Turner's Vision (7 page)

Claudia stood in the doorway, trying to block his admittance. “I thank you for the lift home, but I must insist that you not come in tonight.”

“You and I have a few things to discuss.” Micah grabbed her by the waist, setting her out of his way. He entered the house, only to be soundly attacked by both boys.

“You can’t treat Miss Claudia that way.”

“We don’t let no crums in here.”

He lifted a boy under each arm, trapping their flailing arms with one of his own. He motioned Claudia to follow him, marching past Henderson to the front parlor. He set each boy on the settee.

“You will both sit there quietly while I talk with Claudia and Henderson.” The threatening look he gave the boys brooked no disobedience on their part. Joey and Adam exchanged looks, but clamped their lips together.

Micah sat in the large, wingback chair he’d sat in on the previous night. Regarding the room’s other occupants from under veiled lids, he locked his gaze on each, one at a time. Claudia appeared decidedly belligerent. Henderson, as always, resembled the proper servant. Adam and Joey looked mutinous.

“Do you know what almost happened tonight?” He looked at the group in a sweeping glance. No one answered. “Let me fill you in. While you and your young accomplice were inside the warehouse, Claudia, Gibson and another man entered the front of the building. If I hadn’t been there to see that you got out in one piece, I don’t think you would be sitting here safe and sound.”

“I beg to differ with you, Mr. Turner.” Claudia’s hand swept the hair back from her face. Her cheeks were flushed red with anger. “We were in no danger of being found out. Furthermore, you did nothing to bring us out of the situation.”

“That’s right.” Adam jumped up to defend her, both hands balled up in fists. “We was just leavin’ when they was comin’ in.”

“Sit.” Micah kept his voice deadly calm.

Adam remained standing, staring angrily at Micah. Finally, the boy decided to obey the one-word command.

“Do you happen to know what kind of man Jonathan Gibson is?” Micah addressed Claudia. She set her lips and didn’t answer. “No? Allow me to fill you in. During the war he spent his time running supplies through the blockades. He also spent part of that time selling out soldiers on both sides just to make a profit. The man has no soul, and would just as soon slit your pretty little throat as look at you. Not to mention what he would do to a mere boy.”

Micah paused to let his words sink in, then continued, “The other man is his brother, David Gibson. I’m not as familiar with the man, except to know he is using a woman and her family to further his own means. That makes him as evil as his brother in my book. Now, tell me what you were doing in the warehouse tonight.”

“We’ve been watching that building for some time now,” Claudia finally said. “It was where I followed Gibson to, yesterday. We were in there last night too.”

“When I was waiting here for you?”

“Yes. There was a large shipment delivered there yesterday. The boxes are marked with Chinese symbols. Adam and I managed to get a sample of it.” Her gaze met his. “Do you know what it was?”

“Opium.”

Astonishment, followed quickly by suspicion crossed her features. “How did you know that?”

“It would be a good guess on anyone’s part, madam, given Gibson’s penchant for dealing in illegal trade and the Chinese symbols on the crates.”

“Oh.”

“Go on.”

Claudia’s eyes narrowed a moment before she continued. “We’ve also determined that the warehouse is where they are keeping all their records. So tonight Adam and I went through their files to see if we could find out who was making it easy for them to ship it in illegally. Are you aware that opium, while legal in this country, is shipped under the strongest codes and quotas this government has? Even though it is too lenient by far?”

“Yes.”

“Somehow, these people are bypassing the shipping codes and bringing in large quantities of the powder. We know Gibson is handling the distribution to the secret opium dens around town. We were hoping to find out where they were located. I do believe we found some clues tonight.” She took a breath, looking at her partners for approval before adding a last piece of information.

“Micah, they aren’t just importing large quantities of opium.” Claudia looked him straight in the eyes, watching him closely. “Those women who have been disappearing around town, also have no family to hunt for them. It’s always a neighbor or employer who reports them missing. It is our belief that the Gibsons and their people are kidnapping them or killing them.”

