The Kidnapped Bride (Redcakes Book 4) by Heather Hiestand Read Free Book Online Page A

forward. The man with the gun stepped on her skirts, tripping her.
    “Move!” Dougal yelled, hoping all three women would obey. They tried to comply, though Lady Elizabeth made it no more than a step or two. The newest of his charges, the one calling herself Beth Cross, had moved a few feet away before Dougal saw a flash from the gun.
    He winced, waiting for pain, for something, but it didn’t happen.
    The fallen woman came to her knees, then stood. He had to wait, to give her a chance.
    The man dropped his gun, and Dougal saw a knife rise into the air. From his sleeve? He remembered his free hand now, his own loaded gun. He pulled it from his belt and fired it at the man.
    The hulk fell against the door, clutching at his chest. The woman was within arm’s grasp now. He grabbed Beth Cross’s hand and pulled her along. She reached for the third woman. Lady Elizabeth was unable to do more than take baby steps up the steepening hill, leaned heavily against him.
    He heard shouts behind them. Outraged sots? More crew from The Lady Shore , the constables? He couldn’t stop to check. For all he knew, he was bleeding to death. He heard a grunt of pain from the woman on his right and realized his gun was poking into her ribs at every step. With a muttered apology, he shoved it into his belt. Now all he had was his knife.
    “We just need to make it tae the police station,” he said encouragingly.
    “No,” said the nameless woman. “The police are involved.”
    “The police told me where tae go to find you,” he countered.
    “Which police?” she said cynically. “Not any o’ them in Leith.”
    “We’ll never make it out of Leith without help,” he said. “Where do you live?”
    Beth Cross had disappeared. He swore at the realization, then saw her at the edge of the street near a bakery with a faint light flickering behind closed curtains. He tugged his two charges in her direction, refusing to look behind himself to see their pursuers.
    “Help me,” the Cross girl said.
    “What are you doing?” When he realized she was untying a horse harnessed to a cart, perhaps ready for the baker’s early morning deliveries, from a post, he pulled out his knife and cut through the strap. He helped her into the driver’s seat and lifted Lady Elizabeth into the back. The third woman climbed in herself.
    Shouts became audible again as his focus wavered. He directed the old horse into the street just as a man ran out of the bakery, waving his rolling pin. Below them, he saw the hulk in the red neckerchief pointing at them, two more men next to him.
    He spanked the horse’s rump, knowing this beast wasn’t built for speed. Still, better than the pace of a fainting woman. He blessed the mysterious Beth Cross for the idea.
    Once they reached a flat part of the road, they were able to get the horse up to a trot. He kept alongside, encouraging the beast. A cry and a groan came from the back of the wagon.
    “Oh sweet Lord, she’s shot,” one of the women said.
    Dougal closed his eyes for a moment. Now he knew where the stray bullet from the public house had gone. “Who?” he asked.
    The woman they’d lost and found jumped off the back of the wagon. Dripping dark hair hung down over her face. “I won’t be a part of this. I can’t.”
    Dougal grabbed her by the shoulders, heedless of the cart moving away from them, up another steep street. “Where did they take you from?”
    “I can’t do this,” she shouted. “You’d better get in the cart and try to stop the bleeding.”
    “There are men chasing us. They might catch you again.” He stared hard, trying to see her. At least he was fairly certain she wasn’t the housemaid he’d seen at Cross’s flat. This one had a long, broad nose and looked to be in her midtwenties.
    “I know my way from here. What’s your name?”
    “Dougal Alexander.”
    She touched his hand, one deathly cold bit of flesh pressed against another. “Thank you, Mr. Alexander, for stopping