“I will do whatever you will have me do. I just want to ensure that Octavia walks away, unharmed,” Harred responded.
“Don’t worry, we will keep Octavia safe,” Fredrick said. “But I daresay she would never forgive me if something happened to you in the process.”
Greydon crossed the room and sat down next to Harred. “It starts with you turning yourself over to the enemy and hoping they won’t kill you right away…”
Chapter Twenty
Octavia sat in the darkened coach as it traveled along the road. She was watching her captor as he stared out the window. She knew she should be afraid, but she wasn’t. Fredrick would save her; she was sure of that. But what did they want with her?
She had spent the past few hours in an abandoned warehouse in the rookeries, where the rats had scurried around her feet. But she hadn’t let her discomfort be known. She didn’t want to give them that satisfaction.
One of her other captors had let it slip that the man who had abducted her was named John. She studied his features. Her captor didn’t look like a John, she thought. He looked more like a Judas or a Simon. Either name would be far more terrifying than John.
John closed the drapes and turned his attention towards her. “We are almost there.”
“Where?”
“Does it matter?” he asked. “If everything goes according to plan, you will be home soon and you can put this all behind you.”
Octavia wanted answers so she pressed, “Are you just going to let me go?”
John chuckled. “No, it is not that simple,” he replied. “You are far too valuable to just let go.”
“Did you request a ransom from my brother?”
“In a way.”
“I don’t understand.”
The humor left John’s face. “I preferred it when you were quiet.”
“And I preferred it when I wasn’t abducted, but here we are.”
With narrowed eyes, John said, “You are a cheeky little thing. How does your brother handle you?”
Octavia felt her back grow rigid at that ridiculous remark. “My brother does not ‘handle’ me. Furthermore, he is not concerned with me voicing my opinion.”
“It is vexing.”
“So say you,” she retorted. “I have been told that I am a delight.”
John placed his hand on the butt of the pistol that was tucked in the waistband of his trousers. “I tire of this conversation. You will remain quiet or there will be consequences.”
Octavia knew it would be best if she remained quiet, but she couldn’t help herself. There were too many questions that she needed answered. “You would truly shoot me for talking?”
“If it got you to stop.”
Octavia cocked her head. “Why are you doing this?”
“I already told you, for the money.”
“Yet you wouldn’t take Lady William up on her offer for more money,” she remarked. “If it was all about the money, as you said, you could have walked away without abducting me.”
John huffed. “Lady William would have never given us that money since she would need to ask her husband for permission.”
“You do not think that Lady William can speak for herself?”
“Frankly, it doesn’t matter now,” he replied. “Soon, I will be paid and I can rid myself of your incessant chatter.”
