TemptedByHisKiss (26 page)

Meg!

Cade’s heart nearly stopped.

“Shall I dispose of her, then?” Everett inquired.

Abruptly, Meg broke free of her captor’s hold, ripping the gag out of her mouth. “Don’t do it, Cade!” she cried. “Don’t come out! If you’re there, go away. Go away now!”

She tried to run, but made it no more than three steps before Everett caught her around the waist and dragged her back. He raised his other hand and held it to her head, revealing the pistol held inside his grip.

“So what is it to be?” Everett demanded, his voice no longer as calm as before. “Your freedom or her death?”

Without even pausing to consider, Cade left the shelter of the woods.

A
fearsome ache rose in Meg’s chest as she watched Cade emerge from his concealment, her misery so intense she barely felt the hard, metallic press of Everett’s pistol barrel where it rested against her temple.

How could I have been so stupid as to follow Cade and then let myself get caught
? she berated herself. Because of her actions, Cade was in even graver danger than before.

She still didn’t know how she’d been discovered. One minute she’d been sneaking along the grounds parallel to the drive, her feet silent against the grassy lawn, then suddenly Everett appeared. He was on her before she even knew he was there, taking her completely unawares. She hadn’t even had time to scream before he wrapped his smothering palm over her mouth and nose. And now she was being used as bait to lure Cade to whatever fate Everett had planned.

“Stop,” Everett ordered Cade when he was a few yards away.

Cade stopped.

“My man will see what weapons you have concealed on your person.”

With a nod, the servant hurried forward. Patting Cade down, he removed a pair of knives from the inside of his coat and another from his right boot. He confiscated his cane as well, twisting at the top with a paw-sized fist to see if it could be opened. The gold head and fine ebony shaft remained solidly secure. “Wot about this? Shall I take it as well?”

“You can,” Cade said. “But I can’t vouchsafe for being able to walk steadily without it.”

The corner of Everett’s mouth turned up. “That’s right. Bit of cripple, aren’t you? Terrible, the suffering that can happen to a man during wartime.” For a long second he studied the cane in the servant’s hand. “Let him keep it,” he said. “I doubt he’ll find it very handy at stopping a bullet.”

With a smirk, the servant tossed the cane toward Cade, who had to limp a few steps to one side and bend to retrieve it out of the grass.

“Inside,” Everett ordered, using the gun to motion Cade to precede him into the house. Meg cried out as Everett gave her arm a painful yank that demanded she move along next to him at a hurried clip.

The wood-paneled foyer was dark and shabby, she noticed as they entered the lodge, the air musty with dust and disuse. Spiders had been at work weaving cobwebs high in the corners of what must once have been an attractive hall. But financial ruin had stripped the place of much of its beauty and possessions. Only a
few pieces of furniture still remained, including a single hard-back chair in the entry and a threadbare sofa that loomed large in the shadows of an adjoining room.

Sensing danger, a rodent squeaked and scurried off as quickly as its tiny feet would take it, disappearing into a crack along the baseboard with a last whip of its tail.

Meg shuddered and glanced away while the servant lit a brace of candles. The increased illumination did little to improve their surroundings, the interior turning even more forbidding.

Everett motioned Cade toward the chair. For a moment he looked as if he might resist, but a glance at the gun Everett was still pointing her way obviously changed his mind. Moving with a more pronounced limp than he had shown for a while, Cade crossed the room, pausing to lean his cane against the nearby wall before taking a seat. At the servant’s urging, Cade placed his hands around the tall back of the chair so his wrists could be tied together using a stout length of rope. Nearly finished, the man gave a last, hard tug that made Cade’s muscles visibly tense against the strain.

“Go,” Everett told the servant. “I’ll call when I have need of you again.”

Whatever sort of need that might prove to be, Meg decided, it was probably best not to know.

With Cade now under his control, Everett relaxed, satisfaction rolling off him like an inexpensive cologne. “I must say that matters are working out even better than I had anticipated. When I set up my little deceit in the library, I had no idea how splendidly it would turn out.”

“What do you mean?” Meg asked in surprise. “What deceit?”

“Oh, do you not realize, my dear? I knew you were there last night at the ball, listening in on things that were really none of your concern.”

