Bobbi Smith - Captive Pride

“As you met my brother?” Geoffrey sneered.

“Yes, as I met your brother,” Noah answered rigidly. “But I will take much more pleasure in seeing you dead. Your brother at least was a man. You are a cowardly fool!”

“Bartley,” he directed sharply to the servant standing fearfully at the doorway, “send for the authorities. Lord Kincade has broken into my home and threatened my life.”

“Yes, m’lord.” Bartley rushed from the house.

“It was my life that was threatened, Radcliffe! Mine and my brother’s! I had thought that we could settle this privately between us, but I shall be more than happy to tell the authorities about your hiring the assassins to kill me.”

Geoffrey raised the gun and pointed it directly at Noah’s chest as he smiled ferally. “You aren’t going to be alive when they get here, so I have no worry on that account. You see, Kincade, what I shall tell the authorities is this… You broke into my home, forced your way into my study, and then attacked me. I have Bartley for a witness, and upstanding citizen that I am, no one will doubt me.” He stepped around the desk.

“Why, you…!” Noah’s eyes narrowed as he sensed the danger, and his body went taut.

“You see,” Geoffrey went on brazenly, “there were no aspersions cast upon my character the other night, whereas you…Well, your motivation would be quite clear. I had revealed to all your unsavory connections, and you wanted to silence me before any more damage could be done to your reputation.” He cocked the pistol as he studied Noah mockingly. “Yes, that sounds most plausible…”

“You’re not serious?” Noah glanced from the gun to Geoffrey, trying to judge his intent.

“I have nothing to lose, and everything to gain,” he sneered. “By killing you, I’ll earn my parents’ respect. They’ll welcome me back with open arms. Decadent though I may have been in the past, no one would ever expect me of anything so unseemly as murder. And once I’ve assumed the title of the Earl of Radcliffe…” His smile was satanic as he moved closer to Noah, wanting to make sure that he didn’t miss.

Noah read the crazed look in his eyes and knew that his moments were numbered. Desperate to save his own life, he launched himself at Geoffrey. Geoffrey had not expected Noah to attack, and he hesitated in surprise. It was that moment of hesitation that cost him his advantage. Knocked to the floor by the force of Noah’s tackle, he barely managed to keep his hold on the gun, and they began to grapple savagely as each tried to gain control of the firearm.

Eve had been standing with her ear pressed to the connecting door, listening eagerly to their conversation. Geoffrey’s declaration that he was going to kill Noah frightened her, and when she heard the sound of their struggle, she opened the door a crack to watch. There, in the middle of the study floor, she saw Noah and Geoffrey brutally fighting over the weapon. Horrified, she watched as they rolled violently about the room, each trying to get the advantage of the other.

Geoffrey, never one for physical violence, felt his strength fading as he continued to battle Noah. In a last grim effort, he tried to push him away with all his might and bring the gun to bear upon his chest, but Noah read his move and made a desperate grab for his wrist. Muscles straining, they fought on.

Eve found the sight of two grown men engaged in battle oddly exciting, and she watched, mesmerized. It was only at the sound of the shot being fired that the deadly reality of the situation intruded. She gasped in stark terror as both men went rigid and then lay still upon the floor.

The gun still clutched in his hand, Noah was shaking as he drew back to stare down at Geoffrey’s lifeless features. He didn’t know how it had happened, but he didn’t question his good fortune at being the one left alive. Wearily, he got to his feet.

It was in that position that Bartley and the law officer who’d accompanied him discovered Noah.

“He’s in here…” Bartley was saying as they rushed down the hall and into the room. The servant stopped dead in his tracks to stare at the scene before him in outrage. “He’s murdered him! He’s shot Lord Radcliffe!”

The constable hurried to take the gun from Noah as the servant bent over his dead master.

“It’s like I was telling you! Lord Kincade forced his way into the house and threatened Lord Radcliffe! That was when Lord Radcliffe sent me to get you… But it was no use! I was too late!”

Noah blanched at the servant’s accusation and he turned to the law officer, wanting to give his side of what had happened. “I can explain everything. Radcliffe drew the gun on me, we fought for it, and it went off. It was self-defense.”

“Not if what Mr. Bartley says here is the truth,” the constable charged coldly. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Lord Geoffrey Radcliffe.”

“But I was defending myself!” Noah protested. “If you’ll check, you’ll find that the weapon belonged to Lord Radcliffe. I came here unarmed.”

“Let’s go.” The constable gave Noah a forceful push toward the door. “You can tell your side of it when you’re arraigned. All I know is that we heard a shot, and I found you standing over the victim with the murder weapon in your hand.”

“But-”

“Shut up.” He turned to Bartley. “Shall I have help sent to you?”

“Yes,” the servant requested, still stunned by all that had happened. “What are you going to do with him? He’s guilty! He killed Lord Radcliffe!”

“I’ll see that he’s incarcerated, and he’ll go to trial. Will you be willing to testify?”

“Of course! The man is a murderer, and I want to see him pay for what he’s done!”

The realization that Noah had shot Geoffrey during the struggle had frightened Eve. Silently closing the connecting door, she’d given thanks that her presence hadn’t been discovered. Upon hearing Bartley’s charge that Noah had murdered Geoffrey, she’d grown fearful that she might be implicated in some way. As quietly as she could, she grabbed up her cloak in the hall and escaped from the house while Bartley and the constable were still in the study with Noah. Traveling on foot, she made her way as quickly as possible back to the safety of her own home.

“Miss Eve?” Peggy greeted her, a bit surprised to find her mistress returned so early and on foot. “I hadn’t expected you to return until much later.”

“Yes, well, Lord Radcliffe had some unexpected business come up, so I came home,” she answered nervously.

Peggy took her cloak. “Can I get you anything this evening?”

“Yes. Have a hot bath brought up and a bottle of sherry,” she told her, feeling definitely in need of a potent drink to steady her nerves.

“Right away, ma’am.”

A short time later, glass of liquor in hand, Eve eased herself into the hot, scented water. Her thoughts were turbulent as she went over in her mind all that had happened. Geoffrey was dead. A few hours before, the news would have devastated her, but now she found she couldn’t care less. Geoffrey had been an ass. The man had thought she would be pleased with the news that he wanted to make her his mistress! She’d found his declaration highly insulting and thought he well deserved the end he’d met. Certainly, had they been able to continue their conversation without Noah’s interruption, she might have shot him herself in her outraged indignation. Noah had merely saved her the trouble.

Noah…She smiled at the thought of him. He had been arrested for Geoffrey’s murder. He had been accused by Bartley’s testimony and convicted by his own stance when the law officer had entered the room. Only she could save him from a certain death sentence. Eve smiled even more widely as she imagined how grateful Noah would be for her timely rescue. Tomorrow she would go to the jail to see Noah. Perhaps, if she played this whole thing right, she might end up as Lady Kincade yet.