“No, that will be all,” Alister replied curtly.
With a bow, the servant left them alone once more.
Alister ignored the brandy and walked over to grab Lyra’s upper arms. “Don’t you understand that these are dangerous times? I didn’t want to put you in further danger.”
“You mean you still don’t trust me,” she retorted hotly. When he clenched his jaw, she twisted away from him. “I guess it doesn’t matter now. We’re here for a reason, so it’s time we got to it.” She walked over to the mantle where a roaring fire crackled. “I hope you’re not expecting a big metal safe behind some hideous painting, for I fear you’ll be sorely disappointed. However, Roger appeared to be fond of secret caches.” Pushing in on one of the bricks, there was a slight click. A drawer instantly popped out on the other side of the burning timber. “Now you know why I was looking through the ashes in Roger’s bedroom. I only know about this hidden compartment because he disappeared during our wedding breakfast. I found him in here. He had just put our marriage license away for safekeeping when he turned back around and pinned one of the maids against that very desk.” Lyra pointed toward the offending piece of wood. “He never even knew I was here.”
As she started to reach for the documents inside the safe, she paused when a gentle hand settled on her arm. She ignored it. If she turned to Alister now, she might never let go, and that was the last thing she wanted to do when she was feeling so raw and exposed.
Lyra riffled through several documents until she came across what she was looking for. She pursed her lips and handed the garden plans to Alister, finally lifting her gaze. “Ask and ye shall receive.”
Alister was staring at her intently. He reluctantly broke contact as he took the map from her and glanced down to study the paper. After a moment, his face cleared and he breathed, “I’ll be damned.”
Lyra didn’t even get a chance to ask what he’d found—before a gunshot sounded and a pistol ball whizzed past her head.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Alister covered Lyra with his body, doing his best to shield her from the spray of splintered wood directly above their heads.
“I’ll take what you have there, Your Grace. Unless you’d like to offer up your lover’s life instead.”
Alister’s eyes narrowed as he faced off with Richard Coventry. He cursed his negligence. He should have known that the man would have kept a close eye on Lyra, but he would berate himself later. Right now he had to focus on the other, unfired pistol in Richard Coventry’s hand that was still trained on them.
“Richard! Have you gone mad?” Lyra hissed.
“On the contrary,” her brother-in-law countered smoothly. “Everything is going rather to plan. You’ve led me to the final piece of the puzzle.”
Alister held up the map Lyra had just handed him. “Do you mean this?” With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it into the fireplace where the smoldering flames quickly spread across its surface. His eyes never left his adversary, although he winced theatrically. “Oh, I do beg your pardon. I fear I’m rather clumsy.”
“You fool!” Richard snarled.
Alister took advantage of Richard’s rage and as the earl started to charge, he grabbed a heavy brass candlestick from the mantle and hurled it toward him. The target hit its mark right on the side of Richard’s head, causing him to crumple to the floor.
Lyra gasped at the blood that instantly began to trickle from his temple. “Did you kill him?”
“No,” Alister said evenly. “Though I would have probably done the world a favor if I had.” He reached down and grabbed the pistol before he clasped her hand. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”
“For what?”
He ignored her query as they ran past the gaping butler in the middle of the foyer and rushed out the front door.
“What are you doing?” Lyra cried. “The stables are the other way!”
He didn’t reply until they’d reached the relative safety of the treillage at the edge of the massive gardens. As they took a moment to recover from their flight, he quickly scanned the area behind them for possible pursuit. He knew they were on borrowed time. Richard would be in pursuit again as soon as he came to his senses. They knew too much, but they were about to know a lot more.
Lyra was still breathing heavily, but it didn’t keep her from pacing. “What were you thinking? Our only chance of escape was—”
“We can’t leave yet.” He set his hands on his hips. “The final clue is here.”
She gaped at him. “What? How do you know that? You only glanced at the plans for a moment before you destroyed them!”
“You seem to forget that I’m an agent, Lyra. My specialty is codes and ciphers. I’ve studied that horticulture book until my eyes crossed. I only needed a second to glance at the missing piece before it all made sense.”
Lyra crossed her arms. “But what if this only leads us to another clue? Then another? Who’s to say this isn’t all some wild goose chase that Roger planned all along?”
He walked over and grasped her gently by the shoulders. “I know what I’m doing, Lyra. Trust me.”
She lifted a brow. “The same way you trust me?”