“I’ve suspected as much.” Micah let out long sigh. “I have a sister out there who needs my help. I can’t afford to let you cost Patrice her life, Claudia. I know this is asking a great deal of all of you, but I have to ask that you give up your investigation. Allow me to use all your hard work to find out where my sister is, before it’s too late.”

For a long few moments she appeared to consider his words. With a shrug of her shoulders, she stood.

“Obviously, you have more at stake here than we do, Micah. I guess we’ll just have to bow out and let you finish finding answers for us.”

Signaling the boys to follow, Claudia marched from the room.

Micah watched her leave the room. That act wasn’t fooling him for a minute. He knew she was up to something. Only time would tell him what it was. In the meanwhile, he had something else to handle.

“Henderson,” he called the older man over, looking him directly in the eye. “You are never to let that woman off in a place like the warehouse district again without some means of protecting her. Do you understand me?”

The servant had the grace to look chagrined. “I protested with her for two hours before we left, sir. For one so small, she can be quite formidable.”

“I don’t care if you have to tie her down. This isn’t a game. She could get hurt.”

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Good. I guess I can’t ask for better than that.” Micah walked to the door, the servant following behind.

“Sir.” Henderson stopped him just outside the front door.

“Yes?”

“It’s good to have someone care enough about Miss Claudia to want to protect her.”

“What about her parents? Didn’t they want to protect her?”

“She never really knew her mother.”

“And her father?”

“For years the old bastard beat the hell out of her.”

CHAPTER SIX

The next evening, Micah sat hidden in the shadows at a table in the corner of the Whaler’s Reef. He’d spent the day putting together a disguise that would help hide his identity during tonight’s meeting. The clothes, purchased from a wharf rat, also reeked of body odor and fish. He’d poured enough whiskey on his clothes to give off the impression he’d been drinking for some days. The combined smell alone should keep anyone from coming too close.

The Gibsons would be here. He wondered who else would make an appearance.

Earlier, he’d scouted the tavern and surrounding area, looking for hiding places and possible escape routes. The brick building stood three stories high, with rooms upstairs for overnight guests of the working girls. The original owner kept a back staircase for those individuals who wished to leave discreetly, but it had been sealed over since then, leaving him no escape route, which worried him some.

While he was busy making plans for the night, Micah had Kelly watching the outside of Claudia’s town house for any comings or goings. He wasn’t fool enough to believe she was giving up her investigation. She could no more stay away from this mystery than he could stay away from her.

There was a strong pull between them. His feelings and visions of danger were usually reserved for those friends and family members to whom he was closest. When he’d seen the expression on her face in the carriage last night, the same vision he’d had of Claudia several months before flashed through his mind again. It was accompanied by a sense of danger, and the more time he spent with her, the stronger that feeling became.

A sense of danger wasn’t the only feeling he was having about this chameleon of a woman. The comparison amused him.

Chameleon was a very appropriate name. She changed not only her disguises, but also every nuance of her person with every situation in which she found herself. When she’d shaken out her hair last night and looked up at him with mischief dancing in her eyes, he decided then he was going to have her. If he hadn’t been caught off guard by his desire for her, he would’ve gladly choked her for putting herself and the boy at risk last night. She didn’t know it, but their futures were connected. He didn’t like it one bit that she was jeopardizing that future with her antics.

His thoughts sobered quickly as a young man entered the room.

Stephen
.

The shock of seeing him here was quickly replaced by a good dose of cynicism.

Why should it surprise him that his half-brother would be mixed up in this mess? It had been years since he’d seen him, but he would’ve known him anywhere. In those years he’d grown into a likeness of himself. Stephen had the same blond hair and above-average height, although stockier. The only physical difference were his eyes—Stephen’s were the same shade of ice blue as Micah’s stepmother, Julia. He wondered if on closer examination, they had the same cold, calculating glint to them.

Stephen sat at a table on the opposite side of the room, also partially covered in shadows. Micah watched as he signaled for drinks.