“But I—”

“Was so quiet? So stealthy? You were, I suppose, for an amateur, but I am well-versed in issues of subterfuge and deception. It is, after all, what I do best. And I must say you fell right in line with my plan, coming back to retrieve the false note I had planted.”

Her mouth dropped open. “
False?
But how could it have been false, when I saw you take it from that other man? When I watched you toss it into the fire?”

“And so you did, but the thought obviously never occurred to you that it was not the
same
note, that the real one was tucked safely inside my pocket.”

“How could you know I would come back and collect the other?”

Everett shrugged. “I didn’t, but it was a gamble worth attempting. I knew if you did retrieve the note, you’d run straight to Byron, babbling to him about your astonishing find. I also knew that once Byron was aware of a potential rendezvous point, he wouldn’t be able to pass up an opportunity to investigate, in hopes of catching me out. I really must thank you for your assistance, my dear Miss Amberley, for leading him exactly where I wanted.”

Nausea rolled in her stomach, guilt adding a bitter aftertaste.
Dear Lord, why did I not listen to Cade?
He’d warned her about Everett time and again, but she thought she had everything under control. She thought she could help. Knowing Cade had to be disgusted by her actions, she lowered her gaze to the floor, unable to stand the derision she knew must be visible in his eyes.

“You did surprise me, however,” Everett continued. “When I set my trap, I never expected to catch both of you in it. My intended target was Byron alone. Since our first encounter in London, he’s caused me nothing but trouble, disturbing all my skillfully laid plans. I had the perfect cover until he started in with his accusations. Because of him, I’ve had to lie low and do nothing, while I watched valuable opportunities slip past for fear of detection. It’s taken me weeks to repair the damage he has caused among those whose trust was once implicit. I’ve been wanting to put an end to the situation for some while, and the opportunity has finally arrived.”

“What do you mean, ‘put an end to’?” she asked.

“Exactly what you imagine, my dear. I’m going to kill Byron, of course. My men were supposed to have finished him off all those months ago on the Continent, but they were careless, like underlings so often are, and made mistakes. Which leaves it to me to see the deed done properly this time.”

“Dear God,”
she murmured, her breath growing faint.

Everett angled his head to cast her a tender, almost regretful look. “A shame I will have to kill you now, too. You truly are a most unusual female, full of fire and determination—qualities I admire in a woman. You really ought to have stayed home, you know.”

She gasped and jerked within his hold, but he held her steady, his gun unwavering.

“Oh, don’t act so astonished.” Everett made a tsking sound. “You must realize I cannot possibly set you free now. You have heard far, far too much and would run straight to Clybourne and others with your incriminating tales.”

“I wouldn’t. If you let Cade and me go, I would promise not to tell—”

A laugh escaped Everett, his chest booming with unconcealed amusement. “Oh, the wit. Truly, it is a pity to extinguish such a brilliant light. And such a pretty one, too.” He continued chuckling to himself.

“And just exactly how do you plan to do away with us both?” Cade demanded, abruptly joining the conversation. “I would think our deaths might prove rather problematic to explain, even for you.”

The laughter fell away from Everett, his face hardening. “I’ve already thought of that as well. I’m going to say that you murdered Miss Amberley in a fit of jealous rage before you turned the gun on yourself.”

“And why would I have done that?”

“Because everyone knows you’re insane, of course.”

Cade strained against his bonds and wished he were free to use his fists to wipe the smug expression off Everett’s face.
The bastard will be surprised when I do just that
, he reassured himself.
Only a few minutes more and the whole game will change.

Luckily for him and Meg, Everett still didn’t know how to enlist the services of infallible minions. For though the servant had readily enough discovered most of his cache of weapons, he’d failed to find the small shiv he’d secreted in the cuff of one of his shirtsleeves.

And while Everett had been boasting and complaining, Cade had been busy repositioning his hands so he could work the blade through the cloth and down into his palms. He’d had to repress any display of triumph and hope once the task was successfully accomplished. Now it was only a matter of keeping the blade properly angled while he cut through the thick width of hemp.

Luckily again, Everett enjoyed taunting his victims, as Cade well knew. So while he worked on loosening his bonds, he knew it was essential to play along with his captor, to keep Everett talking so he wouldn’t notice the shift of muscles in his arms and hands as he strained to free himself.

