Page 9 of The Rogue’s Embrace

They set a watch on the house. Each morning, Toby was taken over to Queen Anne Street where he would climb a tree in the rear of number seven and spend the day watching the comings and goings in the back garden next door. Just before leaving, Stephen would poke a sausage through the fence of number nine and have a friendly chat with the guard dog.

A flower cart vendor was given a few coins to relocate and set up across the road. The woman selling flowers was tasked with the job of noting who came and went via the front door.

By the end of the third day, Lisandro had a good idea of the routine of things. The woman who worked in the house was followed home one evening and afterwards kept under constant surveillance. Two other men also moved in and out of the house, but they appeared to be staying there.

A war council was summoned for the evening. In attendance were Stephen, Lord Harry, Gus, and Lisandro. Their chief spy, Toby, sat at the head of the table, a picture of seriousness.

"The old lady comes and sits on the steps about an hour after I arrive every morning. She smokes a cheroot right down, then goes back inside. I see her coming out again a few more times during the day, then she leaves just as the sun is going down,"

he explained.

Lisandro opened his notebook. "I confirmed again with the flower seller, and she informed me that the only person who uses the front door is Se?or Alba. Which means later each day, we only have him and the two other unknown males in the house."

Establishing where the three men were during the night was one problem they were yet to address. Only a fool would go sneaking into a house not knowing where possible assailants could be lurking. Still, there was strength in numbers and if push came to shove, they could handle taking on the kidnappers. But they had to know where Maria was being kept. It wasn't unheard of for captives to be killed by their abductors rather than rescued.

Toby cleared his throat and glanced at Stephen. The handler of dirty deeds had taken the young orphan under his wing and was teaching him the tools of the trade.

"Go on, Toby. Remember what I have taught you. Even the smallest detail can be vital,"

said Stephen.

"Well, I was watching one of the upstairs windows early yesterday and I swore it opened just a crack after the old woman sat down on the steps to smoke. She was well away from it, so she didn't notice."

Lisandro sat forward, listening intently. Toby had a good eye for detail, and even in the short time that he had known the boy, Lisandro had come to trust his instincts. "Go on."

"Something fell out the window. I'm not sure what it was, but the dog raced over and quickly gobbled it up. Then he went back to his spot by the stables and lay down. I didn't see him move again for the rest of the day."

There was a sparkle in Toby's eyes, one which Lisandro recognized only too well—the joy that came from discovering a vital piece of information, something that could change everything.

"I had the spyglass ready this morning when the woman came out. Within a minute of her lighting her smoke, the same upstairs window opened. This time, I saw a small hand and what looked like a piece of pie. It was dropped just like yesterday, and again, the dog ate it."

"Did the dog sleep the day away?"

asked Lisandro.

Toby nodded.

Gus let out a low whistle. Lisandro and Stephen exchanged a hopeful grin.

Someone hidden within the house was waiting until the housekeeper went outside to have her morning smoke and was then tossing food out the window. Food which, from the reaction of the dog, had clearly been drugged.

A small hand. A woman's, perhaps.

The memory of Diego de Elizondo as he stood in the grounds of Castle Tolosa and begged him to save Maria came clearly to Lisandro's mind. The heart-breaking look of desperation and fear on Diego's face would haunt him for all his days.

He sent a silent prayer across the many miles of sea to his homeland, hoping that Diego may somehow get his message.

I think we have found Maria.

The thought of Diego also brought back the rest of their conversation; and the reward Lisandro had asked to receive if he brought Maria safely home. To be allowed to spend time with her. For the Elizondo family to accept and acknowledge Spanish society's expectation that Lisandro would make Maria his wife.

And what if she doesn't take kindly to that idea?

Rescuing Maria from the clutches of a bloodthirsty band of kidnappers might well be the least of Lisandro's problems.