For Love Alone (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 8)

To her disbelief, he cupped his hands over his mouth and emitted several owl-like hoots. When he looked at her there was something in his face that made her put her hand to his chiselled cheek and smile at him. There was something almost boyish about him; vulnerable yet hopeful. He was nervous. That was betrayed in the shaking of his hands as he clasped her fingers. He was also watchful, but with eyes that were alive with anticipation.

Phillip waited for what felt like a lifetime. No more than a few seconds passed before he heard a response. When it came it was far closer than he expected it could be. Floored, Phillip tipped his head back and mouthed at the sky: ‘thank you, God.’

‘Who is it? Is it your friends?’ she whispered, delighted for him.

He looked so relieved that she knew then that the men he worked with in the Star Elite were far more than colleagues. They were friends, co-conspirators, brothers in arms. They relied on each other and were far closer than most friends.

‘What on earth?’ she whispered when the sound of several rather strangled cries filtered through the gunfire. ‘What was that?’

Phillip chuckled. ‘That was Callum’s God-awful attempt at an owl.’

He grinned at her so widely and unexpectedly that Carlotta blinked and felt a little piece of her heart melt. Phillip’s eyes twinkled and came alive with mischief. His white teeth flashed and revealed dimples which bracketed his chiselled lips. In that moment, he looked incredibly handsome and more than a little mischievous and it left her speechless. She found herself smiling back, although she had no idea why seeing as neither of them had any idea where the gunmen had gone. They had gone somewhere, though, because the gunfire had stopped.

Phillip snorted. ‘Callum can’t make owl noises to save his life. They always sound like a distressed bullfrog.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ a dark voice growled from behind him.

Phillip swore when Callum stepped out of his hiding place. Before he could speak, Callum strode forward and enveloped him in a huge hug that threatened to shatter his ribs. Rather than step back, Callum continued to hug him. ‘God, we thought you had gone. Oliver saw you fall into the sea and thought you had gone. You didn’t come back up. Nobody could find you.’ Callum’s voice turned gruff. He eventually released him and stepped back to clap his friend on the shoulder. ‘We have searched that damned village three times over and still couldn’t find you. I last saw you in the barn but all we found was a pool of blood where you had been standing. Sir Hugo has gone berserk and has the magistrate and his men scouring the area for you. He has sent word to London to send more men to come and help the search for you.’

Phillip blinked at him. ‘How many made it?’

‘All of us except you, you damned fool,’ Oliver growled from behind him. ‘Don’t ever do that to us again or I will damned well shoot you myself.’ To prove that he didn’t mean it, Oliver also hauled Phillip into a bear hug. ‘We have checked the bodies, the fishing boats, every shop, house, and damned outbuilding for a five-mile radius. Sir Hugo has even had sailors from the naval base out in rowing boats searching the high seas for you for God’s sake.’

Phillip’s mouth fell open. He stared at Oliver who swore and raked Carlotta with a questioning look before turning to glare at Phillip. ‘Just what have you gone and found yourself in the middle of now?’

‘I found a pretty lady,’ Phillip grinned unrepentantly.

Carlotta blushed prettily. She stepped away from the tree when Oliver smiled at her and bowed despite where they were. It was a little odd to have a conversation with someone who was so casually dangling a loaded gun from their fingers, but Carlotta knew from their almost business-like air of brisk efficiency that these were all indeed men from the Star Elite.

‘Where are the thugs?’ Phillip asked, peering over Oliver’s shoulder.

‘They turned tail and raced off when they realised you were not alone. I doubt they will have gone far. They will be back,’ Oliver murmured.

Phillip made the introductions. Carlotta, a little unsure about what the proto

col was for formal introductions in such an informal situation, murmured a polite greeting.

‘What in the Hell happened to you?’ another man demanded as he stomped out of the undergrowth and yanked Phillip into another hug. ‘We have all been worried sick about you.’

‘We had better get back and tell Sir Hugo to call off the blood hounds,’ another man said as he stepped over to join them and also hugged Phillip.

‘We have to get those two thugs behind bars,’ Phillip explained but got no further before the woodland all about them came alive with gunfire again.

‘Stay with her,’ Oliver ordered.

‘Is it Smidgley’s lot?’ Phillip called after him.

Oliver’s face was grim when he nodded. Phillip cursed and looked at Callum, who remained protectively by their side. ‘I need a gun.’ He deftly caught the weapon and a pouch of shot Callum tossed to him.

‘Stay close. You are to protect.’ Callum nodded at Carlotta.

‘Phillip?’ Carlotta asked warily as she watched Phillip deftly load the pistol.

‘Stay with your back to the tree. I am not going anywhere. I just need to help them,’ Phillip replied.

Carlotta had no intention of going anywhere. She was terrified and had no idea what to do. The noise of the guns was deafening. As she stood cowering in terror, she was aware of movement in the trees around them. It seemed that the entire woodland had people crawling around in it but how many there were and where they were hiding was impossible to know.

‘Get her to the safe house,’ Callum ordered. ‘We will catch up.’