Guardian Angel - Garwood Julie - Страница 25

"What were they doing?" Caine asked.

She didn't immediately answer him. A feeling of foreboding settled around his heart. Her hands were clinging to his now. Caine doubted she was aware of that telling action.

"The digging," she finally answered.

"They were digging up the graves?" Lyon asked, his voice incredulous.

"Yes."

Caine didn't show any outward reaction. Lyon looked as though he didn't believe her. She thought it

odd indeed that she could tell a lie and both men easily accepted it, yet now when she was telling them

the full truth, it was quite another story.

"It's really true," she told Lyon. "I know it sounds bizarre, but I know what I saw."

"All right," Caine answered. "What happened next?"

"I started shouting again," she answered. "Oh, I realize I shouldn't have made a sound, for now I'd drawn their notice again. But I was so outraged I wasn't thinking properly. All three men turned to look up at me. The fancy dressed man held a pistol. Odd, but I couldn't seem to move until the shot rang out. I ran like lightning then. Hudson, Nathan's butler, was working inside the library. I told him what happened, but by the time he'd calmed me down and gained the full story, it was too dark to go looking for the men. We had to wait until the following morning."

"Were the authorities notified?"

She shook her head. "This is where it becomes a little confusing," she admitted. "The next morning, Hudson, with several strong men, went to find the body I'd seen pitched from the rooftop. Hudson wouldn't let me tag along. I was still very upset.1'

"Of course you were," Caine agreed.

"Yes," she replied with a sigh. "When Hudson and the men returned, they were trying to be as kind as you are now ibeing, Caine, but they had to tell me the truth."

"What truth?"

"They couldn't find any t»ody. The graves hadn't been touched either."

"'So they believed you were just…"

"Imagining, Lyon?" she interrupted. "Yes, I'm certain they did. Because they were in Nathan's employ, they didn't dare tell me they thought I was… addled, but their expressions spoke for them. I immediately went back to the grave to see for myself. The wind and rain had been fierce the night before, yet even so, it didn't look as though the ground had been touched by a shovel."

"Perhaps they'd only just begun to dig when you interrupted them," Caine suggested.

"Yes, they had only just begun," she admitted, "I'll never forget their faces."

"Tell us the rest of this," Caine suggested.

"I spent the rest of the day trying to understand what their motives were. Then I went to Hudson and told him not to bother Nathan with this problem. I lied to the butler and told him I was certain it was just the setting sun playing tricks on me. I must tell you Hudson looked very relieved. He was still worried, of course, since I'd taken that fall down the stairs and bumped my head."

"Jade, couldn't this be your…"

"Imagination?" Caine asked. He shook his head. "There were at least five men chasing us last night. No, it isn't her imagination."

She gave Lyon a suspicious look. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I do now," Lyon replied. "If there were men after you, then you did see something. What happened next?"

"I refused to give up," she told him. She tried to fold her hands in her lap and only then realized she was clinging to Caine's hand again. She pushed it away. "I can be a very stubborn woman. And so, the next morning, I once again set out to find proof."

Lyon smiled at Caine. "I would have done the same," he admitted.

"What morning was this?" Caine asked.

"Yesterday morning," she explained. "I set out on horseback. I didn't make it to my parents' graves, though. They shot my horse out from under me."

"They what?" Caine asked in a near shout.

She was pleased with his stunned reaction. "They killed Nathan's fine horse," she repeated with a nod.

"I cannot tell you how upset my brother's going to be when he finds out his favorite steed is dead. It's going to break his heart."

Caine reached for his linen handkerchief when he thought she was about to cry again. "And then what happened?" he asked.

"1 went flying to the ground, of course. I was very fortunate because I didn't break my neck. I only sustained minor injuries. Surely you noticed the bruises on my shoulders and arms when you snuck into my bedroom last night."

She turned to look at Caine and waited for his reply. "I didn't notice," he whispered. "And I didn't sneak into your room."

"How could you not have noticed my bruises?"

"I wasn't looking at your shoulders."

She could feel herself blushing again. "Well, you should have been looking at my shoulders," she stammered. "A gentleman would have noticed my injuries right away."

Caine lost his patience. "Jade, not even a eunuch would have…"

"Do you want to hear the rest of this or not?"

"Yes," he answered.

"After they shot my horse, I ran all the way back to the main house. I don't know if they chased after

me or not. I was very upset. This sort of thing has never happened to me before. I've led a very

sheltered life."

She seemed to want agreement. "I'm sure you have," Caine supplied.

"I found Hudson again and told him what happened. I could tell right away he was having trouble believing me. The man kept trying to force a cup of tea down me. This time, however, I had proof."

"Proof?" Caine asked.

"The dead horse, man," she cried out. "Pay attention, please."

"Of course," he returned. "The dead horse. And did Hudson apologize to you when you showed him this dead horse?"

She chewed on her lower lip a long minute while she stared up at him. "Not exactly," she finally answered.

"What do you mean by not exactly?"

Lyon had asked that question. Jade turned to look at him. "I know you're going to find this difficult to believe, but when we reached the spot where the horse had gone down… well, he'd vanished."

"No, I don't find that difficult to believe," Lyon drawled out. He leaned back against the chair again.

"Do you, Caine?"