Edward waited with Nick and Joshua Winslow in an alley across the street from the abandoned block building that had once been a boarding house. Nick had two agents watching the back entrance, and another two watching a side entrance. They’d held their posts for more than an hour but had seen nothing.

Then, a small cart slowly turned the corner and went to the end of the alley behind the building. A door opened, then several men began unloading cases and carrying them inside the building.

Nick signaled the men watching the back and side entrance, and they converged on the building from the opposite side, so the men carrying cases into the building wouldn’t see them.

Nick, Edward, and Winslow entered from the front. The interior was dark. The only advantage any of them had was that they’d been inside the building before.

Nick held up his hand to halt their progress and they stopped, then listened. They heard the smugglers working from someplace up ahead. There must be another exit they didn’t know about. An exit to another room where the smuggled goods were stored.

They continued their forward progress and stepped inside a larger room with their guns pointed. But nothing prepared Edward for what was before him.

“Come in, Your Grace,” Byron Elsberry said.

The room they’d entered was large and adequately lit. The three smugglers who had exited from the alley with smuggled cargo stood at various points around the room. Each man held a gun in his hand that was pointed at them.

But it wasn’t on Byron Elsberry that Edward focused. Nor was it on the guns in the smugglers’ hands that stopped the air from entering his lungs. Gnarled fingers of dread clamped around his heart and prevented it from beating in his chest.

The sight of Alyssa in Byron Elsberry’s grasp nearly brought him to his knees. He held her in front of him, using her as a human shield.

The look of terror on her face as Elsberry clamped one arm around her chest and pressed a pistol to her temple horrified him. Watching her lips tremble as she struggled to pretend to be brave in the face of death tore his heart from his chest.

“Come in, gentlemen,” Elsberry repeated. “But please, drop your weapons first. I’d hate to have to blow a hole in the lady’s head.”

Edward, Nick, and Joshua Winslow dropped their guns to the floor.

“Let her go, Elsberry,” Edward said.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. The lady is essential to my escape.”

“You can take me,” Edward said as he took a step forward. “Just let Lady Lindleigh go.”

Elsberry’s pistol pressed harder against Alyssa’s temple. “I’d stop right there if I were you, Your Grace.”

Nick’s hand clamped down on Edward’s shoulder and prevented him from going further.

“If you harm one hair on the lady’s head, you’re a dead man, Elsberry,” Edward hissed.

“I’m afraid your threats are quite empty, Your Grace,” Elsberry said on a sneering laugh. “Now, back up against the wall.”

Edward had no choice. He stepped back. So did Nick and Winslow.

“Carry the rest of the cargo above,” Elsberry ordered, and the three smugglers began to carry cases of contraband out a second door in the rear of the room.

Edward kept his gaze locked with Alyssa’s. He tried to assure her that she would be all right. He tried to give her an unspoken promise that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. But the terror on her face told him how frightened she was.

“Is the sale of a few bottles of French wine worth what you’ve done?” Edward asked.

Elsberry laughed. “You have no idea what this wine is worth.”

“I know you considered it more valuable that Lord Lindleigh’s life.”

“That was unfortunate.” Elsberry glanced down at Alyssa. “Your husband was too curious for his own good. He found out what we were doing and I had no choice. He had to be eliminated.”

“So you resorted to murder.”

A sinister grin covered Elsberry’s face. “I would have resorted to a multitude of murders for the treasures I gain.”

Edward knew what he meant. Suddenly, everything was clear. At first glance it may seem like a simple smuggling operation, but Edward knew they’d stumbled on how the jewels were smuggled into England. And who was behind the operation.

“Let her go,” Edward said. “You have us. Why do you need the lady?”

“For insurance. She’s my safe passage away from here.”

Elsberry pressed the gun deeper against Alyssa’s temple.

Edward lunged forward but Nick’s fingers clamped around his arm to stop him.

