Once Before (The Hero Next Door Series Book 3)

by Rebecca King

  Hurrying across the room, Tabitha reached out to tug the window closed only for a strong pair of hands to push hard against her shoulders shoving her upper body out into the night. Tabitha screamed when she found herself staring down at the ground many feet below. Clinging with one hand to the window, she screamed again when she felt a pair of hands grab one of her feet and lift it off the floor. Twisting around, she slapped at the head of the man who was trying to throw her bodily out of the window. Thankfully, her skirts prevented him from getting a proper grip. When he tried to lift her, he found himself clinging to her skirt.

  Tabitha tried to find something to cling on to so he couldn’t throw her to her death. There was nothing on the wall beside her except for a picture that was out of reach. On the desk at the tip of her fingers was a book, though. A large leather-bound ledger. She had no idea if she was strong enough to pick it up because it was so large, but she tried anyway. Thankfully, she could and picked it up just as the man wrapped both arms around her legs. Twisting back around, Tabitha lifted the book high and brought it down hard upon his head.

  The man immediately released her and cursed bitterly, but Tabitha wasn’t done yet. She lifted the book high again and whacked him with it again, and again, and a fourth time for good measure. He fell onto his bottom with a groan. Incensed, Tabitha threw the book at the man and ran for the door. Yanking it open, she stepped through it and slammed it closed behind her before running across the meeting room. Tabitha cried out in horror when she heard the man curse as he jerked the door open and charged after her. She raced around the large table, desperate to put as much distance between them as possible but soon realised that she had inadvertently chosen to run down the wrong side of the table. The man now stood between her and the door leading to Mr Muldoon’s office and the main staircase beyond it.

  ‘Come here, girlie,’ the man snarled, his thick set face twisted into a parody of a smirk. ‘It won’t hurt a bit.’

  ‘You are damned right it isn’t going to hurt a bit,’ Tabitha snapped. ‘Because you aren’t going to do it to me.’

  She glanced around wildly, trying to think of a way to escape, but each step she took toward the door made the man take one as well. Together, they made their way down the room in a strange kind of dance. Tabitha flicked a look at the portrait on the wall. Mr Muldoon’s smiling demeanour looked down at her with wise eyes, as if daring her to find a way out of the mess she was in. Shaking her head, she turned to face the thug.

  ‘You are going to gaol for murder, you know,’ Tabitha warned. ‘You killed him in there as well as Mr Muldoon. That’s two deaths. Attempted murder of me is another charge. I think you should know that you are not alone in this building.’

  ‘I know, and he ain’t going to let you live neither,’ the man drawled. ‘Don’t you think it is odd that he left you up here with me?’

  Tabitha went still. She blinked at the man opposite as her stomach fell to her toes. For a moment, she felt quite sick. ‘What?’

  ‘He left me here to deal with you,’ the man grunted with a malevolent grin.

  Tabitha shook her head but couldn’t deny that Daniel had indeed led her to the body in the office and then raced out of the room and left her all alone while he supposedly chased after someone.

  But all I heard was a quiet click of a door. Maybe that was this thug going into the office to wait for me?

  Tabitha mentally cursed herself for being several kinds of fool. She had been so enchanted by seeing Daniel again, so immersed in her memories of him, and so enraptured by his handsomeness, she hadn’t stopped to question him. She had believed him when he had said he worked for the Star Elite. She hadn’t even objected when he had been the one to receive the factory keys off the solicitor. More importantly than any of that, she hadn’t questioned the wisdom of accompanying him to the factory long after a time when normal visits occurred.

  Consequently, I am all alone in an empty factory with a killer who is trying to murder me just like he has taken the lives of those two innocent men, and nobody knows I am here – except Daniel.

  ‘Daniel wouldn’t do that,’ she murmured but her voice sounded feeble even to her.

