Page 89 of Escape Velocity

Everyone turned to find out who it was, but from her position halfway up the stairs, Amber could see the newcomer plainly.

The speaker was Gatroux, the leader who had been their host at dinner.

He pushed his way into the room, then through the throng to the stairway where he climbed onto the first step and turned to face the room.

“We have talked many times about driving the interloper from our territory, but nobody has been brave enough to make a move against him.”

“Because the Feds will come after us for murdering one of their officials,” someone shouted.

Gatroux shook his head. “Not if his death looks like an accident. Not if it looks like it’s too dangerous for city dwellers to live out here.”

“How would we accomplish such a scheme?” LaTour demanded.

“I have been thinking about that for a long time. The swamp will swallow up his house,” the elder said calmly.

Again, talk sprang up around the room.

“How?” LaTour challenged.

“By digging under the foundations until the water rises up to take the structure.”

“You must be mad,” the younger man countered.

“The water is just below the ground. That’s why our houses sit on stilts. That’s why we change locations if the water rises.”

The man in the back who had supported Amber’s claim spoke up. “I have worked at the estate many times. The ground is boggy, and there are open pools.”

“Yes,” Gatroux agreed. “If enough of us work at flooding Tudor’s mansion, we can do it.”

“Especially if our ship’s weapons blast into the ground,” Max added.

All around the room, men were talking excitedly as they sensed that this new strategy could work.

Gatroux let the conversation swirl for several minutes before raising his hand and calling for silence. When the babble had stopped, he said, “We should get on with it.” He looked at Max and Rafe. “Untie them.”

The men on either side of the captives complied, and Max rushed to Amber.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes. Are you?”

“Yeah. Because you saved our butts.”

A whole room full of people was watching. Ignoring them, he took her in his arms, holding her close, and she reached to return the embrace. He held her for only for a few moments before he eased away.

She wished they could be alone—in the room where they’d spent the night, but she knew that was out of the question now.

Before they could say more to each other, the older man was speaking again. “Our guests will come back to the camp with us, and we will make our plans. But first. . .” He gave LaTour a stern look. “Where did you get the notion that you could simply act on your own without consultation?”

The other man scuffed a booted foot against the floorboards. “I knew they were lying. That made them a danger to us.”

“If you thought that, you should have brought that concern to me or Dubois,” he said.

The hothead raised his voice. “I knew you wouldn’t listen.”

“And look what almost happened. We have a chance to rid ourselves of a murderer, and you were about to cock it up.”

LaTour’s face reddened, and he turned away. As Amber watched him, she couldn’t repress a surge of worry. Obviously, he didn’t like being reprimanded in public. What if he tried to make trouble again?

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