If I Had You (18 page)

Alecia moaned and Ivan saw Richard held a fistful of her long blond hair, pulled painfully from her head. He winced. How that must have hurt.

“What's this!” A shout rang out behind them.

Ivan, breathing hard, didn't move or look behind him. “Alecia? Are you well?”

She didn't answer. A moment later, Swankle peered over his shoulder.

“He was attacking Alecia,” Ivan gasped. “Miss Loudon.”

Swankle's oniony breath disappeared as the man moved away. “Are you all right, miss?”

Ivan heard Swankle kneel next to her. All Alecia could do was cough. When Ivan turned his head, he saw her holding her reddened throat.

“What happened?” Swankle asked.

“It was the scene,” Richard wheezed. “Act five, scene eight. Macduff drags Macbeth's body. I had trouble with the blocking.”

“Liar.” Ivan tightened his grip on Marvin's shoulder and arm. “You're playing Macbeth, not Macduff.”

“I wasn't trying to hurt her.” Richard's reddened face suddenly calmed. “And if Miss Loudon wants to keep her position, she won't contradict me.”

Actors
.

“S
he reeks of gin,” Swankle reported, staring down at Alecia, her legs drawn against her torso as she leaned against a table leg, coughing.

“Marvin knocked the bottle over on her. I saw him hit the table.” Ivan's hand clenched around Richard Marvin's shoulder.

Marvin moaned theatrically.

“Let him go,” Swankle demanded of Ivan.

“You can't believe him,” Ivan said. “I saw him dragging her by her hair and dress. Look, you'll see it is torn. Her hair is in his hand.”

“Miss Loudon?” the other night watchman asked.

She, still in a ball, merely held her hands to her throat and coughed.

Ivan repeated himself. “He ripped her dress. He was pulling her by her hair, Swankle. You can't believe him.”

“You saw what you did, and he has an explanation for it,” Swankle said stiffly. “As a guest of this hotel, I have to believe him, unless the young lady says different.”

“Can you speak?” Ivan begged her.

She coughed again. Tears leaked from her eyes and drifted down her cheeks. He wanted to go to her, but was afraid of what the other man would do next.

Richard waved his hands feebly in the air.

“You have to let him up, Salter,” the other watchman said. “She works for him. Let him go.”

“Find a doctor,” Ivan suggested. “She needs medical attention. Get Eyre.”

“Not until you let him go,” Swankle said in a patient voice.

Ivan's left arm trembled, a sign of how tightly he was holding the actor. With a growl of frustration, he lifted the man slightly then released his grip. He heard Marvin's forehead thud on the hollow stage as he swiveled around and went to Alecia.

“Go for a doctor,” Swankle said when Ivan reached Alecia.

“You do it.” Ivan knelt next to her.

“I can't trust you with Marvin,” Swankle told him. “It has to be you.”

“Alecia?” Ivan asked, wiping away the track of a tear. “Do you feel safe here for a few minutes?”

“He was going to rape me.” Her voice was a broken thread. “I wasn't teasing him.”

“I know that,” Ivan told her, as Swankle's eyes widened. “You've been trying to do your job, nothing more.”

She reached for his hand. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and he helped her sit up. “You shouldn't have hurt him.”

“It was instinct. I'm not sorry,” he said.

“He'll have your position.” She coughed.

“I don't care.”

She wheezed when she took a breath. “I'm going to lose mine.”

“You can't stay with the Marvins now.”

“She needs rest,” Swankle said. “Stop talking. If she can stand, take her to her room, get the doctor, and send Mr. Eyre to me.”

Ivan frowned as he turned to the younger man. Where had he developed such an air of authority? Swankle was more than he had seemed before. He would have to watch carefully to make sure the night watchman didn't have some involvement in the bombing matter.

Reaching an arm around Alecia's back, he helped her to her feet. “What do you think?”

She coughed, the spasm racking her thin frame. He could see her collarbone through the torn collar of her black dress. Marvin had needed to use some force to tear the serviceable fabric.

“I'll carry you,” he said, bending his knees so he could slip his arm under hers and swing her up. Without a backward glance, he took her out of the room and walked toward the service lift. “Should I take you directly to the hospital?” he asked.

“I don't think it's that bad. I was in shock. He came at me suddenly.”

“This had been coming for a while. Were you drinking with him?” He knew Marvin had a creditable tale. Did she?

