Page 27 of Trapped with the Earl of Sin

In the midst of everything, Martin’s hand landed on something cold and metallic, which caused his blood to freeze. He did not know what it was, but as he pulled back to tug the item into the light, his fears were confirmed.

“What is that?” Susanna demanded, seemingly sensing that Martin had found something important. “Oh my goodness, is that…?”

She clapped her hands to her mouth in horror as Martin met her eyes. He nodded, confirming her worries. “Yes, it is. A gun.”

Why would Edwin need a gun when he was attending his cousin’s wedding? It made Martin fear now that he and Luke had gone out clay shooting. Surely there would be no danger there, but it was still unnerving. It made everything seem much more disreputable.

“I do not understand. What is happening here?” Susanna asked, her voice trembling with worry. “I cannot believe this. WhoisEdwin, and what is he capable of? Now I am truly starting to panic that he has done something in the past.”

They were so close to one another that Martin could feel the hammering of her heart. Much as this had wound him up, the effect it’d had on Susanna was off the scale. He wished that he could do something to calm her down, but he did not know what she needed.

Well, it seemed like she just needed all of this to be over.

“We cannot take the gun from the room,” she whispered anxiously. “Edwin will most certainly know that it is missing. But we also cannot leave it behind. It might be dangerous in his hands. Plus, Mary and Luke might not believe us without us showing them. What are we going to do? This is hard. Harder than I thought it was going to be. I did not think we would discover something so bad.”

This was worse than the letter.

Martin knew even less what to do.

He racked his brain, willing the answer to just come to him already, but it did not. This was an impossible situation. There was no right move here, nothing that would not cause endless amounts of trouble.

“Wait, what is that?” Susanna grabbed onto his arm, panic shooting through her like lightning. Her eyes widened as the color drained from her cheeks. “Do you hear that? Is it footsteps?”

As soon as she said that, Martin could hear it too. There really were footsteps, and they seemed to be headed in the direction of Edwin’s room. He was supposed to be out clay shooting, they were supposed to have much more time than this, but now it seemed like they were about to be caught.

In a moment of thoughtless worry, Martin grabbed hold of Susanna and tugged her into the closet with him. It was most certainly not the best plan, especially since he still had the gun clutched between his fingers, but he had not been given time to think things through.

Susanna edged fearfully closer to him and held her breath as they both heard the door to Edwin’s bedchambers opening.

It truly was him, and now there was a very big chance that they were going to get caught.

This could get really ugly.

Martin and Susanna stood in the dark, cramped closet, their breaths shallow and hearts pounding in sync. Martin’s grip on the cold metal of the gun tightened as he strained to listen to the movements outside.

“What a disaster,” the person outside muttered in a voice that was distinctly Edwin’s. “I cannot seem to get this right, however hard I try.”

“What do we do?” Susanna’s voice was barely a whisper, her panic evident. “What does he mean?”

Martin shook his head slightly, indicating they should remain silent. He knew they had to wait for the right moment to make their move, but he wasn’t sure what that moment would be. The gun in his hand felt like a ticking time bomb.

Edwin’s footsteps grew louder, closer, until Martin could see the faint outline of his figure through the slats of the closet door. Edwin paused right in front of the closet, and for a horrifying moment, Martin thought they were discovered.

But then, Edwin moved away, and they heard the sound of papers rustling. It seemed he was searching for something in his drawers, unaware of the intruders in his room.

Martin’s mind raced. They needed to get out of there with the evidence they’d found, but doing so without being seen was going to be a challenge. He turned to Susanna, his eyes pleading for her to stay calm.

Suddenly, Edwin’s booming voice broke the silence. “Where is it?” he muttered to himself, frustration evident in his tone. “I know I left it here. It cannot have gotten far.”

Martin and Susanna exchanged a glance. Whatever Edwin was looking for, it was clear he was agitated. Martin’s mind went to the letter they’d found. Could it be that Edwin was searching for that very letter?

Was he finally trying to send it?

Much as they could not allow that toxic letter to go anywhere, they also did not want it to be discovered that it was missing. This was a messy situation that Martin never expected to find himself in.

He was supposed to be gone much longer than this.What happened with the clay shooting?

Martin’s heart hammered in his chest as he tried to piece together the situation. Edwin was clearly frustrated, his search becoming more frantic by the second. Susanna’s hand clutched Martin’s arm, her grip tight with fear.

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