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“I will be back as quickly as I can. Just get some sleep. When you wake up in the morning, I am going to be here, and all of this will be over.”
“I shan’t sleep,” Hetty assured him. “I won’t until you get back.”
Their eyes met and held.
“When I get back, we are going to have to talk,” he whispered meaningfully.
Hetty nodded but was too busy trying to allay her fears to get words past the lump in her throat.
Having to sit and watch him dress was more than her nerves could stand and, when he dragged his shirt over his head, she quietly slipped out of bed and began to tug her clothes on.
She had no intention of waving him off. Her worries and doubts wouldn’t allow her to be that brave, but she was damned if she was going to be naked and vulnerable between the sheets while he went off to fight his foe.
“Charlie,” she murmured when he reached the door.
He paused with his hand on the latch and turned to look back at her. She hated to see the shadows in his eyes, but knew from the vague and distant look on his face that the man she had just shared her body with had been set to one side, and been replaced with a soldier who was battle-hardened and ready to face the enemy.
Still, she couldn’t prevent one last kiss. Before she could talk herself out of it, she stalked up to him, clenched his shirt in her fists, and yanked him forward.
Before he could say anything, she slammed her lips onto his in a move that was so bold, so possessive, that it stunned them both.
The kiss was swift and hard, and over quickly, but said more than words ever could.
He rested his forehead against hers for a moment before he set her firmly away from him and slammed out of the room.
Hetty stared at the wood panelling and let her tears trickle slowly down her face.
She could only hope that the Star Elite were as strong, and infallible, as they claimed they were because they were going to challenge the county’s most notorious criminal of them all, and there was every chance that none of them would get away with their lives.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Charlie stared at the wooden panelling of the door. The house around him was silent and now completely empty of everyone apart from his colleagues.
Several of Meldrew’s men had just been subdued and carried to the outbuildings, where they would be kept under guard until they could be moved to jail, leaving only the corrupt magistrate to contend with.
The last hour had been hard work for everyone in the Star Elite because the house that Meldrew called home had been heavily fortified with more men that any seemingly innocuous magistrate could want, or need. It gave Hugo and Charlie the confirmation they both needed that Meldrew had things he wanted he keep hidden, or was afraid of repercussions for something he had done to offend someone.
“I will go first,” Hugo whispered. “He doesn’t know me. It will give us the element of surprise. I will assess the danger he poses to us. You follow.”
Charlie nodded. He slowly withdrew his gun and watched Hugo kick the door with such force that the panelling around the lock and catch shattered, and showered them both in splinters.
“Meldrew. As I live and breathe,” Hugo drawled casually as he stalked arrogantly through the door
“Who the hell are you?” Meldrew demanded as he spat out a mouthful of pie. His round, bulging eyes stared at Hugo disdainfully.
“I am here to arrest you,” Hugo challenged.
“Arrest me?” Meldrew snorted as he eyed Hugo with false humour. “I am the magistrate around here. Nobody arrests me.”
“I am afraid that Sir Hugo can do whatever he chooses,” Charlie drawled as soon as he saw Hugo nod imperceptibly. He wandered into the room in a casual way that was at odds with the tension thrumming through him.
Meldrew glared hatefully at Charlie. “Well, well, you have returned my convict I see. Thank you for that. It saves my men from having to search anymore. I want the other one as well though.”
With that he promptly picked up a small brass bell, and shook it firmly.
Nobody moved while they waited.
Only Meldrew looked toward the door when Barnaby appeared. His gaze flew back to Hugo and, although he didn’t speak, the questions hovered in his eyes.
