Shattered Dreams (35 page)

“
Taking people to sell them is people smuggling,” Harry
snarled.

“
I don’t people smuggle,” Johnson declared flatly.

“
You are abducting people, confining them against their will,
and selling them. That is people smuggling.”

“
I am not selling them,” Johnson snapped with a
sigh.

“
Do you really expect me to believe that you give them away?”
Harry challenged.

“
Of course I don’t give them away, you stupid man,” Johnson
declared with a toss of her head. “I use them myself.”

Harry
stared at her. Suddenly, the penny dropped.

“
You snatch them and force them to work for you, in your
brothels. You are forcing these young women and boys to prostitute
themselves for you. You render them destitute, and then leave them
to suffer the indignities of the poor house so that they understand
just how bad their lies have become. Then you take them and offer
them lodgings, as long as they sell themselves for you. They get
pittance in the way of wages, if any, and have no hope of ever
finding their way home. It is perfect for you, isn’t it? I mean, by
the time they have worked at your brothel, even if they could
leave, none of them would want to go, would they? They are whores.
Shame stops them from making a desperate bid for freedom, and
trying to go back to their families.”

“
Jesus,” Barnaby growled. “You madam, are the scourge of
society.”

“
Just tell me one thing?” Harry growled but didn’t stop
talking to give her the time to answer. “How did you get access to
the people?”

“
It was easy,” Johnson declared arrogantly. “I have a brothel
in London. Some of my regulars are high society. It is easy to use
them, and their acquaintances, to find the right servants; scullery
maids and the like. I visit them in their houses and ask about the
staff they have available who might serve our purposes.”

Tilly scoffed at that. “Lady Attingham would have
never
associated with a
common whore. She wasn’t that kind of person.”

Johnson
snorted disparagingly. “Lady Attingham didn’t, but her husband
certainly did. He was a regular of mine, as a matter of
fact.”

Tilly
felt her stomach churn again.

“
How did you get to Tilly though?”

“
I visited Lady Attingham to blackmail her. Once it gets out
into society that certain people use my whore house, they are
socially ruined. Especially if people in society find out about
their somewhat risqué tastes.” She glanced meaningfully at Zack.
“It is easy to blackmail them, and get them to provide me with
people like her.”

Tilly
felt sick at the worst betrayal she had ever suffered in her entire
life. Although she was a servant, she had trusted Lady Attingham
with her life. It was horrifying to think that the woman had put
Tilly’s name forward in an attempt to make sure that her own name
remained unsullied.

“
Did you kill Attingham?” Harry growled with a
frown.

“
Of course not. The daft old bat was already half off her
rocker, but I managed to convince her that her adored husband had
been visiting me. She asked me what I wanted. I told her that I
needed someone to join my erm – services. She told me she had a
young girl, her housekeeper, without family. It was
perfect.”

“
What about the others?”

“
Oh, various ways. I have been at this business for many a
good year. I can confidently say that there is nobody I don’t know
in the upper echelons of society.”

“
God, you are sickening,” Tilly whispered. It was truly
horrifying to hear the casual way the woman spoke about destroying
numerous people’s lives, and she felt nothing but revulsion toward
her captor.

Harry
turned to Barnaby. “How long should Joseph be?”

Barnaby
studied his fob watch. “About half an hour.”

“
When the jailers arrive, they can take you too,” he snarled
contemptuously at Johnson.

“
Ha! You are going to get out of my way. We are going to leave
here.”

“
If you shoot her, you have four heavily armed men to face. I
don’t stand your chances much,” Harry challenged
dismissively.

“
I am not going to kill her. I am going to take her with me
for collateral,” Johnson declared coldly.

“
I am not going anywhere with you. Shoot me,” Tilly snapped,
suddenly fiercely angry at the woman’s audacity. She started to tug
on the arm that held her still, and squirm against the tight hold.
Although the woman was heavy, she was also decidedly older, and
Tilly had youth and agility on her side.

“
Tilly,” Harry murmured carefully, but couldn’t look into her
eyes to warn her not to antagonise her captor.

Tilly
immediately became still. However, sudden movement to her left
caught her attention and her eyes widened as she saw Marcus take
aim.

“
So, Johnson, what do you plan to do?” Harry asked
conversationally. As he spoke, he shifted to one side so that he
wasn’t caught if Marcus’s shot went wide. “What will you do with
Tilly if you do succeed in getting her away from here? You can
hardly take her to one of your brothels. We will follow you. Once
we are there, we will ask the people in the brothel how they came
to work for you. The extent of your crimes will become clear. No
wonder you can afford the luxurious lifestyle you enjoy.
Unfortunately for you, Johnson, your little empire is set to
crumble, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

He got
the reaction he wanted, and saw the flash of fire in Johnson’s eyes
as glared spitefully at him.

Tilly
watched as Marcus held three fingers up and motion for her to drop
to the ground on the count of three. She didn’t dare nod, but used
her free hand to copy him as he began to count.

Her
heart pounded in her ears while she counted. Marcus took
aim.

The loud
retort of the gun echoed in her ears so loudly that, for a moment,
she couldn’t hear anything else. She landed on the floor with a
heavy thump and lay dazed on the grass for several long moments.
Before she could open her mouth to take a say anything to anyone,
desperate hands rolled her over, and she was wrapped in the safety
of Harry’s arms.

He
peppered her face with kisses while he willed his trembling to
stop. The wild screams of the banshee type woman behind them as she
was restrained faded into the background as he looked deeply into
Tilly’s eyes.

