Page 22 of The Honorable Rogue (The Notorious Nightingales #5)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

T he Nightingales were a close group and met at least once a week at someone’s house for a meal and a catch-up. It humbled both Charles and Flora that they were included in their lives.

He spent some time discussing the newspaper with Bramstone, which had turned into a life lesson from the Nightingale patriarch. Something he’d never received from his own father.

“I have news before you all leave,” Charles said, knowing it was past time he shared at least one of his secrets.

Fred clapped her hands. “I love secrets.”

Charles felt he needed to be standing for this, so he rose and paced across the room and back, thinking about what he wanted to say.

“Is he leaving us, do you think?” Theo asked.

“Or going on a voyage from which he will never return?” Ivy added.

“Perhaps he’s joining a monster?” Harriet said.

“That’s enough, thank you,” Charles said. “I am the person who wrote The Adventures of Mr. Salvador . ”

Silence greeted those words. Charles looked at his family and saw the various stages of surprise. Of course Flora and Ram already knew. When he’d told his sister, she’d been immensely proud of him, if a little miffed he’d not told her sooner.

“No!” Matilda whispered.

“Really?” Theo said.

“Really. I started writing them many years ago when I was bedridden with an illness as a child.” Yet more secrets were coming out, but he knew he needed to speak of that time. “I pitched it to Cambridge Sinclair, and he liked it.”

“Well, I never,” Leo said, whistling.

“I could not be prouder,” Ram said.

“But what is inside that door?” Cyn demanded.

Mungo grunted something Charles didn’t understand, and the chatter in the room increased as people fired questions at him.

“I’m not telling you what happens, Theo.”

“Come on, Charles, we are family,” he said.

“No.”

They heard a loud knock on the door then, and Charles said, “I’ll get it?—”

“Absolutely not!” Matilda called after him as he ran for the door. “We have questions!”

Mungo had the door open by the time Charles arrived.

“What is it you want?” the Scotsman asked in his usual brisk manner.

Clemmie Acton stood there with Mr. Alvin. A woman he didn’t know stood behind them.

Like Ram and Flora, Clemmie was one of the later residents in Crabbett Close, but unlike them, he was something of a hermit, which did not sit well with the social other residents in the close. He wore his overlarge coat even on a warm evening, and his cap was pulled low, shadowing his eyes.

“What has you all out at this time?” Charles said, moving to Mungo’s side.

“I’ve a problem, and Mr. Alvin told me I’m a fool if I don’t come to you Nightingales with it.” The man scowled after these words as if they’d tasted foul on his tongue.

“If you’re wanting their help, Clemmie Acton, then you’ll mind your manners,” Mr. Alvin said.

“Someone in this street is always saying that to me,” Clemmie groused.

“And yet we are no wiser as to how we can assist you,” Mungo said.

“Who is it?” Bram asked, arriving.

“Mr. Acton and Mr. Alvin,” Charles said. “As yet, they have not introduced their companion to us,” he added. “They are just about to tell us why they have called.”

Mungo stepped back, and Bram forward. Charles knew he would not be going far, however. He may appear an ill-mannered brute, but he was loyal and loved the people in this family passionately.

“This is my wife,” Clemmie said, shocking them. “We’ve twins. Good boys, the both of ’em?—”

“You have twin boys?” Bram asked Clemmie.

“And a wife?” Mungo added.

“Aye, that’s what I said.” Clemmie scowled.

“It was a surprise to me too. I didn’t think he had anyone but his mother,” Mr. Alvin said.

“Carry on, Mr. Acton,” Charles said, smiling at Mrs. Acton, who looked nervous.

“Fred and Felix are young men now and live with their mother,” Clemmie said, turning to look at her.

“They do not live with you?” Charles asked .

“It works out best that way. I’m not easy to live with,” Clemmie said.

“You don’t say,” Mr. Alvin muttered.

“So she’s no longer your wife?” Bram asked.

Clemmie reared back like Bram had punched him. “Of course she is. Lizzie has been my wife for fifty years, isn’t that right?”

Mrs. Acton nodded quickly.

“Right, sorry about that, but you must understand the confusion, as your wife does not live here in Crabbett Close,” Bram said.

“My wife lives with her sister and the boys ’cause she works on the other side of London. I see her three times a week,” Clemmie said, as if this were perfectly normal.

“One of which times is tonight?” Charles asked.

“No. We’ve trouble, as I’ve explained.” Clemmie sounded impatient now.

“Right, then, about your boys,” Charles said instead of asking the other six questions he had.

“They work in a factory, and the bastard who owns it is a right mean one. Two days ago, he refused to pay my boy Felix, and when he and Fred got angry, they got into a fight, and no one has seen them since. Mrs. Acton is right upset.” He turned to point over his shoulder. “Weeping she was.” The woman nodded.

Clemmie looked a little panicked over the fact his wife was weeping.

“And how is it you know what happened?” Bram asked.

