Amelia’s blood chilled. “Dear God.”
“Paul suspected Mr. Hawk’s involvement.” Helen’s slender shoulders trembled. “But he was afraid to go to the authorities. If he’d confessed what he’d done, he would have been sent to prison. Or worse. The guilt tormented him. There was no escaping it. He needed the truth. So he confronted Hawk’s representative.” Miserable regret colored through her tone. “Oh, God, I should have stopped him.”
Logan allowed Helen a moment to collect herself before pressing for more. “What happened then?”
“Mr. Hawk’s representative claimed Hawk had no part in the murder, but he offered Paul an incentive,” Helen said. “In exchange for his silence.”
“An incentive?” A raw bitterness rose to the back of Amelia’s throat. “Of what sort?”
“Paul would not tell me what they had discussed. He thought I would be safer that way. But he spoke as if the man had offered him a rare treasure.”
Treasure.The word echoed in Amelia’s thoughts. The man who’d attacked her in the library had demanded answers she had not possessed.
Where is the bloody treasure?
Where is the blasted diamond?
Had Paul accepted a precious gem as payment from a killer?Dear God.Suddenly, the floor seemed to sway beneath her feet. She pulled in a breath to steady herself.
“Please tell me Paul did not accept the bribe,” she said, though the look of sadness on Helen’s face was all the answer she needed.
Helen stared down at her hands. “If only I could.”
A muscle in Logan’s jaw clenched and unclenched with tension. “He took the bait.”
Helen brushed a tear from her cheek. “He planned to use it as evidence against Mr. Hawk.”
Logan pinned her with his gaze. “Tell me where I can find the man who works for Hawk.”
“I can’t.” She turned away from the window. “I don’t even know his name.”
“Do ye possess Paul’s correspondence?”
Helen gave her head a miserable shake. “Only the letters he’d trusted me to deliver to your hands.”
“Surely he gave some hint as to where Mr. Hawk’s associate could be found,” Amelia persisted gently.
“I don’t know. Now, the cold-blooded bastard who sent his thugs after Paul wants me dead.” Helen’s words seemed to catch in her throat. “And I suspect they will come after you as well.”
“So that’s it, then,” Logan said. “Hawk—whoever the bloody hell he really is—wants the bribe he’d given to Paul.”
“Paul assured me he’d hidden it away somewhere safe, in a place where Hawk’s thugs would never think to look,” Helen twisted her hands in a miserable knot. “But now I fear he lied to me.”
Amelia met Helen’s stricken gaze. “Please, tell us where he hid it.”
“I can’t.” Helen laughed, the sound low, nearly crazed. “You see, Amelia—he entrusted the treasure to you.”
*
Amelia reached forthe back of a nearby chair, bracing herself as the shadowed walls of the cave-like room seemed to close in onher. She dragged in a breath to ease her racing pulse. “You’re mistaken. My brother gave me nothing for safekeeping.”
“I know what he told me.” A small sob cracked Helen’s voice. “I saw the fear in his eyes. He knew Mr. Hawk would try to silence him. But he thought he had more time.”
Logan’s eyes narrowed. “When did Paul give ye the letters ye sent to me?”
“He left the letters with me on the night he died. He knew Amelia would likely be in danger... he knew he would need your help.” Helen went to the window and eased back the curtain again, just enough to peer into the darkness. “Paul told me to hide them away. Until they were needed.”
Amelia joined her at the window. “Where did you take refuge?”
