A Terrible Misunderstanding (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 6)

“Should be any minute now,” he whispered.

One by one they all filed back into the room.

“What in the Hell do you want this time?” Erasmus shouted. “Get out of my house.”

The men stopped beside the door and watched Erasmus down another large mouthful of brandy before swiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Well? Get on with it.” He blinked at them and seemed to lose some of his bluster.

Niall smirked. “Enjoying yourself?”

Erasmus stared at him as if he was struggling to understand what Niall had just said. He frowned a little and stared blankly at the decanter.

“Get out of here,” he grumbled. When he tried to stand, though, the world around him swirled and swayed leaving him clutching desperately at the wall. “What the hell have you done?”

“Just given you a little something. You know, to make you a little more - co-operative,” Niall replied silkily.

This time, Erasmus’s face was full of fear. “What have you done? What do you want with me?”

“You are going to come on a little ride with us. We have a job to do, and you are going to provide us with the information we need to get our job done.”

“I am not going anywhere with you,” Erasmus snorted.

Surprisingly, despite the sleeping draught he had imbibed, Erasmus had the ability to stumble toward the French doors. Niall barely made it half-way across the room before Erasmus had stumbled out into the night.

“We’ll find him. He won’t get far before he ends up face down,” Morgan assured him.

Niall wasn’t at all confident that Morgan was right.

Sure enough, by the time he had reached the French doors, Erasmus had disappeared.

“Let’s split up. He must be out there somewhere,” Will growled.

“Mother of God,” Harry cursed when they heard the clip-clopping of horses’ hooves on the driveway.

They all pelted around the side of the house and arrived in the driveway just in time to watch Erasmus canter toward the main road. He didn’t look like any confident rider. He was clinging desperately to Harry’s horse’s wide neck, desperately trying not to fall off.

“Go!” Niall shouted.

Together, the Star Elite raced after him.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“I am not being paranoid,” Clara hissed several days later. “I am being followed I tell you.”

“Well, I am telling you that I have had a good look around everywhere and I haven’t seen anybody, especially your Niall,” Sissy hissed. “I am sorry, Clara, but I just don’t see anybody following us.”

Clara, who was busy peering around the corner of the shutter in the back room of the church, sighed and looked at her friend.

“It is too dark to see outside now anyway,” she muttered in disgust.

For the first time in her life she was actually dreading going home. It wasn’t that she was reluctant to return to the house she shared with her aunt, it was just that she was afraid of making the journey. The thought of Erasmus out there waiting for her was enough to fill her with fear and worry the likes of which was starting to make her want to cry.

“Have you seen anything of him lately?” Sissy asked suddenly.

“Niall?”

“Erasmus.”