The Lady of Bolton Hill (21 page)

Suddenly, he stopped and stared her straight in the face. “Have you ever been in love?” he asked.

She turned the question around on Bane. “Have
you
?” she asked him.

Bane stared at her, the oddest expression in his eyes. “Been in love? Maybe. I don’t know.”

Keep him talking,
Clara thought. “Tell me about it.”

Bane shifted in his seat, and judging by the flush on his face, he might actually be embarrassed. “I’d rather you go back to your God-talk.”

So as Clara concluded her first experience in black-market shipping, she talked to Bane about salvation. As she spoke, the tension of the last few days began to drain away as a sense of peace and warmth swelled within her. She was doing exactly what God wanted of her. She was trying to save a boy who had brought an unimaginable amount of destruction into His kingdom and turn that energy and intelligence into something positive.

Bane held up his hand. “If what you say is true, I can hop off this train of destruction I’ve been riding, and God will greet me with open arms so long as I vow to quit my wicked ways.”

“That’s right. If you want salvation, you can have it today,” she said earnestly. “Just walk away from this life and never turn back. I can help you get started in a life that is new and clean and worthy.”

Bane shot to his feet and began pacing again. “If I walk away from this web of pure evil, every crime lord on both coasts will be salivating for my blood. I know where all the bank accounts are stashed, where all the skeletons are buried. I know the distribution channels for every shipload of opium that enters and leaves this country. You are asking me to walk into the jaws of certain death, Clara.” Despite the dark words, Bane’s face was bright with excitement. She could practically see his sharp mind rattling through his options, and she knew she was on the cusp of swaying him.

“I know it will be frightening,” she said. “But the Lord will welcome you back into His fold and protect you. No matter the stain on your soul or the darkness of your life, He will never abandon you. If you give your life to God, He will shield you through whatever terrors plague you.”

Bane turned to face her and looked her straight in the eyes. There was a resolve in his demeanor she had never seen before, and then he uttered two words she never expected him to say.

“Prove it.”

The question took Clara aback. “How?”

The intensity of his stare was frightening, but she was mesmerized and could not tear her eyes away. Bane grabbed a knife, and with a violent lurch that stunned her into immobility, he stabbed the document that recorded his opium shipments to the table. The knife vibrated from the force long after Bane took his hand away.

“If you truly believe the Lord will protect those who do His work, I want to watch
you
walk into the jaws of death,” Bane said as he leaned in close to her. “I want to watch
you
walk onto a ship swarming with hardened criminals and dump the opium into the bay. Tonight. Prove that you really believe God will protect you. Prove that
you
have the courage to do what you are asking of me.”

The force of what he said was like a fist in her chest. The dare he just tossed in her lap was so terrifying Clara could not even draw a breath to respond to the stunning challenge; she just stared at him in openmouthed astonishment. “I can get you to the docks and on board the ship,” Bane continued. “I want to watch you walk into the middle of a drug deal and scuttle it. If you truly believe that God led you to me in order to make the world a better place, you don’t get to bail out just when things get interesting. I’ll get you onto
The Albatross
, and I want you to dump the opium in the bay.” His smile widened. “I’ll even go with you. If you say this is what God wants me to do, I’ll do it. But you are coming with me, Clara. Every step of the way.”

Clara had seen those crates, more than thirty of them. How on earth could she dump thirty crates loaded with opium and escape without notice? Her heart pounded and the heat of the warehouse made her feel light-headed. “Bane, I don’t know anything about ships. . . .”

“I’ll be right there beside you.” The smile Bane sent her was grim. “You go in this with me . . . or the deal is off.”

Bane strode to the far side of the warehouse, and with a mighty heave he slid the door wide open. The clatter of the door rumbling on its rails made her flinch. Sunlight streamed into the dusty confines, and the din of street traffic filled the air. “You are free to go, Clara. I won’t stop you. But if you walk out this door,
The Albatross
and all its cargo will set sail with tomorrow’s tide, and I will know precisely which sort of Christian you are.”

The sounds of children laughing in the street and the call of a fruit peddler selling oranges filled the air. If she walked out that door she could be safe at home within the hour. This nightmare would be over and she could go about her life and make amends with Daniel.

And she would also know that when she had been tempted, she had failed. At this moment she had the power to help save a young man from pursuing a life of rampant crime, and she needed to delve deep within her soul to find the courage to see it through. But what Bane was asking of her was so terrifying her voice box had gone mute.

Clara tore her eyes away from the sunlight streaming through the open door. Her breathing felt choppy and the muscles in her legs tingled as she fought the temptation to sprint out the door and into freedom. It would take only a few seconds, and Bane promised he would do nothing to stop her. He was awaiting her answer with an odd combination of mockery and hope on his face, but Clara was still paralyzed by fear.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Once again the verse arose in her mind, and she knew precisely what she needed to do. There was no point in fretting or doubting; she was simply going to trust in the Lord and submit to His will. She turned to face Bane. “You make the plan,” Clara said, “and I’ll carry it out.”

Bane dumped another three spoonfuls of sugar into the cup of thick black coffee, then slid it across the table to Manzetti.

