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

Aaron dodged sideways, ripped the saddlebags out of the man’s hand, and kicked him soundly up the backside with such a heavy boot that the man was propelled head-first into the back door. Before Aaron could finish the man off, he turned and landed a punch on Aaron that left Aaron seeing stars. Aaron squinted and tried to shake off the dazed feeling that threatened to make him succumb to the blackness. He knew the last thing he should do was give in to the need to fall to the floor. If he did that he might never get back up again.

With a feral grin, he turned to all his Star Elite training. Grabbing the next fist that was thrown at him, Aaron punched the man directly beneath his arm a

nd rammed an elevated knuckle deep into his opponent’s armpit. Then, with his opponent’s hand twisted at an uncomfortable angle, Aaron landed several punches into the empty space beneath the man’s ribs. Twisting the arm further still, Aaron bent it excruciatingly high, which left his opponent with no alternative but to bend over. Aaron then elbowed him in the tender area behind the man’s shoulder blade before he slammed a punch into the back of the man’s neck that drove him onto one knee. Aaron then slammed a boot into the back of the man’s other knee until he was kneeling completely. Once on the floor, Aaron slid a knife across the man’s throat.

“Move and you die. Nobody is going to miss you. This is my house. I can hide you in it anywhere, and nobody will ever know what happened to you,” Aaron murmured silkily. “Now, you are Voss’s son, am I correct?”

The man didn’t answer.

Aaron jerked and pressed the knife further into the man’s throat.

“Nephew,” the intruder whispered.

“Rollo Voss is your uncle?” Aaron asked.

“Yes.”

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?” he grunted.

The man remained quiet.

“What makes you think anybody has three thousand pounds?” Aaron demanded.

“My uncle said that Thomas fellow, the dead one, left it with his sister, but when you arrived, we knew you were there to fetch it,” the man admitted.

“You decided to follow me all the way here for three thousand pounds? Why did you not accost me on the way, at the side of the road like you did Thomas?” Aaron asked. He pressed the tip of the knife deeper into the man’s flesh in silent warning when the man didn’t answer.

“I didn’t hurt him,” the would-be thief replied.

Aaron suspected Frederick, although a bully, was not a cold-blooded killer either. That left Voss.

“Your uncle did,” Aaron corrected.

Again, the man didn’t answer.

“He must be desperate for funds, your uncle,” Aaron mused thoughtfully.

“It’s three thousand pounds. Do you have any idea what that kind of money would buy you in a village like Rollo’s?” the nephew hissed when the knife digging into his neck became painful.

“It will buy you a prison sentence because it isn’t yours, and murder is a criminal offense,” Aaron informed him.

“And you would know all about criminal offences, would you?” the man snorted.

“I might be a cold bloodied killer for all you know,” Aaron warned. “It would not do to get too cocky, now would it?”

He put enough lethal menace into his voice to render the man silent. He slumped just a little in Aaron’s hold. Aaron knew instantly that the seriousness of the man’s situation was starting to dawn on him but refused to take pity on him.

“Why did you kill Thomas? You followed him all the way to London, didn’t you?” Aaron murmured. “You are nothing but highway robbers.”

“I didn’t kill him,” the man protested instantly. Panic made his words swift and pleading.

“But your uncle did,” Aaron countered.

“Look, I was just told to follow you here because you had three thousand pounds on you. I was told to get the money off you,” the man stammered.

“How did you hear of it? Who told you it is even in existence?”

“My uncle saw that Thomas fellow at the bank. There was some sort of issue with that kind of money being handed over. Anyway, my uncle saw that Lincoln man walk out of the bank with it. If the damned man is stupid enough to walk down the street carrying that kind of money he can hardly moan if he is mugged, can he?” the man on his knees cried scornfully.