Mums and Mayhem

by Amanda Flower

  She studied me over the butt of her cigarette. “Barley? No. The manor doesn’t have much to do with Barley. That’s all about the MacNish boys. They are the ones who talk constantly about the manor.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Kenda rolled her eyes. “I don’t even know why they are in the band. They see themselves more as lords of the manor. By the way they talk, you would have thought they were descended from Macbeth himself.” She snorted.

  “Macbeth was a fictional character.” I paused. “At least what everyone knows about him was created by Shakespeare. There was a Scottish king by that name, I think. I’m really not very up on my Scottish history.”

  She made a face. “You know what I mean,” she said. “The MacNish brothers think they have some kind of lineage that makes them better than the rest of us. I know they take one look at me and knew my family doesn’t go back in the country for generations. All they talk about is their ancestral home. If I hear one more time about their great legacy, I might throw up.”

  I knew that my own family went back generations in Scotland, so I didn’t say anything. “Lester mentioned to me that he had a lot of interest in their family history. In fact, he’s spoken to a few people in the village about it.”

  She snorted. “That sounds like Lester. I think both brothers are into it, but Lester is definitely one who can go on for hours about the subject, even when it’s obvious no one in the room cares.”

  “Where’s their ancestral home?” I asked.

  “It’s just down the coast. We stopped on the way up here. It was a bit out of the way, but the brothers convinced the driver that they had to stop and see it.”

  “What is their legacy?”

  She shrugged. “I should know it all by heart, with the many times I heard it. Apparently, they are from a long line of wealthy Scots that lived in Aberdeenshire. They were about to lose all their wealth when the English came. They aligned with the English, and the family prospered even more. They built a manor and lived there for over a hundred years until it was lost with mismanagement in the twentieth century. Lester and Jamie grew up with these stories all their lives, and they had a dream of buying the manor again and restoring it to its original glory.”

  “And they haven’t been able to do that?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Not as far as I know. They never had enough money to do it. The brothers have been whispering a lot lately. I’ve caught pieces of it. I guess they almost had enough money saved up to buy the manor, but then it was too late.”

  My fingertips started to tingle. I knew whatever Kenda said next was going to be very important.

  “And why was it too late?” I asked.

  “Someone bought it out from under them. Just when they were about to have all the money they had been saving forever—I knew, because I had heard about it for the last ten years—someone else with a bigger bank account swooped in and bought it out from under them.” She dropped what was left of her cigarette on the lawn and stomped on it with the toe of her boot. She removed a pack from her coat pocket, found it was empty, and shoved it back inside her pocket in disgust.

  “Do you know who that person was?” I bet I knew, but I wanted her to say the name to confirm it. His boat had been set on fire the night before, I was sure of it.

  She shook her head.

  “What about the name of the manor?”

  “Winthrope Manor,” she said. “It’s not far from here.”

  I knew it was not.

  “Do you know where the brothers are now?”

  She shook her head. “I know they want to leave, but we are all trapped in the village by the police. They won’t leave. They are rule followers to a fault. It’s so annoying. I wanted them to join me in protesting Barley’s treatment, but they would never do it.” She shook her head as if this was another major failing on the brothers’ part.

  I needed to tell Craig what I had learned about the brothers. Was I taking too great a leap to think they might know something about the fire on Ferris Brown’s fishing ship? Would they have been angry enough about losing Winthrope Manor to set the Mourning Star on fire? Ferris was the person who’d bought the manor out from under them. He was the one who’d stolen their lifelong dream.

  I needed to find the brothers too, but I knew Craig wouldn’t want me to do that alone. Someone who was crazy enough to set a boat on fire wasn’t someone to be messed with. I thanked Kenda and left the garden.

  When I was out of earshot of the garden, I called Craig, and he picked up on the first ring. Before he even said hello, I told him what Kenda had told me.

  Craig groaned. “It would have been helpful if she’d told someone this a few days ago when Barley died.”

  “Would it have stopped the boat fire?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. The two events might not be related.” He sighed.

  “I think they are,” I said.

  “I do too.”

  “Stay in the village, and I will go with some of my officers to check the manor.”

  I said I would and ended the call. I hurried down the street to the Climbing Rose. I had just reached the door of the flower shop when my phone rang. My sister’s lovely face filled my screen.

  “Fiona! You have to come and pick me up!” Isla cried in my ear.

  “What? What’s wrong?” It was still an hour before the flower shop opened, and she had to be at the Climbing Rose.

  “It’s Seth. He’s in trouble. He said his boss has been kidnapped. We need to help him!” She became more hysterical with each sentence.

  “Wait! What?”

  “You heard me. Two guys broke into the Winthrope Manor and are holding Ferris Brown at gunpoint. Seth barely got out with his life, and he needs a ride. We have to go get him. Now!” She started to cry. “I can’t lose him, Fi. He’s my life.”

  “Did Seth call the police?”

  “He called me!” she shouted in my ear. I had to hold the phone away from me to avoid hearing loss.

  I closed my eyes for a moment. I didn’t know what Seth thought my sister could do to help him without a car, and besides, I didn’t want my sister to be running into the manor to rescue her boyfriend when there were men there with guns. Was he insane?

