Cold Comfort (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 5)

“Hurry up,” Oliver urged quietly before leaving the room.

Emmeline stared after him for a moment, but then with a sigh, hurried off to fetch her things. Several minutes later, she tugged the hood of her cloak high over her head and tucked her hair out of sight. She then peered through the thick folds of her hood at Oliver who was donning his own cloak.

“We are going to leave first and take a very long route to get where we are going, so we are likely to be riding for most of today,” he explained.

“But I cannot ride,” she protested.

“All you have to do is sit on the saddle and hang on. We are not going to be doing anything more than sitting on the horses and they will be kept at a steady walk. However, we are going to be constantly moving and staying out of sight, so we are going to take a lot longer to travel a relatively short distance. When we do leave the house, don’t speak unless you absolutely must, or if you notice something wrong. Then, make sure you keep your voice as hushed as possible. Remember the evasive moves I showed you, and make sure you don’t venture off anywhere on your own. No matter what, don’t stop. If anything does happen, come back here and be quick about it. I have given you a few basic skills to use that will help you, but the rest is down to bravery. You must be strong, Emmeline. I need you to remain cool and calm, like we talked about.”

Emmeline nodded but when she looked up at Oliver, her eyes were alive with a pleading for reassurance that she daren’t openly ask for. She didn’t know what she was asking for. Was it a hug? A quiet word of reassurance? Or a promise from Oliver that he wasn’t like this, so commanding, calm yet cold and aloof, all the time?

But I know he isn’t like it all the time. It is just for now while he has so much to deal with.

Still, secretly, she wished he would give her a hug or something. She was so scared her knees were starting to shake again.

“We will be all right,” Oliver assured her, having read her searching look with an accuracy that made her jump.

Emmeline blinked at him.

“You look terrified,” he teased.

“That’s because I am,” she whispered. She tried to laugh off his concern, but it sounded unconvincing and shallow even to her own ears.

Oliver smiled sympathetically at her. Despite several of his colleagues gathering the Star Elite’s possessions, Oliver tugged her into a secluded corner of the room and gathered her into his arms. He shook his head because he could feel fine tremors coursing through her.

“I need you to stay s

trong for me for the next day or two. It is going to be difficult, and things will change at a fast pace, but it will all settle down. Given what happened with that young woman, we are not safe here. For everyone’s sake, we must leave. The greatest danger we will face will be when we step out of this house, and before we arrive at the new safe house. After that, we are going to set about putting our plan into action that will, hopefully, get Smidgley off the street and unable to murder again,” he murmured for her ears alone.

“What happens if you don’t succeed?” she asked carefully.

“There is no such thing as failure,” Oliver assured her with a cocky smirk. “We don’t fail. We never have yet. Smidgley is an arrogant killer. He isn’t intelligent or he wouldn’t have to rely upon his contacts to keep him out of gaol as much as he does. For now, let’s go somewhere safer so we can talk a little more freely.”

“Are you able to show me some more defensive moves?” Emmeline asked hopefully, not least because she hoped it would lead to yet more of his kisses. Selfishly, she wanted – needed – the old Oliver back, just for a little while.

“Not right now,” he replied in a voice laden with regret. “But maybe at the new location, if we have the time. Like I have just said, things are going to move quite quickly from now on.”

Emmeline smiled at him not least because she liked the intimate tone of his voice and the way his gaze kept dropping to her lips when he talked. She hoped he was thinking the same thing she was, and found herself smiling gently at him in return, secretly hoping that he would do something or say something that would give her some hope for the future.

Oliver flicked a look at Harry, who disappeared across the yard to help Rhys move the body in the barn. Already, Niall was hurrying down the stairs.

“We will talk soon,” Oliver hastily promised Emmeline before he dropped the briefest of kisses onto her lips. By the time Niall hurried into the room, Oliver was standing beside the kitchen table, and a somewhat stunned yet delighted Emmeline was gazing adoringly at him.

Niall froze. His gaze flickered from Oliver to Emmeline and back again.

“Ready?” he asked her cautiously.

Emmeline nodded. “I have no idea what I am doing but I will give it a go,” she said.

Oliver folded up the last piece of parchment and barely gave her a second look before he strode out of the kitchen and went in search of their horses.

“I am going to take you on this leg of the journey. Oliver will circle around and wait for us further along the trail. Then I am going to hand you over to him and double back before circling around and joining back up with you further along the route. It is going to mean you are always escorted by one of us, and your journey might double back more than once. If you start to see the same scenery, there is a purpose because we must do everything possible to avoid being followed. To do that we have to keep going back and making sure nobody is behind us. Just do what we tell you when we tell you, preferably without asking any questions, and we can get through this as quickly as possible.” Niall silently held out a gun.

Emmeline stared at it in horror. “Surely to God I won’t need that, will I?”

“If you don’t want to use it yourself then fine, but if you do get into a struggle, just remember what happened to that woman on the doorstep. There can be no sentiment when fighting Smidgley and his men. They will kill you first and won’t have any qualms about it. In this game, you either kill or be killed. Just take it. Put it into your cloak pocket. It is going to be there then should, God forbid, you ever need it.”

Emmeline cautiously took it off him. She held it at arm’s length between her thumb and forefinger as she studied the heavy weapon. Reluctantly, Emmeline slid it into the depths of her cloak pocket before she gathered up her bag and hurried after Niall, who had already left the house. Emmeline barely glanced back at the cold and now empty kitchen. It felt barren and unwelcoming. It was difficult to see it as it had been, and remember just how warm and welcoming it had felt when she had first arrived.