As soon as the door closed, Leanna struggled desperately to wriggle free of her bonds, but the harder she tried, the tighter the rope became. Her wrists were raw before she finally gave up and began to sob. She heard sounds of the anchor being raised and the ship pitched and groaned as it was released from its moorings.
"Trevor! Darling, please wake up," she pleaded, but she didn't see the slightest movement from her husband.
Trevor had been dragged to a nearby post that supported the bunk. He was lying on his side with his arms and feet tied together behind the post.
Leanna began to fear that the coachman had killed him with the blow, and her heart constricted painfully in her chest. "Trevor please! Wake up!" He moaned softly and moved the slightest bit. "Thank God!" Leanna sobbed. "Please, darling wake up. I need you to wake up."
Trevor struggled to get his muddled senses shaken into place. He could hear Leanna's frightened voice calling to him, but he couldn't seem to get his eyes to open. A sharp pain was pounding in the back of his skull, and he moaned again. What the hell had happened, he wondered groggily. He struggled to remember . . . a ship . . . have to get to Leanna . . . a struggle . . . a shot . . . Steven! Trevor's eyes opened and he blinked several times, clearing the last of the cobwebs. The first thing he saw was Leanna.
Trevor lifted his head as much as he could and croaked, "where's Steven?"
Leanna was crying with both relief and sorrow. "They've killed him. Oh God, they've killed him."
Trevor groaned again, feeling the terrible weight of his brother's loss settle like a stone in his chest. He fought his anguish, focusing instead on trying to get Leanna to safety. Even now, he could feel the ship swaying, and he knew they must have set sail.
"We've got to get out of here, Leanna." He struggled against his bonds, ignoring the shooting pain in his head, but finally collapsed on the floor. "Damn!"
Trevor took a firm grip on his frustration. He had to think. There had to be a way out of this. There would be no help from the sheriff now. They had to get loose before the ship got too far out to sea, or even their slim chance of escape would be lost.
"Leanna, listen to me . . ."
There were footsteps in the hallway and the door abruptly opened again. Eliza waltzed through, freshly gowned, her hair once again pulled into a neat chignon. She sauntered into the room with an ugly smirk on her face as she noted that Trevor was awake and glaring at her.
"Well, well, isn't this cozy. It must be just like when you were newlyweds again."
"You bitch!" Leanna snarled. She opened her mouth to hurl more insults, but her eyes went past Eliza and she froze, her jaw dropping in amazed horror. "You!"
Neville Woodsworth strolled into the room and paused to give her a crisp, mocking bow. "In the flesh, Leanna. Have you been missing me?"
Trevor's eyes glazed with fury at the sight of the other man. "You bastard! If you lay so much as a finger on Leanna, I'll kill you!" Trevor struggled mightily against his bonds.
Neville's laughter rang with cold scorn. "That might be difficult, given the circumstances. I think you should be more concerned about how much longer I will let you live." Crossing to Leanna, he looked down, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Poor Leanna. It certainly doesn't look as if your marriage is agreeing with you."
He reached down to touch her cheek, but Leanna jerked her face away. There was pure loathing in her eyes when she faced him.
"Don't touch me! The very sight of you makes my skin crawl."
Neville gave a condescending chuckle. "That's not the way I remember it. You were ready to marry me until your husband came and hauled you back home just when we were starting to have fun."
He circled behind her and bent over her shoulder, reaching to stroke her collarbone and the higher slopes of her bosom. He spoke close to her ear but loud enough to be heard by all.
"Such a pity really. We wouldn't have had to kill you if you had followed our original plan. Eliza and I had it all worked out very nicely."
Stealing a glance at Trevor, Leanna noticed that he was surreptitiously working to free his bonds. She did her best to provide a diversion. She looked up at Neville as he toyed with the lace on her bodice.
"What are you talking about," Leanna ground out, trying to escape his lazy caress. "How do you know Eliza?"
As if preparing to lecture a misguided child, Neville straightened and placed his hands behind his back. He crossed to Eliza and the pair exchanged smug smiles before he continued.
"Oh, Eliza and I go way back, don't we dear?" He reached out and stroked her cheek.
Eliza preened under his attention. "Yes darling, we make quite a team. And now, we can finally be together."
Leanna frowned. "I thought you wanted Trevor."
Eliza's laugh was scornful. "You fool! I only wanted Trevor's money, and now I shall have it." Seeing Leanna's confusion, she continued. "Trevor was the prize catch of Virginia when he proposed to me. He was wealthy, he had a huge plantation, bigger than any in the area, and he was hopelessly in love with me. I was going to be rich and have all I ever wanted. Everything was perfect until the war. Then, Trevor went away, and for four years, I waited for him to return, but in the meantime, I saw all my dreams being steadily eroded. By the time Trevor came home, he was a pauper just like every other southerner, and I had no use for him."
Leanna chanced a glance at her husband and he was still trying to wriggle free. She looked back at Eliza. "So just because Trevor no longer had money, you didn't want him anymore?"
Eliza gave another cruel laugh, "Of course not. He was no good to me anymore. The last thing I wanted was to become a poor farmer's wife, scratching out a meager existence. That's when I met John. He was a Yankee officer stationed in Newport News, but his family had money. It was no real challenge to entice him, and in no time he had proposed. I knew my family would never give their approval, so we made plans to run away and get married."