Blood Blade Sisters Series (35 page)

Chapter Sixteen

“Good evening, Taggart,” Richard said.

Taggart looked down at him, one eyebrow slightly raised in surprise. “Good evening, Dr. Oliver,” he said, making no move to release Richard.

Seeing Richard pinned on the ground at her feet gave Brynne a small twinge of satisfaction, but one that was quickly buried beneath a wave of fear for him. The stubborn man was going to get himself killed. He was certainly going to get in the way. But since he seemed every bit as pig-headed as she was, it looked like she was stuck with him for the moment.

“Let him up,” Brynne said, her voice full of defeat.

Taggart jumped up and held a hand out to Richard. Richard accepted it, pulling himself to his feet.

“What are you doing here?” Brynne asked.

Richard didn’t bother to answer. “Where are we off to?”

She scowled at him and he gave her his most angelic smile. Brynne bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling back. “Stay out of the way and do exactly as I tell you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Richard said, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was enjoying himself.

His satisfaction faded into shock when he got a good look at her. “What are you wearing?”

Brynne sighed, seeming to remember those exact words coming from her brother-in-law Leo when he’d first seen Cilla in her men’s clothing.

“You don’t honestly expect me to be able to rob a warehouse in full skirts and corset, do you?”

His forehead crinkled. “I suppose not. But…” His eyes roamed over her, lingering on her trouser-encased leg that was firmly astride her horse. Richard’s frown relaxed into a much more appreciative expression that had Brynne’s insides quivering with delight. She did her best to stamp the feeling down. There was no time for that at the moment.

“You came in your carriage?” she asked him.

“Yes. Should I un-harness the horse?”

“No. We are trying to be as invisible as possible. The last thing we need is another horse. We don’t want to take an entire posse in there.”

Brynne frowned, but there was no help for it. She’d rather not take any horses at all, but they needed to be able to get out quick and carrying stolen supplies on foot wasn’t going to work.

She sighed and swung up onto her horse. “Come on,” she said, jerking her head at him.

Richard swung up behind her. “Try not to look so defeated. It isn’t the end of the world you know.”

“It might be,” she muttered.

Richard chuckled and wrapped his arms about her waist, pulling her back into his chest. For a moment, Brynne forgot everything but the feel of him pressed against her, the familiar scent of him enveloping her. She’d missed him.

He nuzzled her neck, pressing a kiss to the pulse jumping beneath the tender skin. “I’ve missed you,” he said, echoing her thoughts.

She pressed back into him farther, tucking her head beneath his neck. It wasn’t the time or place, but she couldn’t think clearly with him wrapped about her. When this was all over, they were going to have a serious discussion. She hadn’t forgiven him yet for his lack of faith in her, but maybe they could work through that. Later. Right now they had a job to do.

Taggart cleared his throat and Brynne straightened. Richard’s arms loosened enough for her to sit forward, but he kept them about her waist.

“Let’s go,” she said, leading the way.

They took as many backstreets as they could, keeping to the shadows. The freezing temperature aided them. No one was out and about on such a night. Brynne was almost shivering by the time they reached the warehouse. She dismounted, pulling her coat closer about her. They tied their horses up behind the same building they had before and made sure there was no one about before they hurried across the street to the small window she’d used.

Richard followed Taggart’s lead, pressing as close to the wall as they could while Brynne shimmied to the window and looked through. Pitch dark. Nothing that betrayed the presence of the thieves or anything else.

She divested herself of her coat and handed Taggart her gun. He looked at her, eyebrow raised. “We’ve riled them this time. Better to be prepared if necessary, and besides, I’d rather not leave it lying on the ground by the window again. I’ll get it back from you when I come back out.”

Taggart hesitated but nodded his agreement and Brynne turned to wiggle through the window.

Richard made a choked sound of protest as she disappeared through the window, but she ignored him and eased herself into the building, dropping to the balls of her feet behind a stack of boxes. She waited for a moment, straining her senses for any sound that might indicate she wasn’t alone.

