An Unexpected Pleasure (The Mad Morelands #4)(101)

“The last time Coffey came to the village, he talked to me about the religion he had made up, part the worship that the Incas used and part his own crazy additions. Truthfully, I did not pay a great deal of attention to what he said. I hated having to listen to him, allowing him to steal from my people. But he talked about the ritual of human sacrifice that the Incas employed. He wondered if perhaps it was not following this ritual that kept his ‘youth potion’ from working. You see, at certain important times, the Incas would sacrifice children to appease or praise the gods, or when a new emperor took the throne. They used only the most beautiful, the most perfect child, and they would give it a ritual wine to drink, intended to make their end less painful. Then they would bury the child high in the mountains. It was considered an honor, and the child was dressed in the finest clothes, buried with a toy or doll. Oh, God…”

His voice broke, and he hunched over, his face in his hands. “I should have explained to him that the villagers no longer employed that ceremony, that the potion did not need blood. I should have made him understand that it worked only there in that valley. But I did not realize that he meant to kill a child!”

He raised his head, his eyes wild with pain. “If only I had killed the bastard then, when I had the chance! But it wasn’t until after he took Caya with him that it occurred to me what he intended to do. She is the most beautiful child, the daughter of one of the Chosen. She would doubtless have grown to be chosen herself. He must have decided that the sacrifice should be of an Inca child, not some child here in London.” He let out a little groan. “God, for all I know, he might have tried doing this ceremony before with an English child, and it didn’t work. Now he is going to kill Caya!”

“He won’t,” Theo said firmly. “We will stop him.” He put his hand on Dennis’s shoulder, gripping it firmly.

“Yes. You are right. I cannot give in to panic. I have to stop him.” Dennis stood up. “Coffey will not have done it yet. He would wait for the full moon. There would be ceremonies leading up to it. But I cannot predict exactly what he will do. He has changed the ancient rituals to suit himself in many instances.” He looked at them, his hands knotting into fists. “Tonight is the full moon.”

“We shall move on it immediately,” Theo promised. He looked from Dennis to Megan. “We need to make plans.”

The others nodded, and Theo went on, “I think the most likely place for him to be hiding your daughter is at the museum.” He glanced at Megan. “That is probably why you got knocked on the head the night of the benefit. Caya was probably being held down in the cellar somewhere, and Coffey was afraid you might stumble upon her.”

Megan gasped as a memory flashed into her brain. “Yes! I just remembered. Oh, my God, how could I have forgotten?” Megan put her fingertips to her temples, pressing in. “I heard a noise. I was creeping along after Barchester when I heard a faint sound. I turned around, and that is when someone hit me over the head. But the sound I heard—it was crying. Faint and weak, but I am sure that is what it was. She must have been locked in a room nearby!”

Anguish filled her as she thought of how close she had been to her brother’s daughter and had not even known it. “If only I had done something!”

“You couldn’t have done anything,” Theo reassured her, taking her hand and bringing it tenderly to his lips. “Someone hit you and dragged you away. It is no wonder you did not remember every detail. Besides, by the time we found you, Coffey had probably whisked her away from there to a more secure hiding place. I doubt we would have found any sign of her.”

Megan squeezed his fingers in gratitude, then said, “But we cannot fail her now. We have to get her out. We should go to the authorities and tell them about this. They could search the museum.”

“Tell them what?” Dennis retorted in a scornful voice. “You think anyone else would believe this tale? Inca sacrifice? People who do not age? The police would laugh in our faces.”

“You’re right.” Megan nodded. “I would not believe it myself.”

“We must do it ourselves,” Theo said. “The question is whether to walk straight in and confront Coffey now with what we know and seize your daughter, or wait until tonight and sneak in and surprise them.”

“If we talk to him this afternoon, we run the risk of alerting him and letting him hide Caya someplace else,” Dennis pointed out.

“But if we wait until tonight, then we have to be completely certain that we have the right time and place. We cannot get there too late,” Megan put in.

“How many men will we be facing?” Dennis asked.

“I’m not sure. I would say there were perhaps fifteen to twenty people leaving the meeting last night.” Theo glanced at Megan for confirmation, and she nodded.

“And we are two,” Dennis said heavily. “But we will be armed and have the element of surprise.”

“We will be four,” Theo told him. “We can count on my brother Reed and Tom Quick to help us. Unfortunately, Rafe and Stephen have gone to the horse sales at Newmarket.”

“We will be five,” Megan corrected. “You did not count me in the mix.”

Dennis stared at her. “You cannot go!”

“I most certainly can, and I intend to. Surely you don’t think I’m going to let the two of you run off on your own and do this.”