“No. He offered, even demanded, but I'm not such a fool as that. He's been making advances. There's no liquor on my breath.”

“Good.” Ivan held her against him as the lift went down. On the fifth floor, there were people in the halls. A middle-aged woman looked at him with great suspicion, but he kept his head high and held Alecia close. She'd closed her eyes as if to hide from their audience.

He opened the door to the sitting room of the Chinese Suite, where the light was better, so he could examine Alecia for injuries.

Instead of peace, he heard a shriek and rushing feet. He turned his back to absorb a blow. “Mrs. Marvin!”

She stepped back, wild-eyed. “Ravisher!”

“No, ma'am. That would be your husband.” Keeping his gaze on Mrs. Marvin, he went to the sofa and gently deposited Alecia there.

The older woman walked unsteadily on her high-heeled slippers. She'd obviously been drinking alone, and the room reeked of stale perfume, cigarettes, and spilled champagne. “W-what are you talking about?”

“Look at her dress,” Ivan said grimly. “Mr. Marvin tore it. He dragged her by her hair, nearly choked her. I found them just in time.”

“W-what were you doing there?”

“I had a note.” Ivan patted the breast of his jacket, then reached in and pulled out the envelope. “From Mr. Eyre.”

Mrs. Marvin's eyes crossed before she blinked and took the envelope. “For me?”

“Your husband.”

She dropped the envelope like it burned her. It fell on the carpet and she stepped on it as she turned to Alecia. “I told you not to bother about him.”

Alecia pulled the edges of her torn collar together. Her voice was hoarse. “He attacked me, Sybil.”

“He claimed he was rehearsing the scene where Macduff drags Macbeth's body,” Ivan said.

Alecia put her fingers to her eyes. “It was a lie. He wasn't rehearsing at all.”

“What were you doing there?” Sybil demanded.

“He claimed he needed help moving scenery,” Alecia said.

Mrs. Marvin collapsed ungracefully onto the sofa next to her employee. “You'll both lose your jobs over this. I can't protect either of you.”

“Why are you here?” Alecia rasped. “I thought you were at rehearsals for your new part.”

“They sacked me,” Mrs. Marvin said.

“What?”

“I'm sure Richard will tell you to go, because we can't afford a secretary now,” she said, slurring slightly. “You won't say anything, will you? I'll give you an extra week's pay. You can go as soon as Richard gets around to making the speech.”

Alecia shuddered. “You can't think I want to be anywhere near him after what he did.”

“They will ask us to leave the hotel as soon as the performance is done,” Mrs. Marvin said. “So much unpleasantness. Why couldn't you stay away from him? I thought you were smart. I trusted you.”

“If I understand you correctly, you've always known your husband would attempt to assault Miss Loudon?” Ivan asked. “And you thought she would be able to avoid this situation?”

“Yes.”

“A naïve vicar's granddaughter? With his wife almost never around and a major performance about to happen? How could you possibly have thought she could avoid him?” Ivan demanded.

Alecia shook her head. “Don't fight. I'd like to go to my room.”

“You should have a doctor,” he said.

“Who would pay?” Alecia asked. “And what could they tell me? I just need to rest. It hurts to talk and my scalp is aching.”

Sybil stared at her dispassionately. “You aren't bleeding, but bruises are coming up on your neck.”

“Has he ever done this to you?” Ivan asked.

Sybil's eyes were bottomless pools when she turned her gaze to him. “What does that matter?”

“You won't leave him? Divorce these days isn't such an issue.”

“We're the Marvins.” Her eyes lost focus again.

How he wished Alecia had been savvier and had understood the risks she had taken when she accepted this position. It was so obvious now why they'd hired such an inexperienced person. She was ripe for abuse. But if she hadn't been so foolish, he'd never have met her. Or been about to lose his own position.

He bent down and picked up the envelope, then set it on the table. “Please don't lose this. Is there anything I can do for either of you?”

“Keep your little Russians away from my husband,” Mrs. Marvin said. “I know all about that mistress of his.”

Vera
. He'd almost forgotten. When had his sister decided to betray Sergei? He bent forward and grabbed Mrs. Marvin's arm, then put his face right into hers. “What do you know?”

“She's trouble,” the actress said. “And she must not be enough for Richard or he'd have left Alecia alone.”