There was nothing.

Brynne crouched down and started to creep out from behind the boxes when a sound from above froze her in her steps. She looked toward the window in time to see Richard drop through it. She didn’t know how he’d managed to squeeze his shoulders through and debated sending him right back out, but as he was already inside, he might as well help grab the supplies.

Taggart’s angry face appeared briefly in the window. As soon as he saw that they were both accounted for, he backed off to stand guard.

Brynne glared at Richard, letting all the fear and fury raging through her show on her face. Richard flinched a bit, but didn’t back off. He put his lips to her ear. “I told you, I go where you go.”

Brynne shook him off with a scowl. The man was going to be the death of her.

She held her finger up to her mouth and crept around the corner of the boxes. Richard followed, close enough that he could follow right in her footsteps, but not so close that he’d hamper her movements. She led the way up the stairs toward the front of the warehouse where she’d found the supplies the first time.

There they were. Boxes of linens, equipment, and medicines that should have been in Richard’s clinic. She felt Richard stiffen beside her in fury. She felt the same way, but they had no time for it now. They needed to grab the most important items and get out.

The absolute stillness of the warehouse grated at her nerves. Something was off, wrong. There was no way the thieves would leave everything out in the open with no guard. No dogs. Not after last time. The supplies should be harder to get to, not easier. They must have expected another theft attempt. She paused again, searching the darkness for any sign of danger. But there was nothing alarming. Which in and of itself terrified her.

She and Richard crept to the box labeled
Fragile.
She looked about the space and grabbed a thin crowbar from a pile of tools near the crates.

Richard’s eyes widened, a small smile creeping across his face. She pointed to her eyes and then at the inky blackness around them, reminding him he was supposed to be keeping watch.

He nodded and returned his attention to the warehouse. Faint traces of moonlight filtered in, giving them barely enough light to see by. It was helpful, but Brynne would have preferred no light at all. Hopefully, by the time they left, the clouds that had been rolling in all evening would give them more cover, though Brynne prayed the snow would hold off until they were well away. The last thing they needed was a trail of footprints in their wake.

The lid of the crate creaked as she pried the nails from the lid. The sound echoed and Brynne paused again. Nothing.

The sense of unease filled her, making her skin crawl. They needed to get out of there.
Now
.

She finished opening the crate as quickly as she could and motioned Richard over. They stared into the depths of the box.

“Which?” she whispered.

Richard quickly went over the contents, pulling out bottles and packages and handing them to Brynne. She yanked a sack from where it hung out of her back pocket and filled it with the items he handed her. The bottles clanked gently together and Brynne gritted her teeth. All this would be for naught if they shattered before they could get them home. She tried to pack the bags of herbs between the bottles to cushion them as much as possible.

After several moments, Richard turned, handing her the last of the supplies he wanted. “That should be more than enough,” he whispered in her ear.

Brynne nodded and handed him the bag. He cradled it in his arms rather than let it swing free. Brynne nodded. That should help keep the items from clanking together. She replaced the lid on the box, not bothering to hammer it back down. They didn’t have the time and risking the noise it would make was pointless. The thieves would know they’d been there soon enough.

Brynne and Richard made their way back to the window as quickly as they could. Once there, Richard handed her the bag and bent over, locking his hands together for her to use as a foothold. She grasped the windowsill and let Richard boost her up. She pushed the bag through and hauled herself out after it.

She looked around. Snowflakes landed on her cheeks, chilling her skin. And Taggart was gone.

Richard pulled himself out behind her, pushing through first one shoulder and then the other. Brynne grabbed an arm and helped pull him out. He stood and brushed himself off.

“Where’s Taggart?” he whispered.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like this. He was supposed to wait for us right here.” Brynne looked around, but there was no sign of her butler. “We can’t wait. Let’s check the alley.”

