A Thin Line (21 page)

“Immensely.”

“Who are you here with?”

“The Duke of Hawkescliffe’s grandmother.”

“He has a grandmother?”

“Surprisingly, yes,” Judith entered the fray and set the ices down on the table.
 
“Yours is in front of you Mikala.”

“Thank you.”
 
Kala hesitantly reached out and found it, drawing it closer.
 
She quickly made the introductions between Southerby and the Dowager Duchess.
 

“It was very nice to meet you, but I must be going.
 
I have a meeting I am late for.”

“Of course.
 
Do come by to see me.”

“I am leaving the city for a while after my meeting.
 
I have some business I must attend to at home,” he announced.

“That is too bad.
 
Everyone seems to be leaving to attend to business.
 
I will miss your company.”

“I shouldn’t be gone very long.
 
Take care of yourself, Kala.
 
Lady Hawkescliffe, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
 
Kala could picture him bowing courteously before walking away.

“He’s a handsome devil.”

“Yes, he is.”

“But not the one?”

“No, unfortunately,” she sighed.
 
“It would make my life so much easier if he were.”

“Sometimes our lives were not meant to be easy.”
 
They were sitting, chatting when another, less welcome, voice entered their conversation.

“Good afternoon, Lord Dewhurst.
 
May I introduce Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess Hawkescliffe?”

“Your Grace, it is my pleasure.
 
You must be the Hawkescliffe’s younger sister,” he said flirtatiously.

“And you, young man, must be in need of a good pair of spectacles.”

He blustered a bit before addressing Mikala.
 
“Miss Simmons, how are you enjoying your time outdoors?”

“Absolutely divine, Lord Dewhurst.”

“Excellent.
 
Well, business calls.
 
I shall call on you soon?”

“Certainly.”

“He’s a pompous young man, isn’t he?” Judith asked when he had left them.

“Definitely.”
 
Kala heard her spoon rattle against the bottom of the dish.
 
“Well, mine appears to be gone.”

“As is mine.”

“You know, it is easier to savor a treat when you actually know how much you have to eat.”

“I can only assume you’re right,” Judith laughed.
 
“Are you ready to return home?”
 

“Yes.”

When they arrived at the house, James took the key from Kala.
 
She heard Judith call out a goodbye and the carriage roll off.
 
They entered the house and the door slammed shut.
 
A muffled curse followed closely by a thud then she felt James roughly grab her.
 
She heard a click as the bolt on the door slid into place and he propelled her down the hall.

“James, what are you doing?
 
I am very capable of seeing myself in.”
 
She attempted to jerk her arm free of his hold, but he just squeezed harder.
 
“You’re hurting me.”
 
Kala’s heart raced.
 
Something was amiss.
 
James had been the perfect gentleman all afternoon.
 
“Let me go.”
 

The person kept shoving her down the hall.

“Who are you?
 
James!”

“Shut up.”

“Help!” She yelled knowing full well all the servants had taken the day off and were more than likely out running their own personal errands.
 
She felt a gloved leather hand cover her mouth and drag her into the parlor.
 
If I can just get loose and get to the gun
, she thought.
 
I might not be as accurate as when I could see, but at least I will have an advantage
.
 
Kala wiggled to make room within his grasp.
 
She pulled up her arm and slammed her elbow back into his ribs.
 

“Ooof,” she felt his breath on the back of her neck.
 
She wasted no time in getting away.
 
She turned to her left and knocked into the decorative side table.
 
She grabbed the vase, a vague plan forming in her mind.
 
She turned to run out of the room when an arm wrapped around her feet, pulling her down to the floor and landing on her stomach.
 
The vase shattered under the force of the fall.

“I wanted the duke to be able to watch this, but I can’t wait,” the voice whispered in her ear.

“Wait?” She choked out.
 
She felt the man crawl on top of her, and straddle her hips.
 
His lips pressed to her cheek and then ran down her neck.
 
He flipped her over onto her back and covered her lips forcefully.
 
She felt the bodice of her gown and camisole ripped open from neck to waist, spread wide.
 
A strong, leather clad hand clamped firmly around her breast, painfully squeezing it.
 
“No!” She screamed, fighting, trying to knock the man off of her when she felt his mouth and teeth where his hand had just been.

“Yes.
 
Do you know how long I’ve wanted you?
 
Wanted this?”
 
Again he covered her breast with his cruel mouth while pulling her dress up.

Kala frantically reached for a piece of the broken pottery to use as a weapon.
 
She felt it cut into the palm of her hand, but oddly felt no pain.
 
She jabbed a sharp corner into his ribs.

“You little bitch,” he cried as he rose up.
 
“You’ll pay for that,” he swung back his hand and slapped her hard across her face.
 
She felt dazed from the impact.
 
The man must have pushed himself off her, for she no longer felt the pressure of his body.
 
“I can’t wait to see your face when I take you.”
 
He leaned over her once more when she did the only thing left for her to do.
 
Justin taught her this should only be done in emergencies, and as far as she was concerned, this constituted one.
 
She brought her knee up to make contact with his fully erect groin.

