Page 31 of The Heiress Masquerade (Dollar Princess #2)
The muffled sound of voices gradually penetrated Aimee’s sleep-shrouded mind as she began to wake up, her eyelids feeling like lead as she slowly glanced around and blinked in confusion.
She was lying in the middle of the floor in a room she didn’t recognize, and her arms were tied together in front of her, while another piece of rope was binding her ankles to each other. And most disturbingly there was a large camera on a tripod in the corner of the room. What was going on, and where was she? Panic gripped her as she pushed up on her elbow and then swung her lower legs underneath her as she sat up on her haunches.
Apart from a desk under a window with a few papers scattered across it and a glass lamp burning brightly on top, there was nothing to give any hint of her location. There was barely any light coming in from the edges of the curtains on the window, suggesting it was getting dark, too. Focus, Aimee, focus, she told herself over and over, trying to relax her breathing, knowing she’d need a clear head to get through whatever this was. And then she started to remember… Deidre had kidnapped her after her sidekick, William, had knocked her out with chloroform or ether.
Frantically, she patted the pockets of her skirt in search of her pistol, but it was gone.
“Looking for this?” Deidre’s voice purred from behind her, her feet not making a sound as she walked around to stand in front of Aimee, reverently holding her derringer. “I found it in your pocket while you were sleeping. It’s so pretty and petite,” she continued, “though it would still occasion a fair bit of damage if I shot you with it, wouldn’t it?”
“It would,” Aimee replied, wondering just how she was going to get out of the situation. Thankfully, they’d made the mistake of tying her hands in front of her, which meant that if she could get Deidre close enough, she might be able to wrench the gun out of her hand.
“Good. If you don’t want me to test that out, I’d suggest you don’t try to stand up and give me a reason to.”
“What do you want, Deidre? Money? Is that what you’re risking the gallows for?”
“Trust an heiress to be so disdainful about the topic,” Deidre replied, walking over to the desk, while placing the gun in her skirt pocket as she did so. She perched her backside on the edge of the desk and faced Aimee, assessing her for a moment before she spoke. “You have no idea what it’s like for the rest of us not to have money.”
“You’re right, I don’t. But I do know kidnapping isn’t the way to go about getting it.”
“It’s the perfect way,” Deidre replied. “I’ve barely had to do anything apart from helping kidnap you and assisting in taking some pictures to soon reap a large reward.”
“Pictures?” Aimee asked, her eyes swiveling over to the tripod in the corner of the room.
Deidre smiled. “Yes. William took some photos of you tied up on the floor in case we need to prove we have you for the ransom.”
“He did?” She felt like scratching at her skin at the thought of being unconscious while a man she didn’t know took photos of her.
“Yes, but don’t worry, I was here the whole time, and it was all above board.” Deidre laughed, obviously sensing her discomfort. “In any event, why don’t you relax and enjoy your surroundings while I organize things. Night is soon approaching and there’s much to be arranged.”
“You do realize Harrison will be looking for me.”
“ Harrison ? My, you’ve gotten rather chummy with him to be calling him that, haven’t you?” Deidre winked at her. “Does he even know who you really are?”
“He does. How do you know?”
“A little birdie told me,” Deidre replied. “Goodness, though, it’s no wonder Mr. Stone’s so interested in you then, is it? You being a million-dollar heiress and all. In any event, he has no idea you’re missing yet, and when he does find out, you’d best pray he’d doesn’t come looking for you, or he’ll be shot for his efforts.”
Her chest clenched at the thought of him hurt and bleeding. She had to get out of here before he even came close to finding them, because contrary to Deidre’s belief, Aimee knew Harrison would realize she was missing. And when he did, he’d probably leap to his usual conclusion that she’d been kidnapped…something she’d never hear the end of if she got out of this situation. “Where’s your sidekick?” She couldn’t hear or see him, and she’d have a better chance of escaping Deidre if he wasn’t close by.
“Don’t worry, he should be back very shortly after having sent off a telegram in the little town just over the hill.” Deidre grinned as she stood up and walked over to Aimee.
Her heart sunk. “A telegram to my father?”
“Of course,” Deidre purred. “How else will we get our ransom?”
“Kidnapping is a felony, Deidre,” Aimee replied, imagining how terrified her parents would be once they got the news. “If you let me go, I promise I won’t say anything, and you won’t get in trouble.” She had to convince her, given Deidre and William had made no effort to conceal their identities, which didn’t bode well for what they had planned for Aimee after receiving a ransom.
Deidre laughed. “Do you think I’m stupid? If I let you go, you’d have me arrested and tried. So, no, I won’t be doing that. Oh, and by the way, we call them crimes here in England, not felonies.”
“You do realize there’s only one way out of this for you.”
“Yes, I’ll get the ransom money and flee to Europe.” She raised her chin at Aimee in defiance.
“After killing me, correct?” Aimee didn’t blink as she stared up into Deidre’s eyes.
Deidre turned her head away, unable to meet Aimee’s stare. “That is not my job to do.”
“Do you think my father will care who pulled the trigger?”
“What do you mean?” Deidre asked, the fingers of her free hand reaching up to tug nervously at the edge of her collar.
“I mean that if anything happens to me, my father will not rest until he finds you and destroys you. And that is not overexaggerating what he’d do, trust me on that.”
“You’re just trying to scare me.”
“Am I? Tell me, what do you think one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world will do to someone who harms his only child? Do you think he’ll be lenient and simply accept that fact? Or do you think he’ll want to exact vengeance upon those responsible? Chasing them to any corner of the globe to do so.”
“Stop it.” Deidre shook her head fiercely, standing and beginning to pace across the short span of the room, backward and forward, a bundle of restless and fearful energy. “I was warned you’d try to do this and to not listen to a word you said if you did.”
“Who warned you of that?” Deidre had referred to someone else earlier, too, and Aimee didn’t think she meant William.
“That’s not your concern.”
“Was it your aunt, Mrs. Holbrook?” It had to be. Deidre didn’t strike her as the one pulling the strings.
“What are you talking about?” Deidre stopped in her tracks and spun around to face Aimee. “Mrs. Holbrook isn’t my aunt.”
“She’s not?” That made no sense. “But Molly told me she was.”
“Well, Molly’s mistaken, because Mrs. Holbrook is most definitely not my aunt.” Deidre shook her head vehemently.
“No. She’s mine, in fact,” Molly said calmly from behind them.
“What are you doing here?” Deirdre said, sounding cross. “You’re meant to stay away until we receive the ransom.”
“The plans have changed,” Molly replied, wandering into the room.
“Molly? You’re part of this?” Aimee exclaimed, belatedly noticing the pistol Molly was holding.
“Part of it? I’m the mastermind behind it,” Molly said with such a genuine smile that it seemed like she was talking about having planned a picnic rather than Aimee’s kidnapping.
“But why? I thought we were becoming friends.”
“Friends don’t lie to each other, Aimee , which is what you’ve been doing ever since you got here,” Molly replied with a smile, a second before she raised her pistol and pulled the trigger.