Richard nodded grimly and followed her back to the alley where they’d left the horses, his eyes darting behind them often, watching as she did for any sign of being pursued. Apprehension crept through Brynne, making her spine tingle and her skin crawl. The whole heist had been way too easy. Something was definitely not right. But she wasn’t going to stick around and wait for whatever it was to make itself known. They needed to get to their horses and get out of there. Fast.

They hurried across the lane and turned into the alley where their horses…were nowhere to be found.

Richard’s outraged gasp echoed Brynne’s own.

“That blackguard Taggart has made off with our means of escape,” Richard hissed.

“We don’t know that Taggart did this. Perhaps he was taken. The horses could have run off or been set loose or taken by the thieves.”

Richard’s gaze shot to hers, his frown deepening. “Then why didn’t we see any sign of a struggle. We heard nothing.”

Brynne shook her head, dread filling her to the core. “I don’t—”

Click.

Brynne froze, raising her hands as she slowly turned her head to look at the man who aimed the pistol at her.

“You come along nice and quiet and no one’ll get hurt.” The man jerked his head to the side and stood back a little to give Brynne and Richard room to pass.

Gentlemanly of him. But Brynne wasn’t in a gentle mood. She moved past him, keeping him in her side vision. When she drew level with him she squared her shoulders, then ducked and lunged, throwing her arms up to knock the man’s gun arm off kilter while her shoulder rammed into his belly.

His shot went wild, the sound ringing through the quiet night. Richard shouted behind her and to his credit, didn’t falter, but immediately jumped to assist her in grappling with the man. The man tried to bring his gun level again, but Brynne seized his arm and bit down hard. He howled and dropped the gun. It clattered off into a ditch and Brynne cursed under her breath. So much for shooting the bastard with his own gun. She sent up another curse at Taggart for making off with her gun.

Before she could attack again, he swung, his fist connecting with her jaw.

Brynne went sprawling, her vision flashing black and white dots. Her jaw throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Richard flew at the man with a grunt of rage, pummeling him within an inch of his life. Two more men came running around the corner and Brynne shouted a warning.

Richard jumped off the man he was on, since he didn’t seem likely to go anywhere, and rushed to Brynne. He pulled her to her feet and they both stood ready when the other men reached them. Brynne reached behind her and grabbed the knife she kept in a sheath at the small of her back. The men rushing them slowed when they saw the weapon, still advancing, but more warily.

Richard’s eyes widened, but again, his reaction surprised her. “Got another one of those?”

Brynne grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do.” She reached down and pulled the knife she always kept in her boot. “Be careful with that,” she said, handing it to him.

Richard snorted. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea. Watch out!”

The men had gotten tired of circling them and came at them in a rush. Brynne tried to ignore what was going on with Richard and keep her attention on her own opponent, but every shout and grunt made it a chore to keep her wits on her own problems. Well-bred Richard wasn’t as used to hand-to-hand combat as Brynne, and she feared how he was faring.

Although, if his man was as inept as the one fighting her, Richard was probably doing fine. It never ceased to amaze her how many men would underestimate a woman solely based on her gender. It didn’t matter that she stood there holding a knife as long as her forearm. She was female and therefore, in most men’s minds, not a threat. She was only too happy to show the imbecile in front of her how wrong he was.

The man circled her with a leering grin. “Come on, lovey. Put that toad sticker down before you hurt somebody. Come on, be a nice girl and maybe old Tommy’ll take it easy on you.”

“I wasn’t raised to be a nice girl,” Brynne said.

Old Tommy lunged at her but Brynne saw the move coming and easily dodged him. She slashed his arm, not bothering to hide her satisfaction when he howled in pain.

“You’ll pay for that, you little bitch.”

“Promises, promises.”

He came at her again with renewed effort, trying his hardest to land some blows while staying out of range of her knife. She managed to cut him once more, but on her third attempt, he blocked her, getting hold of her wrist and twisting around until she cried out in pain and was forced to drop the knife.

He laughed, his foul breath gagging her as he dragged her close. “Now we’ll have a bit o’ fun, shall we?”