Page 18 of The Heir's Fortune
“Your friend can stay. The map – now.”
Gideon looked from Madeline back to Lord Covington.
“Do you have her?” he asked Lord Covington in a tone low enough that he sounded like a different man.
“Of course,” Lord Covington said, and when his hands kept twitching toward his waistband, Madeline knew he had weapons hiding that he was sorely tempted to use. She wished he wouldn’t, for she had a pretty good idea that it wouldn’t end well – for any of them.
Gideon turned back to Madeline’s captors. “How do I know that we will stay safe after we give you the map?”
“I suppose you will just have to trust us.”
Madeline didn’t need to see the man’s face to know that was the last thing they should do.
At least Gideon was smart enough to realize the same.
“I need reassurance.”
“What do you propose?” the Spaniard asked, but before Gideon could respond, a shot resounded from beyond – and as they all paused in shock, one of the men suddenly teetered and then slid off of the horse, until he was hanging limply by the stirrups.
All hell broke loose.
The Spaniards began yelling at one another as the two flanking the outside began riding wildly from side to side as they searched for the source of the gunshots. As they did so, more shots rang out, and Madeline crouched low, wishing she could, at least, cover her head with her arms, although what good that would do, she had no idea.
“Madeline!” she heard Gideon call out as he inched forward toward her, Devon behind him with his own pistol drawn, but Madeline’s captor was holding her as a shield. She locked eyes with Gideon, a deep connection drawing them together, and hisblue eyes seemed to be staring right through her soul, speaking to her, telling her that, some way, he would get them through this and out the other side. Despite the chaos around them, a strange sense of peace washed over her.
Madeline was far from the most optimistic person in the world. She always thought it was best to believe the worst and then be pleasantly surprised if anything better came along.
But now, before her, was Gideon. He kept coming closer, slowly but surely moving forward despite all the chaos that surrounded them. In those few seconds, Madeline trusted him completely. Deep down she knew that no matter what happened here today, Gideon would do whatever it took to make sure she got out alive.
Except it wouldn’t happen at that exact moment.
For just when she thought that he would come close enough to save her, the strong arms behind her circled her waist, picked her up, and threw her over the horse.
The Spaniards were retreating – and they were taking Madeline with them.
“Madeline!”
Gideon raced after them, running as hard as he could, trying with everything within him to catch the horses as they took off away from them, no matter how futile he knew the effort was.
At some point in the pandemonium, one of the Spaniards had cut loose the dead man, and the fifth horse followed along behind them. Gideon chased after it, trying to grab the reins so that he would have a chance at catching the others, but it broke away and Gideon soon found his arms flailing wildly.
“Fuuuck!” he yelled out as finally his lungs and legs could no longer keep up their pace.
“Gideon.”
Devon’s voice behind him, his breathing just as ragged, called to him to stop, but Gideon did not want to give up now.
“Gideon, stop.”
Devon’s large hand came to rest on his shoulder, drawing him back.
“They’re gone,” he said. “We have no chance to catch them.”
Gideon turned to Devon, pushing him away, even though he knew that he had no issue with his friend but was only taking his frustrations out on the closest person. He had to call Scout back a few times until the dog finally stopped chasing and barking and returned to him, his head hanging low in defeat.
“Theytookher,” Gideon said slowly before the panic resounded in his voice. “They took her! What are we supposed to do? She was under our care. What the hell are they going to do with her? They are?—”
“Stop,” Devon said, more firmly this time. “There is nothing we can do right now, not when we are on foot. We will go back to the house and decide what to do from there.”
