Mungo dismounted and handed his reins to Charles. The others did the same, and they were all soon moving forward.
Leo, Alex, and Ram took the rear and dealt with the two men, while Mungo and the rest moved to the front.
The large barn doors would make a noise if opened, so they headed around the side of the building and found a smaller door. When Mungo tried the handle, it moved under his fingers. He pulled it wide enough to slip inside.
“Open the door! There is nowhere to go!”
The roared words were coming from their right, so they all moved silently that way, down the central aisle that had stalls on either side.
Mungo brushed the velvety muzzle of a horse who was watching them curiously as he passed it.
“Ladies, you’ll do as the gentleman said, or it will go worse for you.”
He knew that voice.
“Ellington,” Bram whispered in his ear. “We need to get to the girls first. Revenge second.”
He nodded, knowing his friend was right even though Mungo wanted to pound his fist into the man’s face for all he’d inflicted on the people he loved.
They crept closer, Leo, Alex, and Ram with them now, and then stopped beside the last stall. Four men stood before a closed door. The one at the rear was Ellington.
“I’ll have you shot if you don’t. There are plenty of other women who will suit our needs.”
“You are depraved souls, is what you are, and I’ll never be scared of a man who preys on others for his own gain!”
Eliza.Mungo’s knees went weak at hearing her voice. Even muffled behind that door, he knew it was her.
“Is that Miss Downing?” Ellington demanded.
“It is,” another man said.
“How delightful,” Ellington replied. “I wondered if you would be the girl brought in after the other fell ill. I shall enjoy personally making you suffer for what you did to my son.”
Mungo must have moved, because Bram’s fingers dug into his shoulder.
“I’ll send you to hell first!” she called through the wood.
His woman had spirit.His woman.The words felt right.
“I don’t care how you get that door open, just do it. We have to get them ready tomorrow, as they arrive in two days,” Ellington said.
“They’ve barricaded it from the inside,” one of the men said.
“Obviously,” the baron snarled. “Burn them out if you have to,” he roared.
Mungo battled the need to show himself, instead letting Bram tug him into a stall.
“We’ll get him, but first the women,” his friend whispered.
When Ellington’s footsteps had receded, they all moved out of the stables toward the door.
“Step away from that door,” Mungo said.
The men turned, shock on their faces as they took in the guns now aimed at them. He watched them look around, trying to find an escape route, but there wasn’t one.
“Lie on your stomachs,” Leo ordered, and the men reluctantly did as he asked.
“Find rope to tie them up,” Bram ordered next.
