Red Crystal Romance: #1 Emma

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  Lucas closed his eyes for a moment, his cheek resting briefly against her head.

  “I plan on accepting your apologies for a long time, Emma,” he’d noticed the dirt and sand in her hair as well as over most of her dress, and her shoes were gone, again. “Were you hurt?”

  “Probably a few bruises but nothing broke when I jumped from the carriage and they never stopped, so I don’t think they even noticed I’d been there,” she thought for a minute. “I never saw them, though. I know there were two…I jumped and ran to hide. I lost my shoes again, though.”

  “I shall put a cobbler on our payroll,” Lucas teased, his head up and turning at the sound from behind them. He felt Emma tense and tightened his arm around her. “Easy, sweet.”

  Lucas and Harris led their horses to the side, both turning to appraise the approaching coach, a large imposing set of two large horses leading the way. He straightened in the saddle, lashes narrowed behind his lenses. The coach pulled up and slowed, a shade that had been down raised and two men peered out from the inside.

  “Feds,” Emma said softly.

  The men in the coach seemed to be studying them.

  “What?” Lucas said quietly, not taking his gaze from the strangers.

  “Government,” Emma tried again, mentally slapping herself. “Law enforcement,” she said louder, almost laughing that the suit and officious look prevailed through the ages.

  “Scotland Yard,” one of the men responded politely, each of them tipping the bowler hat they wore.

  “Lucas St. Christopher,” Lucas said simply. “I’m relieved you’ve finally arrived.”

  “There were two men in a carriage!” Emma looked from them down the road where they’d been. “They had the trunk and they tried…they believed the money was inside the trunk!”

  “We know. Two of our comrades are with them at this moment, with the empty trunk,” the older of the men said. “James Hawthorne, Miss…”

  “Emma.” She looked at them. “You’ve identification?” Emma asked quietly.

  Without a word, they each produced a small black case and identification proclaiming their names and profession within the unit of Scotland Yard investigations, major crimes. Each one even held a description of each man.

  “If you’ll follow us, I’ll be only too glad to have the money returned to the bank where it belongs,” Lucas declared, turning his horse and about to trot off.

  “Perhaps the young lady might be more comfortable inside the coach,” James suggested with a winning smile, his hand opening the door politely. “We’ve more than enough room to share.”

  “No,” Emma shook her head and clung to Lucas. “But thank you kindly.”

  “It won’t take long,” Lucas said, unwilling to release his wife. “Follow the road and take the first left. We shall meet you there.”

  “As you wish,” the door clanked shut and the coach began to move.

  Lucas turned the horse from the road and nodded for Harris to follow across the fields.

  “It’s wrong,” Emma said firmly. “It’s wrong, Lucas.”

  Lucas slowed the horse, his gaze sweeping the side. “They can no longer see us.”

  “How did they know there was a trunk on the carriage?” Emma said hurriedly. “You don’t ride looking over your shoulder at others.”

  “And they were very keen to offer Emma comfort,” Harris met his friend’s look.

  “Continue to town. Be vigilant, Jules. If they are part of the robbery, then there are two men lying somewhere,” Lucas didn’t add that they were probably dead. “Notify the magistrate of the problem and watch for that carriage with the trunk.”

  Harris nodded and sped off without a word.

  Lucas urged his horse toward the house, his mind trying to determine where a safe place would be to leave Emma.

  “Are you very angry with me?”

  “No, love, I should have considered your reaction,” his mouth lifted at the corner. “Are you sorry simply to avoid being punished?”

  Emma sighed. “I’d rather not answer that right now. I’m sorry I worried you. I’m sorry it didn’t go as I had planned. I’m sorry my father caused all this.”

  “Emma…”

  “You want to leave me somewhere and not go home with you because of them.”

  “You’ve no shoes and if you’re with me, perhaps I can do a better job of keeping you safe,” Lucas said after a lengthy pause. His hand came from the reins, tipping her head up for a fast, hard kiss. “I am not angry with you…and I would never have sent you away permanently. The instant it was safe, I would have you back in my arms and my bed, believe that.”