The man gave a grunt and rolled off of her.
 
She dropped the piece of pottery and pushed herself up, feeling the shards scattered on the floor prick her hands.
 
She felt a pull on the back of her bodice, but pulled away feeling it rip and fall to hang limply from her waist.
 
Mikala ran across the room and sent up a silent prayer thanking God that he had given her the foresight to memorize the layout of the rooms and forgive her for what she had to do.

She reached the little table and ripped open the drawer.
 
Her fingers curled around the gun and she turned in the direction she heard movement.
 
She walked closer until she could hear the man moaning.
 
She pulled the trigger in the direction of the moan.
 
The blast echoed in the room.

“What are you trying to do, you little bitch?”

“Kill you,” she yelled furiously and grabbed the rope that would lead her to the stairs and her bedroom where her own loaded pistol remained.
 
She heard the man’s grunt as he pushed himself up.
 
His footsteps were much closer than what she thought they would be.
 
She must have missed him completely.
 
She ran to her bedroom and slammed the door shut, locking it.
 
Within seconds she heard him pounding on the door.

Doing the only thing she thought might bring help, she ran to her window and threw it open and began yelling.
 
Satisfied that she had made enough noise she groped her way to the nightstand and jerked open the drawer so hard that it fell out and the contents scattered.

“Damn,” she cursed loudly, falling to her knees searching for her last chance at life.
 
She heard a crash through a door downstairs and the footsteps outside hers retreat.
 
Kala had crawled halfway under the bed before she felt the cold metal of the gun.
 
Her hands, slick from the blood oozing from the cuts on her palms made it difficult for her to hold onto the gun.
 
She climbed up on the middle of the bed, sitting on her knees with the hammer cocked and ready, her bodice lying in shreds about her waist.

Chapter 16

“Good evening, Grandmother,” Gabe greeted his grandmother on the front steps of their town home having arrived at the same time she did.

“How was your day, dear?” She lifted her cheek up to receive a kiss.

“Filled with meetings.
 
And yours?”

“Oh, Mikala and I had the most lovely outing.”

“Mikala?”

“Yes.
 
If you must know, I rescued her for the afternoon.
 
We went to milliners shops and had an ice at Gunther’s.
 
We also ran into two very lovely men, both of which seemed very interested in our dear girl.”

“Southerby and Dewhurst most likely,” he muttered.

“Yes, I do believe that was their names.
 
They seemed. . .” she broke off a moment and cocked her head.
 
“Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“It must have been my imagination.
 
It sounded like someone yelling for help.
 
I’ve been reading too many gothic novels as of late.”

“Are there any packages you need assistance with?”

“No, the milliner is to deliver the hat I bought.”

“Good.
 
Why don’t we go in then?”
 
He started leading her up the steps to the house when they both heard the distinctive sound of a gunshot.

“I know that was not my imagination.”

“Get in the house and send over some footmen,” he took off running and looked back to see her still standing there.
 
“Now!” He left no room for arguments and continued to run across the grassy square.

He reached Richard and Dru’s townhouse to find the door locked.
 
He began to beat on it calling out Kala’s name.
 
He heard her yell for help from his left side.
 
He sidled around to the corner of the house and saw that her bedroom window open and then heard a loud clatter.
 
Gabe didn’t wait to hear anymore.
 
He went back to the front door and began to kick at the locked handle until it finally gave way and flew back into the wall.

A groan came from the corner and he saw James lying prone on the floor.
 
Satisfied that he would be fine, Gabe slowly began up the stairs, taking in the scene before him.
 
A table lay on its side in the parlor and shards of broken pottery littered the floor.
 
Flecks of blood were intermingled with the pottery.
 
He saw blood smeared on the wall and a discarded pistol on the floor.
 
Some sort of rope had been tacked to the wall and it had turned pink in places.

Someone was bleeding.
 
He forced himself to go slowly.
 
He heard what he guessed to be the servant’s door slam shut.
 
He paused a moment, hesitating as to whether to go after whoever had just left or continue on and go to Kala.
 
At that moment two of his footmen entered the front door.

“Someone just came in or went out the servant’s entrance.
 
See what you can find.”
 
The two men ran off to the back of the house.
 
He continued carefully up the stairs, keeping his back to the wall and stepping sideways.
 
Gabriel came to the landing where the bedrooms branched off and made his way towards the left, remembering which room he had deposited her in over a week ago.
 
He cursed himself for agreeing to allow Kala to live by herself with only servants for protection.
 
She had to be reined in before she died.
 

Gabe jiggled the handle on the door knob only to find it locked.
 
He had no time to find a key, so this particular door met the same fate as the front one.
 
As soon as it swung open, his mind registered the sound of a gunshot and he dropped to the floor.
 
After mentally checking himself, and confirming that he hadn’t been hit, he pushed up and moved towards the bed.
 

Kala sat in the middle, her head quickly moving from side to side as if to pick up any noise.
 
He saw her bodice hung limply from her waist, her breasts shone like alabaster in the late sun except for the red bite marks.
 
Dear God, if anything happened to her, he would kill the person responsible with his own bare hands
, he thought savagely.