Page 59 of Their Brazen Countess
“I could call on enough men to overpower her guards and rescue the both of them, if that is what you wish to do,” Lucifer offered casually as he lounged in his chair. The man’s calm coolness had a deadly air about it. “There is, of course, some risk of her or the boy being injured with that approach. But you would have the power to determine how you would like things to be resolved with the men in question.”
“Do you believe she can effect an escape out her window as she suggests?” Wolf asked carefully.
“I have no doubt she will escape. The problem is, I do not know if she can make it happen on her own with Matthew’s arm still in a cast. We need to be there to help her.” Arthur sighed. “I suspect that if the men Lord Downs has hired are at all well trained, they will walk the grounds periodically. We should have someone watching to see if we can determine any schedule they may be keeping.”
“I can take the first shift.” Brougham rose to his feet. “I’ll head over now, and you can send someone to relieve me in a few hours. By tonight, we should have a clear picture of their movements.”
“Thank you, Cooper.” Linc nodded as their friend departed. “I believe once we have Jo and Matthew ensconced here, we may need some additional support to protect her.”
“I’ll have my men cover that,” Lucifer offered. “That will leave the rest of you free to move about as needed to handle Lord Downs.”
“Excellent,” Arthur nodded. “I think we have a plan.”
It felt good to have his friends come to his and Linc’s aid this way. He of course knew they would do so, but knowing a thing and seeing a thing is true is a very different experience. Particularly when it came to the unflinching loyalty of one’s friends.
He’d been such a fool as a younger man, thinking the men he’d caroused with were his friends.These menhere in this room were his genuine friends.
Now they just needed to rescue his and Linc’s woman.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Linccrouchedinthebushes in Jo’s garden and waited with Arthur. Together, they watched the back of the house for signs of movement inside. The lights were steadily doused throughout the first floor.
“She’ll wait until everyone is asleep and then sneak out the back window, won’t she?” Linc looked in Arthur’s direction, peering into the shadows which surrounded them.
“I’m worried. If there are guards on all the doors, then she’ll have to find another path of escape.”
Just then, the dull thud of boots on the cobblestones sounded. They huddled deeper into the bushes and waited. The guard moved past them with no hesitation. They continued to crouch and watch as the lights on the second floor slowly went out, one by one.
About five minutes later, the same guard wandered through the backyard once more as expected, based on Cooper’s report from earlier. He seemed to make a fairly regular circuit of the front and back gardens of the home.
The man came past them at least four more times as the house continued to settle into an eerie stillness. Fortunately it was a cloudy night, so there was little moonlight to potentially expose anyone making an escape.
Eventually, there was the creak of a window opening above them. Linc looked up and tapped Arthur on the shoulder to get his attention. He pointed up to where curtains now gently billowed out the window. A pit formed in his stomach as he imagined what Jo might be planning.
Linc cursed as he realized the guard would come by soon. “Arthur, the guard!”
“I’m on it. I’ll ensure he can’t raise the alarm.” Arthur rose from the bushes and slipped out, keeping along the shadowed edges of the fence line. Then he waited in the deepest shadows.
Linc’s gaze darted back and forth from where he thought Arthur was to the open window. Then he saw Jo and Matthew in the opening.
As they had feared, Jo’s son was not nearly as intrepid as his mother. For long moments, the boy sat on the windowsill cradling his broken arm as his mother appeared to encourage him to slide over the sill. Twice the boy turned as though to climb back into the house and twice Jo soothed him and returned him into position.
Linc felt for the boy, but he was also quite confident that Jo wouldn’t have chosen this avenue of escape if she’d had any other viable option.
Then suddenly a scuffle broke out where Arthur had been waiting—there were a few grunts of pain, and the muffled sound of a body hitting the ground. Linc held his breath as he waited for Arthur to appear.
Right about the time Jo finally eased Matthew over the edge and down a bit, Arthur strode toward where the boy was being lowered. Linc crept out of his hiding spot and joined him. Matthew spotted them and gave a soft squeal of excitement, as he often did, but Linc and Arthur both held their fingers to their lips and shushed him. He nodded and grinned as Jo continued to lower him to the ground with a sheet tied off around his waist.
Once the boy was in Linc’s arms, Arthur quickly untied the knot and waved up at Jo to let her know it was safe to come down.
Linc passed the boy to Arthur. “Best get him to the carriage while I help Jo.”
“Agreed.” Arthur bundled the boy close to him and slipped out the back gate near the stable and into the mews where they’d entered.
Linc glanced back up to the window to find Jo dangling above him. The rope of bedsheets appeared to still be holding as she shimmied down the makeshift rope. Watching her make her way down the side of the house so easily suggested that her life in the country had her spending more time as a tomboy than one might have expected, based on their time with the woman.
A moment later, she was on the ground and in his arms. He resisted the urge to plunder her mouth right there and instead took her by the hand and led her the same way Arthur had gone.
