Celtic Christmas

by Kathi Daley

  By the time the fifth hour had arrived since noticing that Alex was missing, I’d pretty much decided that either no one had seen anything or someone, or maybe even everyone, was lying.

  “You know what’s odd,” I said to Zak.

  “What?”

  “Liam is missing too, so where are his parents? I know they were questioned about the whereabouts of their son, and they claimed not to have seen him or to have any information, but why aren’t they here? Why aren’t they as panicked as we are?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe Liam takes off all the time. Maybe they simply assume that Liam is off with Alex having a good time.” Zak’s lips tightened as he said the words.

  I supposed Zak had a point. A seventeen-year-old boy staying out all night without sharing his whereabouts with his parents was probably not an unheard-of event. If not for the fact that Alex was Alex, I might not have been as freaked out as I was either.

  “And none of the other teens who were here have any idea where Liam might go?” I asked.

  “Not according to the officer I spoke to,” Zak said. “Although, to be honest, I didn’t have the impression that the men who responded to Lord Dunphy’s call even think that something bad might have happened to Alex. Sure, they are going through the motions. They appear to be looking for her. But I haven’t picked up on any sort of panic. If Alex was five-years-old, things might be different, but I honestly think that most of the individuals involved believe the two teens just got wrapped up in the romance of the evening and took off for some alone time.”

  I knew Zak was right. The only reason there was even a search was probably because Lord Dunphy was involved.

  By the time Alex had been missing seven hours, I had to ask myself why anyone would want to kidnap her because, by this point, I was pretty sure that was what had happened. Yes, Liam was also missing, and I had no idea why anyone would target him, but Alex was our daughter, even if “daughter” was an honorary title, and Zak did have an awful lot of money. We hadn’t been flaunting that fact since we’d been here, but it wouldn’t be hard for anyone who cared to look, to find out just how rich Zak actually was.

  Of course, the problem with that theory was that no ransom had been demanded. It had been hours, so if money was the motive, wouldn’t we have received a demand by now?

  “Cain introduced Alex to Liam,” I said after a period of complete silence on my part where I tried to exorcise the panic attack I felt coming on. “He said he was making the introductions because Alex and Liam were close to the same age, but what if he had an ulterior motive?”

  “Like what?” Zak asked.

  “Like what if he used Liam as a means of getting his hands on Alex?”

  Zak paused. “Okay, why would Cain want to kidnap Alex?”

  “My first thought was to demand a ransom, but that doesn’t feel right to me. The timing of him introducing Liam to Alex makes me think he hadn’t come up with the idea of kidnapping her until after he’d met us and we made the trip together down the mountain, but we never brought up the fact that Zak Zimmerman, the billionaire, was in his van.”

  “That’s true, but maybe he heard the name and put two and two together,” Zak said.

  “Maybe. But what if something that was discussed is the reason he decided to bring Liam into things?”

  Zak bobbed his head slightly. “Okay. What did we talk about?”

  “He seemed to know that I had been the one to find the jewels that saved Dunphy Castle. He even referred to me as the chosen one, a title, by the way, I am not a fan of. Bonnie said the same thing, but I don’t remember that coming up when we were here before. We left shortly after the gems were found, and the castle had been cut off by the flood, so maybe the villagers didn’t learn about what had happened until after we left.”

  Zak took a minute before he spoke. “Okay. I guess that makes sense. Cain did seem to bring up the whole chosen one thing from out of the blue.”

  “And when I spoke to Bonnie and Maeve, they both mentioned it as well, so it stands to reason that the story of what happened when we were here four years ago might have made the rounds. Plus, the text on Tyson’s phone said something about the prophecy. Maybe all this is somehow tied together as I suspected it might be.”

  “Okay, so let’s say that there really is a centuries-old legend about the missing gems and the descendant who would one day find them, thereby saving the day, and let’s say that the villagers found out about the gems after we left the last time, which is why we hadn’t heard of the legend before,” Zak said. “Why on earth would this centuries-old legend lead to Alex being kidnapped now? You being the chosen one has nothing to do with her.”

  I frowned. “I don’t know.” I glanced at the clock. “Bonnie will be in the kitchen preparing breakfast by now. I’m going to talk to her and see if I can find out what she might know that she hasn’t told me.”