  “Thank you,” she breathed finally, stiffening as the house came into sight through the thick mass of trees.

  “Easy, love, we’ll go to the stables and come in the side entrance,” Lucas exhaled deeply. “Would you listen if I asked you to go to your room and lock yourself in?”

  “They want the money, Lucas. They’ll hurt you to get it…or destroy the house if we don’t give it to them. They’ll…we have people to protect,” Emma said quietly. “They won’t know what’s going on…”

  “And if they take you, I’ll have no fortitude to keep them from it,” he told her flatly. “Your workroom, Emma. Lock the doors and stay hidden until I come for you. This is no longer a negotiation. I’m not doing this because I feel you’re property; I’m doing this because you’re my wife and it’s my duty to keep you safe.”

  “And a wife’s duty is to meekly obey.”

  “I don’t expect you to be meek, love, but I do demand your obedience.” Lucas pulled every ounce of his dominant side to the surface.

  “Very well.” Emma nodded reluctantly. “I worry, too, Lucas.”

  “I know you do, my love, I know.” Lucas slowed the horse, guiding him expertly between the trees behind the house. He nodded at Brock, leaning down slightly. “Get the women and children away from the main house and to the stables. Pull all you can find and allow no one near who is not part of our estate.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “I will go greet our guests, Emma. I want you in that utility room and silent as a church mouse.” He swung from the saddle and lifted her effortlessly to the ground, his expression lacking all compromise.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Emma nodded and went to the door without looking back. She pulled in a long breath and closed the door behind her, continuing on silent feet over the concrete and through the connecting door to the kitchen.

  Weapons, she thought frantically, lifting the heavy iron skillet and thinking it was extremely trite, but she really didn’t care at the moment. She left it sitting beside the door and crept very quietly through the halls. She could hear them coming in the main entrance and clung to the shadows until she heard them in the library.

  “I’ve asked the local magistrate to attend this,” Lucas was saying. “I feel a witness to the surrender of the money to the Yard would be most advantageous.”

  “You can quit the game, St. Christopher.”

  “We’re here to retrieve the money, St. Christopher. Nothing more,” one of the men informed him bluntly. “Where is your very pretty little wife?”

  “Emma wasn’t feeling well and went to one of the cottages of a woman who prepares remedies,” Lucas lied.

  “Search the house,” came the gruff order, the ruse obviously over.

  Emma waited, holding her breath until she saw the shadow come around the edge. Then she gave a cheerful smile and ran, hiking up her dress and trying to remember all the youthful traits that were now hers.

  She rounded the corner in the kitchen and jumped onto the chair she’d placed there, skillet raised and ready. As she hoped, he never thought to look to the side as he came barreling through the door.

  After all, she was nothing more than a harmless, weak female.

  She was pretty sure she looked as she swung. At least she heard the really heavy sounding thud when the skillet connected with his h
ead and he went soaring across the room. Emma grabbed up the twine she’d found that Mrs. Neilson used to bind chickens together before roasting.

  He wasn’t moving, but he was breathing and there wasn’t any blood, which she was really grateful for. Using every muscle she had, she shoved him to his stomach and pulled his arms behind him. Winding and making tight figure eights, she tied off his wrists before moving to his feet. Huffing and puffing, she pulled him to the side and leaned both hands on her knees, trying to get her breath back and make her heart stop hammering so hard.

  Inhaling deeply, Emma straightened up, pushed her shoulders back and put her skillet back next to the door. She’d only seen three of them. Two in the coach and one in the driver’s seat. Which meant there were two more.

  She did not like the sounds she heard when she crept down the hall the second time and knew Lucas was being hurt. Okay, attention getting time. She let out with a yell and waited.

  “Go find her! And bring her back here with Jake!” Was the gruff order. “She’ll make his lordship see reason.”