  The ache that began to form around Tabitha’s heart was fierce. It clouded her thoughts and stole her breath. She wanted to weep. To rant and rave at the man, call him a liar, protest that Daniel wouldn’t be that duplicitous, but a taunting voice reminded her that she really couldn’t vouch for a man she hardly knew. Heaven only knew what changes the ravages of time had really wrought upon Daniel.

  Now, she was faced with having to try to escape the evil clutches of a cold-blooded killer all by herself. She glanced around the room, trying to find something she could use as a weapon. Right now, the only weapon she had was the width of the desk, but they couldn’t keep dodging around it all night. At some point one of them would tire or the man would get fed up of waiting for her to be distracted. The only weapon she had to hand was a large candelabra on the mantle at the far end of the room. Yes, it would take her back to the office where the window was open, but at least she would have a heavy weapon she could use when the man did make a lunge for her. Tabitha knew he would soon because he kept looking at the width of the highly polished surface of the table as if trying to decide how long it would take him to slide across it.

  Even though she was braced for such an eventuality, Tabitha still screamed when the man clambered up onto the table. On feet that barely touched the floor, she scrambled around the table toward the door. On the way she snatched the candelabra off the mantle. Gasping at how heavy it was, Tabitha hefted it. Behind her the man slithering along the table loomed toward her. By the time he launched himself off the highly polished surface, Tabitha had her weapon aloft but this time the man was prepared for her. Determined not to be conched on the head again, he snatched it off her and hefted it with a wicked smile. Tabitha screamed as she backstepped around the table, this time with the man on the same side of the table as her. Again, they matched each other step for step but this time Tabitha knew she had to leave, to get out of not just the room but the factory as well.

  Daniel awoke to the sound of a woman’s screams. He groaned when he shook his head to try to clear his clouded thoughts and remember why he was lying at the base of a flight of stairs. With a scowl, he forced himself to his feet only to hear another wild scream. It was then that his situation hit him.

  ‘Tabitha!’ The horror that flooded him was enough to propel him up the stairs two at a time, despite his pounding head and the world that swirled alarmingly around him. Because he was a little unsteady on his feet, Daniel was wild eyed as he slammed the door to the meeting room open and stumbled inside. He snarled when he saw the thug holding a heavy weapon high in preparation to strike a cowering Tabitha.

  ‘Daniel!’ Tabitha cried when she saw him only to realise that taking her eyes off her assailant was the very worst thing she could do.

  The thug took advantage of her temporary distraction to lunge for her again. Tabitha only had the impression of a flurry of movement beside her before she became aware of Daniel surging past her. Flinching backwards, she watched wide eyed as Daniel slammed a fist into the man’s throat. The man immediately dropped his weapon and clutched the thick folds of his neck as he tried to draw breath, his mouth flapping open and closed like a cod fish. Daniel took advantage of the thug’s momentary incapacity to slam another fist into the centre of his face and was met with the satisfying crunch of the thug’s nose being broken. The man groaned and crumpled to the floor, but Daniel wasn’t done yet. With a well-placed punch, he rendered the man unconscious, but didn’t move until he was certain the thug wasn’t going to get back up again.

  Tabitha took one look at Daniel and, with a hiccupping sob, launched herself at him.

  ‘You came back,’ she gasped through her tears.

  ‘I never left you,’ Daniel growled leaning back to glare fiercely down at her. ‘Why in the Hell would you think I had left you?’ />
  ‘H-he said-’

  ‘You believe a thug rather than me, now?’ Daniel grumbled, hugging her tighter.

  ‘He said that you had brought me here and then abandoned me for him to kill,’ she whispered. ‘He tried to throw me out of the window in there.’

  Daniel looked at the door at the far end of the room she was pointing at but didn’t make any attempt to go near it partly because he wanted to keep an eye on the thug at their feet. Moreover, he didn’t want to move until they had discussed her lack of trust in him.

  ‘Thank God you escaped,’ Daniel muttered. He shuddered to think what could have happened to her had he not woken up when he had. She would certainly have been hit with that candelabra, and no doubt rendered unconscious. The only consolation would have been that she wouldn’t have been awake when she had been thrown to her death.

