A Terrible Misunderstanding (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite Book 6)

by Rebecca King

  “I am not doing it,” Will interjected with a snort of contempt. “I have only just managed to persuade a new source of valuable information to start talking. There is no possibility I can hand that over to anybody else.”

  Niall’s gaze turned to Callum, who shook his head. “I have already been given my orders. I am going to Gloucestershire too, don’t forget. I am just going to take over from Peregrine. You aren’t going to stand a chance in hell of persuading me to babysit her.”

  “Well, get Peregrine to do it then, when he has finished following Claude. He is on his way there anyway. As soon as he has been relieved, he can go and look after her,” Niall snapped. “I am not going to bloody well do it.”

  “Maybe you had better tell Atticus Potter that you refuse to protect his daughter then.” Oliver’s voice was deadly. “Because I am not going to do it.”

  Niall bit out a curse. “I am not a God damned nursemaid.”

  “Look, I don’t expect you to marry the damned chit, just make sure she doesn’t die. How is it going to look if a family member of one of the Star Elite’s bosses is not just kidnapped but murdered right under our noses? We would be a laughing-stock and disbanded within days.”

  “Well, why don’t you get the local men to go and do it?” Niall snapped, well aware that he was slowly sliding down a slippery rope and was going to crash any second now.

  “They don’t know Smidgley, and this isn’t their investigation,” Oliver argued. “Niall, Will, Harry, you are going to do this. If you don’t then you need to go to the War Office and hand in your resignations. There is no choice in the matter. Believe me, it would help considerably if I didn’t have to lose you. I need every man I can get in this investigation, especially with Sir Hugo nowhere to be found. You have to do this.” Oliver paused but when the men involved remained unmoving, he sighed. “It isn’t a request. It’s an order.”

  Niall threw him a dark glare. “So, you are saying that if I don’t go and do this we are no longer part of the team?”

  “No. That’s not what I am saying at all, but we have to follow disciplinary procedures if you refuse to follow orders. Stepping out and doing something rash when your life is in danger is one thing. We don’t have that many rules as it is. The one true requirement of our job is that we follow orders to the letter but it is up to us to do whatever we have to do to follow those orders while staying alive. Unfortunately, our orders are to make sure that Atticus Potter’s daughter is protected while Claude Smidgley, a prolific kidnapper, sis in the area. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t bother, but because Argent has already warned us that the Star Elite’s family members are in danger, we have to assume there is a credible threat to Clara Potter’s life. Atticus is in London and cannot free himself up to go home because he is trying to catch the War Office’s traitors who hold the highest offices. Moreover, he believes it isn’t safe for her to be in London. It is better that she remains where she is. We have been tasked with keeping her alive. That’s all. I don’t expect you to romance her, bed her, or take her as your damned wife. Just protect the chit.”

  Niall cursed fluidly. “We don’t have a very good track record with protecting the women involved in our investigations, though, do we? I mean, look at you. You were supposed to be protecting Emmeline. The investigation isn’t even over and you are married to her. Look at Angus. He went to investigate the kidnapped women and ended up married to Charity. Twelve months later, he is a father too. Then there is Aaron.”

  “That wasn’t a part of our investigation. Aaron had to go home because he needed to attend his friend’s funeral. Nobody realised he was in love with his friend’s sister. That’s not strictly a result of one of our investigations,” Callum interrupted.

  “You are not helping,” Niall growled.

  Callum wisely lapsed into silence and bit his lip to prevent his grin from breaking out.

  “Then there is Jasper. He was supposed to help with that young boy and ended up marrying the boy’s sister. Now he is a father too, to twins for God’s sake. This is a cursed investigation. Since it started, five members of the group have not only found brides but married them and seem determined to enter fatherhood as fast as humanly possible.”

  “We have to make the most of the time we have,” Jasper replied with a grin. “We are often away for weeks at a time. It isn’t our fault we married women we find attractive.”

  “I don’t want to marry a woman I find attractive. I don’t want to nursemaid any woman and I absolutely have no intention of getting involved with one no matter how pretty she is,” Harry growled. “Nor am I getting married.”

  “Who said Clara Potter was pretty?” Oliver asked curiously. “Have you seen her?”

  Harry had and he knew Clara Potter was tall, willowy, with long, flowing golden hair that was slightly wild. She had a somewhat exotic appearance that was exacerbated by her brilliant green eyes which seemed to reach into a man’s soul and tear it free. Together with her wayward spirit and impish smile, Harry had known the second he had seen her that she was a bundle of feminine trouble. He could fully appreciate why Atticus was reluctant to allow the chit in London. Not only would she have Claude after her but every other eligible bachelor with a pulse who ever stepped foot in the city would be after her too. This would be in addition to a few married men who would also make their dishonourable intentions clear.

  “It is best that she stays in Gloucestershire,” Oliver reiterated when Harry seemed lost in his thoughts and didn’t answer. “Niall, Harry, Will, you are all tasked with keeping the Secretary of State’s daughter alive. You are not likely to need to get close to her, so keep your damned distance. At the rate this group keep falling into the parson’s trap we are going to be disbanding ourselves and setting up a nursery branch.”

