by Faye Hall
Devon chuckled at her remark. His hands going to her face, his fingers brushed her cheeks softly. “I have missed you so very much, Lotte.”
“Will you spend the night with me, Devon?” she asked nervously. “Please?”
Kissing her slightly, he nodded.
Holding her closely, Devon shut his eyes as contentment filled him. It was a feeling he had always yearned for and had found again with this woman.
Waking the following morning, still holding Lotte in his arms, Devon knew he was at last the luckiest man alive.
“I need to return to my estate for a couple of hours, Lotte. I have some matters I need to sort out, but I would like to return to you if that’s all right.”
Lotte nodded. “Please be careful, Devon. If Elizabeth discovers where you spent the night, if she discovers I am alive…”
Devon rested his fingers on her lips, stopping her words. “I will be careful, my love.”
* * * *
It was about midmorning when Abby ran up to the cottage, banging on the door frantically.
“Open up, Lotte!” she yelled. “Open up!”
Seconds later, Lotte quickly opened the door. “What’s happened?” she asked.
“Elizabeth’s found out you’re alive!” Abby gasped.
“How?” Lotte asked, suddenly obviously fearful. “Did Devon—”
Abby shook her head, hoping this young woman would forgive her. “It was me, Lotte.”
Abby watched as the younger woman’s face began to drop, and her heart ached at being the cause of it. Still, she knew there was no other way.
“I didn’t betray you, Lotte.” Abby pleaded with her to understand. “I swear I haven’t. But this is the only way.”
“Only way for what?” Lotte asked, her tone slightly defeated. “I don’t understand.”
“Elizabeth has to pay for what she’s done to you and Patrick, and to everyone else,” Abby exclaimed. “You deserve to live free without hiding in my hotel and constantly looking over your shoulder for fear of Elizabeth finding you.”
Lotte shook her head. “I still don’t understand why you told her.”
“Just go back to the Munroy estate,” Abby cut her off. “Make sure Elizabeth sees you. But make sure any conflict that goes down happens in her room. I’ll have a few lawmen who owe me a favor hidden nearby.”
“But Abby—”
Abby reached for her, hugging her and kissing her quickly on the cheek. “Make her confess, Lotte. It’s the only way you’ll prove her to be the monster you know her to be.” Abby turned to leave, then glanced back over her shoulder. “Be careful, Lotte.”
Chapter 22
Lotte carefully made her way into the Munroy estate, needing to warn Devon about what was happening, knowing she wouldn’t be able to do this without him.
“What are you doing here, Lotte?” Andrew, the gardener, asked. “It’s not safe for you here.”
Lotte nodded. “I know, but I need to find Devon. It’s important.”
“I’ll go find him for you, miss,” Andrew offered. “I’ll send him to you.”
Lotte nodded her thanks. “Tell him to meet me in Elizabeth’s room.”
Andrew’s face filled with fear. “But Lotte—”
“I have to finish this, Andrew!” Lotte interrupted him. “This has to end!”
Going inside the house, Lotte hoped that what Abby had told her was right, because she doubted she would have the strength to carry this on for much longer. She wanted to have a normal life back.
She made her way down the hall and into Elizabeth’s room. Finding the room empty, she looked around for anything that she might use to defend herself if need be.
“You’re either very brave or very stupid to come back here, Lotte,” Elizabeth said as she entered the room behind her, a pistol held firmly in her hands aimed at Lotte.
“I only wanted to come back for my things,” Lotte tried, knowing it was a lie.
“Stop lying, you bitch. I know who you are and why you’re here,” Elizabeth said, approaching her. “I should shoot you right where you stand and be finished with you once and for all.”
Just then the door behind them slammed open and Devon stormed inside. “Stay away from her, Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth moved, aiming her pistol toward him. “You come any closer, Devon, and I will shoot her again, and you can watch her die again, only this time I can guarantee you she won’t be coming back to you.”
Lotte moved, stepping in front of Devon, separating him from the aimed firearm. “I shouldn’t have told Andrew to fetch you, Devon. It isn’t safe. It is me Elizabeth wants, not you.”
Holding onto her elbows, Devon struggled to move Lotte to safety, but to no avail. “I will not let her take you away from me again, Lotte!”
“How very noble,” Elizabeth chided. “You couldn’t save her four years ago, Devon, what makes you think now will be any different?”
“Devon, please,” Lotte begged him. “The police are on their way. They will sort this out.”
“The police.” Elizabeth laughed. “You honestly think they will help you? You’re a nobody, Lotte Higgins. What makes you think they will listen to you?”
“I have proof,” Lotte said, standing strong. “I can prove you’re a murderer.”
Elizabeth waved the pistol slightly as if dismissing her accusing words. “I hardly think the police will waste their time searching for who killed all those whores and vagrants that were helping me over the years. They’re certainly not going to care about the death of a little aboriginal woman either.”