  Tabitha leaned back to look up at him only to see a tell-tale rivulet of blood on his temple. ‘What happened to you?’

  ‘I got accosted too,’ he announced unconcernedly. He nodded to the thug at their feet. ‘We have to tie him up and get out of here. In fact, now that we are together, we must tie him up and hide him somewhere his friend cannot find him. Show me this room first, though, just in case it is their way in.’

  Tabitha hated to step out of his arms. It was wonderful to be close to him, not least because she felt safe and protected. ‘Are you all right?’

  Daniel paused and sighed heavily. ‘You are right. I should never have suggested you accompany me here this evening. In my defence I had no idea this place would be teeming with so many criminals. I would have thought that Muldoon’s murder would have worried them away.’

  ‘Do you think they have something to do with Muldoon’s murder, or that man’s in there?’

  Daniel glared at the thug. ‘I think that is more than likely, don’t you?’

  Tabitha knew it was really stupid to ask questions but thinking about facts helped calm her thoughts. It gave her something to think about other than her worry about the desperate situation they were in.

  ‘How do we get out of here?’ she whispered only to jerk in horror when a loud bang ricocheted around the building.

  Daniel raced toward the window and cursed fluidly when he saw the yard was completely empty. ‘We have got to find their way in.’

  ‘Isn’t it that way?’ Tabitha asked pointing to the office.

  Daniel shook his head but went to go and look. In the office, he poked his head out of the window and cursed when he saw the drop. When he eased back into the room it was to find Tabitha standing nervously in the doorway watching him. ‘They can’t have come in this way. There is nothing down there but bramble and hedgerow, and it looks untouched. That said, I cannot really see much in this light and from so far away. What I can see is that the only way out of the narrow space down there is blocked by several disused carts and old machinery parts.’

  ‘Do you think they have another set of keys then?’ Tabitha asked.

  ‘Well there were no signs of forced entry yet that dead man in Muldoon’s office managed to get in here, so did the thugs who killed him. So there either has to be another way inside or Muldoon’s solicitor was wrong when he claimed that he had arranged for the locks to be changed after Muldoon’s death and he was the only one who had a set of keys.’

  ‘What do we do about him?’ Tabitha pointed to the man on the floor only to watch in amazement as, still clutching his head, the thug lumbered to his feet and staggered toward the door. ‘No!’ Tabitha cried when Daniel went to run after him.

  Daniel stopped and turned to stare at her. He was torn. While he knew she had to be protected he also had a job to do. It was instinctive to do what any operative of the Star Elite would in such a situation and chase after the thugs. He knew there was no better time to catch the men responsible for Muldoon’s death than now, when he was in the same building as them. He doubted they would be foolhardy enough to be caught again, especially now that they had killed two men, whoever the second victim was.

  ‘Stay here. Find somewhere to hide,’ he hissed before easing out of the room.

  Tabitha stared at him and huffed in disgust when she found herself all alone. She couldn’t believe that he had abandoned her again.

  ‘As if being hit on the head the first time he went after someone wasn’t enough of a warning he is outmanned,’ Tabitha grumbled snatching the heavy candelabra off the floor.

  Placing it carefully onto the table, she eyed the meeting room warily before leaving it. Back in the main anteroom she edged toward Muldoon’s office and frowned fiercely when she saw that the door to the office that she herself had closed earlier now stood open. Not for the first time that evening the small hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She shivered and immediately backed away from the sight of the corpse still lying where she had last seen him.

  At least he hasn’t disappeared.

  With a shudder, Tabitha backstepped until she was in the corner of the room, sheltered only by the impenetrable darkness. It was there she was still standing several minutes later when a figure emerged from Muldoon’s office. Her heart hammered wildly. She daren’t even blink as she watched the figure quietly close the door behind him. On silent feet, he walked steadily toward the hallway Daniel had just raced into after the thug. Tabitha studied the figure but could see little in the way of discerning features. What she did know was that the man seemed to be looking for something but didn’t have anything in his hands so couldn’t have found it.

