by Rebecca King
‘Careful.’
‘My bag is still strapped to the horse,’ she gasped. ‘I need to fetch it.’
‘Not in the middle of a gun fight you won’t. The men will bring the horses when they have cleared the woods,’ Phillip assured her.
‘How can you know they will clear the woods?’ Carlotta asked, a little amazed at the certainty in his voice. She thought it was a little arrogant that he could be so certain of success so soon after their near disaster.
‘Because after what happened yesterday the men will be more determined than ever to make sure they succeed and aren’t overwhelmed again. They will be bolstered by the knowledge that we have all survived, but also know we have to bring this investigation to a close no matter how many of Haugham’s men have to die.’ With that, Phillip propelled her into motion and guided her toward the safe house.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Several hours later, Carlotta glared at Phillip’s back and tried hard not to lose her temper. She knew he was only trying to protect her, but they had been past this same house at least three times in the past hour. As far as she could tell they were just going around in circles. She was cold, tired, and wanted to get off the horse, but Phillip didn’t seem to want to stop. He didn’t appear to even have much interest in the house either despite it being their destination.
‘Can we not stop now?’ she demanded with a glare. ‘If you wish to keep going around like this then please do, but you will have to let me stop.’
Phillip mentally winced when he saw the lines of exhaustion on her face. He threw her a commiserating look and felt guilty for having been so relentless in his determination to keep her safe that he hadn’t considered her comfort. There had to be a point when he stopped being an investigator with the Star Elite who thought about guns and danger. He had to occasionally be a man who thought about something more. To keep circling the house, checking every angle of it and the route they had just taken to make sure that nobody was watching had left Carlotta exhausted. Even as she stood just a few feet behind him, dusty and dishevelled, her shoulders were drooping and there were dark circles beneath her eyes he was sure hadn’t been there when he had first met her.
Just this morning as a matter of fact.
‘It has been a long day, hasn’t it?’ he murmured.
‘Is that the safe house or are you intending to purchase it? If you want to go around again please do, but I am going back to Bladley Weeks.’ She folded her arms and gave him a defiant glare that warned him she wasn’t going to take one more step.
‘You can try.’ Leaning closer, Phillip growled: ‘You won’t get very far. Not on foot and not with my friends nearby. Where would you go? Back to that house where the thugs might find you?’
Carlotta narrowed the gap between them and adopted his cocky stance. ‘If you are who you say you are the thugs who are still alive are going off to gaol, so why should I worry?’
‘Are you not worried that your father might be here?’ Phillip challenged. ‘We still have Smidgley’s murderer to catch by the way.’
‘You can’t prove that the murderer is still in the area.’
Phillip cursed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
Carlotta was exhausted. She had never had such a busy day before and struggled to know what to say. She didn’t feel safe and wondered if she would feel able to relax ever again. What worried her more than anything was her confusion about her feelings for Phillip. She had only just met him, yet he had swiftly become such an intrinsic part of her life that she struggled to envisage having to face life without him. While she was pleased that he had found his friends and knew that they were all right, she also knew that their time together was at an end. That made her want to cry. Phillip would want to join his friends and go after the thugs that were still alive. Carlotta couldn’t blame him for that, but a part of her couldn’t help but be sorry about it as well. She had lost him before she had even really gotten a chance to even think about whether she wanted him in her life. It was so contradictory that she struggled to comprehend what it might all mean. She couldn’t ignore that even now, as tired and exhausted and out of sorts as she was, she still wanted him to kiss her again.
Perplexed, Carlotta lowered her gaze to the floor and did her best to try to control her emotions. She was aware of Phillip studying her far too closely for comfort and did her best to make sure he wouldn’t be able to read anything in her face.
