Dare to be Mine (35 page)
Authors: Kim Allison
Daniel had come to Greystone to speak to
Will about the confusing conversation he'd had with Elyssa the previous night.
He had no idea what she’d meant about Will and Catherine and some kind of plan
for murder. It was insane! And yet it had to be investigated. For whatever
reason, Elyssa was genuinely frightened. Indeed, she thought him involved in
some way, and the thought sickened him.
He planned to go to Catherine after
speaking with Will if he didn’t get the answers he was looking for. When Daniel
had seen Will holding Elyssa captive in the stable, he'd lost all self-control.
Indeed, he wanted to finish what he started, but Will needed to remain alive to
confess whatever he’d been about.
Elyssa was nearly hysterical. He needed
to calm her down and find out what transpired before his arrival. Loosening his
hold on her, he asked if she was alright.
A faint commotion grew louder as voices
neared. Elyssa looked up through tear fogged eyes, stunned to see Sophie entering
the stable in a rush with the authorities in tow. Pointing toward Daniel,
Sophie said, "That is him. And the other one is lying on the ground."
"What the hell is this about?"
Daniel demanded, two officers proceeding toward him with their sticks.
"Murder, Lord Fredrickson,"
Sophie sneered. She rushed over and placed her arms about Elyssa in effort to
calm her. "And not a moment too soon," she added, noting Elyssa's
distressed state. "Elyssa, are you alright? Did he hurt you? romantic onslaughtdanger second" Elyssa
was unable to get any coherent words out, but shook her head in denial.
As the two officers neared Daniel, he
instinctively struck out at them, managing to get a well aimed punch in before
being beaten with their wooden clubs. Barely conscious by the time they managed
to control him, Daniel looked up at Elyssa, a steady trickle of blood running
down his face.
"Elyssa, tell them. I freed you
from that bastard. Tell them." Glancing over at the still prone form of
Will, who was likewise in custody by that time, Elyssa felt she would be sick.
Even knowing his evil intentions toward her, Elyssa found it impossible to
sentence Daniel's life worthless. There had to be another explanation.
Nudging Elyssa, Sophie whispered,
"Tell them what you know."
"Elyssa?"
Daniel pleaded as the constable looked toward her for her answer.
Unable to remove her eyes from the
visage of Daniel, bloody and beaten, she weakly replied as her heart shriveled
inside, "Will and Catherine Edmonton were behind the murder of Percy
Fredrickson. Will claims that Lord Fredrickson was likewise plotting my death,
but I––,” Her tongue felt thick with the softly spoken words of betrayal. Her
heart lurched at the look of despair and desperation in Daniel’s eyes at her
accusation. In truth, she didn’t want Daniel arrested. Her mind was still
foggy, her head ached fiercely, and she was merely repeating what Will had
said.
Daniel roared in disbelief, the officers
roughly taking him and Will from the premises. Elyssa's eyes closed and she
cringed at the foul words coming from Daniel’s mouth. She would never forget
the wild, bewildered look in his eyes when she'd betrayed him. The hateful look
he had left her with as he was dragged from the stables.
“No!” she cried, reaching her hand out
toward the departing form of Daniel as they took him away. Elyssa's stomach
clenched in utter misery and she fell to her knees in wretchedness. This was
all wrong. Daniel was innocent, she'd misjudged him. The look of absolute
betrayal in his stormy gray eyes would haunt her forever.
Elyssa spent the remainder of the day
and all the next in her bedroom with the drapes pulled shut. Her weeping would
not stop, her heart crushed beyond repair.
CHAPTER ">
Sophie was beside herself with worry.
Her cousin was far more in love with the handsome lord than she had imagined.
Sooner or later Elyssa would have to realize that she'd done the only thing
humanly
possible,
else Elyssa would have ended up
giving her very life in exchange.
On the third day after the arrests,
Elyssa decided to go to the prison and speak to Daniel. She knew he must hate
her, would most likely want to throttle her neck, but something inside refused
to let go until she saw him in person. She was going to do everything in her
power to see to Daniel’s release, and she needed to tell him herself.
Elyssa didn't tell Sophie of her plans,
for her cousin would have put a stop to it. She waited until Sophie had gone
for a ride then ordered the driver to take her to the prison. She hadn't
bothered with her appearance overmuch, for the effort was simply too much.
Elyssa had hardly eaten a bite since
Daniel’s arrest, had barely slept. There were dark circles beneath her eyes,
her hair aimlessly pulled back. She paid no attention to which dress she
donned. Barely noticed that the shoes she wore didn't at all go with the drab
brown dress she was wearing. She wore a long black cape, pulling the hood low
over her face when she arrived at the prison. The sight of gold coins greatly
hastened Elyssa's ability to see Daniel, although the jail keeper informed Elyssa
that she wasn't likely to see the man she was expecting.
"Fredrickson’s been in a constant
fit of rage since he was brought here, milady. Mean as a rabid dog. I don't
think you should get near him. Maybe just talk to him through the bars for a
minute or two."
"Nonsense," she replied,
"I'm certain he won't hurt me with you standing nearby."
"Hmpph,"
came
the sound of disagreement, although the jingle of the gold coins lining his
pocket gave the jailer no further cause for concern. If the lady was stupid enough
to step foot into a cell with the man she’d put there, that was her problem.