  Chapter 10

  Saturday, December 21

  “There is more to the legend than was mentioned when we spoke before,” Bonnie told me after I’d tracked her down and asked.

  “Okay. I’m listening.”

  “The legend not only talks about the future descendant Lady Catherine chose to reveal the location of the gems she’d hidden, but it also talks about the role the firstborn of the chosen one is to play.”

  “Role? What role?”

  “The legend says that the firstborn child of the chosen one will be a daughter with special abilities. The special abilities are not well defined, but it is widely assumed that the daughter of the chosen one, who most feel will be the reincarnation of Lady Catherine herself, will be able to read an ancient document that was found centuries ago, but no one has been able to read.”

  “The parchment in the church.”

  She nodded.

  “Even if I did believe in reincarnation, which I don’t, what does this have to do with Alex?”

  “She’s your firstborn. A daughter. Some people believe she has been sent to receive the message left for us centuries ago.”

  “Wait. What? Alex is not my firstborn daughter. She isn’t even my daughter. At least not a blood daughter. She lives with Zak and me and has since she was ten, so we refer to her as a daughter, but she isn’t related to us by blood.”

  Bonnie frowned. “So, the baby is the one who will share the message.”

  “You leave my baby out of this!”

  “I mean her no harm.”

  “Like you mean Alex no harm? Do you know where she is?”

  “No,” Bonnie admitted. “But I do suspect the misunderstanding is the reason she was taken. I’m sure she’s safe. Those who seek to know and understand the message left for us all those years ago wouldn’t harm her. They probably only want her to read that which they believe she is destined to read.”

  I took out my phone and called Zak, who’d been waylaid by the police when we were on our way to speak to Bonnie. “I think I might know what’s going on. Meet me in the suite. Alone.”

  My first instinct was to make sure that my baby was safe. Now that Bonnie knew that the daughter they were after was Catherine and not Alex, I wasn’t confident that she was safe from those who wanted her for the long-ago prediction that was most likely a bunch of gibberish. Catherine could very well be a genius like her daddy, and I supposed she might one day learn an ancient dialect that would allow her to do exactly what everyone hoped she would, but that was a discussion for another day. Today, I just wanted to find Alex and get my entire family home, where I knew they would be safe.

  Once Zak arrived, I filled him in. “I really don’t know who to trust,” I flailed my arms into the air. “The folks around these parts seem to take their legends and prophecies seriously. I’m not sure even the police, who are supposedly looking for Alex, aren’t in on the whole thing.”

  “This makes no sense. If they thought Alex could read this ancient message, why didn’t they just ask us if she could try?” Zak demanded.

  “Maybe they
thought we would say no. Or maybe they don’t want us to know what the message says and were afraid we’d demand to be with her when she fulfilled her destiny.” I plopped myself down on a nearby chair. “I really don’t know. What I do know is that we need to find Alex and get the heck out of here.”

  Zak blew out a breath. “Okay. Maybe we should talk to Lord Dunphy. I don’t think he’s in on this, but even if he is, once he knows that Alex isn’t our biological daughter, I would think he would allow us to take her home.” He looked toward the bedroom. “I don’t want Catherine to be left alone, not even for a minute, and I don’t trust those who seek our daughter not to hurt Nona if she should get in the way.”

  “You stay with her,” I said. “I’ll go and find Alex. I’ll talk to Lord Dunphy, and if he can’t or won’t help, I’ll start tearing this place apart.”

  “Maybe I should go,” Zak said.

  “Catherine is the most important thing in the world to me. If someone comes for her, you have a much better chance of protecting her. I’ll go, you stay.”

  The next hour was one of the longest of my life, but I eventually tracked Cain down at the church. When I entered, I didn’t see either Alex or Liam, but after I explained the mix-up, he finally showed me to a secret room where Alex was sitting with Liam. Alex was perfectly fine, she didn’t even appear to be scared. I supposed they had treated her with kid gloves as Bonnie predicted they would.

  She ran across the room and hugged me. “I’m so glad you’re here. Liam’s uncle brought us here. I told him I needed to go back, but he insisted I stay. I didn’t have my phone and didn’t know what to do.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I am now.”

