Creighton Manor

by Karen Michelle Nutt

  She quickly approached Zachary's room that was directly across from hers. She saw the light filtering underneath his door and knew he must still be up. She knocked. No answer. She knocked again thinking Zachary hadn’t heard her, but still no answer. She tried the door. Finding it unlocked, she opened it just a tad. "Zachary?" She opened the door the rest of the way. To her horror, she saw Zachary sprawled on the floor. “Omigod, Zachary!” She ran toward him. As she leaned down someone grabbed her. She struggled, squirming to be free. She kicked her assailant and took great satisfaction in hearing him grunt, but she couldn’t shake free. She opened her mouth to scream, but the guy covered her mouth with a cloth. The sickening smell burned her nostrils and her vision blurred. Then there was nothing.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Gillian groaned and raised her hand to her throbbing head. She sat up, but the sudden movement made her dizzy and she shut her eyes, willing the wooziness to cease. Where was she? What happened? Then it all came flooding back to her. Someone attacked her. Zachary had been sprawled out on the floor in his room and… God, was he dead? She searched the darkness, trying to see if Zachary was with her. She crawled a small distance, feeling the ground for a body. She stopped in her tracks when she heard whining. "Molly, is that you girl?” Molly's answer was to lick her face. Gillian put her arms around her. "I'm so happy you’re here. Do you know where Zachary is? Is he in here, girl?"

  Molly answered with a whine. She turned and walked into what appeared to be a stall. Gillian's eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness now and she was able to follow. In the corner, she saw Zachary. He lay still as death. A hard fast fear grew in her stomach as she knelt down beside him, touching him and looking for signs that he still lived. She let out a sigh of relief when she felt his chest rise and fall. She felt his head first for any damage and came across a large bump near his temple. She inspected him for any other wounds and fortunately found none. Whoever had done this must have caught him off guard, too. She wondered if it was the same men from the waterfront or the one who took potshots at him from the rooftop. The bastards were persistent. However, if they had planned to kill them, wouldn't they have done so already?

  She didn’t have time to worry about that right now. She needed Zachary on his feet so they could escape. "Zachary, come on.” She shook him. “You have to wake up.” She hated to do this but she saw no other choice. She slapped his face as hard as she dared. When he moaned, she knew it was working. She slapped him again and he stirred. She was about to hit him one more time, but Zachary’s hand snaked out. In a split second, he tossed her like a rag doll and was upon her, grabbing the collar of her nightgown. “Zachary, it’s me, Gillian.” She barely choked out the words and prayed he was coherent.

  Zachary lowered his arm at the sound of Gillian’s voice. "Gillian?" he croaked.

  "Yes, it's Gillian." He let her go and she let out a sigh of relief.

  "Where are we?" Zachary sat down next to her and looked around him.

  "I have no idea. I was hoping you could shed some light on that matter. I woke up on the ground outside this stall and Molly led me to you.”

  "Molly?" He looked to the far corner and noticed the dog.

  "Don't ask me how she got here because I have no explanation. She seems to show up when there's trouble."

  "Well, she's right. This definitely doesn’t bode well. Let's see if we can see where they’ve dumped us." Not too steadily, he rose to his feet.

  "Be careful." Gillian wrapped his arm around her shoulder, supporting his weight as he steadied himself. "You have a dreadful bump on the side of your head."

  "You don't think I know that?" he snapped.

  She let go of him and he staggered, but managed to remain standing. "Well, you don't have to bite my head off,” she spat. “I didn't put it there."

  He harrumphed at her flare of temper. "Keep your voice down and follow me. As far as we know, our kidnappers could still be somewhere close.” She moved nearer to him and his eyes locked onto what she was wearing. "You're in your night gown," he stated the obvious.

  "No kidding. Did you figure that out all by yourself?" She couldn't believe he would take the time out to discuss her attire when their lives were in danger. "I asked the kidnappers if I could get dressed first, but they answered me by stuffing a chloroform cloth up my nose.”

