Darting his eyes to the right, he spotted another horse’s hooves. He allowed his gaze to travel higher—aware that at any moment he might be noticed and knocked out again—and he saw a boot. Nick’s boot. His brother had been dropped over the horse beside him. Nick appeared unconscious, unless he too was playacting.
Jack stared at him, but Nick didn’t stir. His breathing was deep and regular, and he was slumped over his horse with his hands bound.
Damn it. Jack wanted to kick his brother, wake him, tell him to get moving. Maddie was probably cold and scared in that wood.
Unless . . .
Jack’s heart skipped. Unless Bleven had gone after her and found her.
No.
Jack forced his racing heart to slow. She was safe. He had to believe that. He listened to the quiet conversation and movement around him. Nothing indicated that Bleven had found Maddie.
And if Bleven had, fat lot of good he would be anyway. He was tied to a horse, weak as a puppy, and on the verge of passing out again. What could he do to help? He couldn’t protect her.
Jack shook his head. He was a man now. And that was a long time ago. That was a different lifetime.
Or was it? How had Bleven known what had happened all those years ago in that dirty alley? Had he been there? Been part of it?
Rage made Jack’s breath come quick. He would get to the bottom of this. And if Bleven had any part, he would personally rip the man into a dozen pieces.
He forced his breathing to slow and tried to concentrate on the present.
“Hey, I think this one’s waking up,” one of the men near him called out.
“Doesn’t matter,” another man replied. “We’re ’eading out.”
There was a chorus of yahs and hups, and the wheels of the ducal carriage creaked into motion. Slowly, the rest of the party followed. The horse’s movements jarred Jack’s sore and bruised body, and he hoped Nick felt the same pain. Anything to wake his brother.
Jack took another peek at Nick, trying to gauge if his brother was close enough to kick, but a flurry of movement above him caught his eye instead.
Something white had moved in the treetop.
Jack closed his eyes. He was seeing things. Or perhaps it was an owl.
An owl with blond hair?
He bolted upright, a warning cry on his lips, but it was too late. He turned in time to see Ashley drop from the tree and onto the back of the unsuspecting thug riding the last horse in line. Ashley and the man went down with a thud, then Maddie ran out from the undergrowth and conked the thug on the head.
Jack stared in horror. He waited for the horse to scream and bolt. He waited for the thug to grab Maddie and snap her small body in two. He waited for pandemonium to erupt and the girls to be caught.
There was no way that the girls’ plan would work.
But none of that happened. The thug stayed down, Ashley grabbed the skittish horse’s bridle and calmed him, and Maddie began dragging the unconscious man into the undergrowth.
“Hey!” The man behind Jack was now waving a pistol at him. “Get yourn ’ead down. There ain’t nothing to see back there.”
Jack didn’t argue. He ducked his head back down on the horse’s mane and closed his eyes. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d last prayed. Years. Too many to count. But he began to pray anyway.
“Just knock her out, God,” he mumbled. “Trip her, get her lost. Whatever. Just keep her away for a little while longer.”
But, as usual, God didn’t listen.
With a whoop and a cry, the rider on the newly commandeered horse galloped at full speed past the duke’s entourage. Maddie was on the horse’s back, her chestnut hair and lavender ribbons whipping out behind her.
He would murder her for risking herself like this.
“What the—” the man behind Jack began, but a shot rang out, drowning his words.
