AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ainsworth rubbed his jaw. “But none of you died.”
What did he expect? That Roger would step forward and admit to his wrongdoing? “We’re deeply sorry for your loss, but that is where our cooperation ends.”
Ainsworth glared. “I don’t care how long it takes. I will peg you for this. I will peg you for something.”
“Good luck,” Roger said.
William grabbed his forearm, hoping the action was warning enough. It wasn’t wise to press a revenue man. Although...if Ainsworth was still a revenue man, why was he here alone, depending on help from the local constable?
“Won’t your captain be needing you?” William asked.
Ainsworth stilled. “No.”
“Why not?”
“He doesn’t need me to return right away. He’s given me leave as long as I need it. So do not fear, I have time on my side.”
His commanding officer had given him leave and all the time he needed. That was not usual, and the pieces suddenly all clicked together. “You are not here on an official capacity, are you?”
Ainsworth did not respond immediately, which was all the response William needed. “Why is that?” he pressed. “Did your commanding officer not sanction this trip?”
“It did not need sanctioning.”
“Because it isn’t official,” Roger said, understanding what William had figured out. “You are not here on an official, legal capacity. You are merely settling the debt. Yet you do not even know who is guilty.”
“You are,” Ainsworth spat. “Both of you. Your whole crew is responsible. If you would only follow the law, Nathan would still be alive.”
That hit William like a punch in the gut. How many times had he thought the very same thing? If his family had followed the law, his mother would still be alive.
“I understand your frustration—”
Anger rolled from Ainsworth in seething waves. “You could never understand.”
“I do, actually. I lost my mother in a similar manner. She came out with us and her life was taken, shot by a revenue officer in the middle of unloading—” William cleared his throat. “When we were overtaken on the beach. She shouldn’t even have been there. I do understand.”
Fire poured from Ainsworth’s eyes.
William’s heart reached out to the man, to the pain and loss he’d experienced. “I cannot take back the actions of the night or restore your friend to you, but I can extend my deepest, heartfelt apologies.”
“You and your apologies can hang.”
William shook his head. There was no reaching Ainsworth through his grief. William was sorry for what had occurred, and he understood the pain and frustration Ainsworth likely felt now, but he could do no more than apologize, and he had.
“Come,” he said. “Let’s go home.”
“No.” Ainsworth’s voice was dangerous and low. His chest heaved in deep, shallow breaths, his eyes growing wild in the low light. “I won’t let you get away with this. If I must enact justice myself, then so be it.” He extended his arm and light from another torch behind them shone on the steel in his shaky hand.
He had a gun.
The shot rang out before William could dive for safety, the explosion of light and sound accompanying it and ringing from the cove. Pain sliced through William’s side, and he stumbled, falling to the sand with a hard thud.
Roger leapt forward and tackled Ainsworth to the ground. They wrestled, their blurry bodies sideways from William’s view lying on the sand. He wanted to get up, but his limbs would not respond to his wishes. He watched Roger tug the gun from Ainsworth’s grip and hit him over the head with the heavy steel. Footsteps ran toward them, heavy and muted by the sand, and William looked up toward the cliffside. He hoped Pippa made it inside before the shot rang out, that she was safe in her house.
William struggled to remain alert. People swam before him, colors blending into darkness despite the fire torches lighting the scene until everything went black.