  His only answer was a grunt as he turned and walked out of the stall. He stood in the darkness and listened.

  Gillian listened, too. Everything was quiet, too quiet. "Well, are we going to—"

  “Hell and damnation, woman," he interrupted with a hiss. "Hush. And do not move. I'll be right back.”

  She immediately lost sight of him in the darkness. She hugged herself as fear threatened to take over. Where did Zachary go? Stay here? Why? So he could go and get himself killed. Oh yeah, great idea, she thought to herself.

  Molly came and sat down beside her. "Good girl. Stay with me, will you?” Molly licked her hand.

  A good five minutes went by and still Zachary didn’t return. She wished she had her flashlight so that she could see what was going on. She wanted to call out to him just to reassure herself he hadn’t been caught, but then she didn’t want the ones who kidnapped them to realize they weren’t unconscious anymore. She was in no hurry to find out what they had planned for them.

  Then she thought she heard something to the right of her. Before she could manage a scream, someone grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth. "It's me," Zachary whispered in her ear. He released her and she turned around and slapped him.

  "You scared me," she hissed.

  "I knew you couldn't see me and I didn't want you to call out. We're not alone. As far as I can tell, there are two men with guns standing guard outside."

  "Great. What are we going to do?"

  "I'm not sure. I don’t think we need to worry just yet. They must have orders not to kill us or else we'd be dead already. Maybe they have something more sinister up their sleeves."

  "What could be more sinister than being dead?"

  "Torture comes to mind.”

  "If you're trying to make me feel better, you’re failing miserably." Gillian put her hands on her hips.

  "Believe me, I wish I were joking. One thing for sure, when I capture one of those men out there, I'll make him tell me whose behind all this."

  "I thought you suspected Cyrus? And what do you mean when you capture those guys out there? How do you plan on doing that?"

  "First question, I need proof Cyrus is behind this. I can't very well go and accuse the man without proof. Second, we're going to have the advantage of surprise. We'll create a diversion and—"

  “Hello.” Gillian waved her hand in front of his face, drawing his attention. "If I do recall, you said the men out there have guns. How do you plan on capturing them when we don't have a weapon?”

  "I have my knife." He leaned down and pulled it from the side of his boot.

  "Are you crazy? Bullets against a knife!" She could barely keep her voice low.

  "Well, do you have another suggestion? Do you just want to wait and see what they have planned for us?"

  "No, but I personally don’t wish to rush to my death either.”

  "We don’t have much of a choice here unless you have someone that intends to rescue us. Hey, I know." Zachary snapped his fingers. "Maybe, lover boy will rescue you."

  "Lover boy?”

  “Ellery Livingston.”

  “What are you talking about? Did that blow to the head mess up your brain?” She wasn’t whispering anymore.

  "Do you mind lowering your voice?"

  She obliged but she was far from finished with their conversation. "Well, since you’re bringing up love interests, what about you and Violet? I saw you necking in the hall."

  "Necking?" He lifted his brows as he tried to discern what she meant.

  "Sorry, you don't know the term." Sarcasm dripped from her words. "Kissing her. Don't try to deny it. I saw you."

>   "Who said anything about denying it? However, it isn’t what you think."

  "Really, because where I stood it sure looked like you were examining her tonsils with your tongue?"

  “And when I came upon you and Ellery, it appeared as if your bodies were fused together.”

  “You’re insane! He’s your friend.”

  “Obviously, the definitive word would be: Was my friend. Enough of this! I would love to continue this discussion but this is neither the time nor the place. If we get out of this alive, we'll argue it out later. Now come with me." He grabbed her hand, dragging her behind him. As they neared the door, Gillian could see a bit of light between the cracks. "They have a fire going," he informed her.

  "How do you know there are only two of them out there?”

