AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She swallowed and breathed deeply. “I want to stay here. This is our home, Harry, and we will defend it together.”
He closed his eyes and rested his head against her bosom. “I do not want to fail you.” He barely heard his voice.
“You will not fail me, Harry.” She drew his head up to look into his eye. “You will never. And you did not fail Goliath. What happened was unfortunate.”
“You have too much faith in me.”
“No, I have the right faith in you.” Her gaze was strong, determined, and trusting.
“Thank you.”
Bridget smiled and kissed his forehead. “Can we sleep now?”
“Not yet. Drew caught the man who followed me to Ipswich.” Harry iterated what happened in the cellar but omitted Miller’s threat.
“What will you do when he tells you who he works for?”
“Let justice prevail,” he replied.
“Harry,” she stood and drew him to his feet, “I know you are worried. I am worried, too, but I want us to stop.” She started to lead him to the bed. “I want us to sleep.”
Harry lay beneath the covers with her, holding her very close to his chest. If he could hold her like this all the time to keep her safe, he would. But he had agreed to stop worrying and that was what he would do.
He closed his eyes but could not recall when he fell asleep. It was quiet as it always was when she was with him.
At dawn, he awoke early and decided to leave for the old brewery to speak to Miller alone. Drew would not be there, and he might be able to calmly persuade the brigand to tell him who employed him. He needed only to resist his taunts.
Leaning, he kissed Bridget before he rose and dressed. On his way out of their bedchamber, he discovered that Cato had taken his place. He smiled.
The castle was still asleep when he walked through it, exiting through the door on the side, and walking through the gardens to the woods.
The new brewery was larger than the old one, and he hoped to revive it once he found success. Harry opened the front door and entered, slightly wrinkling his nose at the smell of must. He descended to the cellar where Miller was.
Drew had wrapped an iron chain around the handles of the double doors and locked it, but Harry found the chain on the floor and the lock broken. All of his senses became alert and he reached for the pistol he had hidden in his coat before leaving the castle.
Carefully, he opened the door, and the sight that met him was the most shocking yet. Miller sat in his chair, still bound, with his throat slit.
Chapter 35
Drew was the only one who knew that Miller was here besides Harry, and the only way he could understand what happened was to assume they had been followed. Or suspect one of his dearest friends.
Gore was no stranger to Harry but he could not look at what was before him. Who could be so cruel as to murder a man in such a manner because he did not want to be found? The sheer evil wrung his gut.
Footsteps had him aiming his pistol toward the door, every muscle fiber ready to deal with an intruder.
“Devil!” Drew swore and Harry almost lowered his pistol. He did not because he had once been an excellent captain, and he knew not to lower his guard until innocence was proven.
Drew walked in, abruptly stopping when he saw Harry with a pistol aimed at him and Miller’s lifeless body. His eyes moved from Harry to Miller several times before his hands moved up in a gesture of surrender. The look in his eye told Harry that he was seeing Miller for the first time that day.
“Harry, I did not do this,” Drew said.
“I know.” He lowered the pistol.
Drew walked around Miller, examining him. “Do you know what this means?”
“What?”
“Perhaps Miller wasn’t the murderer. And the same man who shut him up indefinitely was the same one who murdered Carlton and poisoned Bridget. They will clearly go to extreme lengths not to be found.”
