Page 78 of The Photographer's Apprentice
“We’ve located him,” Titus said, “but we have not rescued him.”
“Not yet,” Brutus said.
“But you are going to, aren’t you?” Charlie asked hurrying forward to stand by Jonathan’s side.
Jonathan took Charlie’s hand, but that didn’t feel like enough, so he wrapped an arm around him and held him close.
Brutus glanced between them, then said, “We are going to mount a mission to retrieve him, yes.”
Charlie sagged with relief, but Titus said, “He is being held at Trebarral Castle on the Cornwall coast.”
Jonathan frowned. “I do not know the place.”
“It’s a formidable fortress that was built in the seventeenth century to protect against smugglers and foreign invaders,” Brutus said.
“How do you plan to free Lord Fabian from whomever is holding him prisoner there?” Jonathan asked.
Again, the brothers exchanged looks.
“We know someone,” Titus explained. “Greer O’Toole. He is the greatest housebreaker in all of England.”
Jonathan stared at him. “You’re going to send a thief to rescue a captive lord?”
“Who better?” Brutus said. “Trebarral is rumored to be impenetrable. The only person I can think of who might be able to get in, steal something valuable, and get out again is a clever, Irish housebreaker.”
“Greer is mad enough to take the job as well,” Titus said with a laugh.
“This is not a laughing matter.” Jonathan frowned at him.
Titus lost his smile and nodded at him. “You are correct,” he said. “It is not a laughing matter. But I can assure you that Greer has the skills and the bravery to charge a castle and to rescue Lord Fabian.”
“You will bring him back here, won’t you?” Charlie asked, half hiding against Jonathan.
Jonathan embraced him more fully. Really, he needed to feel his arms tightly around his love as they talked about a man whose fate could have been Charlie’s.
“We will bring him back here once he’s secured, yes,” Brutus said. “But there’s no telling what sort of condition Fabian will be in by then or what will need to be done to save his soul.”
“You owe him everything,” Jonathan said firmly. “I owe him for not making a move to help him when I should have.”
He glanced down at Charlie, wanting to hide within his lover. If he had only listened to Charlie when he had first asked for help, Fabian might not be a prisoner in a castle now.
“We will rescue him,” Titus said with a definitive nod. “You will have the chance to make whatever amends you need to make to him. I promise.”
Jonathan hugged Charlie tighter. He certainly hoped he had that chance. Everything depended on this Irishman, Greer, saving Fabian. The young man deserved much better than he’d gotten. He deserved to be as happy as Jonathan was now, as happy as Charlie was. Lord Fabian deserved his freedom.
