No Recourse by Mari Carr

Author:Mari Carr [Carr, Mari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Book Boutiques
Published: 2016-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Hayley jerked awake to the sound of breaking glass. Listening closely, she heard raised voices downstairs and immediately recognized Jack’s booming baritone. Gingerly lifting her head from the pillow, she took a deep breath and rose. The afternoon sun was shining through her window. She was amazed to realize she’d slept so long.

Someone had removed her dress sometime during the night and left her clad in only her chemise. The pounding in her head had receded to a dull thud.

Again, she heard arguing downstairs. Determined to see what was wrong, she pulled on the first dress she found in the wardrobe. Fortunately, it buttoned up the front. She slipped on her shoes and walked to the bedroom door.

When she approached the top of the stairs, she heard Wilshire angrily accusing Jack of taking Julia from his house, while Jack retorted that Wilshire was losing his mind. Glancing through the open doorway to the library, Hayley saw Erin attempting to calm the Campbell men down, while Alex restrained the earl who was trying to attack Jack with a whip. The scene was total, noisy chaos. Wilshire pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and waved it in Jack’s face. According to him, it was the special license granting him permission to marry. Only instead of Julia, Wilshire kept insisting the license was for him to marry a woman named Isabella.

That was Jack’s mother’s name. Good lord. The man really was off his rocker. He was drifting between the reality of the present and a past he’d fictionalized in his mind.

Suddenly, Hayley realized there was a large man standing in the corner of the front hallway. He was partly obscured in the shadows and looking directly at her. His malevolent gaze held hers as his lips formed a single word, yet made no sound.

“Whore,” he mouthed, smirking. Stepping back from the railing, Hayley struggled to stifle her sudden shaking. This was the man from the woods who had attempted to abduct her.

Turning suddenly, she stumbled back down the hallway, away from his hard stare. She passed her bedroom and continued to the servant’s stairs, which led to the back garden. She had to get to Julia. She had to warn her Wilshire was here and he knew Hayley was hiding her.

Dizzy from moving so quickly, she concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other until she found herself outside the cabin door. Shocked, she heard voices inside. Someone had discovered Julia’s hiding place. Rushing in to protect her friend, Hayley flung the door open. She stopped just inside, stunned as she witnessed Simon and Julia in a lover’s embrace. The crashing of the door surprised the young couple and they hastily jumped apart.

“Simon.” Hayley said. “What the hell are you doing here? When did you get back from London?”

Simon heaved a sigh of relief when he realized the intruder was her and not someone else. “I never went to London.”

“I don’t understand,” Hayley said. “What do you

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