Page 28 of The Gift of Patience
Devil’s eyes flickered at the latter.
“So somewhere else.”
He looked at Fielding and Baines to see if they’d also noticed. A slight incline of their heads acknowledged that they had. Heknew from experience it would be a while before he was ready to tell them the rest of the information.
“Where is the cargo you moved?”
Devil’s face was frozen in place. He was done cooperating for now.
“I will leave that here in case he decides he’d like to say more. I’ll go and give the report and see what the colonel wishes to do.” They were careful not to use real names around criminals as such for the slightly protective benefit.
He saddled his horse and he took Caesar out for a brief run towards the clearing. Westwood was taking a turn in the tree and looked down with a grin when Ashley pulled the horse up beneath him.
“Oh, fair maiden! Shall I rescue thee?” Ashley called.
“My brave knight, come to rescue me!” Westwood simpered.
“You might as well come down. Devil finally told us they signal at eight every evening. It rings true with the time the others showed up at the tavern.”
“Did he tell you what the signals were?”
“Aye, and they also ring true. I knew Cook’s famous rolls and ale would not fail me.”
“Like water to a parched man,” Westwood agreed.
“Even better, delicious, refreshing ale.” Ashley was thinking he wouldn’t mind some himself about now. “One point we had not considered was not signalling and drawing them in here. I know you think it a risk to the ladies, but it might be a nice trap to catch all of them.”
“Be that as it may, I need to remove everyone that could possibly be harmed if it comes to that,” his brother reminded. Ashley was grateful he did not have the weight of all those females on his conscience.
“I will discuss it with Renforth and see. He may wish to keep them operating as is so we can catch the bigger fish.”
“That would be my preference. If not this gang, they will always find another willing to do anything for coin. I best continue to keep my eye out. We need to discover where he’s receiving his information from to signal them about.”
“I’m fairly certain it’s not another signal, but how would someone get a message to him here?” Ashley pondered aloud.
“Other than the river?” Westwood asked, thinking. “No one would be able to sneak in the gate, and the only other option is Sir Horace’s land.”
The look they shared indicated neither one of them thought Sir Horace had the wits to organize a dinner party, let alone a smuggling operation.
“There is also the possibility that one of your servants could be passing messages even unwittingly.”
“I find that harder to fathom than someone sneaking onto my estate, but it bears looking into,” Westwood agreed with a heavy sigh.
“Who would be the most likely to go into the village or Town frequently?”
“That is a better question for Armstrong, Mrs. Armstrong, and Chauncy. I do know that James has an ailing grandmother in the village and goes home to her at night, but he’s been with us for so long it would be hard to fathom him doing such a thing.”
“Presented to him as something innocent, the right amount of coin could make a lesser man do much worse things.” Ashley had seen it time and time again.
“Sadly true.”
“I will go and speak with the servants. It’s an avenue we hadn’t considered that bears closer scrutiny.” Ashley saluted, then turned Caesar around to head back.
“Tell Cook to send any extra rolls she has,” Westwood called after, making Ashley smile.
As he rode back, it occurred to him that this might be one instance where the Whitford sisters’ observations might come in handy. One Whitford sister in particular, who was always looking for ways to meddle, would be thrilled to be involved.Don’t do it, his conscience warned, but he already knew he wouldn’t listen.
CHAPTER 8
