he remembered he had his dueling pistol in his belt. He threw down the rifle, pulled out the smaller gun, and started sprinting through the trees toward Danton.
Brutus had been thrown into a frenzy by the gunfire. He was barking wildly, twisting and straining on his leash. With an athletic lunge, he broke free of the branch and leapt toward Emmy. She shrieked in alarm, but he surged past her and headed straight for Danton, his teeth bared in fury.
Danton threw his spent pistol at the dog and turned to run just as Alex fired. The ball caught the Frenchman midthigh, and with a high-pitched scream he went sprawling to the ground. The tin fell from his arms and burst open, spewing jewels onto the muddy ground. Brutus was on him a second later, barking fiercely, his front legs splayed wide to corner him and guard Emmy.
Danton rolled over with a howl of fury. Alex grabbed hold of Brutus’s flailing leash and tugged the dog back toward Emmy, who was standing frozen as if in shock. He thrust the leash into her hand.
“Here. Hold him.”
She grasped it automatically, still watching Danton’s writhing efforts to crawl away on his hands and knees.
A blinding fury seized Alex. He strode over, grasped Danton by the collar, and dealt him a punishing blow across the jaw. Panting through his teeth, he punched him again and again.
He didn’t fight like a gentleman. The bastard had tried to shoot Emmy. He deserved no such courtesy.
Seb grabbed his shoulders and tried to pry him away, but Alex shrugged him off. He hauled Danton to his feet, ignoring his screams for mercy, and punched him in the kidneys. His flabby stomach absorbed most of the blow.
The Frenchman doubled over with an agonized exhalation, gasping for breath. When Alex let him go, he dropped to the ground and lay curled around himself, his hands grasping his middle. Alex gave his injured thigh a contemptuous kick for good measure.
“Easy, Alex. Enough!” Seb’s urgent words pierced his red haze of anger. “We need him alive to hang, dammit!”
Alex shook out his fists. His knuckles stung. He looked down at the whimpering, cowering heap below him with disdain. Threaten Emmy, would he? Bastard.
Seb stepped in front of him and ushered him a few steps away.
“Can’t we just shoot him here?” Alex growled.
“You’ve already done that.”
“Only in the leg. It’s just a flesh wound. Let me try again. Somewhere really painful this time. The knee? The hand?”
“No! Conant wants him alive to stand trial. Leave it to the authorities. Let them decide what they want to do with the traitorous bastard.”
Alex scowled at his friend.
“Nobody’s shooting anyone,” Seb repeated firmly. “Unless Emmy decides to shoot you, of course. That I’d pay to see.”
“Some friend you are. You’d probably hand her the gun.” Alex glanced around the clearing as a wave of belated shame swamped him. Oh, God, she’d seen him beating Danton to a pulp. She must be disgusted. Horrified at his barbarity. “Where is she?”
There was no sign of her or the dog.
Seb shrugged. “Probably gone to release her brother.”
Danton had lost consciousness. Alex rolled him over and searched his pockets, but they were empty. “We need that sapphire to tie him to the Italian’s murder.”
Seb nodded. “I’ll take him back to the coach. You find Emmy, her brother, and the gem.” He grabbed hold of Danton’s ankles and began to drag the unconscious man down the lane.
Alex scooped the jewels from where they’d fallen in the mud and replaced them in the tin. “Take these too.” He balanced the box on Danton’s stomach so Seb could use him as a human sled. “Don’t feel the need to be gentle with the bastard.”
Alex headed through the trees in the direction of the Thames. An excited bark helped him pinpoint a small, sleek vessel secured to a wooden jetty. Brutus was tied to a piling. Emmy and her brother appeared, both ducking to avoid the craft’s low doorway and then climbing back onto the dock.
Alex strode forward and held out his hand. “Still in one piece, Danvers? None the worse for your adventure?”
Luc Danvers returned the handshake with a smile. The man had a black eye and some ugly swelling on his eyebrow, but otherwise appeared unhurt.
“That’s quite the shiner you have there,” Alex said.
Luc grimaced. “Looks like I’ve gone six rounds with Gentleman Jackson, doesn’t it? Danton kicked my good foot from under me and I fell.” He shrugged. “Still, I’ve had