Free Kathleen Y'Barbo by Millie's Treasure

lingered on the piece gave Millie an uncomfortable feeling that she would not continue to own it should she fail to keep it under lock and key. Stranger things had happened than to find a bauble or two missing at the end of a month that had failed to produce enough revenue to keep her father’s business funds flowing.
    Another thing she would no longer worry about once her marriage to Sir William was finalized.
    The idea should have been a relief to Millie. She had so few reminders of her mother, and with each loss of a pin or bracelet, necklace or earring, she felt another link to Mama slip away.
    Her fingers went to her neck and the thin gold chain her father would never have. The cypher and heart shifted, reminding Millie there were still secrets left to uncover.
    Her flying friend had boasted of his ability to solve Jefferson wheel cyphers. She also had a bit of talent there, though her grandmother’s puzzle had no solution as yet.
    “You have gone and done it,” Father said as he removed his pocket watch again and pointed it in her direction. “Sir William was ready to proclaim his intentions publicly, but something has obviously delayed his statement. I have nothing left to do but send you home and pray your disgrace goes unnoticed.”
    Disgrace? So Father was blaming the man’s disappearance on her. Of course.
    “Not actually pray, of course,” Millie said under her breath as she turned to look away. “For that might be worthy of your time, speakingto the Lord on my behalf, that is.”
    For all the Cope family members who had graced the tufted and pillowed pew in church each Sunday, the only one who had kept Millie in prayers was Mama. And that had been far too long ago.
    “Home with you, then,” Father said, oblivious to her mutterings. “I will do what I can to remedy the embarrassment you have once again brought to this family.”
    Embarrassment, indeed. She bit back a retort. What was far more likely was that the town matrons’ tongues would be wagging tomorrow because Silas Cope was seen staggering into yet another hotel room with a woman to whom he was not married. And likely a woman of an age that Millie could call sister.
    This time when she left the ballroom, Millie remembered her wrap in addition to her evening coat. And though the carriage ride home was brief, the peace she had hoped to find in the solitude of her bedchamber proved elusive.
    She was tempted to escape to her third-floor hideaway to take up a book where she had left off this morning or perhaps sketch the stranger’s flying machine before she forgot some of its detail. Neither idea held any appeal.
    When one of the maids came to remove her hairpins and assist her in changing into her nightgown, Millie waved her away and moved to the window. Had it been only a little while ago that she had drifted over the rooftop beneath the dark silk balloon of a flying machine?
    It all seemed like a dream dreamed while awake and experienced from a faraway place. Oh, but the aviator had been real. His arms were sturdy and his smile quite lovely.
    And he had claimed he could solve cyphers.
    Millie paused just long enough to exchange her evening coat for a warmer and sturdier garment. Unless she missed her guess, it was quite possible the stranger had returned to the rooftop of the Peabody Hotel for his flying equipment.
    And if he had, she intended to join him. Not because she wanted to know more about the elusive inventor, but because the need to solve her grandmother’s puzzle was becoming stronger each time Fatherchecked his pocket watch.

    Kyle returned his revolver to its hiding place and then walked over to shake hands with his surprise guest. “Do you have any idea how close you were to getting shot?”
    Lucas McMinn had the audacity to grin as he set his personal torch device on the table next to him and then leaned back to make himself comfortable. “None at all,” he said. “You would never take a shot in the dark. My guess is you