Lady in the Mist - Laurie Alice Eakes [114]
“A bondsman to a freeman.” Tabitha nodded. Her head swam, and the hair on the back of her neck rose. “What were your suspicions? That he deserted?”
“Yes. Most men only get flogged for it, but they can be hanged under the Articles of War.”
“Why didn’t you think his ship was paid off?” She wanted the question to be a challenge; it sounded like a fragment of a straw to grasp.
“It occurred to me. So I asked that sloop commander about it.” Dominick’s fingers tightened on hers. “It wasn’t. He has orders to search for deserters on these shores, but you saved Raleigh that day by being aboard. He wasn’t about to leave you alone on a fishing boat.”
“How kind.” Tabitha’s tone dripped sarcasm.
“It was. He could have been accused of shirking his duty. But that’s beside the point.” Dominick held her gaze. “Tabitha, my love, Raleigh either deserted or was sent here, perhaps bribed with a promise of freedom.”
“Just like you.”
“Yes, except I am here to catch the man trying to foment war, and Raleigh’s working with him.”
“How can you be sure of that?” Tabitha pulled her hands free and crossed her arms over her middle. “Maybe he’s trying to catch the same person.”
“Tabitha, Raleigh left on his own last night. I found footprints in the mud leading away from the house. A single pair of footprints coming this way.”
“And?” Tabitha pressed her forearms hard against her belly to keep it from jumping.
“And I found this in Kendall’s study.” Dominick drew a folded sheet of paper from his coat pocket.
In a glance, she saw it was a diary of sorts with a list of dates and a few names. One name appeared three times—the night before she met Dominick on the beach and Raleigh came home, the night Raleigh was attacked, and the previous night.
Thomas Kendall.
“So your suspicions are right.” Tabitha’s fingers flexed, crushing the edge of the paper. Her eyes blurred. “Mayor Kendall and Raleigh are guilty of betraying their country.”
29
______
Raleigh opened his eyes. The first thing he thought was that the second blow to his head had blinded him, so dark were his surroundings. The second thing he thought was that the foul odor around him was going to make him ill. The third thing he thought was that, within the day, he was going to be a dead man.
He might not be able to see in the blackness, but he heard the creaks and groans of timber, along with the splash of water and distant shouts of men. Coupled with the stench, he knew he had been taken aboard a man-of-war, a British ship. He was indeed a dead man. He had failed in his mission. He would be considered a deserter now, his punishment hanging.
He doubled over. A moan rose to his lips, burst forth. He clasped his knees and buried his aching head in his arms.
“You’re awake.” A disembodied voice rose from the blackness. “I was afraid they’d killed you.”
“Who is it?” Raleigh guessed the answer before he received it.
“Donald Parks. I was on my way home to my wife and child.” His voice broke. “Children. When we dropped anchor in Hampton Roads, I had word that my wife had another boy. My b-boy.” He fell silent. Several long, deep breaths told of a man trying to get control. “I was nine months away. It’s too long. But I thought I’d made it safe home.”
“I’m sorry.” Raleigh’s eyes burned. “I never meant—”
He couldn’t confess what he’d done, what a fool he was. If Parks ever got free or was able to write home, he would tell everyone about Raleigh’s treachery. Tabitha would count herself fortunate to have fallen in love with a redemptioner instead of a man without honor. He’d thought he could win her back, show her he wasn’t the coward who had deserted her before making her his wife. Now she would learn the truth and think of him with contempt, loathing, scorn.
And as a traitor.
“Oh, Tabbie,” he murmured past the feeling of a band compressing his ribs to squeeze every drop of life from his heart. “My dear, dear girl.”
“Did you leave a lady behind too?” Parks asked.
“I did.” Raleigh shook his head, fought back a cry of pain, and blinked