A Season for Scandal by Golden Angel

Chapter 36

Josie

The Dark Walk was deeply shadowed and not well lit, unlike most of Vauxhall’s pathways. The sounds were also muted by the shrubs and trees, though that also had something to do with distance as they moved away from the main activities. Instinctively, the three of them bunched together, moving a little slower and more cautiously down the path than how they had entered it.

“Where did he go?” Mary whispered, looking around nervously.

Josie tightened her lips, shaking her head. They had already lost sight of him, and if they reached a point where the path divided…

She hurried her steps, moving ahead of Lily and Mary, who she could hear scrambling to catch up.

There were several nooks and small courtyards along the path, and Josie only glanced into each of them, confirming they were empty before moving on. Behind her, she could hear Mary muttering imprecations at how fast Josie was moving—with her shorter legs, she had to work twice as hard to keep up.

Drawing to a halt before the entrance to the next courtyard, Josie gasped when she looked in.

He was there, the man who had attacked her, standing in the center of the courtyard next to the sculpture fountain, with gun drawn and a baffled expression.

Before either of them could say anything, Mary slammed into her side, clearly not having expected Josie’s abrupt halt.

“Two of you?!” The man cursed, his eyes rolling heavenward. Out of the corner of her eye, Josie saw Lily come to a halt, several feet away from them. She could not see her friend’s reaction clearly but saw her stepping back several feet. The hedges gave enough cover, the man did not see her. Shaking his head, he gestured at Josie and Mary. “Come in here.”

“I would rather not, thank you,” Josie said, but the moment she started speaking, he was already lifting the gun. If it had been only her, she might have tried to run, but she could not risk him shooting into the hedges and hitting Mary or Lily.

“Come. Here.” This time, he growled the order.

Mary’s hand found hers, and their fingers wrapped around each other. Slowly stepping into the courtyard, they stayed as far away from the man as possible.

“Move over there.” He pointed at the far side of the hedges, away from the entrance they had just come through and a possible escape. There was another gap in the hedges behind him, another way into the courtyard without having to push through branches, but that was unreachable to them as well.

“Witless females.” He growled again in frustration. “Now, what the devil am I supposed to do?”

The lethal ire in his voice chilled Josie’s blood. He had expected Elijah to come running and got her and Mary instead. Mary’s fingers gripped hers tighter. His gaze hardened.

“Good thing there are two of you. You.” He pointed the gun at Mary. “You are going to go back out there and tell her husband she has been kidnapped, and he is to await further instruction.”

“What further instruction?” Mary asked, not moving from Josie’s side.

As much as Josie appreciated her friend’s bravery, she also wanted to kick Mary. This was a chance for her to save herself! She needed to take it. The fewer hostages he had, the better. Josie squeezed Mary’s fingers tighter, in a grip that should have been painful, but Mary ignored her, acting like a flibbertigibbet, her voice rising higher as if approaching hysterics.

“When will you send it? How will he receive it?”

“He will receive it later when I figure out how to send it, you ninnyhammer. Now, go!” Lifting the gun again, he aimed it directly at her head. “Or I will shoot you and leave you here to deliver the message if someone finds you in time.”

Squeaking, Mary released Josie’s hand and fled. She was quite the little actress. Josie did not believe for one second Mary was as hysterical as she pretended to be. Frightened, even terrified, yes, but none of them were the types to lose their heads in a dire situation. Acting as he expected might keep them all alive for a little longer. The man tilted his head, clearly listening to Mary’s rapidly dwindling footsteps as she hurried away.

Josie stared at him, mind racing. Mary and Lily were safe. She did not want to be kidnapped. Elijah and Rex would be on their way at any moment. All she had to do was stall.

“What are you doing here?” It was the first question that came to mind.

“I’m here to kill your husband.”

“No!” She pretended to be shocked, though voicing a denial was certainly no strain on her acting abilities. The very idea this man might succeed in his mission sent pain streaking through her, as well as anger and determination that he fail his mission.

He barked a short laugh, coming toward her with the gun still raised. Josie tried to back away, but she was already pressed against the hedges behind her, and there was nowhere for her to go.

“Shut up, you stupid cunt. No questions. If you scream, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.” The evil light in his eyes said he meant every word.

Elijah

Rushing down the darkened path, only steps ahead of Rex, they both slowed when they saw a woman in green rushing back toward them. Mary—face pale, eyes wide, running flat out with her skirts hiked up.

“What took you so long?!” The question was shot at them in a whisper as soon as she was close enough. She whirled without waiting for an answer. “This way!”

They would have been able to find it without her, but Mary slowed, holding up her hand before they reached the courtyard, so they could sneak up to it, moving slowly.

“He has a gun,” Mary whispered, and Elijah waved her away. With a stony expression on his face, Rex grabbed hold of his wife and yanked her back behind Elijah.

“You will not get away with this.” Josie’s voice quavered so patently overdramatic, despite the direness of the situation, Elijah almost laughed. It brought back memories of their younger years when she, Mary, Lily, Joseph, Adam, and several of the other neighbors around their age had put on a play Lily had written. If she was playacting, he knew she was no worse for the wear, which reassured him momentarily. Now, it was his job to keep it that way.

“I already have, you silly chit.” The man’s voice was gravelly and full of annoyance. “I will not get to kill your husband now, but you will help me set another trap for him, then I will have the pleasure of killing both of you. Now come along.”

