“Your choice, Bear,” she continued. “Put your hands up and walk backward to your friends. Or take your chance that I’m bluffing.” They stared at each other. “The way I see it, I have nothing to lose.”
That statement seemed to register with the giant. He raised his enormous fists and slowly backed away to join the other men. He kept his gaze trained on her.
She spared Alec a quick glance, sucking in her breath when she saw his bruised and bloody face. His lip was split and swollen. “Are you all right, Alec? Can you walk?”
“Christ,” Alec groaned, but he managed to get to his feet. “I can walk.”
Kendra now regarded Bear steadily over the flintlocks. “Okay, listen up. We’re leaving. But I’m going to tell you this one last time: Alec isn’t your guy. He didn’t murder Lady Dover.”
Bear said nothing.
“I’m going to prove it, but I need time. And I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder, worried about you.”
The giant eyed her like she was insane. “Who the bloody hell are ye?”
“The person who’s going to find Lady Dover’s killer.”
“You’re a woman.”
“What’s your point?”
Bear seemed flummoxed by the question. Then he scowled and spat on the ground. “Why should I believe this here bastard ain’t me Cordi’s killer?”
“You don’t need to believe me. I just need time to prove to you that he didn’t do it.”
“Do ye take me for a fucking fool? Ye want time for ye and yer lover to flee. Ye’re American. Ye’ll go home and take him with ye.”
“No, I won’t. I don’t have a home anymore. I give you my word of honor that I won’t leave. I want your word of honor that you’ll back off until I’ve completed my investigation.”
“Ye’d take the word of a man like me?”
“I would. Of course, if you don’t keep your word, the Duke of Aldridge will hunt you down, and I will personally carve out that part of your anatomy that you seem to prize so much.”
He stared at her. “God’s teeth, woman, ye’re a bloodthirsty wench.”
“Do we have a deal?”
“How much time?”
“A month.”
“Nay. A week.”
“I’m not a damn magician. Three weeks.”
“Two. The nobby bastard has two weeks to live before I come for him.”
“On your word of honor?” She’d never found the axiom “honor among thieves” to be true, but she was hoping it might hold more weight in this era.
“Aye.”
“Okay. If you break it, everyone here will know that your honor means nothing.” She glanced at Alec. “I’m going to start walking backward. You’ll need to guide me to make sure we get into the alley.” She kept the pistols aimed at Bear as Alec snatched up his coat and cravat. “I want everyone to start counting,” she called back to the assembled men. “When you reach one hundred, you can leave. If you leave before that number, you might get the surprise of your life.”
They gaped at her.
“I said count.”
“One,” someone muttered, and the throng shifted and joined in. The counting grew louder. Bear stayed silent, his gaze locked on her.
Once they were in the alley, Alec demanded through clenched teeth, “What the bloody hell are you doing?”
Kendra looped an arm around Alec’s waist to hurry him through the narrow passageway and shot him a grin.
“Why, I thought that was obvious, m’lord. I’m saving your ass.”
14
They drew a lot more stares exiting the alley than when they’d gone in at gunpoint, Kendra noticed. But still, no one seemed inclined to help them.
Of course, that could’ve been the influence of the two pistols that she was now carrying. Certainly the hackney driver that they approached eyed her with alarm. He only became agreeable when Alec tossed him a guinea and promised him another if he drove them to Grosvenor Square.
Kendra waited for the carriage to move before she dropped the pistols on the seat and reached for Alec’s torn, bloody shirt. Agitation made her fingers clumsy as she wrestled with the buttons. His face was ghastly with cuts and bruises, but nothing appeared broken. She was more concerned with his ribs. Broken bones had the potential of splintering off and piercing internal organs.
“I always imagined this differently,” Alec drawled.
“What?”
“Being undressed by you.”
She fumbled on a button, and her gaze flew up to meet his. He gave her a crooked smile and his eyes brightened with wicked amusement.
“This isn’t funny, Alec.” Still, she had to quell the urge for a humorous response. “You could have broken ribs—” She gasped as his shirt fell away to reveal flesh that had already turned purple. Definitely broken ribs. “We’ve got to get you to a hospital.”
“No.”
“You’ve just had the shit beat out of you by the Incredible Hulk. You need a doctor.”
“The incredible hulk? That’s an apt description.”
“Never mind. Alec, you need medical attention.”
“I’m bruised, but nothing is broken.”
She glared at him. “Where did you get your medical degree?”
Kendra regarded him closely, her earlier panic subsiding. His breathing was more shallow than normal, but not labored. She wasn’t a doctor, but from personal experience, she knew that burst blood vessels would begin to clot almost immediately after an injury, one of the body’s remarkable self-healing properties.
“I didn’t realize you cared.”
Her throat tightened and her gaze fell on the button she was unconsciously fiddling with.
“I care,” she whispered finally. “But that doesn’t mean I belong here.”
“I think you belong where you want to belong,” he countered softly.
“You really need a doctor to examine you.” It was a retreat, she knew. But he made her feel too exposed.
Alec gave a sigh—a small one, since his ribs ached. “I’ll send for a doctor, if it will ease your mind, when we return to Grosvenor Square.”
“Good.” She sat back and watched as he buttoned up his shirt. His fingers were long and agile, but his knuckles were swollen and flecked with dried blood.
“And Kendra?”
“Yes?”
“The next time I tell you to run, I expect you to run.”
That surprised her enough to bring her eyes up to meet his. “Are you serious?”
“Quite.”
“Did you fail to notice how I got us out of there, Your Lordship? Without me, you’d probably already be buried in a shallow grave somewhere.”
“Doubtful. The only gravedigging those ruffians would do would be to rob a grave of its corpse or haul a body to a surgeon for dissection. Most likely they would have tossed me into the Thames. Much more efficient.”
She glared at him. “This isn’t a joke, Alec.”
“No, it damn well isn’t.” Beneath the bruise on his jaw, a muscle ticked. “Do you have any idea, woman, what those men planned to do to you after they had dispatched me?”
“I don’t even have to use my imagination; Bear let everyone know that he was a generous guy.”