Deadly Secrets by M J Marlow (good short books .txt) 📖

make a perfect messenger.” Philip struggled to his knees and looked around groggily. There was no sign of Titan or Elis, so he assumed she had ridden ahead to get help. He found the rock with his blood on it and wondered who would throw that at him. There were no people in town who would harm him or any other member of his family. He pulled himself up and leaned against his horses side, shaking in pain. So why was he attacked? He had a horrible thought then and prayed he was wrong. But when the stable hands came riding down to get him, he knew he’d been right. Titan had arrived without Elis and the dogs were here with him. That meant she was in trouble. “Start a search,” he ordered Huntley as the doctor arrived to tend to his injury. “Every last building, every last inch of ground. They are not to stop until they find my cousin.” She was sitting in a chair tied down into it when she woke up. Elis could see nothing and realized from the strange feeling around her eyes that she had been blindfolded. She was not gagged, however; so she screamed and started trying to loosen her bonds. She froze as she heard a door open. A large hand clamped down on her throat and she quieted and waited for them to tell her what was going on. This was not right, her mind screamed. People didn’t do things like this to her! “That’s a smart little girl,” an unfamiliar voice spoke in her ear. He was so close she could feel his breath on her skin and she shivered and tried to pull away. “You have no reason to be afraid, lady Elissa,” the stranger told her. “All you have to do is answer a few questions for us and then we’ll let you go home. Your family is very anxious to have you back.” “Where am I?” “You don’t need to know,” the stranger laughed at her. Elis pulled on the ropes holding her down and his hand came back to her throat. She whimpered as his fingers dug in and choked off her air a moment. “Stay calm, little lady. I’d hate to have to hurt you after all.” “You hurt Pip!” Elis snapped at him. “Why should I believe you would not hurt me?” She hated being this frightened. It was not her! She wanted to hurt these men for making her feel this way! “Because we have no reason to hurt you, girl,” another man spoke up from nearby. Elis froze. She was in the hands of more than one stranger. For the first time in her life, she began to truly feel fear and she didn’t like it. “Your cousin is home nursing a sore head. He’s fine.” “You could be lying,” Elis replied tightly. “Men who would kidnap a child would lie about hurting her cousin.” “Very smart child,” a third man’s voice sounded from behind her. Elis began to shiver then as the fear she had kept at bay reared its ugly head. “I want to go home!” Elis shrieked and started to struggle against the ropes holding her down desperate to be free of these men. All manner of evil acts they could be planning against her flooded into her mind, fueled by the Gothic novels she was not supposed to be reading. “Please,” she sobbed as the hand was back at her throat. “Let me go home!” “We’re going to have to give our little guest some medicine,” the third voice spoke up. “She is not behaving.” Elis heard him moving around behind her and then someone grabbed her and forced her mouth open. Something vile tasting was poured down her throat and she tried to spit it out, but they had her mouth closed and she had to swallow. She could feel the tears of anger flowing down her face. “Don’t cry, little one. It’s better this way.” She felt a hand at her cheek and she pulled away, whimpering. “We won’t have to hurt you now.” The hand stroked her hair and held on as she tried to move. “You don’t want us to hurt you, do you, little one?” Elis shook her head and she heard laughter. “Then sit there very, very still and quiet, and answer our questions.” There was a pause. “First question: Did you receive a trunk from your brother recently?” “No,” Elis shook her head. “Alexei never sends me anything.” She started to cry. “I don’t think he cares about me anymore. He’s always making excuses why he can’t come see me.” “Who sent you the trunk then, little one?” “Natasha,” Elis smiled warmly. “She always remembers me.” “Was there anything strange in the trunk, little one?” the man asked her as he looked at his companions. “Anything you don’t think you should have gotten?” “She sent me Mama’s stars,” Elis said softly. “Mama always said those were to be mine.” She was feeling very funny all of the sudden and she didn’t like it. “My head feels funny.” Her stomach was cramping up and she whimpered as the pain struck full force. “It hurts!” She sobbed and tried to get up. “Please let me go. I’m going to be sick!” She threw up and heard the sound of her stomach contents hitting the interior of a metal basin. Since she had next to nothing inside her stomach, it was over relatively quickly. “I don’t feel well.” The world began to spin around in her head and she felt herself falling. She passed out cold and the men looked at each other in shock. They had never had anyone react to that drug in this manner. Zeller checked her over and was relieved to find she was undamaged. He untied her and carried her over to the bed. After he had her down, he tied her wrists and ankles together and covered her with a blanket. He put