Roderick's Purpose - Ellie St. Clair Page 0,8
her, as it was proving rather fun.
Chapter 4
Gwen didn’t know whether to be apprehensive or relieved when the stone building came into view. It was obviously their destination, and she knew what fate awaited her. She would be put into a prison cell as they would attempt to coerce her into giving up the rest of her gang. Unfortunately, she had developed something of a reputation over the years, a woman in a gang of thieves being something of a rarity. They would know she was part of the Doc Malone Gang. What they didn’t know was that the gang had been disbanded, and despite the honor among thieves, as it were, she would have no qualms about giving them up. They would want her father, though, the leader who had thwarted the authorities for years, and she vowed she would never, ever, turn him in.
When they arrived, she would finally be free of the non-stop verbal barrage that came from the man in front of her. It wasn’t so much the fact that he didn’t stop talking that bothered her. He actually had a rather good sense of humor, and she had to force herself to keep from smiling at some of the stories he told. Her problem was that his words made her feel happy and homesick, and that made her want to stay as far away from him as possible. Besides that, she could hardly deny how good his hard-muscled back on her chest felt, or how she had enjoyed the heat that radiated off of him. For once in her life, she had felt protected and somehow safe, despite the fact that the man held her prisoner.
Perhaps it was because she had no choice at the moment but to let go and accept whatever might come before determining her next action.
“Here we are,” he said, dismounting before reaching up to lift her off the horse. She ignored his hands, however, and tried to swing her leg over the mount and jump down, but she nearly fell off the horse when her injured ankle twinged. He had apparently anticipated this and caught her. He said nothing, but simply smirked at her as he set her carefully on her feet and helped her toward the building. He gave her a bit of a nod, as if in appreciation of her capability, and put a hand at her back to lead her toward the building.
“Wait,” she said, surprising herself as much as him, and he turned to face her. “What’s your name?”
“Roderick. Corporal Roderick McDougall,” he said with a grin, and her cheeks warmed at the fact she had shown an interest in anything about him. She nodded slightly as if it was nothing of note, but she could feel his gaze on her as she began stalking away. He caught up with her at the door of the barracks, and when she turned to look at him, she saw that he had the bag of coins slung over his shoulder. Her stomach sank, knowing now that she had failed her father, in both her mission and her ability to provide for him and his final request of her.
She felt eyes on her as she entered the long room, and she saw two men — one a tall, angular man with a commanding air, and another who looked somewhat like Roderick, she thought, as she looked back and forth between them. The men approached, the taller one looking over her with a bit of disbelief before he turned to Roderick.
“Corporal McDougall,” he said, with his thick accent. Goodness, thought Gwen, is everyone in this area a Scot? “Where’s the rest of them?”
“It was just her, Sergeant,” he replied. “She acted alone.”
“Word is that there was quite the chase through town,” the man said, a thin eyebrow raised. “You were patrolling, McDougall. Could you not stop her in the act?”
“I didn’t realize the thief had entered,” Roderick said, stealing a look at her, an odd mix of anger and confusion on his face. “I never suspected it would be a woman.”
“You knew the gang had a female member. Why did you not suspect her?”
“I’m not sure, I just—”
“He didn’t suspect me because he was far too busy admiring me,” Gwen said with a bit of a grin, enjoying his discomfort.
“That’s enough,” Roderick said, trying to quiet her, but the other man — the one who resembled him — waved his words away.
“What was that?” he asked her, a twinkle in