Page 83 of Secrets of the Heart

Rachel went limp with relief. Her heart began to beat again.

Blount reached down and hooked a hand around Michael’s arm and helped him to his feet.

“Michael!” At last Rachel’s feet came unstuck, and she ran across the room to throw her arms around him.

“Rachel!” Startled, Michael folded his arms around her automatically. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you all right? Were you hurt?” she asked, not answering his question. She stepped back to look him over for wounds. Tears swam in her eyes, and she was breathing in hasty jerks.

Michael smiled. “No. He missed me. I’m fine. I think it is Perry who got shot.” He turned toward where Perry Overhill lay, Cooper squatting down beside him. “How is he?”

“Blount hit him. I think I went wide of the mark,” Cooper said, ripping off Overhill’s cravat and pressing it against the man’s shoulder. “He’s still alive, though. I’ll get him to a doctor.”

“Good.” Michael turned his attention back to Rachel. “Now, why are you here? If you had come any sooner, you might have been shot!”

His gaze went beyond Rachel to where Anthony and Lilith stood. “You, too?” he asked in astonishment.

Sir Robert turned, too, and saw Lilith. “What the devil!” He went over to her, curling his arm around his shoulder. “What are you doing here!”

“We came to rescue you,” Rachel said. “We realized that the real mastermind behind the crimes was Perry, and I thought you were alone here with him. I was afraid we would be too late.” She stepped back, crossing her arms, and frowned at Michael. “Obviously we were not needed.”

“Yes,” Lilith put in tartly. “Which we would have known if anyone had bothered to tell us the truth.”

Michael and Sir Robert cast a glance at each other.

“I told you,” Michael murmured.

“I think I shall go find a hansom for Cooper to take Overhill in,” Sir Robert announced quickly.

“Coward,” Lilith told him as he walked past, but the smile on her lips took any sting out of her words.

The men helped carry the wounded Perry out to the cab, and Anthony, incensed by the way Perry had used him over the years, said to Cooper, “I will go with you, just to make sure he doesn’t give you any more problems.” He cast a grim look at Perry, adding, “You have played me for the fool for years. I’ll be glad to see the jail doors lock on you.”

Perry, conscious now, one hand clutching the bloody bandage on his shoulder, did not look as if he would be capable of putting up much resistance.

The others took another cab home to Michael and Rachel’s house, where they had a late supper and went over what had occurred that evening.

Rachel and Lilith related Anthony’s visit to Michael and Sir Robert and described how they had realized that Perry was the real criminal and had gone running to the warehouse to save Michael from Overhill.

“And then to find out that you had it taken care of—that you had planned it all!” Rachel exclaimed, with mock irritation. “How did you know it was Perry? You were so convincing when you explained why it must be Sir Robert.”

“He has always been good at casting blame on me,” Blount commented.

“Well, it was true that I realized that for the criminal to have employed Anthony as he did, he must be someone who knew about me and my past history with Anthony. But I never thought that it was Rob,” Michael admitted. “He and I had been through too much together. I knew him too well. So I turned to the others who might know. I never told Perry. I didn’t think he knew about that night that Anthony convinced you to elope with him—until just now, when you told me that it was he who encouraged Anthony to do so. But I knew that Perry had always been around during that period when we were engaged and that he was one of the many men who had been courting you, too. I thought it was possible that he could have guessed that Anthony loved you or that you had a preference for him as a suitor.”

“But there were many other people about at the time who could have guessed, as well,” Rachel pointed out.

“Yes. But I also knew that in the past Perry had had money difficulties, though it occurred to me that in the last few years I had not heard anything about it. However, the most telling thing was the fact that whoever was behind all this had forced Anthony into the situation. It was the piece of the puzzle that made no sense. Why involve Birkshaw? At first I thought it was to throw me off the real criminal’s trail, and no doubt it was, partially. But when I realized that the intent must be to kill me and blame it on Birkshaw, I knew that it was not just practical but personal, as well. Whoever was doing this wanted both me and Birkshaw out of the way. The connection between us, obviously, was Rachel. I knew then that the man behind this must be obsessed with Rachel. Why else try to get rid of Rachel’s husband and the man she had once loved, all in one neat stroke? I was sure he was afraid that if he killed me, leaving Rachel free, she might turn to her old love, Anthony, instead of to him. So Anthony had to be gotten rid of, as well. Therefore, it had to be a man who had loved Rachel since she made her debut. Perry was the obvious choice.”

“I never thought he was serious!” Rachel exclaimed. “I mean, he made all those extravagant compliments, but I thought he was mostly joking. That it was just an easier course than actually courting and marrying another woman. He always seemed so…ineffectual.”

“Yes, he seems to have fooled a number of people into thinking he was a bumbling, good-hearted chap,” Sir Robert added. “He was the sort of man that any man assumed was safe to escort his wife or sister.”

“But how did he know the criminal element, the people he used to commit the crimes?” Lilith asked.

“I don’t know. But obviously, none of us knew the real Perry. He has always been something of a gamester. I remember he used to frequent some gambling hells that I would not have gone into,” Michael commented. “Perhaps he first made his criminal contacts there.”

Rachel shook her head. “It is so hard to believe. I liked him.”