"Haley"-he stroked my cheek-"red clover tea, and your love of it, is how the Dead Duke foiled our attempts at birth control. Red clover counteracts the hormones in birth control pills, reducing their effectiveness. Like a hole in a condom, is the way Jennifer explained it. Your great-grandfather tricked us. Using the very British ritual of tea."
My mouth fell open. The tricky old man. I knew he was behind it. But the method was ingenious. Like something out of one of the Agatha Christie novels from his collection in the library.
Riggins kissed the strand of my hair wrapped in his fingers. "I'm sorry I doubted you. I never should have accused you of trapping me."
His eyes were filled with guilt. And my question was answered. He trusted me enough now to profess his love because he knew I hadn't betrayed him. And my great-grandfather really was a maniacal genius beyond measure.
"I forgive you." I leaned down and kissed Riggins. "We've all been pawns in his game. But it's over now. What more can he do to us? He has nearly everything he wanted. And so do we."
Chapter 12
Riggins
As much as I wanted to lounge in bed with my wife all day, we'd promised to meet Sid in the library for tea. Reluctantly, I slid out of bed, handed Haley her clothes, and began to dress. "How have things been since I've been gone? Do you still feel like someone's been watching you?"
Haley had been keeping things from me during our calls. I'd had reports from my security team that she'd been concerned that someone was following her. At times, she requested security guards walk with her into the maze and even the poison garden on her daily strolls.
She gave me a quick look. She clearly knew what I was asking. "The security guys have been talking."
"Don't blame them. I demand daily reports." I paused. "You've still been feeling uneasy? Even after I added extra security details? I'll have more cameras and motion sensors installed."
She paused and nodded slowly. "I have. Maybe it's just my imagination. This place is rather gothic. And both lovely and scary when you're gone."
"Or maybe the ghost stories are true." I squeezed her knee.
She slapped my hand away. "You're mocking me."
"Wouldn't dare." I slipped into a T-shirt and tossed the button-down shirt I'd worn on the plane onto a chair to throw in the laundry later. "Any more ghost sightings in the tower?"
I would have laughed like I was joking, but I was half serious, maybe more.
She shook her head. Hesitated. And corrected herself. "Maybe. There have been a few times I thought I saw something."
She shrugged. "But I couldn't be sure. I checked the tower several times. It was always locked. The security team has orders to stay out of it, and I'm the only one with the key. There couldn't have been anyone there. But if it's a trick of the light, I can't figure it out."
I nodded. "Yes, well, maybe we will have to call those ghost hunters out."
With that, we got ready and met Sid in the library. She was bouncing with energy and eager to see everything, including Bird.
Haley was apologetic. "He had to run to London to pick up his son. Will's been on vacation in Europe with some buddies since school ended on the tenth. He was supposed to be back yesterday, but he decided to spend an extra day at a friend's house. They'll be back late tonight."
Haley knew why Sid was so eager to meet them.
"Give them a day to get settled in before we spring you on them," she said to her sister. She sounded as eager as Sid. "We need to plan carefully for all contingencies." She was smiling, but worry edged her expression and tone.
We could be wrong in our assumptions. Or right but Bird and/or Will could reject her. Neither of them was under any obligation to either acknowledge her or donate marrow. A ripple of tension filled the air.
Sid's returning smile was gracious. "You're right. I've waited a lifetime. What are a few more hours?"
I glanced between them nervously, hoping they wouldn't be disappointed.
Our conversation about ghosts was still on my mind late that night as I sat in the dark at the small desk in Haley's room and worked on my laptop. Jetlag was a bitch. I never managed to avoid it, no matter how many preventatives or remedies I tried. The pregnancy and excitement had worn Haley out. She stayed up as late as she could, barely eleven, then fell into bed exhausted. She slept soundly in bed while I worked.
I had a hard time keeping my eyes, and hands, off her. My heart was filled with the knowledge she loved me. And guilt for my half-assed answer about the dukedom. I was, apparently, stuck with it, so what did it matter if I actually wanted it?
But it seemed to matter to her that I did. I knew her feelings all too well-she didn't want us to be the duke and duchess who lost it. She'd read something in the Dead Duke's papers that she'd taken to heart: The obligation of each new duke is to leave the dukedom better off than when he took possession of it.
A fine sentiment. A nice ideal. But that meant increasing the value of the estate by a minimum of the forty percent estate tax just to leave it in the same shape as it was when he inherited. No small feat in the current economy.
Stiff from sitting, I stood and stretched. I walked to the window to clear my head. It was a clear summer night. My gaze naturally went to the Ghost Tower. It was dark and imposing. Dark being the operative word. As I rolled my neck, preparing to return to business, a light flickered in the upper window of the tower. It was very faint, but definitely real.
I pulled my phone out and snapped a picture of it so I could pinpoint the location later. Before I could make a move, it was out. I swore beneath my breath and looked back at the bed where Haley still slept soundly. Ghost or no, I was going in after that haunting bastard. Something was going on in the tower and I was going to find out what.
I grabbed a jacket and a pair of tennis shoes. On my way out I stopped by the duke's suite and grabbed the key to the tower. And the ghost-hunting kit I'd ordered and stored on my last visit-a flashlight and night-vision goggles. Maybe I should have grabbed a silver stake or stopped by the kitchen for a head of garlic. I was a bit more prosaic and grabbed a hunting rifle. The foe I was facing was in all likelihood human and very much alive.
The midnight air was cool as I left the castle and put on my goggles. The grass of the lawn damp and heavy with dew. The hair on my arms and neck stood up from the chill. I should have grabbed a jacket. My stomach burned with excitement and my heart raced. I wasn't exactly afraid. Not of the usual things.
My heart beat heavy in my ears as I let myself into the tower and glanced at the picture on my phone, trying to pinpoint the location where the light had been. I raced up the narrow, circular staircase.
The tower had been designed as a fortress to be defended by the castle's knights, who'd been much shorter and smaller than modern men. As such, the staircase was tight and designed so that defenders familiar within the building could charge down the stairs with their swords drawn in the right hands, facing intruders whose right-hand swing was broken by the stone walls. Which put invaders at a disadvantage, especially in an era when it was considered unlucky and unnatural to be left-handed.
Wanting to catch my ghost by surprise, I didn't flip the lights on. Instead I relied on my goggles. I swung out of the staircase on the third floor and raced to a small stone room that faced Haley's window. The door to it was open as I approached.
I raised my rifle to my shoulder and stepped inside. A man was seated in the dark in the corner, casually eating a sandwich.
He set the sandwich down on a piece of butcher paper beside him, dusted the crumbs from his hands, and flicked a lighter on, illuminating his face. "Hello, son. I was wondering when you were finally going to realize I wanted to see you."
Haley
I woke suddenly, startled awake by a breeze. Or so I imagined. I was used to sleeping alone, but even so, I missed Riggins and his delicious hot body and heat. When I'd fallen asleep, he'd been working on his laptop at the desk.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up. His chair was empty now, but the laptop was still open and on. I glanced around the room, thinking he'd probably just gone to the bathroom. But my bathroom door was open and the light off.
"Riggins?"
I slid to the edge of the bed and slipped into my slippers and robe. Gibson claimed it was cool in the castle even in the heat of summer. And the heat of summer was still some time off. The chill persisted. I pulled the robe tightly around me and hugged myself as I went looking for him in his room.