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

“Your uncle, rather than being a decent and honest citizen, decided to kill him to get him greedy hands on a fortune that is not his?” Aaron swore roundly. “What’s his connection to Frederick?”

“Frederick?” The man frowned as though he hadn’t got a clue what Aaron was talking about.

“Your uncle doesn’t work alone,” Aaron said with icy contempt. “You know he doesn’t.”

“His friend is called Frederick something or other,” the man replied, his voice laced with confusion.

“He is called Frederick Miniver,” Aaron prompted. He tipped his head when the man looked blankly at the fireplace across the room.

“Medium build, stocky fellow with thinning dark blonde hair and grey eyes,” he added.

“Aye, that’s Frederick Miniver,” the man reported.

“Is Thomas alive or dead?” Aaron asked.

“The man with the money?” the man asked.

“Yes.”

“He is dead. They had a funeral for him, didn’t they?” the man grunted.

Aaron, now, couldn’t be at all sure they had.

“Of course, but how do you know he didn’t get rid of the money in London?” Aaron asked.

The man snorted again. “Do you think he reached London?”

“What did Voss do? Did he arrange a nice little carriage accident and help himself to the money before he left the man to die in the ditch?” Aaron’s voice was laced with contempt.

“The money wasn’t there.” The man snorted. “Why do you think I am here?”

Aaron cursed bitterly. Of course, it stood to reason that Voss didn’t have the money, which led Aaron to wonder, not for the first time, just what in the Hell his friend did with three thousand pounds in less than a week.

“Well, you can consider yourself under arrest for breaking and entering into this house and assaulting me in my home. You can also consider yourself under arrest for murdering Thomas Lincoln,” Aaron informed his new captive matter-of-factly.

“I didn’t kill him,” the man hurriedly assured him. “Besides, you can’t arrest me. You ain’t nobody.”

“I am somebody,” Aaron challenged. “I work for the War Office. The next time your uncle sends you on a fool’s errand, maybe it might be best to find out whose house you are trying to break into before you step across the threshold. What kind of foolish criminal are you to walk straight into the house of an operative who works for the War Office? God, the crooks in that gaol you are going to will love you.”

With that, Aaron hauled the man off the floor but didn’t release him. Instead, he shoved the intruder into a chair and kept the knife blade against the soft flesh while he contemplated how he was going to bind the man with no rope. With a curse, he knew there was only one thing he could do, but before he did he had one last question to ask.

“Did you peer into the Lincoln house last night?” Aaron asked.

“No? Why? Look, that weren’t me,” the man protested.

“Who was it then?”

The man shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Aaron walked around him until he could see the intruder’s face. He knew from the cloudy confusion in the man’s eyes that he was telling him the truth. With a nod, Aaron doubled back a fist and landed it squarely in the middle of his captive’s face. The man slithered instantly to the floor.

Once certain his new prisoner wasn’t going anywhere, Aaron emptied the man’s pockets and went to find something to tie the man up. He hated the delay it was going to put onto his return to Elspeth’s house, but knew he had to get this man behind bars.

“At least I have a few answers,” Aaron grunted as he tied the man’s hands together and bound them tightly to his feet, so he couldn’t run off when he woke up.

“What answers were you looking for?” a new arrival drawled from the doorway.

Aaron whirled around, his fists doubled into tight balls of fury. He immediately relaxed when he saw who his new arrival was. He knew then that his return to Elspeth was going to take even longer but didn’t mind as much now that help had arrived.