The Missing Partner (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 2) Read online

  The moment they entered the next doctor’s office and she perceived the man’s flustered state, she knew they had found Xavier, but she feared they had come too late, since the man was packing to leave.

  “Is he still alive?” she demanded and frantically pushed by him to his examining room.

  “Here now! What are you about?”

  Finding the room empty, she turned on the doctor and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know who you mean?”

  Vic sniffed. “I can smell him on you. Now either you tell me this instant or I’ll tear this place apart.”

  Jacko pulled his gun and pressed it to the doctor’s head. “And I’ll kill you.”

  “All right,” the doctor cried. “Put the gun away. I’m not the enemy. All I’ve done is try to save his life, but they brought him too late.” Vic lost her grip from the pain that shot through her body. Fortunately, Jacko snared the doctor’s arm before he ran off.

  Xavier can’t be dead. It’s not possible. This is my day.

  The doctor led them across the hall and unlocked a door. They entered a room containing an unconscious beggar man and a bored and depressed giant she’d named Mr. Tubs.

  When Vic saw Mr. Tubs reaching for his pocket, she pulled her gun. “Please don’t pull your weapon. I don’t want to shoot you.”

  Jacko also had his gun aimed at Mr. Tubs. “I’ve no problem shooting you.”

  Mr. Tubs looked from Vic to Jacko and back to Vic. He held his hands up. “I don’t want trouble over this. It ain’t my mess. I had nothing to do with it. Here I am, a highly skilled craftsman and it’s ‘be a look out,’ ‘guard the boy,’ ‘guard the beggar.’ I’m sick of this nonsense, and I sure as hell don’t want to die at the hands of the only person who’s been nice to me in so long I can’t remember. If you’ll just step away from the door, I will gladly leave.”

  During his tirade, Vic had turned her attention to Xavier. He looked very ill, far too ill to move. She could barely feel a pulse.

  Vic glanced up at Mr. Tubs. “Since you’ve quit your prior job, how would you like an honorable job protecting good people?”

  Both Jacko and Mr. Tubs stared at her as if she had lost her mind.

  She sighed and looked at Jacko. “Xavier is too ill to move. We need help protecting him.” Then she returned her attention to Mr. Tubs. “I apologize, I never got your name.”

  “Sonny…Sonny Tubs.”

  “Really? How amazingly odd.”

  Mr. Tubs frowned in confusion.

  “I have mentally called you Mr. Tubs since we first met. To discover that is your actual name is quite astonishing, but not unbelievable on this day. This is my special day, where everything works to my liking. So I’m offering you honest employment with Xavier Thorn’s Private Inquiries.”

  Tubs’ eyes rounded in shock. “I’m gonna be working with the great sleuth himself?”

  She looked at the very ill beggar man lying on the bed. “Yes, and he does yell on occasion, but he values highly skilled employees so I believe the two of you will get along just fine.”

  Mr. Tubs hoofed several times. “Working for the great man himself. I like that!”

  Jacko didn’t look so pleased, but he lowered his gun.

  Vic noticed the doctor was no longer in the room. “Jacko, did you let the doctor run off?”

  Cursing, Jacko glared at Mr. Tubs as if it was his fault.

  Mr. Tubs glared back. “Weren’t my job to watch him.”

  “Well, somebody find him!” Vic ordered.

  Jacko focused on her. “I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

  She didn’t have time for this nonsense. “Mr. Tubs, will you find the doctor for us?”

  The giant hurried off, barely making a sound, despite his impressive size.

  “He is amazingly light on his feet.”

  “He is also a lethal as they come,” Jacko added. “And Xavier is not going to be happy when he learns you have hired him.”

  Vic focused on her beggar man, and frowned. “Then he must get well so I can explain my reasons.” She pulled back the sheet and frowned at the filthy charcoal covered body. “The doctor didn’t even clean him. How is this wound supposed to heal amongst all this dirt?”

  Mr. Tubs returned and announced the doctor was gone.

  “Doesn’t matter, he was a terrible doctor.” Vic looked up at her scowling angry pirate. “Jacko, can you convince a good doctor to come here?”

  “I could, but I’m not leaving you with him,” Jacko replied.

