He started to rise, extended his hand to help Lawrence up, was almost fully upright, when Samantha glanced at the window.She didn’t utter the slightest sound before flinging herself in front of his body.Glass exploded in the next instant, shards flying in every direction, like sharp pieces of frozen rain in a storm.
Lawrence cried out and Adrian dropped, catching Samantha as she fell.His knee struck the floor, the jarring impact no more than a minor nuisance compared with the dread sliding through him.
“Samantha.”A plea trapped in emotional torment, the knowledge of what had occurred sending chills down his spine.A series of feverish shivers rushed through him.Hands trembling, he felt for her wound, a patch of wetness soaking her gown at the shoulder.“No.No, no, no.”
“Adrian.”Her voice was surprisingly calm.Steady.Insistent.
Raising his gaze, he looked at her, and caught the flint in her eyes.Fury burned in her veins – a savage need to punish whoever had done this – a merciless thing born from so much hate he almost recognized it as his own.
Taken aback, he stared at her, at the woman who’d captured his heart and mind with her sweetness.He shouldn’t have involved her in any of this.He should have done it alone.He—
“I’m shot,” she said, “but I’m not mortally wounded.I’ll be fine as long as you don’t let that murdering scoundrel escape.”
“How do you know?”His attention returned to her wound, experience gauging the severity of it.
A small grin.“I’ve no essential organs there as far as I know.”
True, but there were important veins nearby.She’d been lucky.Damn lucky.He blew out a breath.“You’re right.”
“Which means you can leave me.Go after him.Catch him.”
He gripped her hand.“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”She gave him a shove.“Hurry.”
Despite his reluctance, Adrian stood.It was true that she would survive a shot to that part of the shoulder as long as she got proper treatment later.He just didn’t feel right about leaving her when she was wounded.Then again, with the killer so close, it made sense to give chase.
He spoke to Lawrence.“Keep her safe until I return.”
Not waiting to gain the man’s agreement, Adrian ran from the room and clattered down the narrow staircase leading toward the tavern’s front entrance.He shoved his way past some men blocking his path, ignoring the protests that followed him into the dimly lit street.
Turning toward the building from which the pistol was fired, he spotted the swiftly retreating silhouette of a figure no more than fifty yards farther along the pavement.Adrian broke into a run, his booted feet heavy against the ground.Intent on catching the bastard who’d sliced Evie’s throat, he pushed himself faster.
A street light cast a hazy glow, allowing a clearer glimpse of the man he chased as he darted around a corner, but the distance was still too great and with his back turned, it was hard to note significant details besides a hint of golden hair.
Conscious of the fact that failure to catch him now might mean he never got caught, Adrian dashed after him, weaving and winding his way through increasingly narrow streets.
Until he erupted onto Weymouth Street and nearly crashed into Clive Newton as he came the opposite way.
The younger man leapt from Adrian’s path, pulling what looked like a snuffbox close to his chest, shielding the contents with his hand while trying to calm his breaths.Shock showed on his face.“What the hell, Croft?You’re the second person to nearly collide with me in under a minute.”
“Might the other person have been the man I’m chasing?”
“I’d say it’s likely.He looked like he was fleeing a fate worse than death.”Newton gulped down a breath and jutted his chin toward Thayer Street.“He went that way.”
Adrian nodded and turned, was about to take off once more when a crunching sound drew his attention.Stiffening, he glanced at Newton who was already strolling away.A lingering scent of orange blossoms hung in the air.“Is that by any chance sugar glass you’re eating?”
Newton stopped.The gaslight overhead brightened his teeth as he grinned.“Indeed.The man you’re after almost caused me to spill the box.”
Guided by an instinct he’d garnered from nearly a lifetime of dealing with rotten scum, Adrian stepped toward him.
He considered their empty surroundings, the length of the street, and the fact that he should have spotted the man he was chasing as he ran off into the distance.Though Newton’s hair was a dark shade of blonde instead of the much fairer color belonging to the man whom Adrian had been chasing, the gaslight made it glow in much the same way.
Add to that the treat Newton chewed – the very same kind enjoyed by the man Mr.Adams had mentioned – and it all started coming together.
It was an easy ploy, pretending to be out and about for a walk, heading toward the person chasing instead of away, stopping to talk and then misdirecting.Feigning shock to account for the unsteady breaths.
A bold move.
