“Have you lost your mind?” Victor countered, taking a step toward Bernadette but stopping when she cocked the hammer. “You know you’ll never make it out of here alive, not when I have an entire brigade of men guarding me.”
“You sent half your brigade out to fetch the ransom money. That left you vulnerable for the imminent attack I helped orchestrate.” With that, Bernadette released a whistle Camilla knew Nems had taught her how to do.
A mere heartbeat later, Owen was racing into the room, his Colt Dragoons in hand, looking furious, as well as rather battered, given the two black eyes he was sporting.
Considering the current circumstances, it was an odd state of affairs when the thought flashed to mind that he’d never looked more appealing to her.
As the sound of gunshots rang out from outside the room, Camilla jumped from the chair, gripping her derringer, then found herself at a loss for what to do next when Owen launched himself at Victor.
“Don’t just stand there acting like an imbecile,” George screamed at her, his voice a few octaves higher than it normally was. “Shoot him, or if you’re too squeamish for that, give me the gun and I’ll do it.”
“I can’t shoot at Victor because I might hit Owen,” Camilla said right as Victor’s men rushed into the room, not because they were coming to Victor’s defense, but because they were being pursued by Gideon, Leopold, Charles, and ... Beulah.
A second later, Victor’s men were rushing out the back door, Gideon, Leopold, and Charles in hot pursuit.
Beulah, after catching sight of Camilla, stopped in her tracks, her gaze traveling the length of her, and after apparently realizing she was unharmed, she turned her attention to Owen, who’d taken Victor to the ground and had already rendered him unconscious.
“Anyone have anything I can use to tie him up?” Owen asked.
“I’ve got a garter,” Elma said, hobbling into the room, where she promptly propped her rifle against the settee, bent over and fumbled with her skirt, then looked up. “Might be better iffen you used my stockin’s.”
“Not something I ever thought I’d be speaking with you about, Aunt Elma, but stockings it is,” Owen said, which earned him a grin from Elma, who, curiously enough, was wearing spectacles, ones that slid down her nose as she bent over and stripped a stocking from her leg.
As Elma went about the business of securing Victor’s wrists, Owen shifted his attention to Camilla.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
She smiled. “As Nems and the boys would say, I’m fit as a fiddle.”
He returned the smile. “Good.”
Beulah released a snort. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say to her? Just good?”
“It hardly seems the moment to launch into an in-depth conversation, not when there are probably still more criminals afoot.”
“No need for you to go rushin’ off to save the day, Owen,” Nems said, pushing himself into the room in his wheeled chair, Andy walking behind him, nursing a bleeding lip but smiling all the same. “We done got them no-good ’nappers already nice and tidied up, so iffen you got somethin’ to say to our darlin’ Camilla, I say git on with it.” Nems sent her a wink. “Nice to see ya, Miss Camilla, and know that I jist got the pleasure of meetin’ your mama. I done told her that I can see now where’n you get your fine looks from.”
“Nems told your mama she was done purtier than that therequeenie he saw holdin’ court at the West Virginia state fair,” Andy added.
Camilla blinked. “What did my mother say to that?”
Andy scratched his chin. “Not much, but I could tell she was real pleased about the compliment cuz she left the room, and me and Nems decided that was cuz she was overcome with ladylike emotions.”
“I imagine she was overcome with something,” Camilla muttered before she grinned and moved over to Nems, kissed him on the cheek, then did the same to Andy, leaving both men rather red in the face as she turned to Owen.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be able to find me, but I’m certainly glad you did,” she said.
“I shouldn’t have had to come find you because I shouldn’t have lost you to begin with.”
“That wasn’t your fault.”
“Of course it was, and it was hardly a hero moment when you got carted away on my watch.”
“It was certainly a hero moment because you were outnumbered, and yet you didn’t hesitate to try and protect me. And if you must know, it’s my fault I got nabbed because I wasn’t able to outrun the man who succeeded in catching me.”
“A lady should never have to resort to running from danger when there’s a man around to protect her.”
“Unless that man is, again, outnumbered, but ...” She arched a brow at him. “Do you really want to stand here debating this with me right now?”
