“Your man is from London. He will undoubtedly go there when he has finished with you. He won’t allow himself to get stuck in a backward place like this. It is nice, I suppose if you are a certain kind of person. To someone like him, it is far too quiet here. Why, he is four and thirty, if he is a day. It is odd that a man reaches his age without marrying, do you not think? Does he have a wife stashed away somewhere?” Mr Gillespie snorted with laughter and leaned toward her. “You had better hope not. If he isn’t at the house across the village, sticking his nose into things that don’t concern him, then he will be back at home with his wife by now. But he will be back here, just after dawn. Before you get up, of course, so he can be in his room where he is supposed to be, and turn up in time for breakfast just like everyone else does.”
“Just like the rest of you liars,” Jess snapped.
She saw Gillespie’s eyes harden and suspected that most of his comments were designed to upset her. They had no basis in truth. He was just trying to turn her against Marcus. But she knew the man whose bed she had shared for several nights now. Well, she knew him better than she had a few weeks ago. There were still things she needed to learn about him, but she knew, from personal experience, that he was a kind, protective, loving man who worked to rid the world of men like Gillespie, and his gang.
Because of how much help Marcus had given her while he had been in the house, she was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Gillespie was the liar; the charlatan. Marcus was, without a doubt, exactly what he claimed to be; a man of the law who worked for the War Office.
“I think all of you had better pack your bags and get out of this house. I don’t care what is going on between you and Marcus, but my brother and I are innocent in all of it. It is unfair to involve us. Marcus can go too; I shall tell him when he returns. I don’t know what is going on. I don’t care what is going on, but it is not going to go on in this house. Do you hear me?”
She knew that by the time she had finished talking she was shouting at him but didn’t care. Her wrists strained against the bindings as she tried to lean forward, but she couldn’t get them to loosen enough for her to slip her hand out. She had to sit there until Ben, or Marcus, walked right into the trap the men were setting about her as she spoke.
“We are going - in time. But, for the time being, Mr Ball here will be holding you for collateral. If your lover doesn’t give us our goods back then, I am afraid we are going to have to show him just what we do with people who defy us.”
“I have no idea what you are babbling on about, you silly man,” Jess snapped. “He isn’t here. I suggest that instead of sitting here threatening an innocent woman, you go out there and find him.”
She could only hope Marcus would be many, many miles away by now, with absolutely no intention of returning; for his safety, if nothing else. But she knew he wasn’t. He was out, most probably meeting with his colleague, trying to find out the true extent of Gillespie’s crimes.
Unfortunately, from her position in the room she couldn’t see the pathway to the front door. She had no way of seeing who was approaching the house to be able to warn Marcus before he entered. Ben, she knew, would enter through the back door, and would be vulnerable to attack as soon as he crossed the threshold.
“So, what do you plan to do now? You have me tied up better than a goose at Christmas. I cannot get away, and have no money to give you. Ben is out with his girlfriend in Retterton, and won’t be back before dawn. Marcus, whoever he is and whatever he has of yours that you want back, isn’t here. He is not likely to return either seeing as he has run off in the middle of the night and his things have gone.”
Gillespie went still and stared at her. He nodded to Ball, who quickly left the room.
Jess knew, from the sound of the booted footsteps on the stairs, that he had gone to check the room Marcus had used. Minutes later he appeared in the doorway.
“Gone.”
“Damn it,” Gillespie swore and pushed out of his chair.
Jess snorted disparagingly.
“God, what kind of idiots are you?” she demanded scathingly. “You have just caught yourself a victim, but don’t have anybody around to give a damn. You have just lost the person you most probably should have kept instead.”
“Shut up,” Gillespie snarled.
He spun on his heel and stormed toward her. She suspected he intended to hit her and braced herself as best she could. Thankfully, when he was about half-way across the room, he seemed to have second thoughts. Instead, he threw a furious glare at Ball.
“Let’s go. Leave her here. We will come back for her later,” Gillespie ordered as he stalked toward the door.
“Wait!” Jess protested. “You cannot leave me here.”
Both men ignored her as they left the house. Jess listened to the slam of the door and found herself encased in silence. She didn’t know which was worse; being held captive by someone, or being ignored by everybody.
“Help!” she shouted. “Ben? Marcus? Help!”
When nobody appeared, Jess knew she was in for a long wait and allowed her tears to fall.
Marcus watched Gillespie and Ball, for want of better and more accurate names he could call them, slam their way out of the house. It was clear that they had searched the property and found it to be empty. He just had to wonder where Jess was.
“What do we do now?”
Marcus sighed. Asking questions was all Ben seemed to do whenever they were out together. But at least the lad was asking and not just ploughing his way into any dangerous situation they came across.
“Don’t make any sudden moves. These men are ruthless.”
Ben nodded, but Marcus had already started to move forward. He had no sooner taken two steps than a faint cry broke the silence. He froze and listened carefully for several moments, but didn’t hear it again.
“It must be woodland creatures,” Marcus murmured to Ben. “Come on.”