“And you really think it’s safest for Emma if she’s with us?”
“I really do,” Norman said. “How could you bear to leave her at home, Reeves? Just think about it. The time you would spend on the road, going to the inn, knowing that this man had made a play against you, and the whole while your daughter would be out of your sight… it would drive you mad. You wouldn’t be at your best when you reached Featherstone. I’d be surprised if you were able to focus at all under those circumstances.”
He had a point, Reeves was forced to concede. It would be hell to leave Emma at home during all this. Hewouldbe worrying about her safety every moment.
“Papa,” Emma said, her voice firmer than it had been yet. “You need to bring me with you.”
Reeves sighed. “Emma, I know you want to help, but…”
“I don’t justwantto help,” Emma said. “Icanhelp. Because I’m the one he took. Because I’m the only one who can tell you that the man you’re going to meet is Uncle Gareth!”
She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth as if in shock that she’d said the words.
Reeves felt as if his heels had been bolted to the floor. For a moment, he couldn’t move.
Then he pivoted slowly, turning to face his daughter.
She was breathing heavily, staring up at him, tears beading in her eyes. And all he could think about was what Bridget had always said to him—that she would name the culprit, would tell him who had been responsible for the kidnapping, in her own time. All he had to do was be patient.
She was right. But who could have imagined that it would be at a time like this?
And who could have imagined that Gareth’s name would be the one to come out of her mouth?
Norman dropped to his knees in front of Emma. “Are you sure, Emma?” he asked. “It’s very important that we be sure about this. For your father’s safety, and for Bridget’s.”
Emma nodded. “I didn’t want to say because I know he’s Mama’s brother. He said he wants me with him because he loved Mama, and that she would have wanted the two of us to be together.”
“Your mother wanted you to be with me,” Reeves said firmly. “And she wouldneverhave wanted you to be with anyone who would harm you, Emma. That was the last thing in the world she’d have wanted. She loved you more than anything. Perhaps she didn’t realize the kind of man her brother was—I certainlydidn’t. But if she had, she would never have allowed him anywhere near you. And nor will I. Not ever again.”
He felt his hands curl into fists at his sides. To think that it had been Gareth all along! Gareth, who had offered to help him seek out the culprit. That must have been a ploy to throw Reeves off.The whole time, Gareth had been feigning concern for Emma, when in reality he had been the one who had hurt her.
He will suffer for this when I get my hands on him. I’m going to make him pay.
“Reeves,” Norman said firmly, getting to his feet. “This is good. We finally have an answer. We know who was responsible. Now we can approach this situation with a real plan. Now we know what we’re walking into.”
Reeves took a deep breath and nodded. Norman was right. As angry as he was, they had an advantage now that they hadn’t had before. “You were brave to tell us the truth, Emma,” he said. “Thank you for that.”
“I want you to take me along, since I did that,” Emma said. “I’ve earned the right to be a part of this, Papa.”
Maybe she had. Between her insistence and Norman’s, Reeves was beginning to have real doubts about his determination to leave Emma at home. But it still felt too dangerous to take her into this conflict.
Despite his doubts, he was going to have to make a choice.
“What are we going to do?” Norman asked. “You sound like you have a plan.”
“I have the start of one,” Reeves said. “But there’s one more person we’re going to need to help us through this if my idea is going to work.”
CHAPTER 33
“He ought to be here soon,” Gareth growled, pacing back and forth, his hand on the butt of his revolver. “I’m sure you’re looking forward to it, Bridget. Then you can go back to Greystone Manor with my fool of a brother-in-law, and you’ll be free of me forever.”
Bridget gritted her teeth. She had accepted hours ago that straining against the ropes Gareth had used to tie her wasn’t going to do any good. His knots were too strong, and there was no breaking free. She had used the last several hours to scan the room she was in, hoping that she might see something that would help her, but the place was bare except for the meager furnishings and the lantern.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, her eyes going to the gun at his hip. “What are you going to do to him when he arrives?”
“This isn’t even about him,” Gareth snapped. “Oh, he’s a bit of a reprobate, as I’m sure you’ve seen for yourself. He has nobusiness raising a young girl. To be frank, I already know you agree with me about that, because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have insisted on coming back from the orphanage with him. You did that because you didn’t trust him to care for her, didn’t you?”
“I did it because she wanted me with her,” Bridget said. “Reeves is a good father, and he loves Emma very much—and she loves him. The two of them belong together. He will never give her up to you.”
