Enticing Temptation

Chapter 10

Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong, China

            “Well all we have to do now is wait to be contacted,” Cat said standing at the railing looking over the crowded island of Hong Kong, with Victoria Peak in the distance.

            The crew was presently securing the ship to its dock and soon would begin unloading the last of the heavy machinery bound for here. Myles had already sent one of his men to the merchant informing him his shipment was here and would be ready for transporting to the man’s factory soon. Later they would load the space vacated by the machinery with silks, jades, porcelains, furniture and other trade goods to return to England which would make Myles voyage a very profitable trip for Herrington-Maddox.

            Several of Myles’s most trusted men would later tonight visit the taverns and inns to see if they could learn anything about her uncle’s whereabouts. She couldn’t risk just waiting for Lin Qiao to contact her as the Viceroy said the woman would. She wanted to leap off the ship starting her search for her uncle right now but knew she had to wait at least a day. She always hated this part of her assignments, the waiting.

            Bruce, Bellman, and Fanshaw were standing around her at the railing watching the process of docking and each taking in their first sights of Hong Kong. Quintin and Doris were further down the railing, far enough they could not overhear Cat and the others. Cat had asked Doris to keep Quintin away from the others so she could talk with the three men.

            “I hope we don’t have to wait long,” Bruce told her. “I would like this over with as soon as possible for our return to India. I miss Val and the children.”

            “I’d miss Val to if she were my wife,” Fanshaw said smiling at Bruce and Bruce cuffed him on the shoulder, hard.

            “Ouch,” Fanshaw exclaimed as he rubbed his shoulder.

            “You deserved it,” Bellman said smiling at Fanshaw and Cat chuckled at the men.

            “Remember I out rank you as well,” Bruce said a smile on his face.

            “On this mission no one out ranks me,” Cat haughtily informed them, “and as of now no one uses their rank when speaking to one another. You are all simple misters and I am the Countess of Twynforde, here to inform my uncle of my marriage and death of my father.”

            “Yes, Countess,” she heard the trio reply.

                                                                *                  *               *

            The next morning, after no word from Lin Qiao, Cat and Myles along with Bruce and Quintin went around to the hotel her uncle was last reported to be staying at. They learned he left the hotel one day, over two months prior and never returned. They were informed his room was held for several weeks and then his clothes and belongings were packed and put into storage. Cat paid her uncle’s bill at the hotel in order to obtain his belongings from their storage room wanting to look them over to see if any cues were left hidden among them.

            At the hotel they feigned shock and worry over his vanishing. She asked if the local authorities had been notified of her uncle’s disappearance and was told no. She feigned indignation that a peer of the realm would vanish from a hotel and no one of authority was notified of his disappearance.

            Their next stop was to the local authorities where they reported her uncle’s disappearance. They were of course told by the person they spoke to that since so much time had transpired since her uncle was last seen and now, it would be hard to trace his movements to find him. They even doubted he was still on the island. Cat was left to believe no one would really try to find her uncle, which was fine with her, since now her searching for her uncle would not be considered out of the ordinary.