Phillip saw the change in her; the quiet retreat that distanced her from him. It happened slowly over the space of several minutes and was accompanied by a thick, awkward silence they both struggled to know how to break. Phillip struggled to identify what had caused it. He knew he really had no experience with women to be able to read her behaviour and have some idea of what was wrong with her. He could fight thugs with guns, chase people through streets, and wrestle with criminals. What he couldn’t do was understand women; on this occasion, Carlotta.
‘I’ll show you to your room,’ he murmured quietly before leading her into the house.
Carlotta showed very little interest in the house. She remained subdued as he opened the door and led her into the large kitchen at the rear of the property. Once there, Phillip filled a plate with food and a goblet with wine and carried them both through the house. Waving her toward the stairs, he followed her up.
‘Go to the left at the top of the stairs. Your bed chamber is at the end of the corridor.’
Carlotta stepped into a rather neat and tidy room which had no character about it at all. The curtains at the window clung desperately to the crumbling brickwork within which sat an equally decaying window. The small square space contained nothing more than a bare bed, a small table beside it, and a chair.
‘It is a little basic, but we don’t intend to stay for long. We usually move on in a couple of days and use blankets we carry with us when we sleep. I will go and fetch you one.’ Phillip slid the plate and goblet onto the small side table before sidling out of the room.
He puffed out his cheeks once he was in the hallway and hurried into his room to fetch his blanket. Seconds later, he dropped it onto the bed. It was a little alarming to note that she hadn’t moved. Carlotta had remained beside the window, staring blankly out over the large garden at the back of the house, her shoulders rigid, her spine straight, still completely silent.
‘Try to get some rest. You will feel better after something to eat and a doze.’
When she still didn’t answer him, Phillip quietly let himself out of the room and closed the door behind him. He wanted to leave. He should be back downstairs, securing the house until the rest of the men could return. Instead, he remained with his shoulders resting against the wall outside her bed chamber door. Tipping his head back, he allowed the silence of the property to settle about him while he contemplated what had happened.
In the space of a day I have survived being shot at and nearly drowned. I have struggled to reach safety, found a woman in hiding, dragged her across the county, believed my friends were dead, searched numerous bodies, found out that my friends are alive, located them, and returned to the safe house with said young woman.
‘Who makes me feel far more than I ought to feel,’ he murmured.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Phillip forced himself to go downstairs before he did something rash like return to the room and say something or do something he would later regret. Right now, he needed some time to himself to contemplate Miss Carlotta Stoneman, and the challenges she had brought to his life. More importantly, he had to think of a way to get her to talk to him again.
Carlotta stood before the window for several minutes and stared blindly outside. She struggled to know what to think. She didn’t doubt that Phillip worked for the Star Elite now. Having seen them together; the almost business-like way they had taken up various positions in the woods and so expertly shot at the thugs, Carlotta had no doubt that fighting criminals was what Phillip and his friends did with their lives.
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p; ‘I also don’t doubt you have plenty of friends who will help you deal with whatever problems you have,’ Carlotta whispered. ‘Including me.’
What she didn’t know was what they were likely to want to do with her. She couldn’t ignore the fact that the Star Elite were lawmen and would probably want to hand her over to her father because they had thugs to fight; men to shoot at. They wouldn’t want to be burdened by her domestic problems. Her father would be deemed more suitable to deal with her waywardness. As nice as he was, Phillip still worked with the magistrate and as such had to focus on the work the magistrate did.
‘God only knows what lies father would tell them,’ she whispered knowing that she had no way of proving that she hadn’t stolen any money anymore than she could prove her father had stolen her inheritance.
A wave of helpless frustration slammed into her that brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes. Carlotta swiped angrily at them and sniffed miserably. She was cold, had no clothing whatsoever except for what she was wearing. She had no cloak, and no food of her own. She was completely beholden to Phillip.
‘At his mercy,’ she whispered. ‘Why am I always at the mercy of men?’