  Will threw an apple at Oliver, who ducked and laughed.

  “Is there something we should know?” Niall squinted suspiciously at Oliver whose grin widened.

  “Maybe,” Oliver edged.

  “Shame. Shame. The ink is barely dry on the certificate, you cad,” Niall chided around his grin.

  “They were living in sin beforehand,” Will reminded him.

  “We did no such thing. It was all part of the investigation. Besides, what do you think we could get up to with you lot watching us all the time?” Oliver protested around his smile.

  “You have only been married for three weeks,” Will sighed, shaking his head and throwing Oliver a stern look. “You couldn’t wait, could you?”

  “For what?” Oliver smirked.

  “They had to wait a fortnight for the paperwork to come through and for everyone to get some free time to arrange the wedding, don’t forget. I am sure Oliver made good use of it,” Jasper replied ruefully.

  “Well, enough about my family business.” Oliver seemed to puff out his chest as he grinned proudly at his colleagues.

  “God, to think that we are going to have another one of you running around. God save us,” Will hissed.

  This time, Oliver threw an apple at his head, only it hit in square in the middle of his forehead. Amid guffaws of laughter, everyone congratulated Oliver, who took the celebratory remarks with a gracious nod of his head. Eventually, everyone subsided and turned to Niall, who had lapsed into sullen silence once more.

  “All you need to do is keep her safe, Niall. There is no requirement for you to marry her. She is Atticus’s daughter, so is untouchable. Nothing can happen to her. I am giving you three this assignment because I know you are the least likely of all of us to ever be swayed by a pretty face,” Oliver reasoned.

  “Is she pretty?” Niall had no idea why he felt compelled to ask but did.

  Will took great delight in detailing the woman’s attributes with many elaborate hand movements. Unfortunately, they were nothing like reality.

  “She sounds like a bloody gargoyle,” Rhys snorted.

  “She sounds hideous,” Niall grumbled, mimicking Will’s description with his hands. The embellished nip
ped in waist was alarming as was the size of the woman’s hips and shook his head in disgust.

  “Would you prefer her to be irresistible so you can letch at her from a distance?” Oliver demanded, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

  “No wonder she isn’t married,” Niall replied.

  “Well, maybe I embellished her size a little. But she is pretty,” Will assured him.

  “Again, you are not helping,” Niall warned. He lifted his brows and began to feel a little better about having to look after her. “Maybe you are going to be the next to fall, Will?”

  Will curled his lip. “I shouldn’t sodding think so.”

  “For now, gentlemen, I am going to St Magdaline to make sure Emmeline is settling in nicely and then will help the others try to locate the remaining kidnap victims. The rest of you are going to Gloucestershire. I will catch you up. You know what to do.” Oliver told the men going after Peregrine where to find him and then began to gather his things. “Good luck, everyone. We will be in touch soon.”

  Several minutes later, Niall tugged ferociously at the strings of his bag and flipped the flap over before tying that too. Once he had conducted another thorough check of his now empty bed chamber, he left it behind and raced down the stairs to go in search of his horse. Now that he had his orders he could see no reason why he should not get them over and done with as quickly as possible.

  “I can only hope that Claude moves through Gloucestershire and heads to London. If he tries to take up residence anywhere, I shall damned well toss him out on his ear myself just to keep him moving past Serpentine and the pesky Clara Potter,” he grumbled when he met with Will and Harry in the yard.

  Several minutes later, they took one last look at their sanctuary before setting out for Gloucestershire.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Like every other rural village in England, Serpentine didn’t have much in the way of memorable features. It was nothing more than a small cluster of houses of all ages, shapes, and sizes within which sat a tavern, a village square, a variety of the usual shops, and an old Norman church. Nestled amongst rolling hills stretching in all directions, it appeared a tranquil haven of rural life where nothing much was ever likely to happen.

  “It doesn’t seem the kind of place Smidgley usually hides in,” Harry murmured as they eyed the occasional house perched at the side of the only route into the village.

  “That’s probably why Smidgley wanted to come this way. Anyone looking for him would be inclined to think he would stick to what he knows and be hiding in a city somewhere,” Will warned.

  “Well, we have to be careful because we are going to be the strangers in this village and will stand out,” Niall growled, even though his colleagues had worked in villages just like this on many occasions in the past. They all knew the dangers and risks involved in trying to hide in a village like Serpentine.

  “It’s going to be bloody difficult going anywhere in a place like this,” Will hissed in disgust.

  Niall sighed. “I don’t want to be here.”

  Will threw him a commiserating look. “None of us do, but we don’t have any choice. Let’s just get on with it. The quicker we get it over and done with the faster we can move on.”

  “What does she look like again? From everyone’s descriptions, we are looking for a woman who is somewhere between five feet five inches and six feet, with narrow shoulders, a waist no larger than the palm of my hand, and who has a backside on her that would challenge any bovine. In addition to that, her features are a curious mix of witchlike, with long wavy black hair and mousy with brown hair. She has frizzy yet curly hair with dark or green eyes which tend to be a little wild,” Niall mused.

