was as serious as Reid had ever seen on his friend. “The six of us started the brigade, and the six of us will continue as a brigade. Otherwise there is no brigade.”

“You don’t know how my past will affect the brigade’s reputation,” Reid said. “It could destroy it.”

“That’s unlikely,” Quinn said with a wave of his hand. “Most people will never find out. And if anyone does, and it bothers them, then they’ll have to wait for the authorities to help them.”

“But—”

Hugh stopped him this time. “You might as well give up, Reid. We’ve made up our minds.”

“The future of the Bedford Street Brigade rests in your hands, Reid,” Jack said. “If you abandon us, then we disband. If you come back to us, and help us make a difference with crime on the streets of London, we’ll continue.”

Reid looked from his fellow brigadesmen to where Millie stood. Cora had her arm around her to support her, but it was the devastating expression on Millie’s face that tore at him.

There was an anxious look in her watery eyes, and she worried her lower lip like she had a habit of doing.

“What do you say, Millie?”

“I say you are one very lucky man to have such loyal friends at your side. If it were me, I couldn’t refuse them.”

Reid’s heart expanded in his chest. He loved Millie, but never more than he did right now.

He turned back to his friends. “But I’ve already agreed to a position with Lord Pinkerman in one of his banks.”

“Oh, I happened to run into Pinkerman this afternoon,” Mack said, “and he told me if I saw you to tell you he had to rescind his offer. He found someone else for the position.”

“It’s settled then,” Jack said, reaching for a tray of drinks sitting on a table. “We need a toast,” he said as he passed the tray and everyone took a glass. “To the newly reformed Bedford Street Brigade,” he said as he lifted his glass.

“To the Bedford Street Brigade,” everyone echoed, lifting their glasses then taking a drink.

Reid walked to Millie and took her in his arms. “Are you willing to spend the rest of your life married to a Bedford Street Brigadesman?”

“There’s no way I would rather spend it,” she said, smiling up at him.

Reid lowered his head and kissed Millie amid shouts and cheers from his fellow investigators.

“Now that we have our business concluded,” Cora said, “I have a special meal prepared.”

“With peach pie for dessert?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, peach pie,” Cora answered.

“And blueberry cobbler?” Jack asked.

“Yes, blueberry cobbler.”

“And your strawberry-filled pastries?” Hugh asked.

“Yes, strawberry-filled pastries.”

“And sweetened rice pudding?” Briggs asked licking his lips. “With raisins, melted butter, and cinnamon.”

“Yes, sweetened rice pudding,” Cora answered, then turned to Reid. “And a triple layered coconut cake with extra frosting.”

The brigadesmen gave a rousing cheer, then they gathered their wives and led them to the dining room.

“Happy?” Reid asked Millie before they followed.

“Never happier.”

“I promise I’ll do my best to keep you happy, Millie.”

“I know you will. You and Robbie and I are going to be very happy.”

Reid kissed Millie again, then led her to the dining room to join the rest of the brigadesmen. He tried to explain the joy he felt, then abandoned words and seized her for another kiss guaranteed to warm her toes.

When her smile told him it had done just that, the men cheered and their ladies boxed them on their arms.

Reid grinned. He was loved. He was happy. She was happy.

The Brigade was intact.

Roarke would be proud.