AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rafe stiffened, staring at the rifle.
“What are you doing?”
“Something I should have done when you came back to England. Getting rid of you.” Hayward jerked the barrel of the rifle towards the woods. “Get moving.”
“No.”
“I wasn’t asking. And if you run, you know I’ll be able to hurt you before you’ve taken three steps.” Hayward gave him a mirthless smirk. “I am a crack shot, after all.”
Rafe knew that. He had seen Hayward shoot plenty of times. A sinking feeling knotted his stomach.
“You killed Richard, didn’t you?”
“Now you finally understand. Get moving.” Hayward came forward and grabbed Rafe, yanking him hard enough that Rafe ended up sprawling on the ground. “If you’re a good boy, I might tell you the reason why before I kill you.”
Rafe was now feeling very scared. He hadn’t felt like this since he was told he might be hanged for Richard’s death. Now he wished he hadn’t come out here alone.
He wished he had told Victoria that he loved her before he went out.
***
Victoria clung onto Mayfield’s waist as he charged the horse along the path Rafe would have taken. She had been prepared to take her own horse, but Mayfield had said that would take too long, and he had simply gotten the stable manager to help her onto the back of an already saddled horse, barely checking to make sure she was comfortable before he kicked the horse into motion.
She couldn’t begin to imagine what the people they had passed a short while ago were thinking to see a married woman behave like this.
But if it meant getting to Rafe faster, she could endure the comments.
How had she not even considered it? Gregory had made comments in the past when Richard was alive about how jealous he was that Richard had his life laid out for him while his own was going to be one of uncertainty.
Victoria had heard him say he wished he was going to become the Viscount instead. Richard had laughed it off, and Victoria hadn’t paid much attention. She didn’t often listen when her brother and cousin were in the same room. They had often discussed things that were of no interest to her.
He had a bigger motive to kill Richard. And he stood to gain from it. When her father passed away, the title went to the next surviving male heir. Gregory’s father had died when Gregory was away in London the year before Richard was killed, and with Richard gone, it meant that Gregory was next in line. Had he not wanted to take any chances with the line of inheritance?
While Rafe might have had a motive, he stood to gain nothing from it. Gregory, on the other hand, gained a lot. Why hadn’t she looked at him more closely?
Because he’s family. You wouldn’t believe that of family, would you?
Victoria could have said it was just a coincidence if he hadn’t been the only possible suspect. And if Abigail and Manning hadn’t come in and told her what Abigail’s friend had said about Gregory. That he had never been away on business but staying in a public house in Middlesbrough. Also, Mayfield had said the man who shot Millinchip had been to a public house in Middlesbrough to finalise details with the person who hired him.
That was too much for a coincidence.
And Rafe was out with Gregory on his own. Victoria couldn’t believe how fast her stomach dropped when Manning told them that. He was in danger.
She could only hope they were not too late.
It felt like forever before they reached the woods. There were no signs of either Rafe or Gregory. Mayfield dismounted and helped Victoria down. Then he took his rifle from the scabbard attached to the saddle.
Victoria stared.
“You don’t think we’re going to need that, do you?”
“If the two of them are out here, and your cousin is more than likely armed, I’m not taking any chances.” Mayfield tied the bag of gunpowder and ball bearings to his belt. “Stay here. I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire.”
Victoria snorted.
“You’re going to bring me all the way out here and then leave me? Not a chance. I’m going in.”
“If Hayward….”