  “You stay put,” I said. “I’ll call Craig and the police.”

  “I have to go to him. He needs me.” She was crying harder now.

  “I will go and look for Seth. You stay in the village in case he calls,” I said. There was no way I was taking my sister to a place where armed men were waiting.

  “Fi!” she cried, but I hung up on her so I could call Craig back. He had to know what they were driving into.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Craig didn’t answer my call, so I texted him the message about Ferris and Seth. I ended it with Please text back, so I know you read this.

  There was no response. I couldn’t take it any longer. I knew my sister; if I didn’t act, she would. That was something I couldn’t allow to happen. I had to go to the manor myself. When I ran back to the community lot, I found Isla in my car.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “You’re going to Winthrope Manor, aren’t you?” She folded her arms.

  “Isla, get out of my car,” I ordered. Not that ordering her to do something had ever worked for me before, but I thought it was worth a shot.

  “No way,” she said. “If you are going there, I’m going too. My love is in danger.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I love him, Fi. I can’t sit back and wait.”

  It was something Isla and I had in common, the inability to sit back and wait, but I still had to try to leave her behind. It was too dangerous. It was my duty as her big sister to keep her safe. It had always been my duty.

  “You won’t help him by putting yourself in danger too,” I said.

  “I won’t put myself in danger. I just have to be there,” she said. “I’ll stay in the car when we get there, I promise. I just have to know th
at Seth is okay. I have to see that he’s okay with my own eyes. Can’t you understand that?”

  I could.

  “Isla …”

  “If I don’t go, you don’t go, because you’re not getting me out of this car. Remember that Seth taught me self-defense.”

  “You would use your self-defense classes on your own sister?”

  She showed me her bicep. “If I have to.”

  I groaned. “Fine, but do not get out of the car when we get there, okay? Promise me.”

  She shrugged. “Sure.”

  Sure didn’t sound like that strong of a promise. It was a very bad idea to take my sister with me. I checked my phone one more time to see if Craig had texted back and I could abandon this mission, but there was nothing. I couldn’t wait any longer. He didn’t know there were men with guns there.

  As I pulled the Astra out of the parking place, I asked Isla, “How did you get in my car. It was locked. I never gave you the spare keys.”

  She leaned back in her seat. “Oh, I know that. You really should give me the keys in case of emergencies like this.”

  “So how did you get into the car?” I eyed her.

  “Seth taught me how to pick a car lock. I can show you later if you like. There are so many wonderful things that I’ve learned from him. He’s had such an interesting life.”

  I grimaced and wondered where Seth would have picked up a skill like that. I guessed it was from his former life as a gambler. “That’s not something about Seth I would tell Mom and Dad, okay? They are just warming up to the idea of him in your life. I wouldn’t want to give them any hint to a shady past, okay?”

  She gave me a thumbs-up sign in return.

  The drive to the manor was almost twenty minutes, but the village was much closer to it than the city of Aberdeen was. I wasn’t surprised that Isla and I beat the police there. I was relieved to see it. That meant I would be able to warn Craig and his officers before they went inside.

  I parked the car a little bit away behind a stand of trees at the end of what used to be the driveway. The once gravel drive had almost all been reclaimed by the weeds and thistles that grew alongside it.

  “What do we do now?” Isla asked.

  “Text Seth and tell him where we are. He should come to us,” I said.

  She did as I asked, and moments later her phone pinged, indicating a return text. Her mouth fell open as she read it.

  “What does it say?” I asked.

  She held the phone out to me. Can’t come now. They are going to kill Ferris. Help.

  “Ask him where he is in the house,” I said.

  Isla did.

  Third floor. I went back in to help Ferris. Now I’m trapped too. They don’t know I’m here. Can’t leave without being seen. Help.

  “What can we do?” Isla asked. “We have to go to him. He could be killed.”

  What we should do was wait there for the police. I was about to tell Isla that when she jumped out of the car. “I can’t take it. Seth is in there. I’m going in.”

  I jumped out too. “Isla! Don’t go into that house.” I came around the side of the car with the intent to grab her arm. “We’re just going to wait here, so we can tell Craig and the other police what’s going on before they go inside the manor.”

  “I can’t wait that long. What if something happens to Seth?”

  “He’s hiding,” I said, trying to get close enough to her to grab her arm. I knew my sister, and no amount of rational talk was going to keep her out of the manor as long as Seth was in danger. “Please,” I went on. “They don’t know he’s there. Nothing will happen to him. He wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger on his account. Just text him to tell him to stay hidden and the police are on the way.”

  The crack of a gunshot came from the manor. It was faint, but I heard it. From the look on Isla’s face, she’d heard it too. She took off down the driveway and was inside the manor before I even reached the front step.

  Isla hated running, but apparently she could run fast with enough motivation.

  I went into the house, paused under the great chandelier, and listened. I heard footsteps above me. I peered up the stairs and saw Isla disappear down a corridor. I swore. I knew the last thing Craig would want was for both Isla and me to put ourselves in danger, but I had no choice. I had to go after my sister. Just like she had to go into the house to save Seth, I had to go into the house to save her.

