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

“Get her,” Smidgley snarled at his two remaining henchmen when he realised that he wasn’t going to get what he wanted.

“Get over here.” One of the thugs tried to make a grab for Emmeline again. This time, he succeeded because Emmeline didn’t have the time to jump out of the way.

Don’t panic.

Rather than go stiff in his hold as Emmeline would have done had she been alone, her gaze turned to Oliver. She watched him land a punch on the thug who approached him with a calm surety that was wholly reassuring. Squaring her shoulders, Emmeline tried to remember what Oliver had shown her to do. Seconds later, after a stomp of her foot, a twist of her fingers, and a well-placed feminine fist, her attacker had released her and was hunched protectively over his now brushed crotch. Emmeline didn’t stop there. Lifting her skirt, she slammed a booted foot straight into the thug’s face and watched him fall to his knees. Once there, she placed another kick on the side of his head with even more force, just like she had with her last attacker. He groaned and rolled sideways. Emmeline lined herself up to kick him once more only to be distracted by the sound of approaching riders.

“Thank God,” she whispered fervently when she recognised the men who rode into the yard with their guns drawn.

“Smidgley, stay right where you are,” Harry growled, pointing his gun directly at Smidgley’s head.

Oliver, with no more opponents to fight, paused for breath. He bent over at the waist and tried to take stock of his injuries. His chin ached, his ribs were sore, and he was sure he had a black eye coming. Apart from that, he was relatively unscathed. He turned and looked at Emmeline and shook his head as he marvelled at just how unphased she was by what had just happened.

“God, Emmeline,” he growled. He shook his head again, but then smirked. “You fight mean.”

Emmeline smirked at him with such supreme arrogance that it made his lips twitch. While they gazed adoringly at each other, the men from the Star Elite moved about the thugs, removing guns, knives, and shoving the intruders apart until they all faced away from each other. Once positioned at various angles around the stable yard, the thugs were forced to their knees and bound. Smidgley was bound first and frisked before he had a make-shift hood slid over his head. It had been a flour-sack but was enough to ensure Rupert Smidgley didn’t see where he was going, or what the people around him were doing.

“You cannot do this to me,” he goaded, even though his voice was muffled. “Don’t you know that there are more people involved in this than me?”

“Shut up, Smidgley. Nobody cares what you think,” Harry growled.

Very conscious of just how stubborn his twin had been, Harry made sure he sounded as bored as possible.

“I have friends in high places. They will have your job for this,” Smidgley snorted.

“Your friends in high places no longer have any influence. I wouldn’t count on them bailing you out of trouble,” Ronan replied.

“I demand you release me at once.”

“You attempted to kidnap Emmeline,” Oliver growled. “That makes you an abductor. There is no other reason why you should come here. You also attacked her, and me for that matter. That is enough to keep you behind bars Smidgley. The rest of the crimes you have committed will be added to your sentence while you are awaiting trial.”

There was a faint air of jubilation amongst the Star Elite, but it was tempered by growing concern when Oliver stumbled over to the barn doors and promptly lost the bloodied contents of his stomach. He held his brushed ribs and force himself to lock his knees when dizziness threatened to overwhelm him. He was so busy concentrating on not caving in to the darkness that swirled around him that he jerked when he felt a delicate hand touch his shoulder.

“Are you all right?” Emmeline asked quietly. “Do you need a doctor?”

Oliver forced himself to stand upright. “I have had worse beatings than that. It just caught my stomac

h, that’s all,” he assured her. “How about you?”

He lifted a blooded hand and removed a piece of straw from her hair. Holding it out for her to see, he smiled gently at her, or would have done had his cut lip not protested. He winced and threw her a rueful look.

“I don’t see why you are bothering. I am going to be out of gaol within the hour. My uncle will ensure I am released, and I receive a full apology from you all. It will be quite satisfying to see you grovel on your knees for your stupidity,” Smidgley taunted.

Emmeline opened her mouth to tell him he could rot in gaol for the rest of his life and nobody would care only for Oliver to shake his head at her and motion for her to be quiet. She didn’t understand why, so Oliver put his lips against her ear.

“Don’t give him the satisfaction of thinking he can goad you. It is more disturbing to him if nobody bothers to talk to him. He is, from now on, persona non grata. He ceases to exist. He will only be acknowledged when he is pushed into the cart, and then into gaol, and so on. Nobody will speak to him, tell him what is happening, or try to get any information from him. He can goad and taunt all he likes, but it is going to get him no response whatsoever. From now on, he has lost all rights,” Oliver whispered. “It has to be this way for us to be able to get him to tell us what we want in a few days’ time. Just let him babble. We will go about our business as if he isn’t there.”

Emmeline nodded her understanding. Her gaze fell to a particularly sore spot on the corner of Oliver’s mouth. With gentle fingers, she stroked it carefully.

Oliver caught her fingers in his and held her hand. “Did they hurt you?”

Emmeline shook her head.

“You should have stayed up in the hay loft like you were told,” he chided. “They could have snatched you. It was a stupid risk to take to come down.”

“I wasn’t going to allow them to beat you to death,” Emmeline replied. She sucked in a breath because she knew she had to be honest. Shying away from how she felt was a foolish thing to do. “I couldn’t live with myself if you lost your life while I was hiding.”

“This is my job. This is what I do,” Oliver warned her. “I have experienced worse than this.”