  Zachary pointed to a small opening just above her head. It was eye level for him, but not for her. He peered out of it now.

  "Still only two of them,” he said before looking at her. "Now on the count of three, I'm going to kick open the doors. Stay to the side here and don't move. When no one emerges, they'll come to investigate."

  "You plan on killing them?" she asked horrified.

  "Not if I can help it. Just stand back and make sure you stay out of my way.” He centered himself in front of the door. With one swift movement, he plowed into it. Only his plan didn’t work as he had thought. The door didn’t budge. Zachary fell backwards, landing hard.

  "Any other smart ideas?" She looked down at him, her lips thinned with annoyance.

  He ignored her comments. "They must have it barred on the outside."

  "You think?" she said rolling her eyes. "Are you sure there isn't another way out?”

  He stood brushing of his pants. "No, there isn't another way out. I've been around the whole place."

  "Great. Just great." She threw her arms up in the air.

  "You’re acting as if this is all my fault."

  "Well, isn't it?" Gillian put her hands on her hips while she waited for him to answer, when he didn't she continued, "Don't you see? You need to give up your quest with Creighton Manor. Is it really worth being abducted in the middle of the night? You have what's important. You have a nephew who adores you. You have Lotti who cares for you. You have Ellery, believe it or not. Family and friends are important, not a house."

  Zachary painfully noticed that she didn’t include herself with the people that cared for him. He agreed that family was important, but his whole life had been wrapped around getting that manor back in his possession. He couldn't let it go, not now, when it was so close to being in his grasp. "I can’t give up Creighton Manor."

  "Even with someone trying to harm you, that is all you care about. What a sad selfish existence."

  Zachary didn’t have a chance to comment, for they heard the door to the barn being pried open. Zachary quickly grabbed the piece of wood that was leaning against the wall. They both ran to the other side and waited.

  A man with long blond hair and scruffy beard entered with a lantern lighting his way. Zachary was on him in a flash. He slammed the wood against the man's skull and he crumpled to the ground in one big heap. The lantern luckily rolled harmlessly to the side.

  "Hey!" A second man, taller and lankier entered with a gun in his hand. He was prepared for the assault and ducked. He then lunged at Zachary's feet throwing them to the ground. They grappled for possession of the gun, which Zachary managed to kick out of the man's hand. Finally, Zachary got one good swing in and knocked the kidnapper out. A third unexpected man came charging in. This time, the man had the advantage of surprise.

  "Hold on right there. You ain't going nowhere. I oughta put a bullet in you now and save me the trouble of doin' it later."

  Zachary held up his hands and shrugged.

  “That’s better,” the man said. His lazy smile made his wide face appear homelier. “Now—”

  Before he could utter another word, Gillian charged throwing herself at the man's legs. Being thrown off guard by the sudden impact, he fell forward. Zachary promptly whacked him on the head, knocking him out before he even knew what happened.

  Zachary looked at Gillian, a grin slowly spreading across his face. For the moment, they forgot they were angry at each other. "You're going to have to stop saving me like that. What are people going to say?"

  "Well, someone has to watch over you since death seems to be knocking at your door." One of the men groaned, drawing their attention to their situation. "What are we going to do with them?" She motioned with her thumb.

  "Tie them up." He picked up the guns that were scattered on the ground, keeping one of them on him and discarding the others. He retrieved the lantern and handed it to Gillian. "I’ll stay here and guard these three, if you’ll go hunt down something we can use to tie them up.”

  Gillian headed toward the back of the barn. She barely began the search, when Molly came out of one of the stalls with rope in her mouth. She promptly dropped it at Gillian's feet.

  "You're an amazing dog, Molly. Are you a guardian angel in disguise?" Molly turned her head to one side as if she was trying to understand what Gillian was saying. "Come on girl." They made their way back to Zachary.

  "Here's the rope." She handed it to him and he handed her the gun.

  "Make sure you don't shoot me."

  "Keep testing me like you have been and I just might.”

