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ENTERING THE HOUSE was far easier than expected, since the front door was unlocked. Vic, dressed as a woman, quickly checked the bottom floor and then hurried to the study. The room was a shamble. She carefully stepped around the wires until she reached the desk. She blindly felt the bottom of the drawer and located two stiff documents. Carefully retrieving them, she slipped them into her pocket and made her way out of the house. She had barely gotten into her carriage when police officers surrounded it.
“Get out of the carriage,” a captain demanded. She slipped the documents into her corset and settled her blouse.
“There is no one in here but me,” she announced and stepped out of the carriage. She was quickly patted down and declared clear. The captain demanded to know why she had been in that house.”
Vic calmed and told her grand story. “Yesterday, I had met the nicest woman here. Only this morning, I heard something terrible had happened to her, but no one seemed to know exactly what had happened. I asked my husband if I could come and see if she was all right, but he said I couldn’t. I decided to wait until he took a nap and then have my driver bring me over here. When I reached the door, I felt in danger, so I hurried inside. I had thought I would feel safe once I got inside, but instead I became even more terrified. I couldn’t find Jennifer anywhere, so I returned to my carriage, only you have surrounded it. Can you tell me what has happened?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Am I in trouble?” she asked, her lips quivering in fear.
“No, ma’am. But in the future, you should listen to and obey your husband.”
“I will do so,” she promised. She then stopped and stared at the men frisking her carriage.
“Is there something wrong with my carriage?”
“No, ma’am. Your carriage is fine. Now get home to your husband.”
***
GETTING HOME TOOK FOREVER because several of the officers had evidently been ordered to follow them to their home. A normal driver would have never been able to lose men on horses, but Casey was not an ordinary driver. Two hours later, they had lost the officers and they hurried home.
Instead of a happy welcoming, Xavier cursed her a blue streak. “What the hell happened? You were supposed to get in and get out!”
“I did. I even found the passports exactly where I said it would be. Unfortunately, when I returned to my carriage, it was surrounded by mounted police.”
“Bloody hell! Did they take the passport?”
“No, they frisked our carriage and Casey thoroughly, but they only gave me a polite pat down. Unfortunately, the captain had a squad following us. It took us forever to lose them before we could return home.” Vic grinned as she reached between her breasts and pulled the passport from her corset. “Sometimes, being a woman can work in our favor.”
Upon verifying the passports were for Anton Popov, and his wife, Xavier hugged her. “I apologize for yelling at you. When you didn’t return after an hour, I had feared we had made a terrible mistake that I would never survive.”
“I still think we have a problem,” Vic warned.
Jacko groaned.
“Are you in pain?” Vic asked, now worried Jacko was still ill.
“I was groaning that you have declared we have a problem, which means we have a problem.”
His response cheered her up. “Thank you for believing in my ability to discern a problem in our plans. According to Xavier, the prime minister will want to ensure Sanders is not in any manner connected to Anton Popov since everyone knows that Sanders was his favorite minister. The easiest way to do that is to kill all the people who know the truth. However, we don’t like that solution.”
She then focused on Xavier. “As the minister of Foreign Affairs, you could have a private meeting with the Prime Minister and give him the proof that Sanders and Anton are indeed the same person, and he’s a Russian spy. If the Prime Minister carries a gun, he will probably shoot you. If not, he will have someone else shoot you. And he knows you’ll be wearing a silk vest, so he might shoot you in the face. Thus, that straight forward approach won’t work either. So, let’s try a different approach. Do you know the names of the two other men who are Russian spies?”
“I do,” Xavier replied.
“And are they friends of the Prime Minister as well?”
“No, they are not.”
“Then you should bring them to the attention of the Prime Minister in your official duty as the minister of Foreign Affairs once you have located their passports. And you should have Barns find them so he can take the credit.”
“But I don’t know where they keep their passports,” Xavier admitted.
Jacko spoke up. “I’ll find them. And just so you know, the first place I’m looking is beneath the center drawer. I had thought it too obvious, but evidently they think it’s clever.”
“This won’t work. The Prime Minister won’t feel safe until everyone involved has disappeared,” Xavier insisted.
“Nonsense. Only two men, and possibly their faux wives who are still alive and causing trouble, need to be mentioned. In fact, when discussing Sanders, you can even suggest that one of these men killed him due to his efforts to make England safer.”
