To Have A Heart (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 7)

“Well, that’s how it sounded. You are saving people’s lives.”

“People we don’t know.”

“Yes, people you don’t know, but they are people, nonetheless. Innocent, ordinary people who are going about their lives and don’t deserve for a criminal to steal their belongings or attack them and all because the criminal refuses to believe they are just like everyone else. Nobody has the right to abuse someone or steal from someone. Nobody has the right to take another person’s life. Has it not occurred to you that the man who beat Sir Hugo so badly is showing you just how much danger he poses to people like you and me? If he is prepared

to do something so heinous to someone in authority like Sir Hugo, he has nothing but utter contempt for you and me and that is why he thinks he can steal lives. His victims mean nothing to him. Our lives would not be worth living if men like him could get away with what they do to people. Melrose deserves to be locked up. I hope they keep him alive because he deserves to rot away behind bars for the rest of his life.”

“The problem is, Mallory, that when Melrose has been defeated, the entire Star Elite will move their attention to other thugs. There will always be someone else we have to catch, another gang, another town. It is endless.”

Mallory didn’t doubt it. While she knew he was a strong man, there was a hint of defeat in Callum’s tone that was worrying. It was so alarming that Mallory planted herself directly in front of him and stared hard at him. She didn’t want to expound the virtues of his job because he was putting his life at risk, but she didn’t want him questioning the importance of the work he did either.

“Nobody can force you to do this. You should do it if it is something you want to do. If you have worked for this Star Elite for a long time, you must be good at what you do. Don’t allow what happened to Sir Hugo to make you bitter or feel defeated. That is what Melrose wants you to think and feel. He wants you to feel overwhelmed by him, or else why would he employ so many men?”

Callum stared at her. In that moment, he knew that she truly understood the kind of man he was. If he was honest, he wouldn’t be able to live with his own conscience if he allowed his colleagues to try to capture Melrose alone, especially if any of them got hurt.

“You are stunning, do you know that?” he whispered.

Mallory was very glad that it was dark, and he couldn’t see the fierce blush on her cheeks. Before she could answer, Callum asked her the question she most definitely didn’t want to answer.

“What happened to you?”

Mallory immediately stepped away. It was a physical withdrawal from having to face a subject she didn’t want to discuss.

Callum knew that she was physically shying away from what she had endured, but he also knew that it was important that Mallory began to talk about it now, while they were alone, in the dark.

“I was kidnapped,” she replied with a shrug.

“I know,” he breathed. “But what happened exactly.”

Mallory stared at him. She had gone over and over in her mind the exact details of that fateful day until she had become too distressed to think about it anymore. At no point since she had been taken had she ever told anybody what had happened. Even Callum. But he knew what had happened to her anyway. She didn’t see the need to tell him herself and therefore couldn’t understand why he asked.

“Tell me, Mallory.”

“Why? Why do you want to know what street I was walking down, or what they did?”

“It is important because people have habits. Gangs like the kidnappers who snatched you will work in certain ways. Each man usually has his part to play, and there are set routines. For instance, one woman in Leicestershire was snatched while she was walking down a country lane. The lane was an ordinary lane just like any other in rural England. There was nothing sinister or unusual about it. However, this lane had high hedges. The carriage, a large black one, rumbled down the lane toward her. It wasn’t any unusual carriage. It was one that could blend into the crowd. Anyway, this carriage rumbled down the lane. Without stopping, the door opened, hands reached out and grabbed the young woman who was walking home. Nobody saw her alive again. More importantly, nobody saw who snatched her or when. She didn’t get the chance to scream. She was simply lifted bodily into the carriage, which increased in speed and went about its journey just as soon as she was aboard. Only someone who was watching her would have noticed her vanishing the instant the carriage passed her. Nobody was watching her except the occupants of the carriage.”

“She disappeared.”

It wasn’t a question, so Callum didn’t bother to answer.

“What happened to her?”

“They killed her.”

Mallory shivered. The memories that assailed her were as darkly oppressive as the gloom within the darkened interior of the barn.

“Tell me,” he urged her quietly.

With a sigh, Mallory stared at the inky blackness and allowed her thoughts to venture into the most horrifying moment of her life.

CHAPTER TEN

“It was just like any other day. I went to work at dawn that morning.”

“What did you do?”

“I was a seamstress. I used to work at a dress maker’s shop. Mrs Inson was elderly but insisted on keeping the shop open to give herself something to do. She would have been so worried that I didn’t turn up for work that day, and annoyed because we had a very influential client coming for a dress fitting.”