Toxic Diamonds (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 8) Read online

  Vic & Xavier traveled to their second house where they kept disguises. Vic wanted to dress up as Tilly. She expected Xavier would object, given she had worn this dress when she and Samson went to the former Prime Minister’s home, but Tilly was the perfect distraction. While a different persona might be safer, Vic didn’t have the time to create a background for a new person. Upon dressing as Tilly, she hurried upstairs.

  Xavier’s right eyebrow arched when she entered the front room. “You do recall Barns has seen you in that disguise?”

  She frowned. “You cannot believe Barns is involved in the abduction of Stone!”

  Xavier pulled her into his arms. “I do not. I suspect his father will have one or more of his spies making certain Barns remains contained.” Xavier paused in thought and smiled. “Tilly could be just the thing he needs to gain control of the situation. If I stay away, and you entice him enough, he might be able to escort you outside. And if you ask sweetly, he might even spend time in your carriage.”

  Vic pulled Xavier to her and rewarded him with a hungry kiss. “That is an excellent idea! Let’s go!”

  Davy dropped Xavier and Tubs off a block before they arrived at Scotland Yard. Xavier, disguised as an old man with a limp, headed towards the entrance, while Tubs hung in the dark shadows of a tree.

  When ‘Tilly’ arrived at Scotland Yard, she made a noisy production of greeting her sister ‘Evana’ and her sister’s boys, all the while whispering instructions to her clever pups. By the time they entered, the two beauties had the attention of every man on the first floor, save an old fellow with a limp slowly working the stairs and a shadowy large fellow who moved quickly upstairs.

  ‘Tilly’ and ‘Evana’ attempted to walk past the desk officer, but the young fellow insisted they sign in and state their reason for coming. When dressed as a male, Vic would always ignore the fellow and run past. But there was no way she and ‘Evana’ would be able to outrun him in their dresses. While ‘Evana’ might be able to run up the stairs in a dress, ‘Tilly’ would likely kill herself. Besides, Arroo would have to be carried, given his short legs and long body.

  Fortunately, she heard the deep resonating voice of Captain Meyers speak across the room. “Let them pass, Edwards.”

  “But—”

  “Thank you, kind, sir.” Vic replied to Captain Meyers as he approached. Since he had also seen her dressed as Tilly, he knew exactly who she was. “Might you carry my dog? His legs are so very short he won’t be able to climb the stairs.”

  Meyers eyed the dog at her feet and smiled. “That’s a handsome fellow, he is. Are these your sons?” he asked as he picked up the dog and nodded to the two boys chasing one another around the lobby.

  “No, they belong to my darling sister, Evana. A baby is a kiss of death for an actress.”

  “Of course,” he stated. “May I presume you are here to see the new director?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Allow me to escort you and your sister, so that you do not lose your way.”

  “You are most kind.”

  “It is my pleasure to do so.”

  Once they reached the second floor, Captain Meyer noticed both the boys’ laces were loose. As he, ‘Tilly, and ‘Evana’ took an amazingly long time tying shoe strings, with Cannon insisting they weren’t tied right and he would surely die if she didn’t do it better, and Ham purposely untying his, declaring himself ‘bad’, Meyers and Vic spent a good fifteen minutes sharing the little information that either of them knew.

  Meyers had warned her that the two other men in the directors’ office were placed there by the Minister of Internal Affairs. When the men first arrived a week ago, one of the men assured him Stone was taking a vacation, but he didn’t believe that possible, since Stone had always declared vacations were for those ready to die. “I was convinced they had him tucked away for some reason, but yesterday I heard one of them tell the other that someone had broken in and taken ‘the package’. By their worried faces, I don’t think they’ve a clue where he is now.”

  “How’s Barns?” She whispered as the boys sang Row Your Boat loudly and slightly offkey. Arroo howled as well, but it might have been due to the painful offkey issue.

  “He’s been very angry from the day he was promoted, so I sincerely believe he is not part of the plot. Given the anger inside him right now, I think he blames his father.”