  Emma saw the man that had been driving the coach come out of the library and stepped into his line of sight for all of one second before taking off again. Her feet slid slightly on the concrete as she entered the kitchen and hopped onto the chair, the skillet raised and ready.

  A wince hit her features after she swung. This time there was blood because the man had turned slightly at the same time the flat bottom of the skillet struck. Emma climbed down slowly, listening to his groaning. She grabbed the twine quickly and had him bound securely with his wrists behind his back and ankles tightly tied together before she stood up, hands on her face for a quiet minute.

  Suddenly, a number of things unfolded at once.

  Brock burst into the back of the kitchen with bludgeon raised. Emma screamed, loudly.

  Lucas heard the shattering, piercing scream and sent his fist into the face of the man he’d been wrestling with in the library.

  Harris and two very disheveled inspectors for Scotland Yard came rushing into the library from the balcony, breathing heavily and ready to fight.

  Emma’s hands went to her chest after the scream had rattled the walls in the estate. Then she exhaled and was relieved, one finger going to her lips as she crept back through the door to the main hall.

  She heard the scuffling and shouting, but lost track completely when she saw Lucas come bursting out of the library.

  “Emma!” Lucas shouted with every bit of air in his lungs, his body coming to a sharp halt when she rounded the corner from the kitchen. But she scarcely paused a moment before she launched herself at full speed down the hall and into arms he barely managed to lift from his sides.

  This time he had no intention of releasing her for a long time.

  “Oh, Lucas! You’re hurt!” Emma clung to him. His glasses were gone. His lip was bleeding and his shirt torn but she wasn’t about to let him go.

  “I heard your scream, Emma, are you alright? Did they hurt you?” Lucas forced himself to lean her away so he could take in her face, but he lost and kissed her, hard and hungrily. “You’re alright,” he whispered against her mouth.

  “I’m alright,” she returned.

  “Ah-hem,” came the deep voice from behind him, standing in the door to the library. “Your lordship?”

  “In the kitchen,” Brock said with a low chuckle.

  “Mr. Harris…we need some cloth and water, please,” Emma said firmly, pushing against the strong shoulders that held her feet off the floor, again. “Put me down, Lucas, I’m alright. You’re the one hurt,” she told him, taking his hand and leading him back into the library.

  Lucas somehow managed silence as he was led past the three men staring.

  “Emma, these are the inspectors sent by Scotland Yard,” he said with only a hint of humor as the genuine James Hawthorne extended his palm.

  “Lady St. Christopher,” he greeted her with slightly tipped head.

  Emma stared until she realized he was speaking to her. Her hand was up immediately before turning and pushing Lucas into the desk chair.

  “And the gentleman…” a smile creased his lips below the small moustache as he watched the men coming along the hall. He looked over at Emma. “You are responsible for this, Lady St. Christopher?”

  “Me and a skillet…and some kitchen twine,” Emma admitted reluctantly.

  “Marcus Plurent, my associate,” James introduced, his head shaking at the men being escorted toward the exit. “Make certain they are very secure, Marcus.”

  “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lady St. Christopher. Very nice work,” he nodded in approval as he walked past the open library door.

  “Emma…” Lucas looked from the two passing men who had gone after her to the sweetly distracted wife now dipping a cloth into a pan of water and gently cleaning the blood from his face. He decided surrendering to the moment might be best and relaxed, his eyes closing for a quiet breath of relief. His hand settled on her hip, gently massaging as he tried not to wince too noticeably.

  “I couldn’t just sit and do nothing, Lucas,” Emma sighed, hoping she could sit in the morning. “Is it over?”

  “We will return the funds to the bank today and escort these gentlemen to prison, Lady St. Christopher,” James Hawthorne told her with a firm nod. “I must thank you for sending your man to our aid, milord. They were prepared for us and we know now it was the one called Daniel Sims providing information to them.”