  He certainly knows his way around, though.

  Moreover, he seemed confident that he wasn’t going to be disturbed because he didn’t even glance into the meeting room he passed. He appeared to consider himself all alone. Slowly, Tabitha tugged the hood of her cloak up and silently glided across the room. She waited for two breaths once the man had closed the door behind him before she reached out to open it back up again. By the time she stepped out of the anteroom he was already on his way up the stairs. It was surprising to see that he didn’t intend to leave the building. What was he searching for? Was he looking for Daniel? Was he looking for his colleagues? The thought that there might be more thugs lurking on the upper floors was enough to make Tabitha look longingly at the anteroom she had just left, but she was too curious to stay in there and simply wait. Quietly, cautiously, she crept after the intruder instead.

  CHAPTER NINE

  On the second floor, Tabitha stepped into what appeared to be a large storage area. Huge skeins of cotton stood in piles around the room that was just as dark as the floors below. Even through the gloom she could see the darkened shadow already making his way across the littered floor – until he heard pounding footsteps directly above his head. He paused and looked up as if trying to judge which direction they were going. To Tabitha’s horror, the intruder began to retrace his steps.

  Tabitha stepped backward only for her heel to get caught on a large skein. Toppling backward, she landed on the floor with a heavy thud and lay gasping amongst the skeins only to flinch in horror at the sound of a gunshot from the floor directly above. This propelled the man into flight. Turning around again, he raced for the door vaulting over the lowest of the piles and dodging around the larger ones. Within seconds he had disappeared. This time, Tabitha made no attempt to follow him. Instead, she began to wriggle around in preparation to get up and leave only to realise that she still wasn’t alone yet.

  While she didn’t hear anything, she sensed movement. Startled, she looked up in time to watch a man, dressed entirely in black, stalk silently past. Thankfully, he didn’t glance her way but cut a direct path to the large bank of doors against the far wall. Without stopping, he opened the middle door, walked through it and promptly disappeared. Tabitha squinted into the darkness and waited a few minutes before she moved, just to make sure that he truly had left as well.

  ‘God, how many people are inside this building?’ she grumbled, taking her time climbing back onto her feet.

&nbs
p; It was then that she realised there was a small office in the corner of the room within which was a battered desk containing a mound of paperwork and a flickering candle. Someone had been rifling through the contents of the tiny room. Curious, and a little more confident now that she knew she was alone, Tabitha edged toward it. The room was little more than a large cupboard, but the desk had a seat which she slid into. Dragging the candle closer, she studied the papers and ledgers before her. They appeared to contain tallies of stock and detailed the numbers of items made, the colours, and codes of some kind. Beside them were names of purchasers, and dates orders had been placed. Beside the long columns were numbers and marks indicating which orders had been filled and which still needed to be completed. Even to her untrained eye there was nothing there that was intriguing enough to warrant a man or men breaking into the building.

  ‘There has to be something else,’ Tabitha whispered turning to study the room with a thoughtful frown. ‘They have to be after something special, and it cannot just be the ownership deeds to the factory, which wouldn’t be kept here anyway.’

  Indeed, given the candle was flickering in a foreman’s office, the thugs appeared to be looking for something to do with the factory, not the factory’s owner.

  ‘Maybe the other dead man on Mr Muldoon’s desk is the foreman. Maybe he was working here for some reason and was murdered by the thugs,’ Tabitha muttered.

  In her mind, that meant that whatever evidence there might be of the thugs’ criminal activities was in the office somewhere.

  ‘It isn’t likely to be in Muldoon’s office. The solicitor said he has already sorted through Muldoon’s invoices and the like. I don’t doubt that if there was anything untoward evident in any of the ledgers, he would have found it,’ she breathed.

  However, when she tried to look at the tiny scrawling script on the yellowed pages her eyes ached, and the words swam before her into an unintelligible jumble of black ink. It was hopeless.