One of his men, Tom, stepped forward, holding his bowler hat in his hands and fiddling with it nervously. “I, um, I gotta confess I wasn’t at me post, boss, but only for the shortest time. Ya see, I was ’ungry and I ducked into the kitchens just for a bit. Just to get somefing to eat, ya know?”
Seb took in a deep breath. At least the man was telling him the truth. “Did you see anything?”
Tom shook his head. “Nah, not really. While I was in the larder I ’eard a noise and ducked me ’ead out and I saw your clerk going past. He didn’t see me none, ’cause I was in the dark and well, no one else was around, and I wasn’t s’ppose to be there… But apart from him I didn’t see no one nor nothin else.”
“You saw Clint? Here?” Seb blinked. “As in my office clerk?”
Tom nodded. “Aye. I thought you musta sent him here with a message for Lady Olivia or somefing. Didn’t ya?”
Every part of Sebastian braced at the betrayal. “No. I did not.”
“Fuck!” Rowan swore.
“He’s the bloody traitor,” Lance declared.
Seb looked at them both. “He must be a Lad. I always took his high collars to mean the boy was trying to be fashionable.”
“Instead it was covering his snake tattoo,” Rowan added. “Fuck me.”
“Oh…I ’ad no idea, boss.” Tom looked ill. “I’d ’ave stopped him if I’d known. I must say I thought that purple snake on his neck wasn’t right.”
“A purple snake? You’re certain?” Seb eyed the man.
“Hundred percent, boss.” Tom nodded.
“He’s not just a Lad, he’s their goddamn leader.” Seb turned to Lance and Rowan. “He’s taken Olivia to enact his revenge for God knows what he thinks I’ve done to him.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault,” Lance said, dragging a hand through his already ragged hair. “I was the one who vouched for him. I thought he’d make a good addition to the gang.”
Seb pressed his lips together. “He fooled me, too.”
“He fooled us all,” Rowan added. “But where would he go? Maybe some lodgings in the village?”
“Who knows? He could have taken her anywhere by now,” Lance replied.
“No. He’s close.” Seb shook his head. “Somewhere on the estate, I’m thinking. If he’s out for revenge, he’ll want to enact it on the lands I own.”
“Clint must be on foot, and he’ll have his three men with him,” Rowan guessed. “All the horses are accounted for, and someone would have heard them galloping off, if he’d brought any with him. So, staying on your estate somewhere makes sense. But surely they’d know we’d look for them.”
“They’ll be lying in wait to ambush us.” There were several options they could have taken, but Seb felt in his bones that they were close. “We’ll need to split up and search the grounds in quadrants, expecting to be ambushed. Understood?”
Both men nodded.
“Good. Rowan, you take two men and search the northern edge of the estate. There’s an abandoned ruin there they could be hiding in,” Seb said to Rowan, who inclined his head in acknowledgment.
“You men with me,” Rowan yelled to two men beside him before turning back to address Seb. “He wants her alive, Seb. Otherwise, she’d be dead here. Remember that.” Then he turned and strode from the door with his men in tow.
“You three.” Seb turned to his right and singled out some of his men standing there. “Take the southern part of the estate and search it from top to bottom.” The three men nodded. Seb then swung his gaze over to Lance. “Lance, you take two men and check the eastern end. There are some abandoned cottages there he might have taken her to.”
Lance nodded. “I will. Which leaves the hunting lodge in the northern section. You’ll be searching that one?”
“Yes,” Seb replied. “Crandell and Curtis, you’re with me.” He directed the last two men to his left. “The building hasn’t been used in a decade, but if I were Clint that’s where I’d take her.”
“Then why don’t we all go there, Seb?” Lance suggested with urgency. “Then you’ll have the numbers to meet an ambush head-on.”
“I can’t risk being wrong.” Seb shook his head. “And if I am, then the cottages would be the next most logical place. I need someone I can trust checking there, in case that’s where he’s holed up. And if she is there, you save her, Lance. I was only just strong enough to survive my mother’s death. I know I won’t be strong enough to survive Livie’s.”
Lance exhaled sharply. “You are my family, Sebastian. I will give my life for her if I have to, for you.”
“Don’t let it come to that.” Sebastian placed a hand on his shoulder. “And you are right, we might not share the same blood, but we are family. You are my brother in my heart, and I need you to survive, too.”
“I feel the same,” Lance said, his throat slightly hoarse. They both quickly cleared their throats and looked away. Neither were good at expressing their emotions, and that was probably the most emotion they’d shown each other, ever.
Lance strode over to his men and gave them some instructions before turning back to Seb. “I’ll check the cottages, and if they’re empty, we’ll head straight for the hunting lodge. We will find her, my friend. We will.” Then he, too, strode out the entrance, his two men following behind.
“Mrs. Brooks?” Seb’s eyes fixed onto the housekeeper. “Lock this house up solid. No one is to come in or out unless I am with them. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir.” The lady nodded and hurried off to carry out his instructions.
Charlotte ran up
