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

At Frederick’s insistence, Elspeth descended the stairs. Her alarm grew when she found no sign of Aaron and his friends in the study or sitting room. While it had been agreed that they would all pretend to leave in the hope of luring Thomas, or Frederick, out of hiding, Aaron had said that he would remain with her. Why wasn’t he there? Where was he?

Her stomach dipped at the thought that they had all moved on having believed Frederick posed no further threat now Voss had been arrested. Whatever had made them leave, the men from the Star Elite weren’t in the house when she needed them most.

“What do you want, Frederick? This brutish display of thuggery might be impressive, to you at least, but you are boring me now. I have nothing for you.”

Frederick removed a thick packet of papers from his cloak and waved them at her.

“Get into the study,” he commanded with a nod to the room beside them.

Elspeth dutifully wandered into the room and over to the desk.

“Sit,” Frederick grunted.

He threw the papers onto the desk and dipped a quill into the ink pot. Holding it out to her, he lifted his brows.

“Sign them where the crosses are,” he ordered.

“Am I to know what I am signing?” she asked.

She unfolded the parchment and read its contents only to sigh in disgust.

“Do you really think I am going to sign the house over to you? Really?” Slowly, she took the quill off him and eyed the barrel of the gun he pointed at her with dispassionate distaste. “Why are you so desperate to get your hands on this house? Does Miriam want you gone? Is she sick of you trying to leech off her as well?”

“Shut your mouth,” Frederick commanded.

“No,” Elspeth snapped defiantly. “You are going to have to shoot me because I am never signing those papers over to you. God, you are a fraudster, aren’t you? It has been a lie all along, hasn’t it? This rubbish about there being a stipulation in the will that the house can only be inherited by males of the family. It is nothing but a pack of lies. I suppose things like that really do happen, but only with large estates and people who have vast wealth. Women cannot, after all, run estates by themselves. This house is nothing special. There is no reason why you should be so determined to get your hands on it, unless you are after the money its sale can bring you. What do you plan to do? Sell it and live the high life off its proceeds? I mean, you have no other source of income, do you?”

“Shut up?” Frederick shouted.

Elspeth was so busy studying the gun that she didn’t see the large palm he slammed across her cheek until she felt the sharp sting of pain. She gasped and struggled to withhold her tears.

“Sign the papers,” Frederick demanded.

“No,” Elspeth snapped. She tasted blood and felt something warm trickle down her chin. Wiping it with the back of her hand she stared down at the crimson streak of blood for a moment and resolved right there and then never to give him what he wanted.

Frederick yanked her head back and pointed the gun to her temple. Elspeth cried out in pain.

“Sign the papers,” Frederick ordered, his voice cold and hard.

“No. You will have to kill me because I will not sign,” she bit out. “I am not signing it, no matter what you do.”

Frederick cursed viciously.

In that moment, they were interrupted by the faint rustling of movement of someone in the doorway.

Elspeth’s heart lurched at the thought it might be Aaron. She cried out aloud when she saw who it was. Frederick blinked in astonishment and was temporarily distracted enough to loosen his hold on Elspeth long enough to give Elspeth the opportunity to yank her hair out of his grasp. When free, she threw herself sideways, out of the chair and onto the floor. She crawled across the room to put some distance between her and Frederick, who was now staring in stunned disbelief at the new arrival. Slowly, Elspeth then turned to stare at the newcomer with a mixture of disbelief and horror.

“Thomas,” Elspeth whispered. “You are supposed to be dead.”

Thomas, somewhat theatrically, patted himself down. “No. No. I am very much alive, I can assure you,” he murmured with a smirk.

Elspeth would have stood up, if her legs had been able to support her. There was an odd tension in the room that warned her something was wrong, terribly wrong. It was enough to keep her where she wa

s – at a safe distance from both Frederick and Thomas.

“Move behind me, Elspeth,” Thomas drawled. “This bastard is going to leave us alone once and for all.”

Thomas lifted the gun in his hand and took aim, but only to pull the trigger while the gun was pointed at the weapon in Frederick’s hand. The loud retort of the gun made everyone jerk, not least Frederick, who screamed in pain. The weapon he held was catapulted into the corner of the room, leaving its owner to clutch at his wounded hand in pain.