Summer's Distant Heart - Laura Landon Page 0,34
would. He knew it would not be possible for her to keep her promise. He only hoped she would stay hidden long enough for him to reach his father’s men and assess the situation before she followed.
They rode close to a copse of trees and dismounted. With extreme care, they slowly crept through the saplings and shrubbery until they had a clear view of the men holding Frannie and George. They were safe…so far.
Hunter recognized one of the man, and the man’s distinctive voice confirmed his identity.
“What should we do with them?” one of the kidnappers asked.
“You know what Trentridge said. He wished the whelp never born.”
“I ain’t killin’ no babe, Hank,” one of them said.
“Me neither,” a second man was heard to say. “I just thought we were supposed to find them. Not get rid of them.”
“Well, Trentridge changed his mind. He said if something happened to his son and the babe he wouldn’t mind.”
The full force of the words sickened Hunter. He’d known his father was capable of such thoughts, but hearing them put into action drew the despicable act out of the realm of possibility and into the here and now.
“What kind of man intends to kill his own grandson?”
“The kind of man whose twenty quid is waitin’ for ya once the deed is done.”
“Well, I ain’t gonna do it.”
“Fine. I’ll do it,” the first man said, and stepped out to where Frannie stood holding little George.
Hunter’s mind raced, seeking a strategy to foil the man’s intention. At the same moment, the second man stepped in the leader’s way. He held out a hand to stop the leader’s action, but the burly man knocked him to the ground with a beastly punch. With a kick to the downed fellow, he turned and strode toward Frannie.
“Halt!”
With a loud bellow, Hunter rushed forward with his gun drawn. He fired once, then twice, before his fire was returned and he felt a sharp pain in his side.
Miles fired at the same time and so did the footman. One of the kidnappers went down, then a second. The footman tackled a third man and Miles went after the fourth. The leader had managed to dodge them all.
The pain in his side caused him to stumble, but Hunter couldn’t give in to it. He needed to reach the baby before his father’s man did.
Hunter ran as fast as his wound would allow him to go and he reached the babe just as the last gunman pulled the trigger of his weapon. Hunt waited to feel the burning pain of a bullet going through him, but there was none. The man’s pistol was either jammed or out of powder.
Hunter rushed him, thankful for the reprieve, but when he reached him, the man swiped a long-bladed knife through the air. The tip of the blade tore through his jacket and reached the skin beneath.
His gun had fallen to the ground as he plowed into the man, and Hunter scrambled to recover it. But the man slashed his knife again and this time cut through the fabric on his arm.
Hunter knew he didn’t have much strength left and wouldn’t be able to hold the murderer at bay.
The man lifted the knife in the air and with a loud bellow lunged at Hunter. Reeling, Hunter held out his arm to ward him off, but before the man reached him, a blast of gunfire echoed in the air and the man froze with his arm extended.
A large circle of blood stained the man’s shirt and he looked at his chest in disbelief. The man sank to his knees and locked his gaze with that of his killer, then fell to the ground.
“Lia?” Hunter called out, then staggered to where she stood. She looked at the man lying dead on the ground, then stared with incredulity at the gun in her hand.
As if the gun had burned her fingers, she dropped it and clamped her hand over her mouth.
Hunter knew she wanted to scream in fright, but she didn’t. She raced to him and wrapped her arms around him to hold him up.
“Are you alright?” Hunter draped his arm across her shoulders and leaned against her.
“I’m fine. But you’re not. You’re hurt.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Of course you will. You have to be.”
Hunter looked around to where Miles and the footman stood over the two men they’d overpowered.
“How badly are you hurt?” Miles asked, looking at the dark red circles that spread across Hunter’s shoulder and side. They were getting