Page 9 of The Hired Hero
“Easy, Nero,” he said, with a calming pat. “I promise to give you your head later today.”
The horse snorted in reply, then suddenly shied.
Davenport let out an oath as his stomach gave another unpleasant heave. “Behave yourself,” he grumbled, tightening the reins.
The horse pranced back, and suddenly Davenport could see what was making his mount behave so skittishly.
“Hell’s teeth,” he exclaimed as he quickly dismounted and knelt by the woman who was lying on the muddy path. He gently turned her over and placed a finger on the side of her neck. There was a pulse, so she was alive. But she looked in far worse shape than he did.
The woman slowly stirred and gave a low moan as her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze widened as she stared at his face…
No doubt he didn’t present a very reassuring sight, thought Davenport, with his bloodshot eyes, unshaven face and a wild tangle of raven hair that was nearly brushing the shoulders of his worn coat?—
Letting out a weak yelp, she coiled a fist and hit him square on the nose.
“Ouch!” Davenport fell back on his rump. Fishing out a rumpled handkerchief from his coat pocket, he pressed it to his bleeding nostrils. “Who the hell taught you to throw a punch like that?” he demanded in a muffled voice as he righted himself but took the precaution of staying out of arm’s reach.
There was no answer.
“If you’re bamming me and mean to plant me another facer, I won’t be pleased,” he warned as he inched closer. “I’m merely trying to be a gentleman and offer some assistance.”
Her eyes were closed, and she didn’t move.
Davenport took in the darkening bruises, scratches and nasty cut on her forehead. His lips tightened. “It’s no wonder that you’re trying to flee from the brute who did this to you,” he muttered as he gathered her in his arms and remounted his horse.
The day, which had started badly enough, appeared to be getting much worse.
* * *
“Look,there it be—down at the bottom, wedged between the rocks. Do ye see it?”
The elegantly dressed gentleman craned his neck to peer down into the ravine.
“Ain’t nubbody gonna walk away from that,” piped up the third man in the group as he shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot.
The gentleman said nothing. He stepped off the ledge and picked his way a short distance down the overgrown slope, stopping to steady himself against a scraggly beech tree.
“Ain’t nubbody gonna notice them down there neither, leastways not for months.” The man who had spoken first wet his lips. “Yer gonna give the rest of the blunt now, ain’t ye? They’re dead, and that’s what ye said ye wanted.”
The gentleman scrambled back up to the road. He reached into his voluminous cape and withdrew a heavy leather pouch, which he tossed at the feet of his two companions. They fell to their knees in their eagerness to retrieve it, nearly knocking heads. But their hands froze as two quick shots rang out.
Slowly, each pitched forward into the mud.
“You’re right—no one will see the bodies down there for months,” he repeated softly as he tucked his two smoking pistols back into his pockets.
Removing his cape, he dragged the bodies over to the edge of the ravine and sent them tumbling down into the underbrush. Satisfied that nothing suspicious was visible from the road, he brushed some smudges of mud from his clothes with a grimace of distaste and retrieved his outer garment.
He knew a nearby ostler who would be happy to handle the sale of two horses, no questions asked. Then he could return and take a closer look down in the ravine. The woman might have been dead, as the two highwaymen had claimed, but they had badly bungled the job.
The packet of government papers.
He had risked too much to have it now elude his grasp. He would have it—no matter what.
* * *
This time,when Caroline opened her eyes, the face she saw was not nearly so disreputable looking. The eyes weren’t hazed with brandy but flashed with a clear hazel color as they narrowed in concern. A full beard, flecked liberally with gray, obscured the man’s other features, save for a long, hooked nose.
“She is awake.” The man turned to speak to someone else in the room.
