Seducing the Ruthless Rogue (13 page)

Cassie carefully slipped the paper out from under the hourglass and unfolded it.
 
In an elegant script, she read:

Miss Graham, I am so very disappointed.
 
You have one day remaining to get the information I have requested.
 
I have left you the hourglass so that you will be better able to keep track of the time.
 
Do not disappoint me.

Cassie’s knees refused to hold her and she sat heavily on her bed.
 
McKenzie’s guards did not do to good of a job, unless…unless McKenzie was behind all this.
 
“But that is ridiculous.
 
Why would the man want something that was already in his possession?
 
No, someone is just good enough that they slipped past his people.
 
It has been known to happen before.”
 
She dropped her head back and stared at the ceiling, only actually seeing when lightning flashed outside her window.
 
One day.
 
One day to find the blasted maps.
 
One day to save her father’s life.
 
What was she going to do?
 
She looked out the window and stiffened her spine.
 
There was only one option available to her.
 
She had to enter the dragon’s lair once more.
 
This time she would be successful or die trying.

Chapter 7

Mack lay in wait for his prey.
 
He knew her movements well enough by now.
 
He sat quietly in the shadows of his study and patiently waited.
 
A smirk crept across his face as he reflected on the job well done.
 
He could not wait to share the information with Liverpool and Bathurst.
 
It would be a pleasure to see the look that crossed their faces.
 
Perhaps they will take more time thinking about removing someone from position, even if it is temporary.

He heard the soft snick of the lock on the servant’s door.
 
She could successfully pick locks.
 
Perhaps he should put her to work for the government.
 
They could use more agents with her abilities, especially of the female variety.
 
Men were forever trusting females, believing them to be insipid, silly creatures.
 
One thing he had learned during his time as director, is that more often than not, women were cold and calculating.
 
No, women should never be taken for granted.

There she was, her luscious figure swathed in black once more.
 
The pants she wore caressed her legs, outlining them.
 
She moved gracefully across the room, not making a sound on any of the boards, knowing just how to step to minimize any noise.
 
He might just have to employ Mr. Chang to train his agents in the art of oriental hand-to-hand combat, he mused as he watched her approach the fireplace.
 
She tugged and pried until she slammed her palm against the mantle in frustration.

“You were doing a wonderful job until just now.
 
Never let your enemy see your frustration,” Mack advised.
 

“How did you know?”

“That you would be back?
 
Time is running out, is it not?”

“You did plant that letter, didn’t you?”

“What letter?”

“Never mind.”

“No, Miss Graham, I did not plant a letter.
 
Your father’s kidnapper did that, or someone did it for him.
 
My man saw someone slipping out of your bedroom window shortly before I left last night.
 
Now, won’t you have a seat, and we can actually discuss this matter like two adults?”
 
He lit a lamp and heard the tell-tale click of a pistol hammer being cocked.
 
He shook his head.
 
“I had really hoped it would not come to this,” Mack opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a pistol as well.
 
He cocked not one, but two hammers.
 
“Mine shoots two bullets, Miss Graham, how many does yours shoot?”
 
Silence.
 
“I will set my gun aside if you will set yours aside.”

He watched as Cassie reluctantly laid the gun down on a table near a chair.
 
She then sat in the chair, staying close to her weapon.
 

“Why don’t you unwrap your face.
 
I imagine it gets a bit stifling, besides I would much rather look at your beautiful face than that black cloth.”
 
Mack placed his gun on top of the desk, then walked around, and sat on the piece of furniture.
 
He watched as Cassie hesitantly unwrapped the black scarf from around her head, allowing him to see not only her face, but also her golden hair.
 
His fingers twitched with longing, wanting to bury themselves in the gorgeous tangles.
 
“Now, tell me what the note said.”

“Only that I had one day left to get the maps.
 
They left an hourglass behind to help me keep track of time.”

“An hourglass?”

“That is what I said.”

“I would like to see it.”
 

“It is in my bedroom.”

“Morning is soon enough.
 
Tell me, how did you get past my guards?”

“That is a secret I will never tell,” she purred.
 

The sound of her voice did things to him that he attempted to deny.
 
Mack found his body reacting, wanting to take her in his arms and kiss her again.
 
He would kiss her until she no longer wanted to argue with him.
 
He wanted her to want him back, to wrap her arms tightly about him, to claw at him in a passionate frenzy.
 
He could imagine them lost in one another’s arm…

“Director McKenzie, may I go home?” she demanded.

“Mack,” he replied.

“Pardon?”

“Call me Mack,” he repeated.

“I don’t think that would be appropriate.
 
I would really like to go home now, if you don’t mind.”

“I find that I do mind,” he retorted.
 
He watched her look turn into a glare, and he couldn’t contain his amusement.
 
“Now, now, Cassie, no need to kill me with your looks.”

“I do not recall giving you leave to call me by my Christian name.”