Ivan dropped her arm, fuming, and went to the desk. He took a piece of writing paper and a pen, then handed them to Mrs. Marvin. “Write Miss Loudon a character now, please. I'll keep it safe for her.”

“You won't get one from the hotel, not after this.”

As if he cared. “I'm concerned for Miss Loudon. I won't have her turned out without a character.”

“Fine.”

Ivan stood over her as she composed a brief note. “Fix the date,” he demanded, when he saw she'd written 1924 instead of 1925.

When Mrs. Marvin was finished, the note was sloppy but positive. He tucked it into an envelope he found in the writing table, then put it in his pocket. “I have to see Mr. Eyre now. Are you certain you don't want a doctor?”

Alecia shook her head. “I'll go to bed, if Sybil thinks I'll be allowed to use the room.”

Mrs. Marvin stared steadily ahead. “It's yours until Richard sacks you. I don't care.”

“Will he hurt you when he discovers you've lost your role?” Ivan asked.

“I've called our agent, Max. He'll share the news when Richard is sober.” She poured the last ounce of champagne into her glass. “It's back to the cheap stuff, I'm afraid.”

“Lock yourself in,” Ivan told Alecia, then helped her rise. He walked her into the corridor without a backward glance at the other woman. “I wish I could take you home with me.”

“The longer I can stay, the more hope I have of receiving my pay.”

“I wonder if Mrs. Marvin will remember any of this in the morning.”

“She isn't that drunk,” Alecia said. “But she's shattered. I wonder how she lost the part?”

“It doesn't matter. You'd have been out the door either way.”

“What was that about Richard's mistress?” she asked.

Ivan shook his head. “Don't worry about that. Just make sure, however it goes, that you are on your way out of the Grand Russe before the command performance. They will probably be forced to leave right after that. You don't want to be mixed up in it, especially when you'll be lucky to get your wages.”

“I'll be due my full week's wages by tomorrow day's end,” she reflected.

“Take what you can get and go,” he advised.

“What about you?” Her voice was creaking again and he could see it was painful for her to swallow. “When will you be sacked?”

“Might be in five minutes,” Ivan admitted. “I hit a guest.”

“There is my side of the story,” she said.

“If I had handled it without violence, there might have been some hope,” he said. “But I didn't.”

Alecia's lips flattened over her teeth. “I'm glad you hit him.” She touched his cheek, then unlocked her bedroom door and went in without a backward glance.

The vicar's granddaughter had some less than Christian thoughts, and he couldn't blame her. Unfortunately, the flapper's life had a dark side, and that didn't just mean jazz and revealing clothes.

Since she hadn't closed the door behind her, he followed her in and closed it. He wanted to be gone before Mr. Marvin came this way, but also needed to be convinced the adjoining door was locked.

While Alecia sat down on her narrow bed, he went to the door and tested it. “I wish it had a deadbolt, too.”

“He's never come in.”

“After what he did downstairs, you should not trust him in any fashion.”

“He and Sybil will argue before they come to me again.” Her voice went from hoarse to a dead whisper during the course of her sentence.

“You must not speak anymore. Rest your throat.”

“I should pack.”

“No, rest, please. I'll call for a doctor if you don't.”

She sighed and leaned her head against the wall. He found her tooth mug and poured water into it, then gave it to her.

“Is there anything I can do for you? Should I stand guard?”

“You must defend yourself,” she said. “Important.”

“I'll bring Mr. Eyre up to see your neck. Is your scalp bleeding?” He touched her head delicately. Blood caked a small portion of her roots, but the wound was small. He felt a sympathetic twinge in his own scalp.

She nodded and drank a sip, then coughed.

I'll let Mr. Eyre decide about the doctor.
He forced a smile. “We'll be back soon. Don't open the door unless you hear my voice, or Mr. Eyre's.”

“You can't promise that.”

“I'll make it his responsibility. This happened in his hotel.” He leaned over her and kissed her gently on her forehead, then went out the door, testing the doorknob to make sure it had locked.

As he walked down the hall, he heard the grandfather clock near the guest lift strike midnight. With each gong, he heard doom. He'd only managed to hold this position for five weeks. What would happen to him, Vera, and Sergei now? He'd have to ask Boris to take him into the pawnshop business, something he'd always refrained from doing. It was the only quick fix he had, if he left here without a good reference. At least he'd secured one for Alecia.