  “Did you get him?” Emma asked anxiously, unconsciously moving closer to Lucas. She finished dabbing and dropped the cloth into the basin. Her finger brushed the disheveled dark blond hair from his forehead and around his ear. “We’re a pair, sir. Quite a bit bruised.”

  “We apprehended him last night, milady,” James assured her. “As well as the mastermind working in the Inn where you stayed with your father.”

  “How did their money get into the trunk?” Emma didn’t protest when Lucas eased her onto the wide arm of his chair, his hand securely around her waist and head resting against her side. She sighed and draped her arm around his shoulders.

  “From what they’ve shared with our people, their man at the Inn was watching for a likely person they could use to relocate the money once it was in their custody. Evidently the maids working there had reported that the young lady in a given room never appeared to move.” James watched the young couple closely.

  “My father had me drugged for his own plans to confiscate an inheritance,” Emma explained with a sigh.

  “The man working the Inn bribed a maid to help him. He knew when you were in the suite alone and switched your trunk with the special one with the false bottom,” James explained, grateful for the offered tea. “Thank you. Before they made the switch, they’d already overheard the plans your father had made with the elder Lord St. Christopher. They felt it was perfect for them. Their plan was to fake the hijacking of your carriage, remove what they were after and crash the carriage over one of the higher curves along the coast line.”

  Emma bit her lip. She knew she was breathing too fast and felt the hot stinging in her eyes.

  “Emma,” Lucas urged her against him, his mouth next to her ear. “It’s alright.”

  “I am most sorry, milady, I did not mean to…my apologies…” James Hawthorne’s face flushed bright red.

  “No. I’m okay…” Emma laid her head against Lucas’ chest and just breathed for a moment. “Please, continue. I need to know.”

  “They had their plan but it was shattered when his lordship appeared on the scene and took off after your carriage,” James said, the story and his report laid out in his mind. “From that point on, they were in disarray on how to retrieve their stolen goods.”

  “Someone broke into my bedroom where the trunk was, but I never saw who it was,” Emma said quietly. “And Daniel tried…but obviously failed.”

  “Excuse me,” Lucas looked over pointedly at Harris. “Send Brock to the stables and l
et them know it’s safe to return to their duties.”

  Harris nodded and left the room.

  “Then it is finished, Inspector?” Lucas asked, wrapping his arms around Emma. “I believe we’d like nothing more than peace the rest of the year.”

  “I’ll get my lock box from the coach and be right back,” James told them, nodding once before striding from the house, leaving through the balcony doors.

  Lucas reluctantly set Emma on the floor and went to the safe. He rolled his head on his shoulders and lifted them several times, wincing at the pain. It had been a very long time since he’d been in any kind fist fight. He reached between two books and worked the mechanism, the panel sliding to the side to reveal the large metal door.

  He worked the combination, turning the heavy bar handle and pulled the door wide just as Marcus and James returned with a large lock box between them.

  “We have papers for you to sign, milord.” James told him, gesturing to Marcus to begin loading. He bought out several papers and went to the desk. “I believe there is a substantial reward.”

  “No,” Emma said loudly, keeping her head high when all the men turned and looked at her. “Donate it to the local hospital, please. We acquired it completely by accident.”

  James looked for confirmation from Lucas.

  “I agree with my wife, Inspector,” Lucas smiled at the woman sitting at his desk. He turned back to the vault, helping hand out the money that had been stored there. “I’m sure the bank will be very happy to see their funds returned. I only hope they manage to mend whatever hole enabled this robbery to take effect.”

  “They are feeling quite foolish, your lordship,” James said with a small chuckle. “We’ve helped them ferret out the inside man and they intend to take a very close look at the private lives of their employees and just how they can prevent this in the future.”

  “I wish them luck,” Emma murmured, dipping her hands into the basin and rinsing them. “I’m glad it’s over. I’m going to check on Nancy and the others,” she said with a smile at the men. “It was nice meeting you, Inspectors. Please be careful on your return.”