he say it—more feminine?
Seb wasn’t finished. “Is this how the Nightjar sees us at Bow Street? Big, hulking lumps with no more intelligence than a misshapen rock? I believe we should be insulted, Alex. Or, you should be.”
Alex ground his teeth. One eyelid began to twitch. If he’d had any doubt about the identity of the Nightjar, this taunting little note quashed it. Emmeline Danvers’s cheeky face rose up before him, those lips curved in a teasing smile, those damnably alluring freckles peppering her nose, and his blood began to boil.
Franks unlocked the cabinet and handed the feather to Alex. Alex brought it to his nose and his stomach clenched in recognition. It smelled of her. His mystery woman. Emmeline Danvers. The Nightjar.
One and the same. Damn her.
Anyone who said women weren’t capable of such things was a fool. Women were capable of anything. He wasn’t yet precisely sure of how she’d managed it—although he’d bet the sudden appearance of that sarcophagus downstairs had something to do with it—but he was sure of one thing: she was his thief.
“One thing I’ve always wondered,” Seb said to the room in general. “How come ladies are always referred to as diamonds of the first water? Is that a gemological term?”
Franks nodded, glad of the distraction. “It is indeed. ‘First water’ denotes the highest quality. Diamonds are assessed by their translucence; the more like water, the better. It means they have a perfect cut, color, and clarity, and lack internal flaws.”
“We all have internal flaws,” Alex growled. “And external ones too.” He touched the scar at his temple, then turned on his heel and strode toward the entrance.
“Where are we going now?” Seb demanded cheerfully.
“To the Danvers residence. Good day, Mister Franks.”
Alex jogged down the stairs, out of the main entrance, gave directions to the driver, and jumped into the waiting carriage.
Seb scrambled in after him. “You really think it’s her?”
“Without a doubt. I even met her here yesterday when I was talking to Franks. That woman has some gall.”
Seb gave a crooked smile. “There’s something incredibly attractive about competence, don’t you think? I find it almost … arousing. In certain circumstances, of course.”
Alex shot him a disbelieving look. “You think we should admire her sangfroid?”
The little imp certainly had a cool head in a crisis. He had it himself, gained from his years in the Rifles, an ability to think clearly when bullets were whistling past his head. In a colleague, it was an excellent trait. In an adversary, it was irritating beyond measure.
Seb’s expression grew serious. “She might not have had a choice, you know. There may be extenuating circumstances.”
“Everyone always has a choice,” Alex said grimly. “She knows the difference between right and wrong.”
“Maybe her only option was choosing the lesser of two evils?”
“Stop playing devil’s advocate,” Alex growled. “You sound as if you’re on her side. She’s a bloody criminal.”
Seb shrugged. “I just think it’s odd that you’re so angry. You’ve never reacted like this with any of the other criminals we’ve been involved with.” His face took on a slyly innocent expression. “Maybe it’s because none of the other criminals had such perfect breasts.”
“You shouldn’t be noticing her breasts!”
Seb chuckled, delighted to have drawn a response. “You just seem, I don’t know, emotionally invested in this one. I’ve never seen you so animated. There’s more to this than upholding the law.”
“You know what they say: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer … especially if they’re female.”
“That should be the Harland family motto.” Seb chuckled. “Maybe we should get it carved above the fireplace at the Tricorn?”
Alex winced. Seb made it his business to know everything about everyone. His personal motto was “knowledge is power.” And for all his teasing, he’d hit the nail on the head. Emmeline Danvers’s involvement felt like a personal betrayal, the shattering of all his foolish dreams. He’d held a false image in his heart for all these years, fostered stupid longings that should have been quashed long ago. The image of purity, of innocence, of that laughing shimmering girl, had been an illusion.
“I will catch her. I always get my man.”
Seb spread his arms along the back of the seat with a grin. “See, that’s where you have a problem. Because in this case, your man is a woman. A very attractive woman.”
“Whether or not she’s attractive is neither here nor there. Justice will be served. Let’s not forget what happened the last time I gave a pretty woman the benefit