She wanted to turn around and run but had nowhere to go. Her thoughts turned to Cliff House. ‘I have somewhere to go. I just don’t know if I can get there.’ She knew that Phillip would never let her return to Cliffe House. ‘But I don’t need his permission either. Yes, he has kept me safe, but I am still in danger because of the thugs who threaten him. Phillip cannot matter to me. I cannot allow his feelings to influence what I want. It is best for me if I get away from here; from them. It is best for me if I just keep moving. Now that I know the thugs have been waylaid by the Star Elite, I should make use of their distraction to get as far away from here as I can, preferably before my father appears.’
With that decision made, Carlotta turned to look at the food Phillip had left beside the bed. While it smelt delicious it had no appeal. Her stomach roiled but not with hunger. She felt rather sick because the deep hurt that began to well inside was enough to make her utterly miserable. But she forced herself to sit on the edge of the bed and eat. However, after just a few small bites she tossed it down in disgust. Pacing back to the window, she looked out at the landscape and tried to decide which way she should run. She couldn’t decide, but what she did know was that she had to leave within the next few minutes. Once Phillip’s colleagues returned escape would be impossible. Quietly, Carlotta removed her boots and began to plan.
Downstairs, Phillip slumped into a chair beside the fire and stared down at the apple in his hand. He bit into it but then threw the rest into the fire and watched it hit and spit as the flames consumed the moisture. With a curse, he stood up and helped himself to a liberal dose of brandy before slumping back down again.
‘Thank God you are all right,’ Oliver growled again when he slammed into the house with the rest of the men.
Phillip jerked in surprise and mentally cursed. He hadn’t even heard his colleagues ride into the yard.
A true warning that I must keep my mind on my work and not Carlotta.
‘Where is she?’ Oliver asked with a frown.
Phillip pointed upstairs. ‘She is exhausted.’
‘Are you all right? You have some wounds I see,’ Callum said as he crossed the kitchen and bent down to look through the holes in Phillip’s shirt.
‘They are just cuts. I got them when I was in that warehouse,’ Phillip replied.
‘We thought they had got you,’ Callum murmured. ‘The last I saw of you was when three of Smidgley’s thugs entered the warehouse and started to fire at you. At that point, two gunmen pinned me down. The whole damned place turned into a battlefield. I didn’t see you but knew you wouldn’t have left the warehouse on the harbour side because you would run into the bullets. You didn’t leave from the back because I was there. I thought you had been shot. By the time I shot the two firing at me and got into the warehouse you were nowhere to be found. There was a pool of blood and several bodies, but you had gone.’
‘There was blood leading to the harbour wall that we assumed was yours. Justin and Angus took a rowing boat out and spent the night searching the trawlers, just in case you had climbed aboard one, but you didn’t surface,’ Oliver added.
‘I had to swim out to sea. They saw me dive into the harbour and started to fire at me. When that didn’t work, they got a rowing boat and came after me. I used the darkness and swam far enough out that it was impossible to find me. I then swam along the coast. It was only the tide being out that stopped me from drowning,’ Phillip explained.
‘Where did you find the girl?’ Jasper asked, propping his boots on the kitchen table in a relaxed pose while he munched on a large piece of pie.
‘What is her story?’ Oliver asked quietly.
Phillip told them everything he knew.
‘So, you don’t know if she is telling you the truth, and if these thugs have really been sent by her father?’ Oliver asked.
Phillip shook his head.
‘Well, we shot one but the other got away. I am afraid the one we shot is dead so he cannot provide us with any information. The stockier thug ran for his life and was too far away for us to go after him. He went back to the village, though, so I don’t think he will have left the area just yet. Do you want us to go after him?’
Phillip contemplated that. ‘Do we know if Smidgley’s thugs are still in the area?’
Oliver nodded.
‘Then we cannot waste the time on the father’s thugs. If the last one stays in the area and reappears, we will arrest him. He is more likely to return to the father and tell him that the job is too dangerous, especially if he has just been hired as a show of force. It depends how much the father has paid the thugs to do the job. If they have been paid well the last one will stay and try to finish what he started. It depends if he thinks it is worth risking his life for.’
