“Damn it, Tooney, where’s the girl? You were supposed to take the girl, not this one.”
“I knew it,” Sarah breathed with a shake of her head. “I knew this was your doing. You would really send this monster after your own child?”
“Shut up,” Hannah ordered, pressing the rifle closer to her face. “You don’t want to cross me—it’s not a good day. Tooney, tie her up.”
The big man grunted and then swept up a rope that was in the middle of the clearing. He bent and wrapped it around Sarah’s wrists, pulling it so tight that she almost immediately lost feeling in her fingers.
“What was your plan?” Sarah said, ignoring the order for silence. “To tie up a five-year-old little girl? Do you know how terrified she was when this bastard grabbed her?”
“So you did follow orders,” Hannah barked at her partner. “Idiot. Why did you let her go?”
“This one jumped on me,” he grunted. “Stupid bitch grabbed me and the little one got away. So I took her.”
Hannah let out a long sigh. “She’s the governess, so it’s possible Kit won’t trade anything of value for her.” She leaned a little closer. “Though I think we both know there’s more you’reservingto His Grace than help with my daughter. So maybe he’ll want to bring her back whole.”
“So same plan then?” Tooney asked.
Hannah shrugged. “Same plan. Go ready the rig and I’ll stay with her.”
Sarah’s head throbbed as she stared up at Hannah. She hated this woman down to her very core, but that dark emotion was not going to be of any help in her current circumstances. Phoebe had run for Kit, and Kit would bring help to search for her. She knew that. So her best bet was to try to stall Hannah. To keep her from following through with whatever she had in mind, or taking Sarah to another place where she couldn’t leave a trace so Kit could find her.
“Your daughter is brilliant,” she said softly, watching Hannah’s face for any reaction.
There was only the barest twitch to her cheek, but it was enough to let Sarah know that Phoebe did mean something to her. Not enough, but there was a tiny piece of her that gave a damn.
“She reads very well,” Sarah continued, “and is curious about the world. Do you really want to separate her from the only family she’s known?”
Hannah pivoted on her, the gun shaking slightly. Sarah flinched, for one wrong move and it would fire and this would be over.Everythingwould be over.
“I don’t want the girl,” Hannah snapped. “She’d only be in my way, and if you think I’d let a child around that one—” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward where Tooney had left. “—you’re mistaken. I just want my money. And if I get it from Kit wanting you or his wanting her, doesn’t matter one bit to me.”
Sarah shook her head in disbelief at the dismissiveness, her heart hurting for Phoebe. This woman was her mother. “Do you really not care about her at all?”
Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know what brought you to service, but it’s clear you didn’t start there. You don’t know what it’s like to lose everything. You don’t know what you’d be willing to do and say and trade to survive. I don’t have time to care about Penelope.”
Sarah blinked. “Phoebe,” she corrected softly. “Her name is Phoebe.”
Hannah’s face remained stone. “Doesn’t matter. She isn’t mine, is she? Never has been. But if you stay good, if you do what I say, you’ll get to go back to her.” She looked away. “You seem like a better mother for her, anyway.”
Sarah stared at her. She had no idea what to think of this dreadful person, the kind of woman who could suppress all her love for her own daughter.
And yet that was her only bartering chip.
“She lost her father less than a month ago,” Sarah said softly. “And was upset by an accident soon after. Please, don’t take me away. Not for myself, not for Kit. For her. She would be devastated if she suffered that kind of loss.”
Hannah walked away, seemingly unmoved, and Sarah wiggled her fingers to try to get feeling back into them. It was a test of the knot at her wrists, too, but it didn’t budge. She was helpless here, locked in the trap of two mercenaries whose intentions and limits she couldn’t begin to guess.
She could only hope Kit came. And soon.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Whatever preparations the lumbering Mr. Tooney was making, it was another quarter of an hour before he reappeared at the edge of the clearing. He was running, his round face sweaty and upset.
“They’re coming,” he grunted. “I saw ’em from the ridge. Two men, one of ’em that duke. I dunnow t’other.”
Hannah had taken a seat on the grass and she staggered to her feet, rifle in hand. “What? No! Not so soon.”
“They must have found our trail,” Tooney said with a shrug. “What am I supposed to do?”
