Page 53 of Fatal By Design
“The money it fetched is there.”
He gnashed his teeth against a furious reply, and instead asked, “How much is left?”
The flush from his cheeks drained as he no doubt worried his escape plot had been sunk. And if it had, he would not need to keep either hostage alive. Audrey had to salvage things, and quickly.
“Just over five thousand,” she answered, thinking of the initial investment sum for the silver mine. She prayed it would be significant enough to stay him. The long exhalation he emitted hinted that it was.
“I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” he grated out, sitting back against the squabs. “The ring already changed over into pounds sterling will hasten my departure.”
“Good. Now then, have your driver pull over.”
Mr. Henley peered at her as though she’d spoken an unknown language. “Come again?”
“Pull over. If you want me to lead you to the money, you will let my sister out here.”
Millie gasped as Mr. Henley belted out a laugh. “You are delusional, Your Grace.”
“No. I am merely shrewd. You want the five thousand I have hidden inside Fournier House? You won’t ever find it without me. And I won’t help you unless you let Millie out. Now.”
He was no longer amused. Baring his teeth, he leaned forward. “Maybe I’ll just shoot her instead. She is no longer useful, anyhow.”
Beside her, Millie squealed softly and recoiled.
“Harm my sister and you will get nothing. Shoot me and you will get nothing. However, let Millie out here and I will not resist. The money is yours.”
His eyes sparked and again, he grated out a dog-like howl. Mr. Henley banged a fist on the wall of the coach. “Pull over!” The horses immediately began to slow. “It seems your sister shall take your place, Lady Redding.”
Millie grabbed Audrey’s hands. “No, I won’t let you.”
“It will be just fine, Millie, I promise,” Audrey said, though she was almost certain that it, too, was a lie.
“I can’t have you walking back to Greenbriar just yet, Lady Redding. We need a better head start if we’re to make it to Hertfordshire without interference,” Mr. Henley said as the coach drew to a stop. “A leg wound should do nicely.”
“No!” Audrey and Millie both screamed as he shifted his pistol toward Millie’s shins.
“Guv!” the driver called back. “A rider, coming up behind us.”
“Quiet,” Mr. Henley warned them, though Millie continued to cry and shake violently. He couldn’t very well shoot now—the approaching rider would surely stop. “Hush, the pair of you—”
An object came sailing through the open carriage window and struck Mr. Henley in the face. He cried out, his whole body jerking back—and his pistol fired. Searing pain lit up Audrey’s thigh and she screamed, but the pain wasn’t enough to detract her attention from the blood gushing from their captor’s nose. Or the fact that he had lost his grip on the pistol as he wailed in agony.
“Millie! Go!” she cried, reaching for the door. The movement bolted hot pain through her, but she ignored it—especially when a second projectile smashed into Mr. Henley’s bleeding face. He rocked back with another roar of pain. A horse and rider then galloped past the coach in a blur—and with a stroke of wonder, Audrey recognized them, for there weretworiders: Carrigan and Sir!
“Jump!” Audrey gave her sister a shove between her shoulder blades, and Millie’s arms went up as she fell to the ground, a few feet below. She landed on her side in a lump.
“Stop!” Mr. Henley screamed. The last thing Audrey saw before she jumped out through the open door was the enraged man scrambling to pick up his pistol.
She landed on the road, her ankle rolling and nearly sending her to the ground next to Millie. The excruciating pain in her thigh threatened to turn her legs to rubber. Millie, however, got to her feet and hooked Audrey’s arm over her shoulders. “Hurry!” she cried, then screamed again as the driver leaped down from the box in front of them, blocking their path.
“Duck, duchess!” came Sir’s screeching order from close behind them. They crouched, pain ripping through Audrey’s leg, and immediately, the driver toppled backward as something struck him just as it had Mr. Henley. A rock dropped to the dirt, and Audrey realized what Sir was wielding: a slingshot.
“Into the woods!” Carrigan shouted to them as Audrey and Millie stood straight again. The driver rolled on the dirt with his hands clamped around his bloodied eye. Mr. Henley lunged from the open coach door and slammed bodily into both Carrigan and Sir. Audrey’s heart dropped.
“Sister, hurry!” Millie cried, and then tugged her off the roadside and into the trees.
ChapterEighteen
Acluster of servants milled around the open front door to Greenbriar when at last, after an hour of hard riding from Pyke-on-Wending, the house came into view. Hugh, covered in dust and drenched in sweat, dismounted before bringing his horse to a full stop. His instincts had proved correct: something untoward had happened here. The whole ride, he’d felt as though he was not moving fast enough. If he could but fly to Greenbriar—to Audrey—he would have.