"Follow me," he grumbled,
"but
keep
that hood over your face. We don't want
you riling up the other violent offenders."
Elyssa shuddered as she obeyed,
obediently following the man's quick steps. By the time they reached the area
where Daniel was located, Elyssa was nearly in tears. The foul odors that met
her were horrendous, the wailing cri romantic onslaughturg">CHAPTER es of the prisoners echoing in her ears.
She did her best to ignore the obscenities shouted at her and the jailer as
they passed by. She started in fright each time he knocked his thick wooden
stick against the cells to quiet them down. Finally, when Elyssa felt she would
vomit from feeling responsible for Daniel being there, she ran into the man's
back as he abruptly stopped.
"Here we are," he announced.
Yelling toward Daniel, the man said, "You got a visitor, Fredrickson. Now
make nice and I won't have to break your miserable neck before you hang."
Elyssa gasped aloud as she saw Daniel
turn slowly about. His right eye was swollen, from an angry jailer no doubt,
and his face was dirty and unshaven. His long hair was messy and blood stains
covered his shirt. For a moment he was confused at the sight of the mysterious
figure in the dim light, her face partially hidden by the hood of her cloak.
Then he realized it was Elyssa. A snarl
curled his lips down and his hands clenched into fists. He came at her,
throwing himself against the metal bars separating them, trying to get at her.
Wanting to hurt her.
Laughing aloud, the jailer said,
"See, missy? I told you he wouldn't be happy to see nobody." Striking
out at Daniel with his stick, the jailer narrowly missed breaking it over
Daniel's fingers. Pulling his hands back into the cell, Daniel continued
staring spitefully at Elyssa.
"Get that bitch out of here!"
he bellowed.
"Daniel!" she cried,
tentatively holding her hand toward the cell. "I need to talk to
you."
"I don't want to hear anymore lies
out of your mouth! You have done enough already."
"I am sorry, Daniel," Elyssa
cried. "I never meant for this to happen. I’m going to get you out of
here!" Turning to the jailer, she asked, "Why has he been mistreated
so? He is obviously in pain."
"Caged animals get unruly and mean.
They need to get beaten down. And this one's been a real pain in my ass."
Interrupting Elyssa's pleas on his
behalf, Daniel snarled, "Did you really think that by coming here youIn between kisses, lyhi d f
could ease your conscience?"
"No!" Elyssa cried. Her heart
wept at the sight of him and she wished she could do something, anything, to
help him. She opened her mouth to speak, but knew not what to say, for Daniel's
loathing glare chilled her.
"Get her out of here!" he
roared, turning away as he shook in rage. The jailer led Elyssa away against
her wishes, telling her she should have listened to him.
She left the prison in a daze. It had
been a mistake to go there. Daniel hated her. And he was in such pain, not only
physically, but emotionally. And she was to blame. Elyssa hired the best
attorney money could buy, hopeful that before long, a case could be made in
Daniel’s favor.
Two days later Daniel was released from
prison. After a lengthy interrogation, Will had finally confessed the entire
truth. He admitted that Daniel had in no way been involved in Percy's murder,
nor of the plot to kill Elyssa.
His attempt to portray himself as an
unwilling participant in Catherine's devious plans did not work as he'd hoped,
and Will was sentenced to five years in prison for his limited involvement in
Percy's death. He had merely been a pawn of Catherine's and had basically just
kept her informed of times Percy and Elyssa would be most vulnerable or
completely alone so Catherine could complete her plans. He hadn't been present
when she'd killed Percy. He knew only that Catherine had falsely planted the
murder weapon somewhere among Elyssa's things in effort to frame her.
Catherine was taken into custody kicking
and screaming, imploring her brother to take care of things. Blake was
completely shocked upon hearing everything. He knew his sister had always been
infatuated with Daniel, but he never imagined she could be so obsessed that
murder would enter into her mind.
Their attorneys advised Blake and his
parents it would be a most difficult thing to prove Catherine’s innocence.
Still, they'd professed, money always helped in these types of cases. There
were always judges and jailers who could be bribed. Every man had his price
after all.
Elyssa was ecstatic at hearing the news
of Daniel's innocence and release from prison. She signed Greystone over to
Daniel, besides an exorbitant amount of money.
Sophie and Blake were married in a quiet
ceremony. They didn’t tell anyone until after the vows had been spoken. escaped her lips aemhi Elyssa
asked Sophie to see that Daniel got the letter she wrote him. She was moving to
London and would be staying with her family until she purchased her own home
there.
Sophie implored her to stay with them
rather than leaving but Elyssa told her cousin it was for the best. Daniel
would never wish to see her again. He had been through much over the past
months, indeed throughout his entire life, and the very least she could do was
to give Daniel what was rightfully his, and to leave him in peace.
When Elyssa left Greystone, she did so
with
a sadness
, but also an uplifting of her heart,
for she imagined Daniel stepping foot inside as the rightful owner. He would
finally have everything he deserved. And perhaps one day, he might even find it
in his heart to forgive her.
In between kisses, lyhi d f
CHAPTER 21
Catherine stepped foot onto French soil
once again. A coy smile graced her lips as she allowed the handsome man to help
her disembark from the ship. It was good to come from a wealthy family, she
mused silently. Blake had declared himself through with her forever and even
her doting parents had been stunned at the things she'd been accused of doing.
