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“Absolutely,” he earnestly replied. “You’ve put us all to shame.”
“You certainly have,” Kathleen said. “I assure you that Graeme will know exactly what to do with the captain. Now, please let him come to you and take the gun, all right?”
Jeannie grimaced. “Are you sure, Kath? You’re sure he’ll get what’s coming to him?”
“He absolutely will. I promise, darling.”
“And can you try to make sure that David isn’t hurt by this?”
“Lass, David can be vicar here for as long as he wants,” Graeme said. “Now, I’m going to walk over to you, and you’re going to hand me the pistol. All right?”
“Please do what Graeme says, dearest,” Kathleen said. “I promise it’ll be all right.”
Jeannie let out a trembling sigh and nodded at her sister, which took her focus off her captive.
Instantly, the man leapt, giving Jeannie a hard shove. She flew forward, losing her balanceandher grip on the weapon, which sailed toward the wall. Grant wrapped his arms around Kathleen and dove for the floor, shielding her from the expected pistol blast.
But nothing happened.
Kathleen wriggled beneath him. “What . . . what happened?”
“Don’t move, Kathleen,” Grant urgently said.
“No, you must all get up,” the captain said. “Now.”
Clenching his teeth, Grant rose and then helped Kathleen to stand. Thankfully, Graeme had pulled Jeannie away from Brown’s reach. David was still frozen in place by the bookshelves, looking stunned.
The captain was now armed with a pistol, presumably pulled from his coat. And he pointed it straight at Kathleen.
“I’ll be leaving now,” he said, “and I’m taking Miss Calvert with me for insurance. She’s much easier to control than her sister.”
A red haze flickered at the edges of Grant’s vision. “The hell you will,” he snarled, stepping in front of Kathleen.
The captain sneered. “Fine. I’ll shoot you instead, and then make my escape during the commotion.”
“Don’t forget there’s a pistol on the floor right behind me,” Graeme said in a hard voice. “Trust me, I’ll get you squarely between the shoulders while you’re running.”
“But that gun obviously isn’t loaded,” Brown contemptuously replied. “Unfortunately, I was unaware of that when the little bitch cornered me.”
Jeannie glared at him. “You’re a demon.”
“He is indeed,” said David.
Before Brown could turn, the vicar took two quick steps and whacked him in the head with a book. As the captain staggered, David plucked the pistol from his hand and then whacked his brother again—even harder this time.
The captain dropped to his knees, his eyes glazing, before slowly toppling over.
For a few moments, everyone simply gaped at the prone figure on the carpet. Then the vicar, carefully holding the pistol with two fingers, brought it over to Graeme.
“I believe you should have charge of this, sir.”
Graeme stared at him, stunned. “Er, thank you.”
Kathleen wrapped her arms around Grant’s waist and leaned into him. She squeezed him before letting go and rushing over to her sister. Jeannie stared forlornly down at David, now crouched beside his unconscious brother.
Kathleen pulled her in for a hug. “Jeannie, you are incredibly brave and I love you so, so much. But please don’t scare me like that ever again.”
“I’m sorry, Kath,” Jeannie said in a small voice. “When I saw him trying to sneak away, I couldn’t let him go. I just couldn’t.”