‘I agree. If he reappears, we must arrest him. If he shoots at us, he is to be cut down just like Smidgley’s thugs would be,’ Oliver informed everyone.
‘Smidgley is dead,’ Phillip announced. ‘I saw his body myself. He was hung by someone who was in the woods close to the house Carlotta was hiding in. I can only assume that Haugham did it.’
Oliver shook his head. ‘Haugham was killed last night at the harbour. He was shot in the head by someone.’
‘It can’t have been him then,’ Phillip mused.
‘That means we have another killer in the area. But why would he want Smidgley dead?’ Oliver mused.
The men from the Star Elite all looked at each other.
‘The Starling’s skipper,’ Oliver whispered. ‘It has to be him. At some point during the gun battle he sailed out of the harbour. By the time any of us were able to go after him he was too far out at sea to be caught.’
‘I didn’t see him,’ Phillip replied.
‘It has to be him. There can’t be anybody else involved in this,’ Jasper reasoned.
‘But why would he want Smidgley dead?’ Aaron asked.
‘Because Smidgley and Haugham knew too much about him. I doubt he would have been told how much trouble Smidgley and Haugham would bring to his door. If he has any other crimes he needs to hide he would be prepared to do whatever he has to do to escape justice, even if that meant murdering someone,’ Oliver reasoned.
‘There is more,’ Phillip interrupted. ‘Smidgley was in the woods next to the house where I found Carlotta. He accosted Carlotta and asked her for help. He seemed desperate and tried to drag her toward the village of Windwidger.’
‘Why in the Hell would he do that?’ Aaron asked.
‘Maybe he wanted her to fetch something for him? Maybe he wanted her to help him get to the village? He was injured. He had a deep cut along the length of his face. Whatever he wanted we will never know now,’ Phillip replied. ‘Carlotta didn’t wait around to find out.’
‘Maybe he wanted her to take a message to the skipper
of The Starling,’ Oliver suggested.
Phillip lifted his brows at his colleague. ‘That would mean that The Starling has been taken to Windwidger. Smidgley must have gotten in touch with the man somehow. Maybe he sent a local to take a message or managed to signal him from the cliff top or something. He would be visible from the edge of the trees because they are on the cliffs overlooking the village.’
‘It’s possible. However, the killer found Smidgley and murdered the man. That means we have a new problem on our hands.’
‘Carlotta found Smidgley. Then we both saw the killer,’ Phillip interrupted before describing the man they had seen lurking in the shadows in the woods near to Smidgley’s body. ‘The killer has seen Carlotta and will want her silenced as well.’
‘That makes you both his targets,’ Aaron warned.
‘Did Carlotta not see any distinguishing features of the killer when she saw him?’ Oliver asked.
‘She says not.’
‘But you don’t believe her.’
Phillip sighed. ‘No, I believe she saw no more than I did.’
‘The killer saw her and thinks she saw him. That’s what is important here,’ Justin said.
‘What is her problem with her father?’ Oliver murmured quietly.
Phillip told them what he knew.
‘Her father sent thugs after her with orders to shoot and kill if she resisted? Now, why would any loving, nurturing father want to do that?’ Niall mused, his voice barely above a whisper.
‘Can we really get ourselves involved in a domestic problem like this?’ Jasper growled. ‘Don’t we have enough to battle trying to capture whoever is left of Smidgley’s gang? If her father did take her home at least she would be safe.’
A couple of the men agreed. Phillip didn’t. ‘Don’t be a fool. If the bastard snatches her off the street and forces her to return home, he is no better than Smidgley. We cannot just hand her over. Kidnap is kidnap. What will we have achieved by killing Smidgley and his gang if we just allow others to do what he has done? Carlotta is three and twenty, of that there should be no doubt. She is therefore old enough to decide for herself where she wants to live, don’t you think?’