  Having enough of this foolishness, she grabbed the pirate by his silk shirt. “Listen to me! I am not in danger of Mr. Tubs. We are friends. However, if Xavier dies while you stand here arguing with me, I will make your life a living hell, far worse than any gypsy curses you might conjure.”

  Jacko glared at Mr. Tubs. “If they are not both here when I return, you are a dead man.” He then stormed from the room.

  Embarrassed by Jacko’s threats, Vic looked up at Mr. Tubs. “Sorry about that. I’m sure you two will be good friends after a few months.”

  Mr. Tubs shrugged. “I’m used to it. As I said, you’re the only person that’s ever been nice to me.”

  “I need to strip Xavier down and clean him up before the doctor arrives. Will you help me?”

  A minute later, Davy arrived and offered his help.

  Vic frowned at him. “Is it safe to leave the carriage unattended? Won’t someone steal it?”

  “A pirate already has.” He glanced at Tubs and his brow furrowed.

  “Davy, this is Mr. Tubs. He’s going to join our staff of skilled employees.”

  Davy looked him over. “Glad to hear it.”

  Smiling, she gently cleaned Xavier’s naked body. “You see, Mr. Tubs, you now have two friends.”

  The giant’s mouth pulled wide exposing his frightening rotted out teeth.

  Davy seemed undisturbed by the gruesome sight. “Welcome aboard, Tubs. I bequeath you the responsibility of keeping Vic out of trouble. And believe me, it’s no little challenge. Last night someone snuck into the office and abducted the pup without a sound while I slept upstairs. I aged twenty years before Jacko told me Vic turned up.”

  Davy didn’t notice Tubs’ grimace of guilt. His attention was on Xavier’s disfigured face. “He’d breathe better without all this nonsense. Shall I take his disguise off?”

  “Yes, you probably should.” Vic had resisted removing his disguise because it helped her remain professional. She feared once she saw his handsome face, she would crumble and weep like a silly female.

  As Davy peeled away layers of what looked to be lumpy flesh and dropped them into a wastebasket, Mr. Tubs moved closer and watched in fascination.

  “Cripes, it really is Sherlock Holmes!”

  Vic smiled. “I should warn you, Mr. Tubs. Xavier hates to be called that.” Then she focused in on the handsome face Davy had excavated. Tears welled in her eyes, and she burst into sobs just as she feared.

  To save face, she ran into the closet and muffled her cries on a scratchy coat hanging inside. After fifteen minutes, she gained control and stepped into the room. Only Davy and a freshly cleaned Xavier remained.

  “Where’s Mr. Tubs?”

  “Standing in the hall to make sure we don’t have unwanted company. I offered him one of my guns, but it turns out he has a rather sizable arsenal on him.” Davy glanced up at her. “I’m glad he’s on our side.”

  Vic nodded and smiled. “I think he’s going to work out just fine.”

  She sat down on the edge of the bed and took Xavier’s hand in hers while she felt for a pulse. For a worried moment, she couldn’t find one, but finally, she felt the tiniest pulse of life.

  “I hope the doctor comes soon.”

  Davy rubbed his left arm. “I hope it’s not too late.”

  “No…his heart is still beating. He’s going to live, Davy. All he needs is a better doctor.”

 
Proving the world truly did turn to her commands on this special day, the door opened and Inspector Stone entered, followed by a confident man carrying a black medical bag. She and Davy stood back and let the doctor tend Xavier.

  Inspector Stone grabbed her hand and shook it enthusiastically. “Jacko told me how you knew where to look. You did your mentor proud. This is Dr. Connors, the finest doctor in England.”

  They both turned to the doctor as he undressed the wound and cursed beneath his breath.

  “Is it bad?” Stone asked.

  Dr. Connors sighed. “The lead shot remains in his body poisoning him. I’m going to have to extract the bullet and cleanse this wound. However, in his current state, the pain could kill him.” He looked up at Stone. “I cannot promise he’ll live through the operation, but I assure you he’ll die without it.”

  Vic stepped forward. “He’ll live. This is my special day. He’ll live.” She looked at Dr. Connors. “I cleaned his body with alcohol before you came, and have water boiling in case you need it.”