Earlier in the day Micah convinced the owner it was in his best interest to let his man work as the barkeep. Simon set a bottle and five glasses in front of his brother. Stephen poured himself a drink. He drank it quickly, refilling his glass just as the door opened to admit two more players in this mystery.

Jonathan Gibson strode into the room, confident in his power, while his brother David hovered in his shadow. They sat in the two chairs at Stephen’s left.

As the three men at the table exchanged words and drinks, the door to the tavern opened again. This time a short, lean man of oriental descent entered the room. Glancing around to take in all the room’s occupants, he moved to the table where the men were seated. He refused the drink Stephen offered him. This was a very cautious man.

The four men talked in hushed tones, occasionally looking around the room and at the door. Micah slumped down in his chair, with his head almost lying on the table. From a distance anyone looking at him would see only a one eyed sailor sleeping in a drunken stupor.

After about half an hour, the door opened once more. The man entering looked more nervous than his fellow conspirators. The banker walked over to the table. He took the last seat, accepting a glass of liquor.

The conversation resumed and Stephen signaled for another bottle. Micah watched in horror as the woman brought out the drink. She wore a skintight corset, cut so low and so tight her normally small breasts bulged out the top.

Micah looked up into and nearly groaned. She’d painted her face like any doxy he’d seen on the streets of Washington and Denver. He watched as she leaned over, whispering something in Stephen’s ear, nearly pushing her breasts into his face. Suddenly, his brother pulled her onto his lap, kissing her behind the ear. From where he sat, Micah saw the look of sheer panic cross her face.

I should let her get herself out of his mess.
Instead, he pushed himself out of his seat.

The man who looked like a softer version of Micah lifted the hem of her dress, his hand groping at her shapely legs.

Panicked, Claudia let out a squeal of protest.

The one-eyed sailor hobbled from the corner over to the table, weaving precariously as he came nearer the men. Just as he started to pass Claudia and the man holding her captive, the disgusting sailor reached out and yanked her from the drunk’s hands. The glasses on the table slid to the floor, and the younger man was left to decide which he wanted to save—the bottle of whiskey or Claudia.

The bottle won.

“Aye, missy. What’cha mean, taking someone afor me?” The man’s breath reeked of alcohol and garlic, while his clothes were enough to cause the people around them to move away. “You’se promised to me fer the night, and I don’t be sharin’.”

“I never…” Claudia began to protest, then she saw the steel colored eye without the patch. A deep sense of relief spread through her. She decided to play along with her rescuer. “I never was planning to make you share, Otis. I promise.”

Micah lifted her onto his shoulder, her rump hiding his face from the men at the table. He carried her out the back door and up the stairs, the men’s laughter following them out.

“Put me down.” Claudia hissed in his ear.

Micah didn’t answer her. He carried her down the hall into the first unlocked room he came to. He kicked open the door and walked over to the bed, throwing her on top of the questionably clean cover. Without further comment and ignoring her protesting grunts, he closed the door. He placed the only chair up under the knob to lock everyone out.

Micah lifted the patch from his eye and the hat from his head. With his panther like grace, he slowly walked to the bed—a cat stalking its prey. As he approached, he unbuttoned the dark wool coat, his hands mesmerizing her.

“Micah, what are you doing?” Claudia’s voice escaped in a whisper. She looked up from his hands to the shadows of his face.

“You wanted to excite a man, my dear.” He took another step closer. “Well you have. I warned you that any further involvement in this affair could be dangerous. But you wouldn’t listen.” He removed his coat, tossing it on the foot of the bed. As she watched he reached for the hem of his sweater and pulled it over his head, followed by the cotton shirt beneath, revealing a well-muscled chest with dark hair covering his golden skin.

Claudia had never seen a naked man’s chest. She was surprised by the puckered brown nipples that stared out from under the mat of hair.

Without realizing it, her tongue darted out to moisten her suddenly parched lips. Her eyes followed the hair from his chest downward as it formed a line, ending just above the waist of his pants.