“Careful, Your Grace,” Elsberry threatened. “There’s nothing I’d enjoy more than killing you.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Edward said in the most threatening voice he had. He couldn’t bear the thought of Alyssa trapped in this monster’s hold.

A sly grin turned Elsberry’s face from pleasantly handsome, to something frightening. “Your threats are useless, Your Grace. I give the orders here, and you will follow them.”

“Then take me. Let Lady Lindleigh go, and take me.”

Elsberry’s demented laughter echoed in the cavernous room. “I’m not a fool, Your Grace. The lady is the only guarantee I have that I will be granted safe passage. I saw the way you looked at her the first time I saw you together. It was obvious then that you would move heaven and earth to keep her safe. And this is so much easier. All you have to do is guarantee my safety and she will be returned to you unharmed.”

“When?”

“So inquisitive, Your Grace. You know what happened to the cat that had that same bad habit.”

“When!”

“That depends entirely upon you. On how convinced I am that you will never come after me.”

“So help me, I’ll see you d—”

“Enough! You’ve demanded enough.”

They paused, and Edward heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. A man Edward had never seen before entered the room. From his attitude and the way he looked at Elsberry, Edward assumed this was the contact man Elsberry needed to take care of the deliveries. He was obviously Elsberry’s partner.

“I see you have things under control,” the man said with a superior grin on his face. He glanced down at the last three boxes on the floor. “Are these the last of them?”

“Yes, the rest have been taken to the safe house.”

When the smugglers returned, the man who’d joined them pointed to the last three cases on the floor. “Take these up, then go to the wagon.”

The three smugglers leaned down to pick up the last of the cases. But when the smuggler nearest Elsberry reached for the case at Elsberry’s feet, Elsberry put his foot on it. “That one’s mine.” He looked at the two remaining smugglers. “Get those cases stowed so we can get out of here.”

The smugglers carried the two remaining cases out but left the third one at Elsberry’s feet.

When they were alone, Elsberry’s partner nodded to where Edward, Nick, and Winslow stood. “What are we going to do with them?”

“We’re going to leave them here.”

The man’s eyes opened wide. “Alive?”

“Yes. That’s why we have Lady Lindleigh.”

“That’s foolish, if you ask me.”

“No one’s asking you, Carney.”

Elsberry was definitely in charge of the smuggling operation. He was obviously the one who made all the decisions and issued all the orders. From the look on the other man’s face, he didn’t like the arrangement. But Elsberry didn’t seem to care.

Elsberry kicked the box beneath his foot. “Open it.”

“What the hell for?” Carney asked. “Now’s not the time to drink any French wine.”

“Just open the box,” Elsberry ordered again.

The man bent down and opened the crate.

“Now, hand me the bottle on the end.”

The man reached for a bottle.

“No, the other end.”

The man reached for the last bottle on the other side.

“Open it.”

“Listen, you popinjay. I ain’t your—”

“Open it!”

The man struggled to open the bottle. When he finally got it open he held it out.

“Empty it.”

“What!”

“Pour it out!”

The man tipped the bottle and poured the expensive French wine to the ground.

Edward heard the first clink against the glass before the man pouring out the wine did.

“That’s enough. Now, hand me the bottle.”

Elsberry’s partner tipped the bottle upright. That’s when he heard it. The clink of something solid hitting the sides and bottom of the bottle.

“What the…”

Elsberry’s partner held his hand beneath the open bottle. Several expensive jewels came out along with the last drops of wine.

The man’s face turned a mottled red. His gaze narrowed, and the look in his eyes filled with hatred. “You lousy son of a bitch. This is why you demanded one case from every shipment. Why you made sure you were here each time a shipment arrived. All this time I thought we were smuggling in French wine, and you were using the cargo to smuggle jewels.”

“Did you really think I was satisfied with a measly share of the profits from the sale of a few bottles of wine?” Elsberry laughed. “Fool! Now, hand me the bottle.”

“Go to he—”

Before the man could finish his sentence, Elsberry raised his pistol and blew a hole in his partner’s forehead.