Defending the Duchess. Rachelle McCalla

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      “Do you need anything?” he asked when she looked up. “A drink? Something to eat?”

      “I am a little thirsty.”

      Linus listed drink options, and Sam, another of the guards, went to fetch them both some juice. With just the three of them in the room, Linus hoped Julia wouldn’t feel too overwhelmed. If it had been up to him, they’d be inside the palace and she’d have her sister at her side to comfort her, but Julia had been adamant about not alarming the new queen.

      He crouched alongside Jason so that he could look up at the duchess. He didn’t need her feeling lectured or looked down upon. “We need to find out everything we can about the man who attacked you this evening.” Linus tried to make his low voice less imposing. “What can you tell us about him?”

      “I couldn’t see him. It was dark.”

      “You didn’t recognize anything about him?”

      “Should I have? You fought him. What did you notice?”

      Linus swallowed. “He’s about six-two, one-eighty. Trained fighter.”

      Julia shuddered. “Why would a trained fighter attack me?”

      Linus watched Julia’s face carefully. He’d always been adept at reading people—far more adept than at reading words in books. Now he watched her eyes dart between their faces before she glanced down. She felt ashamed and was weighing her next words.

      The door burst open, and more guards poured in.

      Julia’s eyes widened at the activity.

      Linus sensed there was more Julia wanted to say, but she clearly wasn’t going to open up in front of so many people. He leaned toward Jason and murmured quietly, “She knows something.”

      “About her attacker?” Jason whispered back.

      The duchess watched the men pour into the room discussing what they’d found on the beach—footprints and sure signs of their scuffle. She looked overwhelmed.

      And Linus knew the commotion wouldn’t die down anytime soon. The members of the royal guard had always taken their charge to protect the crown very seriously. If possible, they were even more zealous about their duties since the attacks that had threatened the royal family two months before. The attack on Julia was bigger than any threat to the royal family since the crown had been restored with the coronation of King Thaddeus and Queen Monica.

      As control central for such events, the royal guard headquarters would be far too distracting a place to hold such a sensitive conversation.

      Linus looked back to Jason. “Where can I talk to her?”

      Jason looked thoughtful, and Linus could guess what he was thinking. The interrogation room was meant to intimidate, not set a frightened female at ease. In fact, the whole royal guard headquarters was set up for tough men to do hard work. There wasn’t a room in the building where the duchess might feel at ease enough to open up about her attacker and the fear that haunted her eyes.

      “Take her back to the palace.” Jason cleared his throat and addressed the duchess. “I understand you don’t want your sister to know about the attack,” he conceded. “We don’t have to tell her yet this evening. Linus can escort you back to the palace and avoid your sister, but he’s going to need to ask you some questions about the attacks. And we’ll have to brief the king and queen tomorrow. Will that be okay?”

      Julia wrapped her arms around her shoulders as she nodded, blinking back tears. Yes, the events of the evening were catching up to her. Linus feared he might not learn much tonight.

      Frustrating. Still, he’d do his best.

      “Want to try walking on it?” he asked as Julia placed her feet on the floor and braced herself to stand.

      She nodded and eased herself slowly to standing. He felt a moment’s triumph at the small victory, but when she tried to shuffle forward a step, she winced.

      He swooped in beside her and she took his arm, leaning on him slightly for support.

      “I can do it,” she whispered.

      “You don’t have to. We can find a wheelchair—”

      “I can do it.” Julia grimaced and leaned heavily on his arm as she made her way forward, growing more certain with each step.

      Much as Linus appreciated the woman’s determination, he wished she’d relent to letting him carry her. It would be so much faster that way, and she wouldn’t have to risk straining her injury.

      They made it more than halfway across the lawn toward a back entrance to the palace when the duchess stopped to catch her breath.

      Linus had been waiting for an opening. He needed to ask her questions. Given the way she insisted on tiring herself out, he feared that once they reached the palace, she’d be too exhausted to talk about the attacks and close the door in his face. Then he’d never learn what doubts had clouded her eyes.

      He cleared his throat. “You probably want to forget all about what happened this evening, but before you do that, I need to know everything you were able to observe about your attacker, any clues you might have that would help us identify him.”

      “I couldn’t see him in the darkness. He was wearing a mask.”

      “I know,” Linus acknowledged, thinking quickly. He’d already been briefed about the queen’s little sister before he was assigned to guard her, so he knew a few things about her background, and could guess how that might get in her way. “You’re a lawyer, right?”

      “A trial lawyer.”

      Having testified in court before about work-related cases, Linus knew about her line of work. “In court, you have to know things with certainty and be convinced of guilt or innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

      “Yes.” She spoke the word slowly as she looked up at him through the misty moonlight. Obviously she had to wonder where he was going with his line of reasoning.

      “Right now I need the opposite from you. I know you can’t say with any certainty who attacked you, but I want to know your hunches, your gut instincts, your fears. Anything you might have picked up on that would give us a clue about this guy.” Linus watched her carefully as he spoke. Even in the moonlight, he could see enough of her face to tell that his own hunch had been correct.

      She knew something.

      He just had to convince her that it was okay to tell him what it was.

      “It’s not anything.” Julia shook her head dismissively.

      Still, Linus felt hopeful. The woman had enough of a grasp on what she knew to discredit it. That meant she could likely put it into words if he could persuade her that it would be acceptable to do so—even if that went directly against her usual practice as a trial lawyer. He waited patiently.

      “Back home,” she started softly, then pinched her eyes shut. She clearly felt foolish uttering the words out loud.

      “Back home?” Linus СКАЧАТЬ