Lotte took a steadying step toward her, shaking off Devon’s hold on her. “And what of my family?” Lotte asked. “What explanation will you give the police about their deaths?”
“Your family was little more than collateral damage. I needed them out of my way, so I took care of them. Simple as that.”
“And what if I went to the police now with what you just said and tell them everything?” Devon spoke up.
Elizabeth smiled. “It would only be your word against mine, Devon, and you and your whore will be dead soon.”
“You can’t kill me though, Elizabeth,” Devon said, and Lotte knew he too was trying for time until they could come up with a plan. “You need my family’s money, remember? And my position. Without it, you too are a nobody.”
Elizabeth cocked her firearm. “I’m your wife, so upon your death I keep my position and automatically inherit your family’s fortunes. So, dear husband, you will be found dead, with a suicide note confessing to all the murders, including that of Lotte Higgins.”
“And why would I commit suicide?” Devon asked her.
“Guilt would seem the most obvious reason. You’ve been living in a near drunken sorrow ever since you thought Lotte died four years ago. It won’t be hard for the town to believe your guilt finally got the better of you.”
“It won’t work, Elizabeth. My brother is on the way to the police now with a written confession that it was you who shot him.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Now I know you’re lying, Lotte. Your brother is dead. I stabbed him and watched him die.”
Just then, Patrick walked around the corner with a local detective by his side. “I lived, Elizabeth.”
Fear suddenly filled Elizabeth’s face, her firearm forgotten about in her emotional state. “No, you’re dead. I watched you die!”
The police detective went to Elizabeth then, fighting her struggles as he put her hands in cuffs.
“Elizabeth Munroy, you are under arrest for the attempted murders of Lotte and Patrick Higgins, and for the murders of David Higgins and the other poor, nameless bodies that have been piling up at my door.”
As he went to drag her away from the room, Elizabeth fought against him, kicking and screaming.
* * * *
That night, Devon held Lotte close against him in his bed at the Munroy estate.
“At least now I understand why the bartender at the hotel al
ways looked so familiar,” Devon chided. “You could have told me Patrick was your brother, you know.”
“I’m glad you finally know the truth, Devon,” Lotte answered him. “Patrick and I have spent so long living in hiding, it will be nice to be free again.”
“What is to happen to him now that he doesn’t have to hide at the Pioneer Hotel? Will he take up ownership of the family’s estate?”
Lotte laughed. “He wants to stay at the hotel. He says it’s very humbling.”
Devon shared in her laughter. “I think he just likes being surrounded by all those women. What is to happen to your father’s estate? Have you managed to get in touch with the other children?”
Lotte went silent, nodding slowly at his question.
“What is it, Lotte?”
“My father’s other children have always lived on the estate, Devon.”
He turned her to face him. “I don’t understand. The only people who live there are Mary and Sarah, before her death.”
Lotte nodded slowly.
“Mary and Sarah are your sisters?” Devon asked, his shock obvious.
Lotte smiled. “They are my sisters. My father had an affair with their mother while he was living in Victoria. When he moved to Brandon, he sent for her and the girls to join him. When their mother died in childbirth, Father knew if he let the truth be known about the girls’ parentage, they would have been shunned from both our society and their own. So he kept it a secret until his death.”
Lying against his beautiful lover, Devon held her slender back against him.
“I wonder what will happen to Elizabeth,” Devon said. “I hope they make her pay for everything she has done.”
“She’s going to hang, Devon,” Lotte replied. “That’s if Sarah’s tribe doesn’t get to her first. For her sake, I hope they don’t. Natives don’t take nicely to white folk who murder one of their own.”
Devon held her closer still.
“I’m just glad to have you back, Lotte, and to know you’re safe.” He kissed the back of her neck. “We no longer have to hide under a shroud of deception. No more secrets.”
Lotte rolled over in his arms, kissing him softly. “I’m yours, Devon. Always and forever.”
About Faye Hall
Faye Hall’s passion driven, mystery filled books are set in small townships of North Queensland, Australia during the late 1800’s.
Each of her novels bring something symbolically Australian to her readers, from Aboriginal herbal remedies to certain gemstones naturally found only in that part of the world.
Each of her books tells of a passionate connection between the hero and heroine, surrounded and threatened by deceit, scandal, theft, and sometimes even murder.
These romances swerve from the traditional romances as Faye aims to give her readers so much more intrigue, whilst also revealing the hidden histories of rural townships of North Queensland.
Faye finds her inspiration from the histories of not only the township she grew up in, but the many surrounding it. She also bases most of her characters on people she has met in her life.
Faye was able to live her own passion driven romance, marrying the love of her life after a whirlwind romance in 2013. Together they are raising their nine children in a remote country town in northern Queensland, Australia.
Faye’s Website:
www.faye-hall.com
Reader eMail:
[email protected]
