The Custom House Murders (Captain Lacey Mysteries #15) - Ashley Gardner Page 0,41

to my king. “He told you that, did he? What it means is that he intends to move into my territory. All agreements are nullified. He is warning me. He will try to overthrow me, possibly to murder me, and destroy everything I have.” He lifted his rook and his king in the castling move, slamming them to their new squares.

“Your men attacked Brewster,” I pointed out. “They did not seem interested in me.”

“The man called Thomas Brewster is one of Denis’s foot soldiers. They are fair game. You, I know, do not work for Denis by choice. He has entangled you in his mesh with promises, lies, and obligations.”

A chill crept through me. For years I had been repeating almost the same words in my head.

“I am not certain he has lied to me.” I do not know why I hastened to defend Denis, but spoke before I could stop myself.

“He has a way of dancing around the truth,” Creasey said.

I remembered when Donata had hidden Peter away from her treacherous cousins. Denis had known exactly where the boy had gone and I did not, and Denis had refused to tell me.

“Perhaps,” I said.

Creasey snorted as he moved his queen to threaten my bishop. “There is no perhaps. He has used you abominably, which is why I’ve spared you thus far. You are guilty only of being a fool. I know you saved Denis’s life when an incendiary device went off in his house—I hear you warned him of it in time.”

Another memory—this one of smoke, noise, and confusion, Denis snarling at his lackeys for not searching the man who’d made the device thoroughly enough. That man, Ridgley, had vanished, and I’d never learned what had become of him. Another body for Thompson to fish out of the river, I supposed. I’d saved Denis’s life another time, in Norfolk, but we had been alone, with no witnesses. I decided to keep that adventure to myself.

I brought out one of my knights. “I hardly could have stood by while the entire room blew up with me in it.”

“Of course not,” Creasey conceded.

“To be fair, Mr. Denis has saved my life a time or two.”

“Well, he would, wouldn’t he? You are useful to him. Why let you be killed?” Creasey’s queen swooped in to capture my knight.

In his zeal, he’d left one of his pawns unguarded, and I took it with my bishop. “Is there a point to your narration, or did you simply bring me here to tell me you dislike James Denis?”

“My intention is to explain the situation to you. You are in many ways a competent young man, but you have a blindness. Your unflinching fervor to keep your own word and do what is most honorable makes you commit foolish acts.”

“Such as saving Denis’s life.”

“Precisely. You did that because you felt obligated to him, because letting him die would mar your sense of honor. No matter that you know he is a hardened criminal. A thief and a murderer.”

I’d also once thought Denis a procurer. He’d absolved himself of that, which is when I’d begun to respect him slightly. I’d taken a long time to acknowledge that respect, but I had.

Creasey was telling me nothing I did not already know. His words echoed the whispers in my own mind.

“You know much about me,” I said. “While I only learned of your existence yesterday.”

“Because I make it my business to know everything regarding Denis and whom he recruits. You intrigue me. Such an unusual sort of man for him to trust.”

“Because he knows of the honor you twit me about,” I suggested.

“Ha. He plays you like a fiddle. He knows exactly what you will do in any situation. This is why he has not let you out of his web.”

“Does he know what I will do at this moment?” I moved my remaining knight. “Here in your warehouse?”

Creasey chuckled, his thin body rocking. “He likely has heard by now where you are. You are well watched. And yes, he knows what you will do. You will scold me for trying to kill the man assigned to guard you, but you will not try to hurt me. You will play chess with me because I insist, even though you are not a strong player.”

He took the bishop I’d used to capture his pawn.

“It has been some time since I have sat down to this game, yes.” I made another move that would gain me nothing but wouldn’t lose me