  Zachary gave her a lopsided grin and went to work tying the kidnapper’s hands behind their backs and then tying their feet. After he was finished, he took the gun back.

  "Now what?" she asked.

  "We wait until one of them wakes up so I can find out the information that I need."

  "Can't we just let the authorities take care of this?”

  "I might be a little more persuasive.”

  Since, he knew the men wouldn't be alert for a little while, he decided he would see what supplies were available for them. He picked up the lantern and headed toward the open door. He was almost there, when Gillian called to him.

  "Where are you going with the light?"

  "I’ll only be a minute.” He was good to his word and came back with a blanket and another lantern that he had already lit. He spread the blanket out. “There,” he said as he turned to glance at her standing with her arms wrapped around her. She looked a sight with her hair all tangled, straw sticking out all over and dirt smudged on her left cheek. He had the urge to kiss her. "Hell and damnation," he said under his breath. Even in her bedraggled condition, she was enticing. He cleared his throat. "I want to check out where we are and make sure we don't have any more surprises in store for us."

  Gillian sat down and stretched her legs out in front of her. Molly circled a few times before settling down at her side. While Gillian waited, she began to puzzle over how Molly came to be with them in the first place. She wasn’t at Lotti's house. They had left her at home. Home? She realized how easily it had slipped into her mind to call the house where Zachary and Tyler lived—home.

  It seemed in the short time that she had been here she’d come to feel comfortable with her life with the Creightons. She could see herself staying, which only managed to confuse her more. She wished she could call up Samantha and talk this all out. She missed their late night talks at Polly’s, the coffee shop near her apartment with the best homemade pies and freshly brewed coffee. She even missed Jerry. He had been a friend long before she had ever dated him. She wondered if they were worried about her. It was odd that even though she missed her old friends and her old life, she felt like she belonged here.

  Molly licked her hand and she leaned over to pet her. "What am I to do if the time arrives for me to go back home, Molly?"

  ***

  Zachary finally wandered back in, and for a moment, he just stood there and watched Gillian nuzzle close to Molly, seemingly carrying on a conversation with the mutt.

  She finally noticed him and looked up meeting his gaze with those green eyes— siren eyes. A knot rose in his throat and for a
split second, he thought about turning around and running back outside. He wanted her until he ached inside, but he knew rejection would be all he would ever get from her. It was going to be one long and agonizing night. "Have any of them stirred?" he asked from his position at the doorway. Just by looking at the three men, he knew they hadn’t, but he had to start a conversation to keep his mind off her… lips, luscious lips, kissable lips. His eyes lingered just long enough to make him squirm. Fortunately, she seemed not to notice his discomfort. She had already turned away to glance at the unconscious men.

  "Not a peep." She was happy to report. She looked at him and frowned. "Why are you hovering in the doorway? Do you plan on joining me or do you expect me to interrogate your prisoners when they wake up?" Her brows rose as she waited for him to reply.

  “Your tongue is sharp enough. You might do well to interrogate.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  He walked toward her and into the light.

  Gillian gasped. “Oh God, you do have a nasty bruise on the side of your head.”

  He touched the area.

  "Does your head hurt?"

  Zachary sat down next to Molly using her as a barrier between them. "Just a little. Are you all right?"

  "I think I’ll live." She gave him a quirky half smile.

  "I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess." He was too. He didn't want anything to happen to her.

  "All this violence, and for a house, you haven't even lived in since you were a child. Aren't you tired of having to watch your back? Wouldn't it be easier if you just let it go? Build another house. Start over. You don't have to carry on this personal vendetta against Cyrus."

  He ran his fingers through his hair. "You don't understand."

  "You're right. I don't understand."

  They remained silent after that. Zachary played with the hay on the ground and Gillian kept squirming trying to find a comfortable position. She was now sitting cross-legged with one elbow on her knee and resting her chin on the palm of her hand.