  “Thank you. If the water is ready, I’ll start now.”

  She ask Tubs to bring the water. He returned a minute later with a large cauldron that most people could not have lifted empty.

  The doctor removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. “We need to make this environment as clean as possible. Can you find some rags and a smaller pot? We will transfer some of the water for washing the bed, walls and floors around the patient.

  With so many able hands, by the time Dr. Connors was ready to begin, the room and bed were significantly cleaner. While they did not dare move Xavier to clean the bed, Victor saturated the sheets with alcohol.

  “I am hoping he remains unconscious during the cleansing of the wound. However, I’ve laid out a chloroformed cloth in case he wakes.” He looked at Victor. “If he comes to, apply it to his nose until I tell you to stop.”

  She nodded.

  He looked at Davy and Stone. “If you will secure both shoulders to ensure he does not move while I am cutting.”

  Once everyone was crowded in to do their job, Dr. Conner dipped his tools in a jar of fluid and laid them out on a tray. He lifted a pair of long armed tweezers and extracted the bullet.

  His action caused blood to bubble from the ugly, infected wound, and flow over the shoulder onto the alcohol soaked sheets.

  Vic felt a great rage at whoever had prodded the wound yet failed to remove the bullet.

  She stroked Xavier’s forehead with one hand as the fingers of her other rested upon on the main artery running up his neck.

  “That went remarkably well,” the doctor murmured as he saturated gauze with alcohol. He looked at his helpers. “This will hurt like hell. It may wake him up, or it may kill him, but it must be done. Hold him firm.”

  He clamped the wet gauze with the tweezers and drove it deep into the wound. Xavier groaned but did not struggle.

  Retracting it, the doctor selected another saturated ball of gauze and repeated the action. On the tenth insertion, Xavier woke and cursed the doctor to hell before blacking out.

  Terror filled the room until Vic spoke. “He still has a pulse.”

  “Then let us end this while he’s unconscious.” The doctor continued to swab the wound, slowly working his way up until he reached the top. Then he trimmed the jagged edges of skin, cutting away all the putrid flesh, and sewed the wound closed. Finally, he covered the seeping wound with clean gauze.

  He looked to Victor.

  She smiled. “He’s still with us.”

  The doctor sighed with relief. “Then he has a chance to remain so.”

  Chapter 17

  Since Vic refused to go home, Gregory arrived with servants, food, and linens. Within short order, her presumptuous butler transformed the doctor’s office into a cleaner more hospitable environment and laid out a feast for lunch.

  Tubs volunteered to sit with Xavier while everyone ate. Vic suspected he had trouble eating with his rotted teeth and would prefer to dine in private. She made a mental note that once she had Xavier on the mend, she’d take Mr. Tubs to a dentist.

  ***

  Everyone was in grand spirits as they consumed lunch and Vic’s perfect day continued up to the point Stone asked if any of the rescued servants had shown up for honest employment.

  Naturally, Gregory took it upon himself to answer. “I interviewed eighty-nine, and accepted eighty-four.”

  “Perhaps I should check them over. Several of the young men can talk a fine story, but they’ll steal a person blind.”

  “But I warned those away,” Vic reminded him.

  Stone’s eyebrows rose in a challenge. “Some don’t listen.”

  Nodding in agreement, Gregory continued, “Beyond my normal, dare I say, excellent ability to spot trouble, I placed a half shilling on the corner of the desk, partially hidden by an envelope. If the coin disappeared during the interview, I marked off the candidate.”

  “How many of the young men fell for that. They were all men, I gather?”

  “No. There was one young miss.” Gregory huffed. “I will not say ‘lady.’ Quite the charmer. Said all the right things and then some. I had already decided she would create chaos in any house she entered, even before she propositioned me while deftly pocketing the shilling.”

  Stone laughed. “That must be the one who stole Meyers’ watch. So what did you do with the eighty-four who passed muster?”

  “I secured five wagons and sent them off to Alice Collins’ estate so she, Claire, and Mrs. Carson could find them good homes.”

  “Mrs. Carson?” Stone turned and looked at Vic.

  Vic grimaced and glared at Gregory for his big mouth. Didn’t he realize Mrs. Carson was presumed dead and thus not available for finding homes for servants?