“No, I don’t recall it either,” he countered and shrugged, “but I am sure that you meant to.”
 
Mack watched her mouth open and close in frustration.
 
“Now, we need to discuss your father.”

“What about him?”

“We need to get him back.”

“And are you going to give me the maps, because that is the only way I see that we are going to save him.”

“You must learn to be more devious in your way of thinking, Cassie.”

“Quit calling me that,” she ordered.

“Now, I do not know where your father is, but I believe I have now found who has him.
 
I hope that hourglass will only confirm my suspicions.”

“What are you waiting for?” she demanded, standing.
 
She picked up her gun. “Take me to him.
 
I will make him talk.”

“One thing I have learned about the English is that above everything, they follow a law of civility.
 
No, it would not be the thing to do to go barging into a man’s house in the middle of the night.”
 
He looked pointedly at the woman in front of him.
 
Suddenly Mack found himself looking at the muzzle of her gun.
 
“Now, there isn’t any need for that, lass,” he drawled in his Scottish brogue.
 

“This is not a joke, Director McKenzie,” frustration laced her voice.

“I never consider it a joke when a gun is being pointed at me.
 
Put down the gun before you end up in Newgate on charges of murder.”

“Take me to my father’s captor,” she demanded.

***

Everything happened so quickly after that.
 
Part of her mind could not believe she was really squeezing the trigger.
 
The next thing she knew, her feet were out from under her and she was staring at the ceiling.
 
A loud pop sounded close to her ear and part of the ceiling fell on her, covering her in a fine layer of plaster and dust.
 

“What happened?” a male voice, not Ma…Director McKenzie’s, urgently asked.

“Go to bed, John.
 
Everything is well in hand,” the Director answered.

“Are you positive, sir?”

“Absolutely.”

Spots danced before her eyes, and she realized she had not taken a breath in quite some time.
 
When she tried to inhale, she couldn’t gather a deep breath.
 
She felt herself panic slightly, making it even more difficult to catch a full breath.
 
Cassie tightly held her eyes closed, focusing on her breathing.

“Here now, hen,” he said, using an endearment he often heard his mother say to him and his siblings.
 

The director’s soft brogue rolled over her, doing something to her insides that she did not want to acknowledge.
 
She watched him stride purposefully across the room and crouch next to her.
 
Cassie tried to pull away from him.

“Easy there,” he whispered.
 
“Try to let your body relax.
 
That’s it.
 
Take a deep breath.”

“Leave…me….alone,” she croaked.

“I can’t do that, Cassie darlin’.”

“Don’t call…me…that,” she argued.

“Ach, now, Cassie darlin’, you don’t mean that do you?”

“I am fine.”
 
She sat up and jerked her arm away from him.
 
Cassie jumped to her feet and moved to the far side of the room.
 
“I want to know who has my father.”
 
She rubbed her upper arms, trying to ease the tingling that moved through her body at his touch.

“I will take you with me.”

“Good,” she turned towards the door.

“In the morning.”

“Now.”

“No.”

“His life hangs in the balance,” she argued.

“Not for another few hours.
 
Now, I will see you home.”

Anger coursed through her.
 
How dare he make light of her concern?
 
She waited for him to come closer, and then allowed all of her anger to be channelled into her arm and hand.
 
As if an observer rather than a participant, she watched her hand arc through the air.
 
Cassie felt her hand come into stinging contact with his cheek.
 
One of her fingernails scraped a path from below his eye to the corner of his mouth.
 
A thin line of blood came to the surface.
 
She watched the director put a hand to his cheek and then pull it away, chuckling.
 
Cassie looked at him in confusion.

“What do you find humorous?”

“Now my brother and I are going to look even more alike, at least for a while.”

“What?”

“Nothing, Cassie darlin’,” he drawled.

“Stop calling me that.”

“Why?”

“It isn’t proper.”

“Neither is what I feel for you.”

“That is quite enough, Director.”
 
She reached behind her, searching for the doorknob.
 
Once she found it, she twisted and pushed.

“The door opens to the inside,” he whispered.

“Kindly move so that I can do just that,” she ordered.

He refused to obey her command, and Cassie found herself trapped between the door and him.
 
She looked up into the his eyes.
 
They flashed silver and light blue, and she found them so very intriguing.
 
The scratch had already stopped bleeding.
 
She could smell the mintiness of his breath, could feel the heat of his body, and could see the desire in his expression.
 
Cassie felt breathless once more.
 
What is going on?
she demanded of herself.
 
This is your enemy.
 
Cassie desperately wanted to listen to herself, but found instead she was mesmerized by this man that stood before her.

He had her well and truly trapped, and she found she did not want to escape.
 
She wanted to feel his lips upon hers once more.
 
Wanted to feel his tongue invading her mouth, teaching her things she had never experienced before.
 
Unconsciously she licked her dry lips and heard a low moan escape the man in front of her.
 

“Cassie darlin’, do you even know the affect you have on me?”