“Mrs. Acton and her sister went out to look for the boys when they didn’t return, and when she arrived at the factory, they wouldn’t let her in. So she waited outside and talked to some workers as they left. Only one said he had seen the fight and that someone had dragged the twins away afterward. Never saw them again,” Clemmie said. “Seems this man Blakley who runs the place is a mean brute and everyone is terrified of him. But my boys stood up to him and have now disappeared.”

“And they never do this? Simply don’t come home?” Charles asked.

“No. They’d never worry Mrs. Acton like that,” Clemmie said.

Charles wondered if Mrs. Acton had a voice, as so far all she’d done was nod.

“Have you heard any other stories of people going missing there?” Leo asked from behind Charles. They would all be there listening now.

“It’s a factory. There’s always stories in such places about people being mistreated,” Mr. Alvin said. “But going missing is different to my way of thinking.”

“Mrs. Acton,” Ellen said. “Is there anything else you can add to what has been said that may aid us in finding your sons?”

“They’re good boys,” she said in a small voice, “and they’d never do this and scare me. Fred and Felix have often talked about the poor treatment in the factory, but there’s no other work about for them, so they’ve stayed.”

Clemmie took a step back and patted his wife’s shoulder, much to the shock of Mr. Alvin, who, like the rest of them, thought him the Crabbett Close curmudgeon who lived alone and showed no emotion.

“Tell us where the factory is, Mr. Acton,” Bram said.

“Do you have anything on you that belongs to your sons?” Leo asked.

“At the house,” Clemmie said. He then said he’d be coming with them to find his boys. Mrs. Acton would be staying here with the Alvins.

Cyn and Harriet left to return to their homes, and Charles ran to his room and retrieved his pistol and knew the others would arm themselves as well.

When he arrived downstairs, they were ready. They stepped outside to find Clemmie there. In his hands was a blanket.

“This was theirs as children. They gave it to me for me knees, as they get sore,” he said gruffly.

Leo took it and then passed it on to Alex and Ellen. Charles and Flora were last.

“Right, then,” Leo said. “Let’s go, and bring the blanket.”

“It’s a walk from here,” Clemmie said.

“We’ll get hackneys,” Bram said.

“We will get your boys back, Mr. Acton,” Flora said as they rolled through the London streets a short while later to the factory that hopefully held Clemmie’s sons. He nodded, keeping his eyes on the window.

London was cloaked in darkness now, with the daily grime on the streets and buildings wiped away. Smoke hung in the air from fires and mingled with the scent of manure. Charles missed the clean country air sometimes, but for the most part, he now called London his home, which was because of the people in his life.

When the hackney stopped, they all climbed out and gathered on the street.

“There,” Bram said, pointing to a large building belching smoke from its chimney. It loomed over everything around it. Chained gates, and an iron fence enclosed the property.

“My guess is there’s an entrance at the rear, which is where the loading is done,” Gray said. “But before we move, I insist?—”

“No one breaks the law, and you will take charge if someone commits a crime,” Ellen said.

“Someone needs to remind you of the fact that I am a detective at Scotland Yard occasionally,” her husband muttered.

“Does one of your sons wear something blue?” Leo said suddenly, turning to look at Clemmie.

The man looked shocked. “Aye. My boys are hard to tell apart. Their gran braided them bands in different colors. Fred’s is blue, and Felix’s red. They wear them around their wrists and have since they were babes.”

“They are inside,” Charles said. “I can hear them.” He wasn’t saying anything more because Clemmie didn’t need to hear that.

“What did you hear?” Flora asked him softly.

“‘Stay with me, Fred,’” Charles whispered in her ear as they walked. “I think he’s hurt, Flora. We need to get to him. Felix sounds desperate.”

They moved silently along the fence to the rear and encountered no one, but Charles knew that would likely not remain the case. Someone would be guarding the Acton boys, he was sure of it.

“We can’t all go in,” Bram said as they reached a driveway leading to the rear of the building. “I will stay with Flora, Clemmie, and Mungo out here and keep watch. You others go in and bring the boys out. If you need us, yell. We will come.”

“There are stairs. We need to take them down to find the twins,” Ellen said. Her eyes were suddenly focused on the building. Gray gripped her shoulder.

“Are you well, Ellen?”

She blinked and then nodded at Leo’s words. “I am, but we need to get in there now.”

She had likely seen a great deal more than stairs, Charles thought.

They found a loading dock, and beyond that, a door. Gray produced a set of lockpicks and opened it with ease, which Charles would be asking him about later.

They slipped quietly inside and closed the door behind them.

“Fred is badly injured,” Charles said as they made their way down a long hallway.

“Flora could feel him,” Ram said.

“Quiet now,” Leo whispered.

Opening a door at the end, they found two sets of stairs, one down and one up.

Ellen had told them to go down.

Above them would be the warehouse, and he could only imagine what it was like in the long, cold winter months in such dark, dismal surroundings. At the bottom of the stairs was another door; they opened that and stepped inside.

“What are you doing here?” A large bullish man came toward him. Behind him were six others.