  Realizing his misstep, Gregory tried to undo the harm. “Victor had nothing to do with the murder at Bedlam. He only caused the riot so Jacko could rescue Mrs. Carson.”

  Now Jacko glared at Gregory.

  “Gregory, stop talking!” Vic turned and faced Inspector Stone. “I am sorry I didn’t tell you the truth, right off. I didn’t dare. I had several critical cases on my plate and I could not afford to lose the time your men would require to torture me. I needed to save those servants and find Xavier. However, once I see to Xavier’s recovery, I will come in to be interrogated. I will also determine who Mr. Carson really killed.”

  Stone glanced at Jacko. “I know your part in this, but…” he returned his focus to Victor. “How the bloody hell did you cause an entire asylum to riot?”

  Victor grimaced. “I did not intend for it to spread to the other wards. When I was trying to escape the locked ward of rioting women, a feral creature with one-inch talons latched onto my back. A young woman pulled the mad bird off so I could get the door opened. However, once I opened the door, the helpful young woman pushed me down, trampled over me, and led a band of women into the hall. I ran in the opposite direction of the mob and got the hell out of the place. When I arrived home, I realized the woman had pinched my lock-picks and the cell key I’d acquired.”

  Rubbing his temples, Stone sighed.

  “I am sorry the riot spread out of control. And I’m sorry Mr. Carson sent a murderer after Mrs. Carson and some poor woman died for it. However, I do not regret saving Mrs. Carson and I do not care if the gentlemen on tour were harmed. If any of your officers were hurt, I deeply regret it, and I will apologize to them personally if you wish.”

  Stone looked at Jacko.

  Jacko snorted. “You’ll get no apology from me. I gave my word to Xavier I’d look after Vic. If I hadn’t helped, then Vic and the assassin would have arrived at Cell 46 at the same time. The assassin would have shot Victor and without our clever young sleuth, Xavier would have died long before we found him.”

  Vic smiled at Jacko’s support. “Not to mention a hundred young men and ladies would be on a boat to live the rest of their lives in harems.”

  “That is all very well,�
� Stone chided. “However, we intended to charge Mr. Carson with the murder of his wife on Monday.”

  “He still murdered a woman.”

  “Well, unless she’s a reputable lady of society, no jury will find him guilty.”

  Vic gnawed her bottom lip as she contemplated the matter. “What if the mistake in identity is not sorted out until after Carson is hung?”

  “Victor, I am a man of the law!” Stone snapped, clearly angered by her suggestion.

  Vic refused to back down. “Well, I am more concerned with the intent of our laws and true justice. The law does not differentiate between murdering rich and poor, only jurymen do. However, if the idea of turning a blind eye so the law can be upheld and justice served offends you, then I withdraw my suggestion.”

  Stone smiled. “God, you are beginning to sound just like your master.”

  “Employer!” Vic snapped and stabbed her quail.

  ***

  After their excellent, if not somewhat volatile meal, Gregory sent the servants home while it remained safe to travel. Vic tried to send off her loose-lipped butler, as well, but he stubbornly refused.

  After checking on Xavier, Inspector Stone and Jacko left. Vic hoped Gregory’s bean spilling didn’t get Jacko into serious trouble. It was most frustrating that they were in hot water for saving a woman’s life, while Mr. Carson would probably go free, allowing him to hire yet another assassin.

  Vic’s eyes narrowed. He might go free, but he would not enjoy an easy life. She would see to it.

  “You’re still angry at my slip of tongue, I see,” Gregory said as he entered Xavier’s room and rested his hand on their patient’s forehead. “I do apologize, Victor. I am untrained in your field of expertise. I daresay you would make a few missteps if you tried to become a butler.”

  Vic chuckled at the thought. “I daresay I’d bring the house to chaos before a single day was out.”

  “Then I am forgiven?”

  She could see the worry in his eyes. Gregory had been her only father figure since she and Claire arrived in England, orphans of an boiler explosion that sunk their ship and took her parent’s lives. Aunt Maddy had taken them in without hesitation. She had given them the love and security they needed to recover. And she gave Victor the right to choose a more interesting life of a boy than the restricted life of a young English lady.