Page 71 of In Want of a Suspect

Expect her letter upon my death. I am in your debt.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Amelia Cavendish

The hand that held Mrs. Cavendish’s letter trembled.

She had written Darcy, mere weeks before her death. And Josette—she had likely written him after her death, expecting that Darcy would know her situation and help. But he’d never gotten either letter. They’d been intercepted—intercepted by Mr. Tomlinson before his father had even left for the Continent!

Suddenly, he became aware of a high-pitched barking sound. Guy! And it was definitely his angry bark, not his excited bark. He tucked Mrs. Cavendish’s letter in his inner jacket pocket, not bothering with the rest of the files. Beyond the door, a voice began to yell—not just any voice, either. Tomlinson’s voice.Bloody hell.

He was trapped. If Tomlinson was back, there was no way that Darcy could slip out unnoticed, and the window of his office didn’t open. He looked down at the scratched wood of the drawer he’d forced open. He still wasn’t certain what exactly Tomlinson’s ploy was, and he wasn’t ready to confront the man.

Lizzie’s voice came to him:So create a diversion.

He pushed the previously locked drawer shut and picked up the nearest stack of files, only to toss them on the floor. And then the next stack, and then the next. It was rather satisfying, actually, to hear the whomp! of the files falling to the floor, the skittering of paper across the waxed surface. He reached for the next stack, even as he could hear Tomlinson’s voice coming closer. “Where is he? That dog is here, so he can’t be far! Bring him to me at once!”

The office door swung open, just as Darcy tossed an entire armful of paper into the air.

“Darcy! What is the meaning of this?”

If he hadn’t just been caught ransacking his supervisor’s office, he might have laughed at Tomlinson’s shocked expression. Behind him stood Reeves, struggling to keep hold of Guy’s leash as the dog strained toward Darcy, yapping away.

“Oh,” Darcy said, dropping the paper he held. “You’re back.”

“Darcy, I demand to know what you are doing in my office!”

“You know, I find that I prefer a messy office,” Darcy said. ‘To me, it shows that you’re in the thick of it, you’re accomplishing things.”

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing in my private office—”

“Going through files,” he interrupted. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“You have no right—”

“I think I have every right,” Darcy corrected him. “This is, after all, my father’s firm. My father’s office. My father’s desk,my father’s inkpot, my father’s files... well, you get the idea.”

“Your father isn’t here right now.” Tomlinson stormed toward him, and grabbed a fistful of his jacket. “While he’s gone, I’m in charge, and you have crossed a line—”

“I don’t actually think I am as bad of an employee as you make me out to be,” Darcy interrupted, pulling out of Tomlinson’s grasp. “In fact, I think you’ve been misplacing my work for weeks to discredit me.”

If Darcy had known how it would feel to simply call out Tomlinson, he might have done it weeks ago. The man sputtered for a moment, but Darcy would have guessed it was for the benefit of all the men listening just outside the door. His eyes were cold, and Darcy knew that he’d crossed a line. “You’re speaking nonsense, Darcy. The fact that your father founded this firm doesn’t give you leave to ransack my office!”

Darcy dropped the other papers he’d been holding and walked toward the office door. Tomlinson blocked him, puffing up his chest to seem larger than he really was. He glared down at Darcy, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—oh. He was enjoying this, Darcy realized. Perhaps he thought that Darcy would hit him. That surely would bring down his father’s wrath, more than anything. The idea of his own son, brawling with the man he’d left in charge in their very proper law firm... the image of it nearly made Darcy laugh.

Darcy wasn’t about to lose his composure. Not because his father would have been disappointed in him, but because Tomlinson, for all his height, was just a small man who enjoyedmaking others feel smaller than him. And he was, quite frankly, not worth Darcy’s time.

“Consider this my notice,” Darcy said. He stepped around Tomlinson and headed for the door.

“Your father will hear of this!” Tomlinson yelled after him.

“I imagine he will,” Darcy agreed.

Darcy took Guy’s leash from Reeves and clapped him on the shoulder. As he walked out of Pemberley & Associates, more than a few solicitors and clerks got to their feet and nodded at him. This touched Darcy more than he realized it would, and he nodded at them all in return as Tomlinson ordered someone to clean up the mess in his office. Mrs. Cavendish’s letter smoldered next to his heart as he reached the lobby. With a small pang, he realized he’d left his favorite writing box back at his desk, but no matter—it would quite ruin the effect if he went back now for it.

No use ruining a perfectly good dramatic exit, he could imagine Lizzie agreeing. His lips almost quirked into a smile.

And then the front door of Pemberley & Associates banged open.