CHAPTER12
Wolf had a pistol tucked obligingly inside his coat, a blade hidden in his boot, two waiting carriages parked just out of sight, and three of his brothers flanking him on the street.
The time had finally come to confront Logan.
And, along with him, Archer Tierney.
“I’ll draw my weapon first,” Jasper said, keeping his voice low. “We need to keep Loge and Tierney separate. Wolf, you and Hart take Tierney into your carriage. Rafe and I will take Loge.”
Aye, what they were about to do was a trifle…unconventional. They were kidnapping Loge and Archer Tierney. There was no other word for it, no better means of describing the plan they had arrived at together after they had discovered where Tierney and Loge were hiding. It was a tad ruthless. A mite criminal.
But necessary.
They weren’t going to give Loge another chance to disappear again. And Tierney, well, he was coming along to explain what role he’d played in this bad business. Wolf had some questions to ask him of his own as well. Because if the bastard was indeed Portia’s lost brother, then Christ. He’d have to contend with that.
But first, they were going to have to capture the scoundrel.
Fortunately, the men Jasper had been paying to find Tierney and Loge had not just discovered their new establishment inside a printer’s shop. They had also taken note of the patterns of Loge and Tierney when they were coming and going.
“Loge should be leaving at any moment,” Rafe added.
“Now,” Jasper said urgently, before whistling to alert the first carriage to be at the ready.
As if on cue, a familiar figure strode past the narrow alleyway separating shops from one another. Moving quickly, Jasper and Rafe slipped behind Loge. Jasper grasped Logan’s arm and withdrew his pistol, which he pressed to Logan’s back. Because they had no wish to shoot their brother, Jasper’s pistol bore no ammunition, but Loge didn’t know that, and they knew he wouldn’t accompany them without force. Rafe gripped Logan’s other arm. The carriage rolled forward.
“Get into the carriage, Logan,” Jasper commanded. “There ain’t any other choice.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Loge snarled. “You’re dicked in the bloody nob if you think I’m going anywhere with you.”
Jasper and Rafe ignored his protests, forcing him toward the carriage. Another loud whistle, and the carriage door opened to reveal Hugh, who leapt down and aided Jasper and Rafe. The struggle that ensued was ugly and brief. Thankfully, it ended with all four men in the carriage. Sleepy Tom cracked the whip, and they jolted down the road in the direction of The Sinner’s Palace.
“They’ve taken him,” Wolf said, unaware he’d been holding his breath as he watched the scene unfold until now.
There was no telling how long they would be able to hold Loge, especially if he realized Jasper’s pistol didn’t bear any bullets. But given the manner in which he’d disappeared when they’d found him the last time, they knew this was the only way to get him alone and hopefully force him to listen to reason. Whatever he was involved in with Tierney, they would help him to extricate himself. Family was family, and Suttons were nothing if not loyal.
“Thank Christ,” Hart muttered at his side. “I didn’t think they would get him to go.”
“The pistol in the back helped,” Wolf said grimly, for he hated that their brother had become so far removed from the family that it required a damned gun to force him to speak with them.
But they had tried. Hart had tried. And then Logan had disappeared again.
Now Tierney was next. Because Wolf didn’t trust him one whit, and because they didn’t share blood, he wasn’t taking any chances. His pistol was loaded, as was Hart’s. But they would have to wait. According to Jasper’s men, Tierney and Loge never arrived or departed at the same time. Tierney would leave later, under cover of darkness.
A sudden flurry of commotion reached them, and Wolf realized the shouts were coming from the direction of the printer’s shop.
“Damn it,” Hart muttered. “They must have seen Jasper and Rafe taking Loge.”
Wolf whistled for the other carriage, thinking they would need it in a hurry, whether to make their own escape or for Tierney, as had originally been planned. The carriage bearing Randall lurched forward.
But the undeniable barrel of a pistol being jammed into Wolf’s own back made him freeze.
“Don’t make a bloody move,” ordered an icy voice behind him.
“Tierney,” Hart spat, similarly stiff at Wolf’s side.
Out of the periphery of his vision, Wolf took note of the pistol burrowed into his brother’s coat. It would seem the wily bastard had a weapon trained upon each of them.
“Hell and damnation,” Wolf muttered.
“Call off your carriage,” Tierney snapped.
Wolf hesitated.
Tierney prodded him with the pistol. “I said call off your goddamn carriage. If you don’t, I’ll have my men shoot your bloody coachman.”
He glanced to Hart.
“Do it,” his brother said.