  “Smart fellow,” she said and dropped her handkerchief so he would notice the soft-footed agent approaching them. The guy screamed “internal affairs”.

  “Do you need assistance, ma’am?” the man asked as his eyes focused in on the top of her breasts threatening to burst from her gown.

  She held out her hand so he could assist her in standing. The man only stared at her hand as if it might be a weapon. Captain Meyers wasted no time in helping her and ‘Evana’ up.

  “Thank you, sir. I am glad to see some people know how to behave.” Vic sent the boys, the bloodhound, Arroo, her sister Evana, and the captain in front of her, declaring she wished to surprise her sweet Barns. Only the soft-footed man walked four feet behind her. Once she entered, she closed the door and flipped the lock before he could follow. Then she moved out from behind Captain Meyers, ran to Barns, and hugged him. “Surprise!”

  He stared at her a moment then laughed and hugged her back. “My God, it’s been ages since I’ve seen you. I feared I’d never see you again.”

  The second watcher stood up, noticing the first watcher gesturing at the door. When he walked out to speak to the other guy, Evana quickly relocked the door.

  She then led the pups around the room until she found a pair of stylish shoes in the closet. “These are very fine…are they yours?” Evana asked Barns.

  “No. They are the previous director’s,” Barns replied.

  “Well, I can’t imagine he’ll need them, being the prior fellow and all.” She then gave them to the boys and dog to play with.

  The two fellows in the hall had ceased to find their removal acceptable and were banging on the glass. Evana spoke slowly as if they were idiots, as she explained her boys tended to run away unless she locked the doors, so it was not possible to let them in, or her boys might run off.

  To prove this a true concern, Cannon smashed into the door, yanking the doorknob, like a wild creature. Ham joined in by kicking the door as he declared, “I’m bad, I’m bad.”

  The men backed away evidently deciding it was safer to observe them from the hall.

  Vic sat in Barns’ lap, with her legs draped over the arm of the chair.

  Barns grimaced. “This is not a good idea,” he whispered and glanced at a box on the table.

  Immediately, her legs were off the arm of the chair as she leaned closer to the box. “Is that an intercom? I have heard of them, but I’ve never seen one. Boys! Come here and check out the intercom. It’s rather like magic.” A second later, the two boys were fighting over the box and in short order, the wires were ripped out and box broken.

  “Boys will be boys,” she declared and returned to Barns’ lap. This time he didn’t seem so nervous.

  She cuddled against him so her mouth was close to his face. “Can we talk?”

  “I think so, but keep it soft.”

  “Do you know where your father put Stone?”

  “It was him!” Barns’ body tensed.

  Vic petted his cheek. “Calm down. We’ll find him. If we find his original nest, we might locate clues.”

  “My mother got angry because Father refused to let her return to our country estate for the summer. She always stays at the estate in the summer. They’ve been fighting over the matter for a week. Last night he gave in and told her she could leave in three days.”

  She kissed him on the cheek. “Excellent, we’ll start there.”

  “You should know my father has gotten himself into trouble. He didn’t do this for me. I’m just being used. He did something that Stone found out about and I’m guessing he confronted my father over
the issue.”

  “Any ideas?”

  “No, but my mother seems to have come into money recently. She’s bought several large diamonds.”

  “Are they real?”

  “Last week, a well-respected jeweler came to our home and appraised them. He declared them very fine. But when he asked if they wished them cut into a necklace, my father declined the offer and sent him off. The next day, he passed the diamonds to a man who looked more like a thug than a reputable jeweler. I tried to question my father about the qualifications of the fellow, and he told me I had no say in the matter and to mind my own business. The following day he declared it was time I made him proud. He then informed me that Director Stone had written him a note that he was taking a long vacation, and I was to be his replacement. I insisted Captain Meyers was far more qualified, but that just pissed my father off.”

  The watchers were evidently tired of watching and wanted back inside. They brandished their guns, threatening to shoot out the glass.

