“Where. Is. She?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I was to meet them at an inn in Edgware at midnight tomorrow. Then they’d take me to her and I could…” He trailed off.
Ewan dropped Francis and kicked him lightly like the rubbish he was. “Pathetic. If I ever see you near the lady again, I’ll make you wish you were never born. Go crawl back to my father. He’s the only one who can’t see what a lily-livered coward you really are.”
Ewan tossed a few coins to a man he assumed was the proprietor. He was the only man looking concerned, folding and unfolding his hands at the wreckage. Then Ewan strode out of the shop.
Ewan would find her.
But he would not do it alone.
He went directly to the Draven Club. He didn’t have any time to waste, and as soon as he arrived, Porter informed him that the Duke of Ridlington was looking for him.
“Did he send a note?” Ewan asked.
“No, sir,” Porter answered. “The footman merely asked if you were within and when I informed him I had not seen you today, he asked me to tell you the duke asks you to call on him forthwith.”
The duke wanted news of his progress, and Ewan could hardly blame him. But he didn’t have time to indulge the father at the moment.
“Who is here?” Ewan asked. “Stratford? Lord Phineas?”
“No, sir. Mr. Wraxall is here and Lord Jasper. Would you like me to send word to the others?”
“No.” He thought about asking Porter to send for Rafe and decided against it. The mission Ewan had now was not one suited to Beaumont’s skills. Jasper, however, was exactly the man he needed. He’d had considerable experience as a bounty hunter, even before joining Draven’s troop. He could find the men who’d taken Lorraine. Neil would lead them. Ewan was no leader, but Wraxall had no qualms about giving orders. He’d know where Jasper and Ewan should begin, and he’d know what to do when and if they encountered trouble.
“Where are Grantham and Wraxall?” he asked.
“The reading room. Shall I bring you—”
But Ewan was already striding away. He took the steps two and three at a time and was barely winded when he pushed open the heavy oak door to the reading room. Jasper sat at a table with a large book of maps spread out before him, and Neil lowered the paper to peer at Ewan from a dark chair near the fire.
“What has you looking so”—Neil furrowed his brow—“animated?”
“I need your help,” Ewan said.
Neil nodded and dropped the paper, and Jasper rose. “I’ll always row in your boat, Protector,” Jasper promised.
He’d known they would agree, but the readiness with which they did so made his heart clench for a moment. The men of Draven’s Survivors didn’t ask questions of their fellows. If one of their own said he needed help, the others agreed without question.
“How can we help?” Neil asked.
“Lady Lorraine has been abducted.”
“Kidnapped?” Jasper stepped forward. The scars on the side of his face appeared red and angry in the firelight. He wore his mask out in public but found no such protection from stares and ridicule necessary here at the club.
“Are you certain she hasn’t simply eloped?” Neil asked, sounding as logical and levelheaded as always.
Ewan took a breath. Words had never been his allies, but he would have to speak now, speak and explain. “Her father sent for me because the lady was not in her bed this morning. Nothing had been taken from her room. Only the lady and her dog were missing. I went to my father and ascertained the location of Francis Mostyn’s residence. I found him at a coffee shop nearby. He had her abducted so he could play the white knight and rescue her.”
“Bloody idiot,” Neil said.
“I trust you’ll give him a topper once the lady is recovered,” Jasper added. “I can sniff her out.”
“That’s why I’m here. My cousin was to meet the men he hired at an inn in Edgware at midnight tomorrow. I want to find the men before this meeting.”
“Has the duke received a ransom note?” Jasper asked.
“No.”
“He might have. We should pay him a call—” But even as Neil spoke the words, Porter knocked on the door, carrying a silver salver.
“A missive from the Duke of Ridlington for you, Mr. Mostyn.”
Ewan took it and broke the seal. The enclosed paper fluttered to the floor. He lifted it and cursed his inability to read. He held it out, and Neil, who was the closer of the two soldiers, took it.
He looked up at Ewan. “It’s the ransom note we expected. They want twenty thousand pounds for her safe return.”
Jasper whistled. “For blunt like that, they might decide to keep her. Francis doesn’t have the yellow boys to cover that.”
Neil continued to read the paper. “The abductors request the duke to come alone to an inn in Edgware tomorrow night at midnight. If he doesn’t appear, comes with other men, or doesn’t bring the blunt, they’ll kill Lady Lorraine.” He looked up. “And her dog.”
Ewan looked down at the paper that had held the note. The words on it moved and rearranged themselves, but he finally had the gist of the brief message from Ridlington.
“He asks for my advice.”
“Tell him.” Neil waved a hand. “Porter! Paper and ink, please.”
“Yes, Mr. Wraxall.”
“I’ll write to him and you sign it,” Neil said. “I’ll tell him to stay here. You’ll go in his stead and bring her back.”
“How will I find her? Francis didn’t know any more than to meet them at the inn.” No doubt the abductors thought to bring the duke and their employer together and see who would pay the most for the lady. If neither man would pay or anything went wrong, they would probably find it easier to kill her and be done with the scheme all together.
“Leave finding her to me,” Jasper said. “I can find anyone.”
“Given enough time. We have a day and a half,” Ewan argued.
“Edgware isn’t far outside of London, and I know the area well. We’ll find her, and we’ll crash the culls your cousin hired to take her.”
For the first time since he’d stepped into the Duke of Ridlington’s drawing room, Ewan relaxed. Jasper was the best tracker Ewan had ever known. He would find Lorraine, and when Ewan got his hands on the men who had taken her, he would kill them with his bare hands.
*
By the time darkness fell, Lorrie had managed to loosen not one but two planks of the wall. It had been slow, tedious work, because she must do everything silently. Using her feet, she had braced herself on one side of the room and pushed against the loose planks with steady pressure. Now when she pushed one of them, the bottom gaped enough so Welly might slip through it. She hadn’t allowed the puppy to escape. That would alert the men holding her when they returned.