Page 38 of A Rogue to Watch Over Me
“What business did he have there?” MacLain pressed.
“I don’t know. As I’ve said, my brother did not often discuss his ventures with me.”
“I don’t wish to upset ye, but the facts are plain. Yer brother was involved with some very bad people.” The furrows in Mr. Caldwell’s forehead betrayed his tension. “We need to know why.”
“Paul was not a saint. Not by any measure.” She dragged in a deep breath. “But he wasnota criminal.”
“We can’t ignore the truth. There’s good reason to believe he’d been working with schemers and cheats,” MacLain said, gritting out the words as if they pained him. “He got himself in over his head.”
A swell of brutal emotion crashed into her. “My brother was neither a thief nor a swindler.”
“We are not here to sully Paul’s name.” A tiny muscle in MacLain’s jaw ticked. “But we need to know what in blazes he did that made ye a target.”
“I was able to track down information on the fortune teller, the woman who calls herself Madame Helena.” Caldwell said. “I’m told she also has ties to your brother. Why would he involve himself with a charlatan?”
“Charlatan?” she repeated dully. An image of Helen laying out her arcane cards in a distinct pattern on a silk-covered table flickered through her thoughts. At the time, Helen’s fascination with interpreting the images had seemed an amusement, a bit of harmless fun.
“Helen Tanner deceived gullible men,” Caldwell said. “Was yer brother one of them?”
“My brother was no fool. Paul’s interest in Helen had little to do with her fortune telling cards.” Amelia stared down at her hands, searching for the right words. “She was his mistress.”
“Could she have lured him into a scheme?” MacLain asked.
“Paul was not naïve.” She let out a low breath. “But itispossible she deceived him.”
Caldwell stood and went to the window. “Did he ever refer to a man who calls himself Mr. Hawk?”
Amelia searched her mind. “The name is not familiar. Is he a collector?”
“The man is an art thief,” Caldwell said. “My sources believe yer brother aided Hawk in his schemes.”
Amelia met his hard gaze. “I’ve told you—Paul was not a criminal.”
“I’m not here to pass judgment. But my sources—”
Amelia squared her shoulders, shoring up her resolve. This was all quite beyond belief. “Your sources? I presume they have names.”
Caldwell regarded her for a long moment. “I am not at liberty to reveal their identities. But ye can trust they are reliable. Word on the street has it that Hawk believed yer brother and Miss Tanner betrayed him.”
Amelia gulped against a searing lump in the back of her throat. The very thought that Paul had consorted with criminals was nearly beyond comprehension. Yet, deep inside, she could not deny how his behavior had changed in the time before his death. He’d seemed to keep his distance from her, becoming colder. Evasive. So much had seemed out of character. At the time, she’d suspected he’d developed an overfondness for the gaming tables. But this... this was far worse that she’d ever imagined.
“You believe this man called Mr. Hawk... killed Paul?”
Caldwell’s tone was raw. “Yes.”
Yer brother and Miss Tanner betrayed him.The revelation struck like a slap to the face. Dear God! If Mr. Hawk had murdered Paul over some act of disloyalty, would Helen be next?
Glancing to MacLain, she read his grim expression. Her pulse raced. “Helen is in danger. We have to warn her.”
“Don’t worry, lass. We’ll find her,” Caldwell said with a brisk confidence.
MacLain pinned her with his dark gaze. “Ye’ll stay here, where ye will be safe.”
Amelia shook her head. “Even if you locate her, she won’t believe you,” she said. “Helen needs to hear the truth from someone she knows. She trusted Paul. And she will trust me.”
“I won’t allow it,” MacLain said in a tone that brooked no dissent.
Amelia cocked her chin. “Youwillneed me. Helen will not confide in you.”