  Tilly glared at the dead-eyes men for disturbing her seduction, grabbed Barns’ hand and stormed out of the room. She was certain between Captain Meyers and ‘Evana’ that the pups and Stone’s shoes would come along as well. The two ghouls followed them all the way down to the first floor, so they could speak of nothing but silly flirtations. When they reached the main floor, Meyers settled Arroo on the floor and offered ‘Tilly’ the leash. She handed it to Evana, then kissed Captain Meyers on the cheek. “Do you ever get a day off?”

  He grinned. “Wednesday is my day off.”

  She pouted. “What a shame. I have plans for Wednesday. Perhaps next week.” She then kissed his other cheek and returned to Barns, quickly leading him to Davy’s carriage.

  “Sir, you cannot leave the premises,” the first agent warned.

  “He’s not leaving, you silly goose. I just want a moment of privacy with him.”

  Captain Meyers approached the agents. “For the love of God, let the man have a moment. The chit has been teasing him mercilessly since she arrived!”

  Surprisingly, all the officers in the main room demanded that the love birds be allowed to enjoy themselves. Thus, the two men leaned against the stone wall and glared at the carriage as it gently rocked from side to side.

  Little did they realize Tubs was on the other side, gently rocking the carriage, while Xavier and Vic advised Barns on how to proceed.

  When Barns stepped down from the carriage a half hour later, he received congratulations and applause from most of the police force. Their attitude surprised him. He had thought himself universally hated by his fellow officers.

  Sadly, the two agents followed him back to his office, complaining about the horrid boys and the foolish women.

  Sara, Tubs, and the pups went a roundabout way home in Vic’s carriage, while Xavier and Vic changed and showered at their costume house before returning home with Tubs in Xavier’s carriage. On the way home, she broached a concern she had. “The ghouls were evidently provided spyware. They even had a box they called an intercom. Someone was clearly listening to everything said, until the boys destroyed it. What if Barringbarn has put something like that in our library while he ‘waited’ for us to arrive?”

  Xavier shook his head. “Gregory prevented that from happening by having Fagan watch him. It takes about twenty minutes to install an intercom in a room, then lines must be laid behind the baseboards to the room where the listener remains. Thus, it is only practical to use in a place where the listener has a permanent room to listen from, and access to lay out the wiring. Even then it’s a full night’s job.”

  “Then you’ve seen this before?”

  “Yes, the Queen uses them to discover what is really going on in her home.”

  “Most reasonable after the debacle with her grandson.”

  “Figured that out, have you. Rather glad I was not involved in the matter. Only the most incompetent officers in Scotland Yard were selected for the investigations of the Jack the Ripper murders.” He pulled her to his side. “All the same, I’ll have Tubs sweep the house and let Gregory know Barringbarn is no longer allowed in our home. Ever.”

  “That’s a grand prize.” Vic chuckled, but then turned serious as she recalled another worrisome point. “Xavier, if Barns is correct that the reason Stone was kidnapped was because he knew of a crime that Barringbarn committed, then the minister would have had to eventually kill him to secure his secret. He would be a fool to think Stone would ignore a serious crime.”

  Xavier’s brow furrowed. “Which means someone did Stone a colossal favor when they stole him from Barringbarn.”

  “Unless they wanted him dead as well, but they didn’t believe Barringbarn was competent enough to do the job.”

  Xavier grimaced. “That’s an excellent point. I certainly would never rely upon that fool.”

  “Which leads us a to a third alternative, that Barringbarn never intended to kill him, in fear that it would come back to damage his career, so he indirectly let certain people discover the head of Scotland Yard was out of commission and could be so permanently, if they acted at once.”

  “I fear your third scenario is what we face,” he admitted. “Let us focus on the latter scenario.” He reached into his jacket and extracted out a half inch of documents. “While I found nothing about diamonds, I did discover several cases Stone was working on at the time he disappeared that might entice certain people to kill him.”

  “Since we don’t know if he is dead or alive, let us presume he is alive. David believes a positive attitude can alter matters to our favor.”

  Xavier gripped her hand. “Then let us do so.”

