The Sinners Club Read Free

recognition from the government for the dangerous acts they committed to safeguard their nation’s future. He wanted to offer them and their dependents a safe place, support in legal matters, money when needed, and a place to stay and enjoy their own kind.”
    â€œI thought that was your and Keyes’s doing.”
    â€œNo, we are mere inheritors of the day-to-day running of the place.”
    Jack rose as an older gentleman came through the door. He was still a handsome devil, his skin darker than normal and eyes the color of excellent whisky.
    â€œMr. Lennox?”
    He sounded more English than he looked. Jack bowed. “My lord.”
    The man glanced at Adam and they all sat down again. “You are aware that Lord Keyes is still missing?”
    â€œSo Adam has just told me. How can I help you, sir, and, may I ask, what is your interest in this matter?”
    â€œAh, Mr. Lennox, you are as sharp as I was led to believe. You are an excellent choice for this adventure.”
    Jack couldn’t help but notice the earl hadn’t answered his question. “How do you think I can help?”
    â€œKeyes has family in Lincolnshire. He usually avoids them like the plague.”
    â€œAh, which is why you’re both hoping I’d be going to visit Pinchbeck Hall.”
    Adam sat back and stretched his booted feet toward the fire. “I suspect that whatever happened, Keyes won’t thank us for blundering in there and making an official fuss. His disappearance might not be connected to his work for his country at all. I trust your discretion in this matter.”
    â€œMy discretion?” Jack fought a grin. “I’m a born hell-raiser, ask my sister.”
    â€œIt is of no matter, if you aren’t going to Lincolnshire anyway.” Adam directed his next remark at the earl. “He intends to wait to visit Pinchbeck Hall until his title is confirmed.”
    â€œI understand. That is certainly the most prudent thing to do.” The earl sighed. “It’s a pity, but it can’t be helped.”
    Prudent? Him?
    Jack finished off his brandy and contemplated his empty glass as a flicker of excitement warmed his gut. Perhaps it was time to allow himself a last escapade before he settled down to the life of a landed peer. Didn’t he deserve an adventure, and wouldn’t it be amusing to descend on his inheritance without announcing his true purpose? He could see what was wrong at his ancestral home and help find Lord Keyes all in the same trip. He held out his glass.
    â€œI think I might be going into Lincolnshire in the next few days after all. What exactly do I need to know about your missing colleague?”

2
    T he county of Lincolnshire was very flat. From his vantage point beside one of the cuts that came in from the cold North Sea, the view across the fens went on for miles. The sky was immense, a billowy mass of lowering gray clouds filled with the howl of a sharp easterly wind. His horse shifted its feet and threw back its head and Jack absentmindedly patted the animal. He’d heard tales that the ghosts of the drowned and the disappeared inhabited the fens, and with the wind screeching like a banshee in his ears, he might well believe it.
    He nudged his horse down the barely perceptible incline away from the coast inland following a thin trail that ran parallel to the deep water-filled ditch. Far in the distance, he could see his destination, the squat tower of a church and a huddle of cottages and greenery around it. The host at the Golden Goose Inn on the previous night had told him that Kirkby la Thorpe—the village he sought—was in the Kesteven area of the county, east of the bigger town of Sleaford and on the Boston road. He wrapped his muffler more closely around his face and rammed his hat down on his head. He hoped to God this was his destination, as there was nothing else in sight. If he was mistaken, he might wander for days and be