Page 37 of Wicked Highland Heroes

"It would be best if you told me what this hair-brained idea is all about," Erroll said.

"Best for who?" Oscar asked. "Not us."

"I beg to differ." Erroll pulled back the pistol’s hammer.

The brute gave a derisive snort. "You got one shot. The man left standing will kill you."

"I am skilled with a knife," Erroll said, though he didn't think they would kill him. "However, the question is, are you two willing to wager that it will not be you I kill with my one shot?”

"You won’t shoot us any sooner than you would stab me," Oscar said.

Erroll lifted a brow. "Indeed? If that is the case, why haven’t you attempted to take the pistol from me?"

"Because I don’t want to take a bullet, even if it is in the leg."

"So I will wound you, but won’t kill you?" Erroll asked.

The brute shrugged and Erroll couldn't help wondering if he wasn't getting old. There had been a time when no one at the opposite end of a pistol he held doubted he would shoot, if necessary.

"Into the coach," Erroll ordered.

The men exchanged a glance, then the brute asked, "Why?"

"As you have deduced, I see no need to kill you—though wounding you wouldn't bother me in the least. I have no choice but to turn you over to the authorities. My father will see to it they discover who hired you to kidnap me."

The diver's eyes widened and Oscar's forehead furrowed in uncertainty, but he said, "We never said anyone hired us."

"And I never said I wouldn't shoot to kill, but you were astute enough to reason it out. Now be good lads and get into the coach."

They didn't move.

"Surely protecting your employer is not worth getting shot?"

Oscar's lips thinned, but the other man shifted nervously.

"I will double what your employer is paying you," Erroll said.

"We are not traitors," the brute shot back.

"I don’t want to spend the next ten years in Newgate," the driver said.

"You will not spend one night in prison," Oscar said.

"You underestimate me,” Erroll said. “You gentlemen and your employer shall spend a great many years in prison. Even if I were disposed otherwise, my father will not be so lenient."

Hesitation and fear, the first Erroll had seen from the brute, appeared on his face.

"David and I will take any punishment you give, as long as you promise not to involve our employer," he said.

"Hold on there," David burst out. "I never agreed to prison."

"Be quiet," the brute growled. "You knew the risks." He returned his attention to Erroll. "Do we have your word?"

"You do," he replied, his curiosity intense. He had to know what sort of employer would engender such devotion that the brute was ready to face prison.

"Renege on your word and I’ll break out of prison and kill you," the brute said.

Erroll blinked, then laughed. "Never fear, I wouldn’t think of going back on my word. Facing such a righteous wrath would be far too taxing."