An Unsinkable Love

chapter 41


Malcolm stared across the room. Eldon and Bree stood facing him, his fiancée clutched tightly to his stepfather's chest. The large bore of a pistol pressed against her ear.

"Stop right there, Malcolm. Another step and your dearly beloved will become your dearly departed."

Malcolm halted, every muscle in his body rebelling.

Bree had been struggling when he first saw them, but now she stood stock still, her gaze glued to his face. He saw no fear. Instead, a magnificent anger burned in her blazing green eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice hoarse with emotion.

The tiniest hint of a smiled flickered at the corners of her mouth and she gave a nod.

Eldon sneered. "She's perfectly fine ... for now. I'm feeling so generous. I'll give you a chance to keep her that way.

There's a pen and paper on the table there. I want you to write out a bank draft for two hundred fifty thousand dollars, payable to me. The money's already sitting in the account.

The tidy sum I got when Percy's business manager

'disappeared' is long gone, so I recently liquidated a few assets to give me a bit more spending money. You can explain to the board of directors you wanted to give me some seed money for my new endeavor, since you'll also be giving me the mill in Uxbridge. You won't even miss it. In addition, you'll need to write out a statement saying Carlisle was trying 254

An Unsinkable Love

by Terri Benson

to kidnap your fiancée and, in the struggle to save her, I was forced to kill him. I then brought her here and summoned you."

Malcolm considered Eldon's demands. Even if he wrote out the statements, they wouldn't stand up in court if he disputed them. Then he knew. Eldon had no intention of allowing him to live. Once the documents were signed, he would kill Malcolm, and probably Bree as well, so there would be no one to call him a liar.

Even as he nodded his agreement, Malcolm frantically worked to conceive a plan which ensured Bree's escape. He walked slowly to the table. Vellum scattered across the surface. It looked as if Eldon had been using the room to plan his most recent escapade. There were notes on the Uxbridge Mill and, most telling, several attempts to mimic Malcolm's signature. Even more convinced Eldon had no intention of letting him leave the room alive, Malcolm glanced over his shoulder to see if Eldon had made the mistake of moving within range. He hadn't.

"It appears you've thought this out very thoroughly, Eldon."

The older man smiled. "It's about time you realized how much superior I am to you when it comes to business and management. If Percy let me run the company, I would have done great things. You'll see. Well, perhaps not." He laughed, but the timbre was off and a shiver went down Malcolm's spine. The man's insane!

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An Unsinkable Love

by Terri Benson

Malcolm pulled a piece of vellum toward him and picked up a pen, then slowly wrote the documents out. He fiddled with the pen nib in an attempt to stall before signing.

Eldon said conversationally, "You know, Malcolm, I really don't trust this Irish vixen, either. I think I'd like her signature on those as well. That way, neither of you can cause me any trouble." He motioned impatiently with the gun.

Malcolm penned his name at the bottom of the document as his mind worked furiously, desperately, to formulate a plan to keep Bree alive. He knew if she added her signature, it would be her death warrant.

"Now you." Eldon shoved Bree toward Malcolm. She stumbled and fell against his legs, blocking the planned lunge toward his stepfather. As Eldon raised the gun barrel until it centered on Malcolm's chest, an evil leer split his face.

Malcolm couldn't take his eyes off Bree, tormented by the thought this would be the last time he'd see her beautiful face. The pistol's deafening report reverberated in the small space. Shocked to feel no pain, he stared hard at Bree, looking for blood. She appeared confused and surprised, but not injured.

A clatter from the stairs drew their attention. Fred stood on the top step, a gun at his feet. Bright red spread over his chest as he gaped at them in shock. With a muttered curse, his knees buckled and he toppled over, rolling down the stairs to land below with a thud.

Malcolm spun back, seeing Eldon's gaze fixed on the stairs, his expression disinterested. With a roar of rage, he leaped.

Eldon's reflexes were cat-like and the gun instantly returned, 256

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but Malcolm's momentum bowled Eldon over and they both crashed to the floor. The older man struggled to get the gun against any part of Malcolm, while Malcolm tried to wrest it from his hands.

Bree scampered out of the way, watching for an opening to help Malcolm. The gun went off, the echo mingling with her scream of anguish.

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257

An Unsinkable Love

by Terri Benson