“Good day.” Ram stepped forward. “We have come for Fred and Felix Acton and believe you are holding them here against their will.”

“Nothing like getting to the point,” Alex whispered.

“Not sure who you’re talking about, but you’ve no right to step onto this property without permission.” The man jutted out his jaw.

“Allow me,” Leo said. “I’m Viscount Seddon and want those men brought to me at once, or there will be dire consequences.”

“I am a detective at Scotland Yard, and if you don’t hand over those boys, then your next night will be spent in a jail cell,” Gray added.

“I can’t really add anything to that,” Alex muttered.

“None of you have any rights in here. Now leave,” the man said .

“I’m afraid I must disappoint you there, as I have the law on my side,” Gray added.

“Impressive bastard,” Ellen hissed.

“Actually, perhaps I can add something,” Alex said. “Your Aunt Louisa is extremely disappointed in you, sir.”

Help us. The words slid into Charles’s head. He’ll die.

“There is no time for this, Alex. Fred is extremely unwell and needs urgent help. I just heard Felix in my head,” Charles said.

“He’s that way.” Leo pointed left.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Tsk-tsk,” Alex said, then swung his fist at the man, who grunted in surprise and stumbled back a step.

Then the fighting started.

“Ellen, have a care!” Gray roared. “And, Charles, watch your shoulder!”

“Must you always say that?” Ellen said, pulling her umbrella from the strap inside her coat. “It’s extremely vexing, and just because I am a woman.”

“But necessary,” Gray said, raising his fists.

Charles charged the man closest and was soon exchanging blows. One to his chin had his ears ringing, but he returned the favor. Beside him, Leo made a sound and then did a series of maneuvers with his cane and dropped his man. Alex was now swinging his nunchucks, which he’d also produced from inside his jacket.

“Bloody Nightingales, always being fancy!” Ram said, grabbing his man in a headlock and punching.

It was short and violent, and Charles was left with bruised ribs and an aching shoulder he had thankfully not dislocated once more. Blood dripped from Leo’s chin, and Alex was shaking his sore wrist.

“We will hold them,” Ram said. “Find the twins.”

Charles followed Leo and Alex at a run .

“Here,” Leo said, reaching a door. Throwing the bolt, they swung it open and found the Acton twins lying on the filthy floor.

“Your father sent us to find you,” Alex said. “Can you walk?”

“I can, but not Fred. He’s hurt bad.”

Fred Acton was lying with his head in his brother’s lap, eyes closed. Charles could see his pallor even in the darkened room.

“We can’t treat him here. We must get him back to Mr. Greedy,” he said.

They got the men out and started for the stairs.

“Try to follow us, and there will be hell to pay,” Gray said. “As it is, I will be investigating this facility.”

“Treat your workers better, sir. Your aunt said she is ashamed of what you have become,” Alex said to the bloodied and bruised man kneeling on the floor. “She said to tell you that if she’d have known what you were to become, she would never have given you that money.”

“Aunt Louisa?” The man looked shocked.

“I speak to the dead,” Alex said. “She’s not happy and will likely haunt you forever if you do not change your ways.”

“I think the man just peed his pants,” Gray said as they helped the Acton brothers from the factory and out to their waiting father.

“You’ve been fighting,” Mungo thundered when they left the building.

“Fred!” Clemmie ran to his son.

“He’s right ill, Pa,” Felix said.

“We’ll get him home to Mr. Greedy. Come along now,” Bram said. “And I thought I told you to call if there was trouble.”

“We handled it,” Alex said, touching his bruised jaw gingerly .

Mungo growled low in his throat as he took Fred into his arms.

“He’s not angry that you were in a fight. He’s angry he missed out on one,” Bram said.

When they reached Crabbett Close, they went to Clemmie’s home. Charles collected Mr. Greedy, who arrived with his new bag. When there was nothing further they could do, Clemmie showed them to the door.

“I’ve no way of thanking you, but should you ever need anything from me, I will be there,” he said to the Nightingale group, who now stood outside his front door. “Thank you.”

“Send word to Mrs. Huntington if you please!” Mr. Greedy called from inside. “We need her assistance with Fred. How is your shoulder, Mr. Thomas?”

“Well, thank you!” Charles called back through the open door.

They left then. Flora and Ram to their home, and the others to theirs, until it was just Mungo, Bram, and Charles entering 11 Crabbett Close.

“How is your shoulder really?” Bram asked.

“Hurts like the devil, but nothing a shot of whisky won’t fix,” Charles said. “I will just wash and then join you downstairs.”

Reaching his room, he lit the lamp and saw his books. He’d stacked them in a neat pile on the bedside table, but some had fallen to the floor, which was not that odd yet gave him pause. They’d been there for days and not once fallen, so why now? Looking at the titles, he noted none were missing. Dropping to the floor, he pulled out the box under his bed. Taking out his key, he opened it and found all his things, including the Russian book, in there.

Regaining his feet after relocking it, he wondered if one of the children had been in here searching for something. As this was the most plausible reason, he went to wash and then left the room to join his family for a nightcap.