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A deathly silence ensued—broken only by the jeers outside

But Lawrence had no time to consider his next option He was about to storht his attention Cavanagh had scaled the wall, was in the process of assisting a constable to his feet

Bradley’s sinister laugh rent the air “You h Isurprised you found us so quickly”

Lawrence snatched the pistol from the floor and strode into the room “While I am not surprised to see you here, Bradley, I am taken aback by your lack of a stoop”

“Lawrence!” Verity gasped as their gazes locked

Bradley pointed his pistol at Verity’s head “Men do what theytheir plans”

“Did you honestly think you’d get aith un at the rogue, hoped Bradley hadn’t noticed he’d not cocked the weapon With luck, Cavanagh and the constable had their ears to the door

With an arrogant sneer, Bradley said, “I can still play this gae”

r />“I don’t see how I’ll shoot you before you shoot Miss Vale”

While Bradley kept his pistol trained on Verity, he gave Lawrence his full attention “You’ll be lucky to cause any real dae from that distance Whereas Miss Vale will be dead the er”

Lawrence glanced at the wos Fear distorted every beautiful line on her face, but her warrior spirit still prevailed Indeed, the lady gestured covertly to her left thigh, which here she usually strapped the blade

Verity ed her knees The action was that of a wo for the weapon

With an inconspicuous shake of the head, he tried to tell her there was no need to take risks At any moment, the constable would enter the room and catch Bradley in the midst of the morbid scene

“What sort of man points a pistol at a lady’s head?” Lawrence said, intending to give the constable infor the current dilemma

“Don’t pontificate toher?”