Page 90 of An Affair at Stonecliffe

“Carlisle!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CARLISLE FOUND IT slow going through the woods, where he had to stop several times to make sure he was still following the right trail. When the path began to widen, he broke into a trot. He was beginning to suspect that their destination must be the abandoned cottage Adam’s old nurse had lived in after she retired. He couldn’t understand why Diggs would take Noelle and Gil there, but then there was very little in this whole affair that he did understand.

He emerged in the clearing. A body lay between him and the cottage. He ran to it, his heart in his throat, but as he drew nearer, he realized that it was Diggs who lay sprawled across the grass, blood soaking the ground beneath him. He had been shot. Had Noelle managed to take his gun away and shoot him? But no, there was Diggs’s pistol, shoved into the back of his waistband.

A horse nickered from across the clearing and Carlisle glanced up. Someone else was here. That’s why Diggs had taken them here; he was giving them to the man who had hired him. Doubtless it was that man who had shot Diggs, and now he had Noelle and Gil in the cottage.

These thoughts flashed through Carlisle’s mind in an instant, and he started to run to the cottage, but he was caught up short by the realization that, in his anxiety, he had run after Noelle without even stopping to pick up a weapon. He yanked the pistol from Diggs’s dead body and charged toward the cottage. Carlisle took the two steps up to the porch in one leap and slammed open the door.

The first thing he saw was Noelle, standing by a small table. Her face lit up when she saw him, and he nearly sagged with relief. Then his gaze went to the man standing beside her, who held a pistol aimed straight at Carlisle’s chest.

Cato Thompkins.

Suddenly it all made sense. “It was you...”

Thompkins snorted. “It is I who is going to stop your murderous career.”

“Excellent line; you’ve rehearsed it well.” Staring down the barrel of the other man’s pistol, it occurred to Carlisle that his own weapon might not be loaded. If so, all he had as a weapon was a bluff. He’d better make it good. He kept his hand steady, his face cold; there was no need to fake the murder in his eyes.

“You can sneer all you want,” Thompkins began, his eyes glinting. “But I—”

“Mr. Thompkins, please. Carlisle.” Noelle started toward Carlisle.

“Noelle, stand back,” Carlisle told her. “Don’t get in his line of fire.” Clearly Noelle was not aware of the man’s villainy. She took a step aside at Carlisle’s request, no longer directly in his line of fire, but she was still too close to Thompkins. The man could reach her in only a stride and take her hostage. A threat to Noelle would make Carlisle do almost anything.

“It’s all right. Mr. Thompkins saved me from Diggs, Carlisle,” Noelle explained.

“Yes, I saw the body. Got rid of your accomplice, eh, Cato? Neat and tidy, I must say. No need to pay him. No one who could tell everyone the truth.” Carlisle kept his gaze riveted on the lawyer, not daring to take his attention from the man to even glance at Noelle. Chillingly, he saw that Thompkins held a second pistol in his other hand, hanging by his side. He wouldn’t have to stop to reload. He could shoot both Carlisle and Noelle in seconds.

“Please, the two of you, stop this,” Noelle said in an exasperated voice and took another step toward Carlisle. Silently he willed her closer. If he could just get her behind him, she’d be protected from Thompkins’s shot.

“My lady, stop!” Thompkins exclaimed. “Don’t take another step. He’s dangerous.”

Noelle sighed and turned to Thompkins. “Mr. Thompkins, please, Carlisle is no danger. If you would just listen to him, I’m sure he can explain why he didn’t tell us about the trust.”

“What?” Her words shocked him so much Carlisle turned to her, then hastily returned his gaze to Thompkins. “Noelle, I don’t know what this fellow has been telling you, but I am certain it is all lies. You cannot trust him. He is the one who’s been doing all this. Come—”

“No, please, my lady! Don’t!” Thompkins’s voice cracked. Carlisle could see that his hand was shaking slightly. “He is the liar. Thorne’s trying to deceive you again. It’s him; he is the only one who could profit. Not me. Diggs is his man. Diggs killed Nathan. He kidnapped you and the boy and tried to kill you both. Diggs did it because Thorne ordered it.”

Noelle looked at Thompkins, then back at Carlisle, her face thoughtful. Could she actually believe that Carlisle had tried to hurt Gil? Hurt her? Did she still carry a distrust for him deep inside her?

“Who chased the two of you all those years?” Thompkins pressed his point. “No doubt he claimed it was someone else, but who? Diggs was the one who tracked you all those times, who sent men after you. It was on Thorne’s orders. You know it must have been. Diggs would not have betrayed Thorne; he was his faithful servant. His confidant.”

“Noelle, come here.” Carlisle’s voice was clipped, the knot in his chest too hard and cold to say anything else. She doubted him. He could see it in the way she turned her head toward Thompkins consideringly. Despite everything that had happened between them, she didn’t trust him.

Noelle turned and, casting a last sharp look at Carlisle over her shoulder, she walked toward Thompkins.

“Noelle, no!”

Gazing up at Thompkins, Noelle clasped her hands together at her waist. “You will protect me, won’t you?”

Carlisle tensed. That sounded nothing like Noelle. And the look she had given him...

Thompkins glanced at her. “Lady—”

Noelle slammed her joined fists up into Cato’s arm, and his pistol went flying, his shot hitting the ceiling. Thompkins raised his other pistol, but Carlisle was already on him, crashing into him and sending them both to the floor. The impact of the fall knocked the second pistol from Cato’s hand, and Noelle darted around the men to grab it. The men rolled across the floor, punching and wrestling. But Carlisle was clearly the stronger of the two, and he soon ended it, smashing his fist into the other man’s jaw. Thompkins went limp.