The Heiress of Winterwood - By Sarah Ladd Page 0,106

pushed the words from his lips. “Any sign of Kingston?”

Sulter’s silence provided the answer.

Graham pressed his lips together, then opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of a carriage stilled him. In quick response, the men lined up against the wall in the shadows, waiting for it to pass. But instead of rumbling by the warehouse, it groaned to a stop somewhere to the side.

Graham motioned for Sulter and William to stay still. A carriage stopping at the warehouse at this late hour could only mean trouble. He held his breath and waited, each second sliding into the next.

The sound of the carriage door opening was followed by hushed voices. Above the normal sounds of evening, the men heard the warehouse door open, then slam shut. The voices ceased.

Sulter’s whisper was rough. “Saw three men already inside earlier. Littleton and two others. If I was one to gamble, I’d wager the carriage is there to transport ’em to the docks.”

Graham immediately began to adjust his plan, growing nervous. “Can we get in that third door?”

Sulter nodded. “Aye.”

“Good. Any idea of the layout of this building?”

Sulter shook his head. “Never been inside, but it’s a warehouse. Likely ’bout the same as the others—storage in back, office up front. If they have them in there, they probably have them in one of the office rooms. Like I said, I didn’t see them but heard the babe crying.”

Just the knowledge that Lucy had been crying revived Graham’s fury. “We’ll go in the back way, then. Ready, William?”

William swallowed and nodded, but did not speak.

Graham pointed at the handle of William’s pistol. “You really know how to use that?”

His brother hesitated, then nodded again.

“Use it only if you have to. Our objective is to get all of us out safely.”

Graham looked hard at his accomplices. Sulter’s eyes held focus. William’s barely contained his fear. Graham wished there was time to come up with a better plan, but he wasn’t about to risk letting his quarry slip away. He removed his pistol from his waistband, checked it, then nodded toward the back alley.

“Let’s go.”

But as he turned down the alley, the sight he saw sickened him. The carriage was not arriving, but departing. Disbelief momentarily froze his feet to the spot. And when he regained his senses, he ran to the warehouse door, still open. He entered with reckless abandon, weapon brandished, only to be met with an empty room. A dying fire. And the impending sense of failure.

Footsteps entered behind him.

Graham let his weapon fall to his side. He’d misjudged—miscalculated the plan. “We’re too late.”

William’s voice echoed. “What do we do now?”

With renewed vigor, Graham spun on his heel. “We go to the docks.”

The carriage door yanked open, the force of which jostled the entire carriage, and Amelia pressed back against the seat. Edward filled the opening, but behind him, the moonlight shimmered on waves, and a great ship settled on the water. The gull’s cry met her ears. Edward grabbed her and lifted her down. She swung her head around, desperately searching. Surely Graham would rescue them. This couldn’t be the hour it would end. The feel of Edward against her sickened her, and as soon as she found her footing she pulled away. She searched hungrily, slightly relieved when she saw Lucy in Mrs. Dunne’s arms . . . until she saw them boarding a great wooden ship.

Edward lifted Helena down and then took Helena’s arm in one hand, Amelia’s in the other. Two other men swarmed around them. Amelia searched the landscape for Graham, hoping, praying he had figured out where they were. But only the sight of crates, rope, and smoke met her. As Edward yanked her toward the ship, she was overcome with a new fear: neither she nor Helena had ever been on a ship. She stared down at the churning water as she stepped across the wooden walkway to the frigate’s upper deck. In front of them, Lucy and Mrs. Dunne disappeared through a companionway.

Amelia imagined she heard a breath of relief before Edward spoke. “Welcome to the Perseverance, ladies.”

As night deepened, clouds rolled in, thickening the sky and obscuring the moon’s glow. Graham paused only long enough to fill his lungs with air.

He was close to them. He could feel it in every fiber of his being.

Above him, the clouds hung thick and low, and at his ankles, a night’s mist swirled at his feet. He stood in the shadows, watching the ship rock. The