“Look, I cannot explain the details of our investigation right now. What I am tasked to do is lure the culprits out of hiding. They know that Caroline is dead, but they are unlikely to know that she has a twin sister. We therefore need you to do nothing more than go about your business but in a place where we know you are likely to be seen by the kidnappers. When they do see you, I have no doubt they will do their damnedest to get you off the streets, just like they did with Caroline.”
“What do you intend to do if they succeed?” Emmeline demanded.
“They aren’t going to,” Oliver growled.
There was such a fierce glint in his eye that for a moment, Emmeline didn’t doubt it. Unfortunately, that momentary lapse of common sense disappeared almost instantly, and she was left staring at the cold realisation that this man truly did want her to put her life in danger to help him.
“Give me one good reason why I should?” Emmeline asked, silently willing him to give her one good reason – just one – that would convince her that she hadn’t truly just allowed a man into her house who expected her to risk getting herself kidnapped.
“This is for the War Office,” Oliver offered.
Emmeline shook her head. “Not good enough. You have plenty of people who work for the War Office to help you. You don’t need me.”
Oliver’s lips quirked. “But most of the men are tall men who cannot even begin to pretend to be women. Well, sober in any case.”
Emmeline rolled her eyes but shook her head. “Not good enough. I am sure you have someone else you can ask. After all, from what I have read in the broadsheets, there is a certain type of woman these kidnappers go after. There are plenty of young women who fit that mould, I am sure. Go and find one.”
“But they don’t look like one of the victims they have already snatched. That is the key here, Emmeline. You are different.” Oliver swiftly blanked out the small voice warning him that Emmeline was different on many levels to any woman he had ever met before, and without any connection to his mission.
“I am not going to do it,” she persisted. “I am sorry, but I am not prepared to risk my future for a stranger I have only met an hour ago.”
“This isn’t for me. You are doing this for the War Office.”
“Well, I am not going to do this for the War Office either,” Emmeline snapped, her voice as sharp as the defiant look in her eye. “I am sorry, but my answer stays a very firm ‘no’, and that is the end of the matter as far as I am concerned.”
As he listened to her, all sorts of things flew through Oliver’s mind, but he knew none of the possibilities he contemplated were likely to work. He suspected not even downright pleading could help persuade her to do it.
“I could arrest you.”
“For what?” Emmeline cried. “For failing to be your scapegoat?”
“You are not being a scapegoat. You are failing to assist us with a criminal investigation.” Oliver mentally crossed his fingers. “As such, you are sort-of withholding valuable information that would help us in the course of our investigation. That is enough to get you behind bars.”
Emmeline’s mouth fell open. “You cannot do that. It is illegal. You cannot arrest me for a crime I have not committed.”
“I can do whatever I deem necessary in the course of my investigation,” Oliver assured her calmly but firmly.
“Like arresting innocent people for saying ‘no’ to you?” Emmeline gasped.
“If I think you are putting yourself in unnecessary danger, or withholding something that would help us, I can assure you that I can most definitely put you behind bars.” Oliver did his best to keep his face impassive.
“But you are asking me to do something that will put me in unnecessary danger,” she protested. “You, sir, are a liar.”
Oliver’s brows shot up. “A liar? How?”
“You cannot arrest me for not being willing to put myself in danger,” Em
meline snorted quite inelegantly.
“I can assure you that I can do whatever I please, and if I feel you are deliberately trying to make my investigation difficult, I most definitely can put you in irons.”
Emmeline’s temper began to burn. She squinted suspiciously at him for a moment. A part of her wanted to order him out of her house and command he never darken her door again. Not least because he was the most distracting man she had ever met in her life. Whenever their gazes clashed, as they were now, she struggled to concentrate and think of, well, practically anything except him.
Damn. Now what am I going to do? If I demand he leaves, he might arrest me. Before I know it, I will sit in gaol until I see sense, and then be dragged into their investigation anyway.
“I don’t see why I should sacrifice my life to help you, especially seeing as Caroline has already sacrificed hers,” Emmeline snapped.
“She wasn’t sacrificed,” Oliver replied sharply. “She made the mistake of walking down the street as any young lady has the right to do. Albeit she was unchaperoned, but that doesn’t give anybody the right to steal a woman’s life. Nobody should feel afraid to go about their business. You shouldn’t either, Emmeline.”