The Irresistible Rogue (Playful Brides #4)(80)

“And we on him,” Salty replied.

Daphne glanced down at her lap. “I want you to know I will not be a burden here. I intend to help, not hurt.”

Grim smiled at her. “If I didn’t think that, my lady, I wouldn’t have allowed you to come. Sometimes Cavendish needs more help than he’ll admit.”

Daphne returned his smile and spent the next few moments wondering if General Grimaldi had heard her speech earlier.

“And I’ve seen you throw a knife,” Salty said with a laugh.

Rafe stepped through the nearby bushes just then. Daphne nearly gasped. She hadn’t heard a sound. In fact, today she’d seen him as the cunning spy he was. The man had eyes like a hawk and reflexes like a cat. Had he heard what Grim had said? If so, he didn’t give any indication. Did he think she would help him? No. Even after her convincing little speech, Rafe was certain she would be more trouble than help. She just wished she could convey to him that this is what she had to do.

Rafe took the canteen that Daphne silently offered him and sat on the far side of the fire. “According to the correspondence, the camp is a half mile in that direction.” He pointed east.

“Did you find it?” Salty asked.

“I did,” Rafe replied.

Both of the other men’s faces relaxed a bit.

Daphne’s gaze snapped to Rafe’s face. “And are they there? The men we’re looking for?”

Rafe took a swig of water. He nodded. “They’re there. I saw them. All four of them. I could never forget their faces.”

He had a haunted look in his eyes. It couldn’t have been easy for him to have to confront the men who had tortured him.

Daphne blew out a deep breath. “Do you think they’ve been alerted to our arrival? They wouldn’t have heard from Anton and Viktor since they were arrested.”

Rafe rubbed a hand across his forehead. “That’s not unusual for them. Their correspondence was no more than monthly and it’s been less than a fortnight. But to be doubly sure, we asked Jane Upton to forge a letter to them indicating that they had found me and were bringing me back in one week’s time.”

Daphne’s eyes rounded but she nodded. That was the letter Cass had mentioned. The clever Jane had spent months studying handwriting and knew how to disguise her own to look like someone else’s.

“Besides,” Rafe continued. “Our surveillance indicated that there were only the five others working together in London. Two are dead and Anton, Viktor, and the other are in gaol. There was no one else to alert them.”

“Agreed,” said Salty, more serious than Daphne had ever seen him. “They won’t know we’re here. We found Anton and Viktor’s last letter before they were able to post it. They indicated they had everything under control. Mrs. Upton used that and added to it.”

“The letters weren’t in Russian, were they?” Daphne asked.

“No, surprisingly they were all written in French. But their contents were innocuous. To someone who didn’t know what they were about, there would be nothing illicit to read if the letters were found.”

Continuing to ignore her inner lady, Daphne finished her rabbit and wiped her hands on her breeches. “They won’t have seen the smoke from our fire?”

“Perhaps,” Grim said, handing a chunk of rabbit to Rafe, who took it eagerly. “But these woods are no strangers to travelers. It shouldn’t be suspicious to them.”

Daphne stood and dusted off her thighs. “Very well. What’s the plan?”

Using his free hand, Rafe grabbed a stick and drew a circle in the dirt near the fire. Daphne moved near him to watch. “They’re in a cabin, here.” He pointed to a smaller circle he made near the center of the larger one. “From what I could tell, there are only the four of them.”

He drew a line on the far side of the smaller circle. “There is a tree line here. Daphne, this is where you’ll stay.” He glanced at the sky. “The sun has set. We’ll go as soon as we finish eating.”

“I want to go to the cabin with you,” Daphne said. “If they say something in Russian, I can help.”

“No. You’ll be of more help to us outside. If the three of us are hurt or captured, we’ll need you to ride like the devil’s after you back to the ship and bring help.”

Daphne knew Rafe had no intention of being captured. He was likely using the story as an excuse to keep her out of harm’s way. But she supposed someone might need to stay back in case there was trouble. She would do her duty.

“Here.” He handed her a pistol. “If anyone other than one of us comes near you, shoot them.”





CHAPTER FORTY-NINE




Rafe led the way through the thick forest. Daphne was directly behind him, then Salty, then Grim. Rafe pushed branches out of the way and kicked at fallen tree limbs. They all remained silent, using hand signals and nods to communicate. The going was slow as Rafe breathed in the scent of the pine trees and summer flowers. God willing, Daphne would be safe if she remained at the edge of the forest once they arrived. He didn’t have time to keep an eye on her and arrest these men. He needed to concentrate on the task at hand and worrying about her would keep him from it. He could only pray that she’d listen to him for once. Damn stubborn woman.