The American Heir(25)

"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.