“
I love you,” she whispered.

“
God, I adore you,” he replied gently, and captured her lips
in a tender kiss. “I don’t know about you,” he sighed when he
finally lifted his head. “But I have had enough of Tooting Mallow
to last me a lifetime.”

In spite
of the morning’s traumas, Tilly smiled. “I have to admit that I
shall not be sorry to see the back of it.”

They
both watched as Johnson was restrained, and had her flesh wound
padded before she was dragged around to the side of the house.
Rather than sit her with her co-conspirators, they sat her by
herself, and pointedly ignored her hissing curses and foul epithets
while everyone waited for Joseph and the jailer’s cart.

“
What happens to them now?” She nodded to the garden that now
contained four captives.

“
They are off to Battlington jail. They have many crimes to
account for, and will undoubtedly remain there for many, many years
to come.”

She
smiled at the satisfaction in his eyes and, for the first time that
day, slowly began to relax.

“
What happens now?” Although she asked the question, she
wasn’t sure whether she was asking him about her situation; their
relationship; or his investigation into the captives at the back of
the house.

Professional to the core, Harry replied. “The people in the
poor house will be interviewed by Sir Hugo when he arrives. Those
who genuinely have nowhere to go will be looked after by the new
interim governor. The place is being staffed by guards from the
prison for the time being. The local magistrate is the temporary
custodian upon instruction from Sir Hugo. Whoever the new governor
is, it is safe to say that the people who remain at the poor house
will be considerably better fed, free to go whenever they please,
and won’t need to do meaningless tasks for any of the warden’s
enjoyment.”

“
What about the people who have been kidnapped
before?”

Harry
wrinkled his nose up. “There is nothing we can do to change their
situation, obviously. However, if they have families they want to
go back to, Sir Hugo will ensure they receive assistance to get
home. They don’t have to tell anyone what has happened to them
while they have been away.”

“
What about those who don’t have homes, like Zack?”

Harry
opened his mouth to reply only to stop to watch the jailer’s cart
turn into the road. Satisfied that the end was near, he turned his
attention to answering her.

“
Now that the owner is off to jail, the brothels will now be
closed down. Her workers will, unfortunately, have to move on. Some
of the workers will undoubtedly make their way to their local poor
house. However, there will be some who will want to continue to ply
their trade. It’s their decision really, not ours.”

“
I meant to talk to you about Zack,” Tilly sighed. She flicked
the laces of his shirt for several moments while she tried to find
a way to broach the subject.

Eventually he tipped her head up and looked deeply into her
eyes. “He has to come with us to Cumbria, but not as a servant,”
Harry said firmly. “I don’t want him to work for me. He needs an
education, and will enjoy playing in the hills and moors around
there. It will be ideal for him.”

“
He would love that,” Tilly replied firmly, touched at his
seemingly endless generosity.

“
Suzanna can now go home to her family,” she whispered when
Suzanna and Zack appeared from behind Marcus, and walked toward
them.

“
Yes, she can, now that the investigation is over,” he assured
her. “We have to stay a little while longer because there is now
work to do at Battlington, but it shouldn’t take long before we can
leave this place behind forever.”

“
Then you will be moving on to your new investigation,” Tilly
sighed somewhat morosely. The thought of being separated from him,
even for a little while, was something that didn’t sit too well
with her. She wanted to be near him; to learn everything about him,
and spend the rest of her days by his side.

He
shifted and drew her against his side. “There are now several
smaller groups of the Star Elite stationed around the country. I
have no doubt that Cumbria has a branch of the Star Elite in it
somewhere. I could join that so that the investigations I work on
are closer to home.” He kissed her. “It makes it more feasible for
us to then have a life while I continue my work at the same time. I
want to be around to spend time with my wife, and watch my children
grow up. I cannot do that if I spend months at a time in London. It
makes much more sense –”

“
Wait!” She cried again. A wild flurry of hope surged through
her as she stared at him. “What do you mean, you want to be around
to spend time with your wife, and watch your children grow
up?”

He
frowned at her. “Well, you have to marry me now.” In deference to
the other occupants of the Rectory’s front lawn, he lowered his
voice to an intimate whisper. “Especially after what we shared last
night.”

She
stared at him nonplussed as her heart began to beat a heavy tattoo
in her chest. “Marry you?”

“
I love you. You love me. We are going to move to Cumbria so
we can be together. We can hardly raise Zack together if we are not
man and wife.” He frowned down at her. “What did you
expect?”

She
opened her mouth to speak, only wasn’t quite sure what to
say.

He
studied the surprise on her face and realised that his declaration
had sounded more like a business arrangement than a romantic
entanglement. His eyes twinkled contentedly at her, and he placed a
tender kiss on her lips.

“
Marry me?” he whispered. “I adore you, Tilly. I know now that
I simply cannot contemplate life without you by my
side.”

“
I would be honoured to be your wife,” she whispered
hesitantly.

“
But?”

“
I am a mere servant,” she replied quietly. “You are handsome,
wealthy, and clearly have connections in high places. What will
people think if you marry me – a servant?”

“
I don’t care what anybody thinks,” he declared defiantly.
“You are the woman who is going to be living with me and you know,
perhaps more than anybody, just how important it is to be with the
one you love, in the safety and warmth of your own home. After what
we have been through, we deserve our own chance at happiness and I,
for one, intend to make sure that we get that.”

There
was nothing she could say to that, but knew that there was really
no choice but to seal his promise with a very loving
kiss.