Tanya Anne Crosby Read Online Free Page A

Hawk,” the first explained.
    Merrick frowned. Why the devil did they keep calling him Hawk? Couldn’t they bloody well seewho he was? He reached up to feel for a wound at his head and discovered a hood covering his face. Christ, no wonder he wasn’t seeing straight! He snatched off the hood and glared at the men surrounding him—a more motley crew he’d never met. Cursing, he tossed the bloodied hood to the ground. A downward glance revealed himself dressed in strange clothing, as well. Instinctively his hand went to his head where he found his forehead sticky. The tinny scent of his own blood stung his nostrils.
    “Where’s that slimy bastard?” he demanded of the moron who’d extended his hand. At the instant he wanted only to wrap his hands about the robber’s throat and to squeeze.
    And where the devil was Ryo?
    “He got away,” the toothless man declared.
    Merrick’s brain was so muddled he forgot he’d asked a question to begin with. “Who?”
    The toothless man’s brows collided as he answered, “The slimy bastard.” His head tilted and his expression was unmistakably one of concern. “Don’t ye recall anythin’ at all, Hawk?”
    No. Dammit. The last thing Merrick remembered was refusing to answer the thug’s questions. He’d demanded his own answers but the man had whacked him on the bloody head instead, and that was the last of his memory.
    “The driver took off during the scuffle,” thetaller man standing before him said. “We tried to follow…”
    “By the time we got the horses,” someone interjected, “you were gone.”
    The veins at Merrick’s temples throbbed. If someone had warned him yesterday that he’d be robbed by a bandit who looked enough like him to be his bloody twin, and that he’d be stuck at the mercy of his bumbling men while the thief made away with Merrick’s carriage, he’d have believed it a bloody jest. But there was nothing amusing about this situation, and the laughter that burst from his throat was manic.
    The men all stared at him, looking befuddled.
    He counted them—six—six ruffians against one. He was no match for them, no matter what idiots they might be. He couldn’t defeat so many—weaponless, to boot.
    Merrick’s laughter stopped abruptly. Dizzied by his outburst, he took a step and nearly fell.
    “Och, you dinna look so verra well, Hawk. We should take you home.”
    Merrick opened his mouth to speak but the man interjected quickly. “I know ye dinna think it wise to be seen together, but I canna allow ye to stumble home in this bloody condition.”
    What bloody condition was that?
    And where the hell was home?
    “I’ll…I’ll tell ’em you took a fall from yourhorse,” he said, fumbling for a story. “And…and I’ll tell them I came across you on the road and offered to see ye home.” He nodded. “That’s what I’ll tell them.” And then to the others, he added, “Go on home, lads. I’ll see to it myself. It wouldn’t look so good if we went together.”
    It was evident they’d mistaken his identity, that much was certain. Merrick decided it might not be wise to enlighten them yet. Besides, home sounded damned good at the instant—no matter whose it might be. He slipped off the ring that bore the Meridian royal crest from his finger and pocketed it. He was weary, in pain, probably bleeding to death, and lost besides—not to mention intensely curious about his nemesis.
    He nodded, overcome by the situation. “All right, then, lead the way.”
     
    Chloe tried, but she couldn’t get little Ana’s face out of her head—that poor child—God rest her sweet soul. Chloe had struggled to save her, but the little girl had simply lost her will to live. She understood now how her father must have suffered at the loss of every patient.
    Pacing the hall as she awaited Lindale’s return, she stopped only to cast malevolent glances out the window. She’d awaited this moment a long time, biding her time, minding her tongue.
    No