  I texted Craig the latest development and received an immediate response. Do not go into that house.

  “Too late. Isla is in here.” I shoved the phone into my coat pocket and felt it vibrate repeatedly against my hip.

  Craig was upset. Clearly.

  Instead of storming up the stairs like Isla had, I crept up them, taking care not to make a sound. Even so, every other step creaked and whined under my weight. I wondered if I would have made less noise if I had taken the steps at a faster clip.

  On the landing to the second floor, I waited and listened. There was the faint rumble of voices above me. That fit with what Seth had said about the men being on the third floor. My muscles tightened.

  I should wait for Craig. I knew this.

  I wanted to text Isla, but I didn’t know where she was, and I didn’t know if she would have thought to turn the sound off on her phone. It had been on when we were outside the manor. If she was close to the MacNish brothers, the sound would give her hiding spot away.

  I started up to the third floor. On that landing, I saw the disrepair the manor was in. Sunshine poured in through holes in the roof big enough to drive my car through. The walls were crumbling and water-damaged from a decade of being exposed to the elements. The floor felt precarious, as if it could give out any moment and probably would.

  “You can have the manor if you will just let me go!” a voice shouted a few rooms over.

  I inched in that direction and peeked through the crack in the door.

  Ferris Brown stood with his back to the open French doors of the widow’s walk. Lester and Jamie stood with their backs to me. Lester held something out in front of him I couldn’t see. I assumed it was a gun pointed at Ferris’s chest.

  The roof over their heads was completely gone. I scanned the area for Seth or my sister, but I didn’t see them. I hoped they had found their way out.

  “It’s too late for that now,” Lester said. “We know rich men like you. You say you will do one thing, but do another. Barley was like that. He made promises, but he never kept them.”

  I shivered. His tone was icy cold. The brothers had killed Barley. I was certain of it.

  “If your beef is with Barley McFee, then it has nothing to do with me,” Ferris said. “I didn’t know the man. I only just met him the day before the concert.”

  “Our beef is with both of you. It’s because of both of you that we lost this manor,” Jamie said. “It is rightfully ours. It’s been in our family for generations. Our mother told us the stories. She told us how she wanted us to get it back in the family someday, and we promised her we would while she was on her deathbed. We have spent the rest of our lives trying to keep that promise, and you and Barley stole that from us.”

  “What does Barley have to do with it?” Ferris asked. “I told you I don’t know the man.”

  I noticed that the fishing boat tycoon was wisely making the two younger men talk to buy himself some time. I hoped that it would buy me some time too, so that I could figure out how to get us all out of the manor alive.

  “If it hadn’t been for him, we would have gotten that record deal and used the money to buy the house. We were offered a deal with Barley’s label. It was just for the two of us. It would have been enough money to buy this place and restore it to our ancestral glory, just like we promised our mother we would, but Barley stopped it,” Lester said.

  “He postponed it,” Jamie corrected. “He asked the record company to wait six months until his tour was over to make us an official offer. Barley has a lot of clout
with the company. He brings in a lot of money. They did it to keep him happy. His contract with the label was nearing its end, and they didn’t want him to go somewhere else. He makes too much money for them.”

  “Didn’t you think about going to another label?” Ferris asked. “Barley’s record company wasn’t the only one in the world. If you are that good, someone else would pick you up.”

  “You can’t possibly understand,” Lester snapped. “You don’t know what it’s like to work in a creative field. Just to get a label to notice you for your own merit is close to impossible.”

  “It’s the trash they put out there,” Jamie agreed. “It’s all glossy and prepackaged. Nothing is authentic any longer, but we could bring that to the music. We had authenticity.” He frowned. “It was something we learned from Barley.”

  “But Barley was lazy,” Lester said. “He could have let us have the deal and replaced us. Hundreds of bassists and guitarists would kill for our spots in his band, spots we would happily have given up. Barley didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to bother to hold auditions for new band members before the tour began. He made us wait, and we lost the manor. No matter if he killed the deal or just postponed it, we had the chance of a lifetime and he stole that from us. He got what he deserved.”

  “I’m sure he did,” Ferris said in a calm voice, as if he was trying to soothe a fussing toddler. “You’re right to be upset, but I didn’t know any of that when I bought the manor. The real estate agent only told me there was another interested party, and that if I wanted the place I should move fast. They never once told me who else wanted to buy the manor. They never told me you had a personal connection to the manor. Had they done that, I would have gladly stepped back and let you have it.”

  I wondered if that was true. It was what Ferris said to the MacNish brothers while he was being held at gunpoint, but he was a businessman first. I had a feeling he would have bought the manor out from under the brothers even if he’d known about their mother’s dying wish.

  “Boys.” Ferris forced a laugh. “This is just business and nothing personal. I think we are all wise enough to see that. You can have the manor. I would sign over the deed right now if I could. I can’t help you, though, if you kill me. Don’t you see that? If you kill me now, I can’t give you the manor. It will go into my estate and be tied up for years in probate court. You really don’t want to deal with that.”