“No one will believe you,” Cade declared as he sawed steadily at the rope. “Certainly not my family.”

“I very much doubt that your family will sway anyone’s opinion,” Everett remarked. “Not after everyone reads the note.”

“What note? I assume you don’t mean the one that brought us here.”

“Not at all, though even if that one’s found, it is of no importance. After all, it provides nothing of a suspect nature, but merely lists a time, date, and place. No, I am referring to the note you wrote Miss Amberley tonight, telling her of your plans to confront me here and see justice served.”

“But Cade didn’t write me a note,” Meg interjected.

“Oh, but he will,” Everett said with smooth assurance. “In fact, it fits in much better than my original story. How I came here to oversee repairs, and despite the deplorable condition of the place, resolved to stay overnight for an early morning meeting with the architect. How Cade tracked me down here at this property and, in his maddened rage, tried to kill me.”

“How convenient,” Cade said, continuing his subtle motions with the blade.

“Yes, it is. The architect really will be here at first light—another witness to my distress.”

“Distress, hmm?”

“Oh, yes. ‘I am just sick over what happened,’” Ev
erett said, playing a part as he obviously pictured the scene. ‘ “I was about to close the house up for the night when Cade Byron burst in upon me, ranting about plots and secret meetings and how he must have revenge for what was done to him. I attempted to reason with him, but he was so deep in his delusions, there was no getting through. I had no choice but to fight back out of self-defense.’”

“As I said,” Cade told him, “no one will believe you.”

“I beg to differ. For one, my servants will confirm everything I say, acting as direct witnesses who saw and heard it all. Then there is Miss Amberley herself. You see, she was quite understandably distraught over that wild, rambling note you left her, and resolved to come after you. She hoped to stop you and get you the help you so desperately required.”

“Why didn’t she go to my family, or a friend? Why would she have come alone without seeking assistance?”

Everett paused, clearly considering the question. “Well, I suppose I don’t know, women being foolish and fallible in their haste. I would think it was because she wanted to protect you and your reputation, seeing that it was already tarnished, even among your closest relations. Perhaps she feared you would be sent to Bedlam, from where they say no one ever returns whole. But I digress.”

“My apologies,” Cade said with mock politeness as he felt the shiv sink deeper into the rope. “Pray continue. I must admit I am curious to hear the rest.”

Everett smiled.

Beside him, Cade saw the expression of incredulous
horror on Meg’s face. He did his best not to dwell on what she must be feeling, concentrating instead on working the blade.

“Upon receiving the note,” Everett went on, “Miss Amberley followed you here, discovering us locked in a heated argument. In your delusion, you assumed she had come to save
me
, since you had recently learned that the two of us were meeting alone for early-morning rides in the park. You did know about that, I presume?”

Cade’s jaw flexed. “Yes. Meg told me.”

“Good. Then it goes to my story, which is that you conceived a terrible jealousy and turned your fury upon her. Despite my attempts to save her, you shot and killed poor Miss Amberley. Then you attacked me. We wrestled for the second pistol you brought, and in the scuffle you, too, were shot, soon dying of your wound. Absolutely tragic.”

“And you think you will get away with that faerie story?”

“Oh, indeed, I do,” Everett boasted. “Your hatred of me is well-known, as is your volatile temperament. You did attack me at a ball, if you will remember?”

“I only wish I’d succeeded in choking the life out of you!”

“Exactly my point about that temper of yours. Frightening!” he chided with mock reproof. “But to return to the subject of the note, I had the excellent fortune of obtaining a sample of your handwriting some while ago. A concerned friend at the War Office showed me the letter you wrote warning them about my activities—very bad form, by the way, dear boy. This particular gentleman was most obliging about allowing me to borrow the letter to show my solicitor. As it happens, I am quite adept
at copying, and when I returned the correspondence the next day, I had the sample I required.”

He gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “With my skill at forgery, not even your family will be able tell whether you wrote the note to Miss Amberley. No doubt, a few will have their suspicions, but there will be nothing anyone can prove. I will walk away free, able to return to my real work of seeing this war won by the right side.”

Cade laughed. “You’re as deluded as you make me out to be, if you believe all that. Let Meg and me go now, Everett, and I’ll ask the Crown to spare your life. Of course, it will be from the inside of a cell, but there is only so much I can do.”