Fallen Hero (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 3)

“Any ideas on who it was?” Oliver asked.

Jasper snorted. “It looked like Rollo Voss, but we didn’t get a good look at his face to be absolutely certain.”

Elspeth looked at him in astonishment. She mentally considered the man who had stood in front of her and judged him to be roughly around the same height as Voss.

“Why would he want to scare me like that? He knows you are here,” Elspeth asked in consternation.

“He might have seen Niall and Callum leave and thought we had left as well,” Aaron suggested. “We went to Voss’s house, but he wasn’t there. When he appeared an hour later, he didn’t have a black cloak, I will admit, but he wore muddy boots.”

“Was he on foot?” Oliver asked, his brows raised.

“Yes,” Aaron replied succinctly.

As he spoke, Aaron’s gaze strayed to Elspeth, who looked stunningly beautiful bathed in the warm glow from the fireplace behind her. The welcome home he had just received had been astonishingly just about as perfect as he could have ever hoped to experience. The relief evident on her face had given him hope – for now at least – that there might be a chance of a future together after all.

“Now why would Voss want to scare her?” Oliver murmured.

“To persuade her that she needs a protector, or make her feel vulnerable so when he calls by again she is fearful and accepts his offer of marriage, or is more likely to take his advice that she would do best to hand the house over to him? Maybe it wasn’t Voss but Miniver back again?” Aaron suggested with a shrug.

“I don’t understand why either man is so determined to get this house,” Elspeth sighed. “I mean, they both have homes of their own. This house, although nice, is not all that appealing. There are many others like it in the village, yet they don’t show any interest in them.”

Aaron and Oliver looked at each other. They both knew she was right, which proved that it was Elspeth who was the lure. But why? Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, she was single, and highly eligible. She was level headed, calm and not apt to female hysterics. Any man would be happy to take her to wife. But there were other women in the village. Why would either man go to criminal lengths to get her to accept their hand in marriage?

“Would Frederick know of the contents of Thomas’s will?” Oliver asked Elspeth.

Elspeth looked at him. “I don’t know if Thomas discussed it with anybody, especially Frederick. I doubt it because they didn’t really like each other very much. Given Frederick had said he wanted this house, their association was tinged with acrimony at the best of times. I don’t think Thomas would discuss his private affairs with the man, especially if it meant letting Frederick know about the debts.”

“We need to pay a visit to Voss, and find out where he has been tonight,” Oliver announced.

Aaron nodded but knew that was a meeting that would happen most probably in the middle of the night when Voss least expected his home to be invaded. Aaron almost relished the meeting. For now, he looked at the confusion on Elspeth’s face with a gentleness that was at odds with his inner frustration.

“I am going to get changed,” he said as he headed toward the stairs.

“I will sort out some food for you both, you must be starving.” With that, Elspeth hurried toward the kitchen.

Once she was gone, Aaron turned to his friends.

“We go tonight. Two o’clock. Meet you all down here.” With his friends nodding their agreement, Aaron raced up the stairs to get changed.

Elspeth shook as she slid large pieces of pie onto the plates before her. She had heard the men’s hushed conversation. It hurt to realise that Aaron felt he had to be secretive around her.

“He doesn’t trust me,” she mouthed. With a heavy sigh, she tried to decide what to do about it.

CHAPTER SEVEN

By two o’clock in the morning, Elspeth was already hidden in the shadows at the side of the garden, so she could see the front and the back door of the property, and the men when they left. She was more determined than ever to follow them to see for herself what they did, and hear what Rollo Voss had to say. She had no idea yet how she was going to get close enough to them to be able to hear what was being said but would deal with that when the situation arose. Right now, she was horrified at what she was doing, but knew that it was the only option she had.

With a shiver, Elspeth tugged the edges of her cloak closer to protect the darkest clothing she could find. It was huge on her because it was Thomas’s, but it was the warmest thing she could find to wear. Even so, she still shivered as she waited for the men to appear.

“Come on, come on, hurry up,” she hissed through chattering teeth. She suspected the fine trembling of her hands was more down to fear rather than cold, but even so, wished the men would leave the house, so this little jaunt could begin.

Elspeth sniffed but then winced at how loud the sound was in the middle of the night. Suddenly, the side door closest to her opened quietly. She instinctively stepped back into the depths of the shadows and watched closely as the men left the property, and instantly melted into the shadows. If she hadn’t seen them leave the house with her own eyes Elspeth would have thought she had just imagined them. The silence remained undisturbed, they were so stealthy. It was frightening to witness them. So much so, Elspeth was left to stare at the darkness with wide eyes, but she couldn’t see them. Her heart hammered wildly with growing fear. The thought of stumbling across one of those dark figures was horrible, not least because she knew they were going to be livid with her for being out of the house so late.

I can’t back out now, she reminded herself. Not if I want to know what is going on.

When she could be sure they had gone, Elspeth quietly made her way toward Rollo Voss’s house. It was difficult to know how to get there without being seen, but she eventually found her way to an old out building at the back of Rollo’s house. She paused and looked around the dark, unlit garden. It was unnerving to find everywhere still and quiet.

I should be glad of it, she thought, but couldn’t find any reassurance in her apparent solitude.