“Drink up,” he said casually, but covertly Bane was scrutinizing the man’s every movement. The wobbling of the coffee as Manzetti raised it to his lips was less noticeable now and his eyes were more alert. They could not leave until Manzetti was completely sober, and Bane had spent most of the afternoon on the task. After six hours, the opium was finally wearing away. Between cups of coffee, Clara had been coaxing Manzetti to walk about in the confines of the warehouse, stretching his abused muscles and exercising his lungs. When Manzetti was finally roused and in control of his faculties, the news of what had transpired over the last few days did not go over well with the man.

Manzetti gaped at Clara in disbelief. “This pretty-faced brat tries to kill you, and now he wants our help undoing the mess he dug himself into? I’d rather rip his arms off.”

Bane remained unruffled. Anyone who grew up in the Professor’s household was not intimidated by someone whose only weapon was brute force. “Think of the mess,” he said blandly.

Manzetti stomped across the floor and shoved himself into Bane’s space, standing so close Bane felt the heat from Manzetti’s breath. He refused to flinch or to take a step back, even though Manzetti was more than a foot taller than he. “If Clara wasn’t watching, I’d be feeding you to the fish in the Baltimore harbor,” Manzetti said in a voice that reeked with loathing.

Clara intervened. “Mr. Manzetti, the plan is for you to drive us to the docks. The men guarding
The Albatross
know Bane and will follow his orders when he tells them to leave the ship while we dump the opium.”

Manzetti’s voice was dense with skepticism. “What kind of guard leaves the ship?”

“They will do as they are told,” Bane said. After all, every one of those men knew Bane was the Professor’s heir apparent and gave him their unquestioning obedience as they rushed to do his bidding. Bane had fought hard to earn his reputation for cold, ruthless efficiency. How strange that now all he wanted to do was destroy that reputation in exchange for the salvation Clara described.

“I don’t trust him,” Manzetti said. “You expect me to believe this truant is prepared to walk away from thousands of dollars? All on a dare?”

Bane turned away to sprawl back in a chair, negligently dangling his shoe off the end of his big toe as he studied Manzetti. “Money does not have any allure for me,” he said slowly. “I’m far more curious to see if Clara has enough backbone to see this through.” Bane straightened and tugged the shoe back on his foot, analyzing the way Clara was chewing the corner of a thumbnail in anxiety.

Don’t back down on me now, Clara,
he silently urged. No matter how conflicted she was, he must not pressure her. He wanted to know . . . he
needed
to know if she really believed what she had said about salvation.

“Clara and I will board the ship, while you divert the attention of the guards on the docks,” Bane said.

“No way,” Manzetti said to Clara. “Daniel will skin me alive if I let you walk onto that ship like a lamb to be sliced, diced, and slaughtered. If anyone boards the ship with this brat, it will be me.”

Bane shook his head. “Nope. It has got to be Clara. No one else will do.”

“Bane says I can pass myself off as a boy when we board the ship,” Clara said. “His clothes will fit me, and I’ll be able to hide most of my face from them because of the sack I will be carrying on my shoulder. There is no way I could pass as a boy if I’m the one manning the wagon where the sailors will be told to wait. You will have to do it, Mr. Manzetti.”

Manzetti turned his steely glare on Bane. “I’m doing this for
her
, not for you.”

At Manzetti’s capitulation, Clara’s smile widened and her eyes sparkled. She was quite possibly the first truly good person Bane had ever met in his life.

There was only a sliver of moonlight casting a weak glow over the city as the wagon bumped along the cobblestone streets toward the harbor. The clomping of the horse’s hooves and roll of the wheels seemed unnaturally loud in the silence of the night, but surely that was just paranoia. Why should anyone take notice of a wagon with a couple of passengers and a few bags of wadded-up material?

Because they were on a mission to outsmart a passel of hardened criminals, and Clara was certain the entire city could hear the pounding of her racing heart. Manzetti was in front driving the rig, while she sat curled beside Bane in the back of the wagon, swaying in tandem with him at every dip of the wagon as they moved closer to the docks. Never in her life had she worn boy’s clothing, and it felt odd to see the outline of her legs stretched before her. A baggy shirt, a vest, and her hair twisted up beneath a cap completed the look. Bane had rubbed some damp coffee grounds over her face to get rid of that “lily white look” no respectable boy would have.

“Do you really think this is going to work?” she whispered as she saw the harbor ahead of them. To her criminally inexperienced ways, Bane’s plan seemed like a good one, even though he had armed himself to the teeth before they left the warehouse. A revolver was in the holster at his waist, a switchblade tucked in his boot, and in his pocket he was carrying some device the size of an apple that would
“create quite a show.”

Bane was back to his remote, unnaturally cool demeanor. “We’ll pull this off,” he said confidently. “I figure we will both survive this night, but my odds of making it to Christmas don’t look so good.”

Clara felt her mouth go dry. How odd that not even two days ago Bane had completely terrified her, and now she deeply cared about what happened to him. “Is that because you didn’t kill me as planned?”

Bane snorted. “No, that’s nothing. It’s the guy who owns this opium who is going to be the problem.”

“He is the criminal emperor you were talking about?”

“Yup.” Bane gave her a sad little smile. “I want you to know, no matter what happens, I’m glad you are willing to go on that ship with me. You have given me something to believe in. I’ve never really had that before, and it feels so . . .” He appeared to be struggling to find the words. Finally he simply said, “It feels really good.”