  Chapter 6

  Early the next morning, Xavier called in the main players of their team. This included Jacko, Samson, Pete, and Alice plus the core staff less one. Ben would return to work as a secretary today once the office and basement were declared clean, but he would not be involved in solving any cases after his disappointing performance in the man with two wives case.

  Honestly, Vic wanted Ben to be fired after his flagrant disregard of her orders last year, but Xavier suggested that it was their fault for giving him too much rope too quickly. Vic translated this to mean that she gave Ben too much rope, which he damned near hung an innocent woman with. She resented the implication that Ben’s failure was due to her lack of supervision, because that was not the truth. He had performed very well until the idiot boy fell in love with his wasp-shaped client.

  As she looked around the table, she had no doubt this team could expose the horrible Minister of Internal Affairs and rescue Director Stone. Her gaze swept over her fabulous crew. She stopped at a tall, muscular young man. Pete had grown significantly since she’d last seen him. “Well, without doubt, breathing clean air and eating healthy food has worked wonders for Pete.”

  The young man grinned at her. “Thanks for not calling me ‘Li’l Pete’.”

  “That name no longer fits you. You’ve grown up.”

  Alice gripped her son’s hand. The pride that shone from her eyes left no doubt, despite Pete not being her blood, she loved him dearly.

  “And how are the rest of the boys? There’s just three of them, right?”

  Alice laughed. “Yes, we are taking a breather on having more. As it is, I had to hire three full-time nannies. You dare not be outnumbered with those boys.” She then hugged Pete. “I just pray they settle down and become more like this one.”

  “Did you bring them to London as well?” Xavier asked.

  “Of course! Life and death situations rarely take a mere day to fix.” Alice replied.

  Xavier smiled. “That is indeed true.” He looked around the table and his gaze stopped at Samson. “Alice, this is the one and only good Crime Lord. Samson, this is Alice, her grown-up son, Pete, and her dangerous husband, Jacko. He was once a pirate, and still has extraordinary fighting skills.”

  Samson laughed heartily and nodded to Jacko. “I am safely warned away from your lovely wife,�
� Samson assured him. “And while we have never met, I had already heard many very fine accolades of you.”

  Jacko gave a nod to Xavier in appreciation.

  “Oh, I avoid talking to Xavier as much as possible. The fine words of praise all came from Vic.” Samson explained, then winked at Vic.

  Desperate to stop what looked to be the beginnings of a war between Xavier and Samson, she motioned to Sara. “I do not believe you’ve met Tubs’ wife, Sara. We went undercover last night and she played her part to perfection, so, I’ve added her to the group. Gregory has agreed to allow Sara assist us when absolutely necessary.” She then smiled at her annoyed butler. “Gregory, do you require introductions to anyone?”

  Xavier cleared his throat. “Gregory makes certain he knows everyone who enters this house. Shall we get down to business?”

  “Hold on,” Samson stated. “I don’t know the young man, and may I presume his lovely wife, sitting next to you, Vic.”

  Vic almost reminded him he had met David before, but then remembered how jealous her sister could be.

  “David, meet our one good Crime Lord. Samson this is David, a most amazing inventor, scientist, and dentist. The lady beside him is his wife and my sister. She is excessively smart and will no doubt either ignore you or talk down to you. Take no insult, she does it to everyone.”

  “Vic, that is the worst introduction I’ve ever heard in my life,” Claire complained.

  Vic grimaced. “Sorry, but we need to get to the point of the meeting.”

  “Yes, let’s do!” Xavier demanded. “Jacko and Samson, I need the two of you to head out to this address.” He handed a piece of paper to Gregory, who handed it to Samson. Once the young man read the address, he passed it to Jacko.

  Jacko read the paper. “Should we go in separate carriages?”

  “It would be better if you go in one,” Vic said. “We believe Stone was held somewhere in the estate for nearly a week. He probably knew that Barringbarn could not let him live, thus, Stone may have hidden clues in whatever room they kept him in. And it is possible, he might have left clues about who abducted him next.”