Vi nodded, thankful for Lottie’s warm embrace, then pulled away as Hargreaves drove another auto up to the house. She heard a noise and glanced at the house to see Denny pretending each step didn’t hurt as he made his way down to the drive. Lila was a step behind her husband with baby Lily in her arms. Lily’s big blue eyes were fixed on her father as though she knew that he was in pain, and her gaze was as worried as Vi’s.
Vi reached for Lily so Lila could open the back of the auto for Denny. It felt good to have a baby in her arms.
Denny got gingerly inside and then looked up at Vi and Lily. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Vi told Denny. “You?”
“Fine,” he replied and then laughed. “We’re both liars. Did you tell him?”
Vi shot Denny a dirty look.
“Tell me what?” Jack asked as he joined them.
Denny laughed low. “I thought not. He doesn’t look nearly murderous enough.”
“Vi?”
She looked at Jack and then at Denny and then said, “Don’t worry about it.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“You saw the extent of my injuries.”
“They put a gun to her head, Jack,” Denny told him. “She’s out of her skin because she realized murder—for her—was a breath away.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jack asked, and the pain in his voice was enough to make hurting him a thousand times worse.
“Because,” Vi answered softly, “I realized that I could lose you when the gun was to my head. I realized again, later, that I could lose you if you were taken to Newgate for murder.”
Jack’s gaze fixed on hers, and he saw the truth in it.
“I would rather carry this alone than lose you, Jack. You being protective makes me feel safe. I love you for it. I will protect you back. And Denny.” Her gaze moved to him and she put the baby in his arms. “I’ll hit you twice when it doesn’t hurt so bad.”
“It’s not just Jack you have to worry about,” Denny told her, uncaring.
“Victor will control himself.”
“He means all of us, idiot,” Gerald told Vi, and she stared in shock. “Don’t look at me like that. I’ve lost two siblings so far, Vi. I’d prefer to keep the rest of you.”
“Go home, Gerald,” Vi said. “Don’t you know we’re cursed? Save Lottie from us.”
“We aren’t leaving,” Lottie exclaimed.
“Yes, we are,” Gerald replied. “Jack will take care of Vi and the rest. Thank the heavens, our troublesome Vi and Victor have gathered Jack and Ham about them. Inexplicably.”
“Inexplicably?” Vi demanded.
“Well, Denny makes sense, doesn’t he?” Gerald asked. “He was the perfect tagalong for you and Victor as children. Jack, though, he must have been pretty bored when you met him.”
“Bored?” Jack asked.
“Why else would you join Vi and Victor in their madness? Traipsing around the world, interfering in your cases, roller-skates parties. It’s shocking to me they haven’t burned a house down yet.”
“There’s still time,” Vi said, but she felt better. What was it about being scolded by someone that she loved that made her feel loved in return? She might be a little broken in her mind. “I’m not sure Ham and Rita love their house like they should.”
“Harriet did say it was drafty,” Denny said. “Maybe we should create another round of ruins and help them design a new house.”
“With secret passageways,” Vi added.
“And maps scratched onto the bottoms of goblets.”
“Are you staying?” Jack asked Gerald. “We need to get to Ham and Rita.”
“Yes,” Lottie said.
“No,” Gerald countered. “It isn’t just Rita who is expecting, and we won’t risk my heir for buried treasure.”
“Gerald,” Lottie said.
“He’s right, Lottie,” Vi said. “Also, I have an idea.”
“An idea?” Gerald shook his head and placed his hand over her mouth. He leaned in and kissed Vi on the forehead before he added, “We’re leaving now, Lottie. Jack and Ham are soldiers. I, however, am not.”
Vi kissed her brother on the cheek and then took a seat inside the auto. A moment later, Jack got behind the driver’s wheel, and they made their way to Ham’s house, leaving Gerald and Lottie to make their way back to London.
Vi thought that Jack would be furious, but instead, he held her hand during the drive, rubbing his thumb carefully over her palm.
She was relieved to see Victor standing on the steps on Ham’s house. He was worried. Vi didn’t need to meet his gaze to know. It was there in the line of his body, the way his shoulders were slanted as though he were both waiting for her and blocking the door against intruders.
“Vi?”
“The house is secured?” Jack asked, taking Lily himself and handing the baby to Vi so he and Hargreaves could help Denny from the auto and up the steps.
“Do we really need to act like this?” Victor asked, but Vi could see that he wouldn’t take the risk. “Smith and Beatrice arrived and Smith went for the guns and the doors. He locked us in like we were going to expect a company of artillery.”
“He had Beatrice with him,” Vi told Victor.
“They put a gun to Vi’s head,” Jack finished.
Victor shifted again and she shook her head as she saw the look on his face as she stepped into the house. She found Kate and Rita inside the doors with Beatrice just beyond them.
“What’s this about a gun to your head?” Smith asked. He saw the baby in Vi’s arms and said, “We moved the nursery to a little-used guest room at the back of the house, just in case.”
“This does feel like an overreaction.”
“It probably is,” Ham said, his gaze moving from Vi to Jack and then back to his wife. “What we’re actually dealing with is an over-eager madman who believes in this treasure.”
“And believes he was robbed,” Smith added. “I did a fair