in the gag and they left her locked in the attic room of the old mill to recover from the illness their drug had caused. They could resume their questions later. “She doesn’t know anything,” Morgan frowned as they went downstairs to the main room and sat by the fire with their whiskey. “Taking the girl was a waste of time.” “We can’t be certain of that,” Zeller replied. “She got sick before we learned anything useful.” He thought about it. “It’s probably wiser to cut her loose for now. She’s not some village maid with no family. We’ll take her down to the riverbank after dark and dump her in.” “I’ll get the drug ready,” Morgan nodded. “She’ll be nearly awake by the time she hits the water; the shock will wake her completely so we can’t have her remembering us.” Elis was coming back to awareness as she heard their footsteps on the stairs. She tried to get free of the ropes holding her wrists but all she did was chafe her skin. The door opened and they gave her another drink of something vile. She could not fight as they untied her and carried her away. She felt the night air hit her skin and heard the water nearby. What were they going to do to her? Her mind was a fog as they set her down and she couldn’t see anything but blurs and the impression of people. Then she was flying backwards. She hit the cold water and she came up screaming. She was in the river! She looked around and there was no one in sight. Elis swam towards the shore but she was so tired she could hardly move. She caught a branch near the shore and it cut into her palms as she tried to hold on. She screamed as she slid under the water again and came up nearer the shore. She could see a cave and she swam for it, pulling herself inside and leaning against the solid wall, sobbing in relief. She waited until the worst of the shaking was over and then she stumbled out of the cave and looked around. She didn’t know where she was! Elissa climbed up the embankment and ripped her skirts as she did so. She stumbled through the bushes and the branches and brambles scratched her face and hands. Elis had lost her shoes in the river and her feet were bruised and bleeding as she came out onto the road directly in front of the post-chaise. She passed out as the driver cried out in alarm and managed to stop the horses inches from the fallen girl. Huntley got out and saw who the road block was. “Lady Elissa!” He had someone get him a cloak or blanket and wrapped her in it tight. She looked up at him weakly and burst into tears. “Hold on, my lady. We’ll have you at the inn soon.” He got her into the carriage and they continued on to the inn. He carried her up to his rooms and laid her down on the bed. Then he turned to face the anxious innkeeper. “Have a man run up to Kensington Place and tell Lord Philip his cousin has been found. Then call a doctor!” He did not like the way the girl was looking. “Hurry man!” He left Elis in the care of the innkeeper’s daughters and was in the main room when Philip came charging in with Elis’ dogs at his heel four hours later. It was obvious from the lather on the dogs that they had ridden hard to get here. He saw Huntley and the men went upstairs. Elis had been put into a warm dry nightgown but she was pale and shaking and running a fever. The doctor was just finishing his examination. “She’s suffering from hypothermia and exposure,” he told Philip bluntly. “I don’t know how, but it appears your cousin fell in the river and pulled herself out by sheer force of will.” He looked at the bruises and scratches on Elis’ face. “That doesn’t explain the bruises on her throat, however.” “You think she had some help falling into the river?” Philip was shocked. “She wasn’t… I mean…” His worst fears flooded his mind and he couldn’t think straight. “Your cousin is still a virgin, lord Philip,” the Doctor told him. “Whoever had her was interested in something other than her body.” He saw the relief on the man’s face. “Murder attempt?” “Very possible,” Philip said tightly. “My cousin inherited a large sum of money and property from her parents. She is unaware that her brother was cut off completely, but he knows.” He looked over at Huntley. “Have we heard from Everley?” “He confirms the sales that were listed in the notebook,” Huntley replied. “Her father’s collection was sold, in its entirety, to an anonymous buyer.” He was frowning. “He delivered your instructions to the solicitors’ firm. One hour later, Milosevic was at his rooms demanding an explanation.” “And four hours after that his little sister has a near fatal accident,” Philip frowned. “Damn, Huntley! This is getting far too dangerous for her!” He sat down and held Elis’ hand in his. “I am locking her in her room,” he said more to himself than anyone else. “She is going to have an armed guard wherever she goes.” He looked at the dogs and realized something. “Whoever attacked her knew how to get around Gunther and Fritz, Huntley. I want a covert investigation into anyone who had access to them.” “Including your uncle Edward?” “I sincerely doubt Prince Edward had a reason to want Elissa dead, Huntley,” he said to the man irritably. “But every other person who had a chance to be around these dogs is a suspect until your men say otherwise.” Huntley nodded and left the inn to get the orders out. Philip stayed at Elis’ side as