Page 82 of Betrayal from Beyond
“I’ll fill Stayme in and set him to work,” Gyda continued. “Then I will rest there until morning. You two can take the first train in. We’ll see what Stayme can dig up and start planning accordingly.”
Kara began to feel guilty. “Perhaps I can—”
“No,” Niall interrupted, his tone resolute. “You will do as the doctor said and rest right there until morning.” He nodded at Gyda. “Very well. It is a good plan as any.”
It was probably just as well. Kara could feel the pull of exhaustion. Tugging Gyda closer, she gave her a long hug and whispered her thanks. When her friend pulled away, she blinked tearfully. “Be careful,” she whispered.
“You be careful,” Gyda returned indignantly. “No more horse tonic for you.”
Kara laughed and shook her head. “I only hope Petra is feeling worse than I am. They hauled her off in that farm cart, stretched out in the straw.” The words triggered a memory. “Oh, how could I have forgotten? They are hauling some sortof devices. Hollow, oblong, made of metal. There were holes all about them. I had no idea what they were, but there was gunpowder in the barn and they meant to take it with them.”
Niall told her about the craters blown in the fields. “They mean to destroy something, and make a big splash about it.”
“They were missing a piece,” Kara said, trying to remember. “The Russian mentioned it.” She looked helplessly between them. “I hope Stayme will know something, otherwise I don’t know how we are going to find them. Maybe Petra will sleep long enough to delay their plans.”
“I hope she sleeps for days,” Gyda said harshly. “And then wakes up to find us upon her.” She raised a brow. “But as for you, I expect you to be up and pushing on in the morning. Sleep it off,” she said gently. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Kara nodded and lay back while Niall walked with Gyda to the door. Nestling in, she watched them speak, flooded with the warmth of love she felt for them both.
She blinked, fighting the sleep that pulled at her. Down, down. She struggled, but it was too strong. Her eyelids drooped, and she fell.
Her dreams were vivid. Some of them frightened her. She thought her drugged mind had taken pity on her at last when she dreamed a knock on the hotel door. Niall rose to answer it, and she knew it for a dream when he opened it to reveal Turner standing outside.
Her butler and longest close friend entered, looking grim. “Tom Hawkins is gone. He left sometime during the night.”
A shiver went through her in the wake of the cold air that had come in with him. Surely she hadn’t dreamed that.
Was she awake?
Turner’s gaze lowered. “I’m sorry. So sorry. Harold is gone, too. I came to tell you straightaway.”
Kara gasped and sat up. It wasn’t a dream. But Turner’s words made her feel as if she were still trapped in a nightmare.
*
Niall pulled Turnerinside. He steered the older man to a seat by the fire before kneeling to poke it back to life.
Kara, still fully clothed after all her adventures yesterday, climbed out of the bed. She was still a bit wobbly on her feet, but she made it across the room and dropped into a heap at Turner’s feet. “Tell us, Turner.”
“I am so—” the butler began again, but his gaze ran over her and he stopped, clearly startled by the picture she presented. Niall looked, too. The rumpled gown, the bare feet, the bits of straw throughout her ebony hair—none of it meant a jot to him. She could still put anytonnishdebutante to shame. It was the fright in her eyes that moved him.
“Your Grace? Are you well?” A similar scare showed in Turner’s face as he stared at the woman he’d cared for since she was a girl. “What’s happened?”
“Petra’s henchmen poured opium down her throat,” Niall said bitterly. Those men would pay for that before all of this was over.
“To be fair, I dosed Petra and one of her accomplices first,” Kara said. “But never mind that. Where is Harold? What’s happened?” She stared up at the older man. “Turner, you look positively gray.” She glanced toward the window, which was just starting to brighten with morning light. “You must have left in the middle of the night to get here so early.”
“Your message said you hoped to leave here this morning, if all went well. I wanted to catch you before you left.” He looked between them. “I am forced to imagine it didn’t go well?”
“It went…” Niall paused. “The entire escapade was…unusual.”
“As our typical matter of course, then,” Turner said wryly.
“Yes, yes. But what’s happened to Harold?” Kara demanded.
“I do not know for sure,” Turner answered miserably.
“He’s not hurt?” Niall could see Kara holding her breath, waiting for the answer.