Letting the villain take Josie to another location was out of the question. Elijah stepped forward into the gap between the hedges, aware of Rex pulling Mary back away from him so they could remain obscured by the branches and leaves.

“Oh, really?” he drawled, playing for time, muscles tensed and ready to leap aside. The man turned toward him, gun in his outstretched hand.

Josie shrieked with outrage beside the villain, turning and grabbing his arms, pushing them up as the gunshot rang out—Elijah had already moved from his position, anticipating such a reaction from the blackguard, though he had not foreseen Josie’s actions. Putting herself in more danger…

He popped back up in the entrance just in time to see her pop the blackguard in the nose with a strong right hook. If it took Elijah off guard to see it, it took her attacker even more so to be on the receiving end. He spun around blindly, only to come face to face with Lily, who had appeared like an avenging goddess in the back entrance to the courtyard. Her face was slightly scratched, and small twigs dotted her hair and dress, but her expression was grimly determined as she went to work on their villain, effectively downing him with two efficient blows to the head, stunningly beautiful in their execution.

Falling against the base of the fountain, the man was utterly poleaxed. Elijah knew how he felt. Even with Josie’s claim, Lily was the superior boxer, he had hardly expected her level of expertise.

His focus turned to his wife, who was panting for breath and rubbing her arm where a hand-shaped bruise was already forming, thanks to the man’s hard grip. Hurrying forward, Elijah pulled her into his arms, swinging her away from her assailant. As he did so, he glanced down and was shocked to recognize the man.

“James Magruder.”

“Who?” Josie asked, her arms wrapped firmly around his middle as she hugged him.

“That is James Magruder, Cousin to Viscount Rawlings, I believe.” This was not the first time they had crossed paths. Elijah knew him because he’d caught Magruder cheating at cards, which had resulted in James being booted from the club in question. He was not considered good ton, but his connection to his cousin explained his ability to appear at their events without overmuch speculation. Elijah very much doubted Magruder was the mastermind behind everything, but with his grudge against Elijah, he made a very good henchman.

Still holding his bleeding nose, Magruder glared at him through rapidly blackening eyes. Josie and Lily had done a number on him.

Elijah smiled down at him menacingly.

“I look forward to having another conversation with you, Magruder.”

Things moved quickly from there. Father appeared with several men to apprehend Magruder. Another time, Elijah would have stood over the man and been part of binding his hands and hustling him out of Vauxhall, but today, his priority was his wife. Josie was unharmed but shaken, as were Mary and Lily.

“We have to get Lily out of here unseen. Does anyone have a cloak?” Josie asked, causing Elijah to give her an exasperated look.

“What?”

“Lily! Look at her!” Josie did not relinquish her grip on Elijah’s middle as she nodded toward her friend. “She’s a debutante on the Dark Walk, and she cannot step out of it looking like that. Her reputation will be ruined.”

Blinking, Elijah realized Josie was right. The marks on Lily’s skin, the twigs adorning her hair, and the tiny rips in her dress were from forcing herself through the hedges so she could sneak up behind Magruder, not knowing her appearance would be credited to far more vile reasoning.

Mary and Rex went to get Lily a cloak while she waited in the courtyard with Father, Elijah, and Josie. The men who had taken custody of Magruder bundled him off in the opposite direction, going deeper into the Dark Walk to go out another exit, farther from the revelers.

Throughout it all, Elijah did not relinquish his tight grip on Josie. The memory of seeing her disappearing onto the Dark Walk, chasing after an unknown villain, would give him nightmares. She was not going to sit comfortably for a month after this if he had anything to say about it. What the devil had she been thinking?

“That was quick thinking, but also very foolish,” Father said, dabbing at one of the deeper scratches on Lily’s arm with his handkerchief, blotting away the blood.

“Well, I could hardly stand around and do nothing.” Lily shook her head. Other than her disheveled appearance, she was back to looking like a prim and proper debutante, a little more modest than most. As far as appearances being deceiving, Elijah thought she might take the cake. “The man was going to kidnap Josie. I did not want a repeat of Mary’s situation.”

“Be that as it may—” Father’s gentle scolding was cut off when a gunshot ricocheted through the air. “Are the fireworks starting already?” By his tone, he knew, as well as Elijah, that was no firework.

The sound had come from deeper within the Dark Walk.

“Stay here. Guard them.” Father’s orders were terse as he dashed out of the courtyard, heading in the direction Magruder had been taken. Before his marriage, Elijah would have felt left out and chafed at the bit, though he would have understood and done his duty. Now, there was nothing more important than guarding Josie’s safety. Even if his father had wanted to send him to see what was happening, Elijah was not sure he would have gone.

His place was here, by Josie’s side.

Always.

“What was that? Where did Uncle Oliver go?” Mary stepped into the courtyard, followed by Rex, who loomed behind her, looking increasingly anxious.

“Gunshot?” Rex asked, in the tone one of who wanted to be told he was wrong. His expression grew grimmer when Elijah nodded.

“I think so,” Elijah temporized, but he knew it was true. While the fireworks would be going off soon—which Magruder had likely counted on in his plan to murder Elijah—his gut knew it had been a gun.

Mary wrapped the cloak around Lily, and all three ladies had stubborn expressions on their faces Elijah recognized. Fortunately, he was not forced to tell them no, they could not investigate because Father was already striding back into the clearing.

“Magruder is dead.” Father was grimly furious. “Shot from someone behind the hedges. They got away.”

Elijah cursed, hugging Josie tighter. Their mastermind was still out there, and now, their only new lead was dead.