  He grinned when Harry snorted, and Will shook his head in disgust.

  “Anyone?” he prompted when neither of his colleagues corrected him.

  “I haven’t got a clue what she looks like,” Harry admitted with a shrug. “The last time I saw her I was a little distracted, and she disappeared really quickly.”

  Harry’s statement sent cold shivers down Niall’s spine. His mirth died instantly when Will nodded and added: “The last time Oliver saw her she vanished quickly as well.”

  Niall squinted at them both. “Mother of God.”

  “Well, we know that about her,” Harry mused sarcastically.

  “It’s going to make it bloody difficult if she is good at disappearing.” Niall sighed and squinted at the village before them with even less enthusiasm.

  “At least we aren’t going to be the ones who marry. We will prove that we can nursemaid one of the ladies placed in our care and are able to keep our hands to ourselves. We are not all lecherous.” Will lifted his brows at his colleagues who rode on either side of him.

  Niall nodded. “I should damned well take her back to Leicestershire with me just to tell Oliver that I have married her. His reaction would be priceless.”

  “Are you all right?” a young voice suddenly piped up from beside him.

  Niall cursed because he had been so deep in conversation and his perusal of the houses up ahead that he hadn’t noticed the young boy leave the tress and fall into step beside his horse.

  “How long have you been there?” he demanded without thinking, wondering just how much of their conversation the young boy had just heard.

  “I just got here,” the boy replied honestly. “Why?”

  Niall frowned when the young boy began to jog along beside his horse as if it was something he did with every stranger in the area.

  “Are you all right?” the young boy asked again.

  Niall looked down at him but didn’t slow his horse. “Yes, why?”

  “You were talking to yourself. My mam said it’s the first sign of madness.”

  “Well, I lost my marbles years ago,” Niall muttered. “I must have to be here now.”

  “Are you staying in the tavern?” the boy asked.

  “We are passing through,” Will offered.

  “It’s going to be dark soon,” the boy announced as if they couldn’t already see the orange and blue swirls on the horizon forewarning of the looming night about to fall upon them.

  “You need to go home then,” Niall urged.

  “What are you here for?” the boy demanded.

  “Private business,” Niall growled. “Go home.”

  “Have you seen any other strangers in the area?” Harry asked before the boy could do just that.

  “No sir,” the young boy called already skipping away. “You are the only strangers in the village.”

  Niall shook his head because he didn’t doubt that. He dug deep for his patience, not least because the boy was apt to go home and report his sighting of them to his mother, who would undoubtedly tell the locals that three strangers were in the area.

  “In a place like this our presence is going to be known to everyone within the hour,” Harry growled in disgust.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Niall opened his mouth to call his thanks to the lad only to find he had vanished just as quickly as he had appeared.

  “We need to scout around to find somewhere to stay while we are here,” Will sighed. “I will do it. You two go and locate the aunt’s house.”

  Harry and Niall were left with no choice but to find somewhere safe to hide their horses so they could set out on foot to find Miss Clara Potter’s house. Niall could only hope what they found there was as unappealing as his colleagues’ description of her had been.

  “I will go and search the area this side of the main street. You go and search around the other half. We are looking for a tall, large building. It’s called the Oaks, or the Cedars. Something after a damned tree anyway,” Niall growled.

  Harry rolled his eyes but grinned and tapped his forehead with his finger before he disappeared. Niall watched until darkness swallowed him and then, with increasing reluctance, headed off in the opposite direction. He had no idea why he should be so bothered about his part in this investigation, but his gut was screaming
at him that something was about to happen, and it was dangerous.

  Clara hurried down the main street of the village she had lived in practically all her life, and absolutely adored. Today, though, she was far from content with her lot in life. She was cold, tired, and just wanted to go home.

  Serpentine was small, quaint, but right now so deathly quiet it was unnerving. Normally, peace didn’t bother Clara, who usually revelled in having the streets to herself. She liked being able to go about her business without having to stop and engage in idle chit-chat about her life. Not that she minded stopping for a quick chat with anybody. It was nice that so many people wanted to stop and talk with her and share little anecdotes about their lives. But it was equally nice to be able to walk around unhindered by curious locals eager to pass the time of day, or friends who wanted to know when she would meet and take tea with them.

  “Tonight, I just want to go home, and quickly. Very, very quickly.” Clara knew why as well. She didn’t want to be accosted by her nemesis, the one man in the village who had a penchant for harassing her no matter what she was doing: Erasmus Boyle.

  “He is more like a damned wart rather than a Boyle,” Clara grumbled beneath her breath.

  When she saw her breath fog out before her, Clara tucked her chin into her muffler. It was only when she stopped talking to herself and listened to her surroundings once more that she realised there was something wrong.

  “Oh, God, no,” she groaned because deep inside she already knew what it was, or rather who.

  Reluctantly, Clara paused but only to take a quick look around the empty street. She was sure she had just heard the hollow sound of footsteps behind her but no matter how hard she studied every nook and cranny of the street there was no sign of the creator of that second pair of footsteps.

  Warily, she tugged her cloak tighter around her and resumed her journey with strides as rapid as she could make them without breaking into a flat-out run.