Xavier laughed aloud and rewarded her with a grand kiss.
“I gather you liked my idea.”
“It’s brilliant!” he declared.
***
LATE THAT NIGHT, JACKO and Captain Meyers from Scotland Yard, entered the homes of the other two spies, located the passports secured beneath the desks, and left without incident.
Once the passports were delivered to Xavier, as the minister of Foreign Affairs, he wasted no time alerting the Prime Minister. While the fellow was angry at first, when he finally grasped that this was the perfect solution to his problem, he cheerfully shook Xavier’s hand and agreed that both men and their wives, who were no doubt spies as well, should be hung as soon as possible. Since they were not English, the presumption they killed Sanders and the proof they were Russian spies was sufficient evidence to be hung. Thus, the matter was resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Not a single person objected to the solution, except for the two Russians and their wives.
In fact, a memorial was established to honor Sanders. While that annoyed Xavier, he attended the memorial and laid a flower on the man’s very fine tombstone as well.
The Prime Minister gave a fine eulogy that brought tears to many of those who attended. Xavier managed to dab his eyes, but in truth, there had been no tears shed.
Glad to return home, he pulled Vic into his arms. “You outdid yourself in this matter. And I for one greatly appreciate your cleverness.”
Vic smiled with happiness. “Does that mean you will allow me to do my job in the future?”
“You are much too valuable to use haphazardly. So, in the future, I expect we will continue to argue over what you should and should not do, but as long as you have sufficient backup to keep you safe, you will be my first choice in most situations.”
“Why not all?” she asked.
“Because there will be times in which your skills will not be the best choice.”
Vic grimaced. “Fair enough.”
“Now you’ve surprised me,” Xavier admitted.
“While I believe I can see matters better in most situations, as Gregory chided me, I must weigh my dangers to ensure I always come home alive. Too many people love me, so I cannot take risks if the results cannot justify it. So, if Jacko is available to diffuse bombs, I will always let him try first. And had I known how dangerous that brick bomb was, I would have tossed it back to the mob in the street.”
“That was probably what they wanted.”
“How so?”
“To all appearances, it would seem that I tossed a bomb into their midst. And in short order, I would no longer be the minister of Foreign Affairs and I suspect Sanders would have been slotted into my place.”
“Bloody Hell! That is exactly what they planned! And God only knows how many Russians would have arrived then!”
“I expect the plan was Sander’s, not the prime minister’s, so let it go.”
“I will. However, keeping our country safe is getting to be impossibly hard.”
Xavier sighed. “I cannot argue the point, but we have to keep trying. That is all we can do. However, right this minute when all seems calm, may I suggest we go upstairs and cheer ourselves up?”
Vic grinned happily. “That is the best idea ever.” She then focused on Jacko. “You don’t seem to be in a hurry to go home. Did you and Alice have a fight?”
“No. Alice and the three younger boys are at her estate. She is determined to make them better-behaved boys. Last week, they drowned a kitten that she asked them to bathe. Needless to say, the boys complain every time they sit down now.”
“Should you not go and help her?” Vic asked.
“She believes she can straighten them out on her own and I will just muddy matters up. To be honest, I believe she blames me entirely for their outrageous behavior. And while I admit they behave horribly; they far exceed any trouble I got in as a child. So, I don’t believe I am the only reason the boys are so terrible. I have to believe she has a part in their making as well.”
“That’s a good point. When we were children, I recall several hair-pulling brawls, and she started them all.” But then she outgrew her temper.”
“Well, she has grown it back,” Jacko muttered. And if she sees me in my current condition, she’ll be most angry. So, I would appreciate it if you let me sleep here for a few weeks.”
“You are always welcomed here, Jacko. And I’m annoyed with Alice for being so hard on you. However, I do agree that if she believes you are the problem, you should stay here and relax while the boys drive Alice insane. If nothing else, it will help her realize those boys are just as bad in her hands as yours.” Vic paused. “Perhaps Dr. Connors has a medication that can calm out-of-control boys. I will ask him when a new disaster occurs.”
“So, you’ve taken to planning out your new disasters?” Jacko teased.
“No.” Vic laughed. “But maybe I should, for they seem to come every few days.