  “Let’s go back to the castle, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  Once we returned to the castle, and let Lord Dunphy know what had occurred, Alex went into her room to change into a pair of sweats. When she returned, I asked her for the tenth time if she was okay.

  “I’m fine. I promise. Other than being worried that Zak was going to kill me for leaving the castle, the whole thing was actually sort of interesting.”

  Zak pulled her into a hug. “You never have to be afraid of me. I love you. I might worry about you more than I ought to, but I would never kill you, even figuratively.”

  “I know.” She smiled. “And I am sorry. I’m afraid Liam lied to me about more than one thing.”

  “Tell me exactly what happened,” I asked after Alex settled onto the sofa.

  “Liam and I were dancing and having a wonderful time when he got a text. He said that his family needed him in the village, and he wanted me to come with him. He promised we’d only be gone for an hour. I told him I wasn’t supposed to leave the castle, but he seemed really agitated and worried, so after he pulled Lizbeth aside and told her to let you know what was going on, I agreed to go with him. When we arrived at the village, he took me to the church. He told me that he’d lied to me and that the reason he really wanted me to come with him was to read the parchment. I told him that I couldn’t read it and that I wanted to go back to the castle, so he said he’d have his uncle take us back. The uncle, however, was a lot more insistent than Liam and said that he would only take me back after I read the parchment. I told him I couldn’t read it, but he told me it was my destiny to do so and I had to try. And I did. Repeatedly. Like I said back at the church, I didn’t have my phone, so I couldn’t call you, and Cain wasn’t going to just let me leave. I knew my best bet of getting back to you was to read the parchment, but it looked like gibberish to me. I told Cain again and again that I couldn’t read it, but he kept assuring me that I was the one had been sent to read it, so I tried again and again.”

  “Did he ever tell you why he thought you could read it?” Zak asked.

  “No. He never explained why I was destined to read it. If he had explained that it was Zoe’s daughter who was prophesized to read it, I could have ended things a lot sooner.”

  “You were missing for so long,” I said. “You seemed calm when I found you, but you must have been terrified.”

  “Actually, I wasn’t. They were nice to me, except for the whole not letting me leave thing, and I was trying so hard to figure out the text that it didn’t seem like all that much time passed. It certainly didn’t feel like eight hours. I’m so sorry. I’m sure you really must have been frantic.”

  Frantic was putting it mildly, but I decided not to make Alex feel worse than she already did.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Zak said.

  “I’m sorry you were worried, but it wasn’t all for naught. I know who killed Tyson,” Alex said.

  “You do?” I asked. “Who?”

  “It was Cain.”

  “So, the man that held you against your will for eight hours actually is a killer.” I found myself spinning out of control once again.

  “He is, but I really don’t think he planned to kill me,” Alex assured me.

  “What about after you read the parchment if you had been able to?” I asked. “If you had been able to read it, he would no longer need you, and I can see how he might feel that you knew too much.”

  Alex paled.

  Zak scowled at me.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know why I did. I’m really not trying to scare you. Why do you think Cain killed Tyson?” I asked.

  Alex still looked pale, but she answered. “I guess Buford was in on the idea to kidnap me in the hope I was the one to read the ancient text, and he tried to enlist Tyson to aide with the kidnapping.”

  “That must have been the conversation I overheard at dinner that first night. At first, I thought they were talking about a tax, and then I decided what I heard was text, not tax. But I thought it was the sort of text one might read on their phone and not something written in an ancient code. I take it Tyson wasn’t on board with helping Cain with his plan.”

  “He was not,” Alex confirmed. “Buford told Cain that Tyson was not on board, so Cain decided that he needed to be eliminated. He convinced Lizbeth to lure him into the old section of the castle, where Cain ambushed him.”

  “Lizbeth was in on Tyson’s death?” Okay, that surprised me.

  “Lizbeth and Cain share similar religious beliefs, which seem to revolve around this text. I really don’t understand the whole thing, but they seem to believe that the text that’s written on the parchment, once deciphered, will lead to the secret of eternal life.”

  “So, Lizbeth lured Tyson into the old part of the castle, where Cain shoved a knife through his back, and then Lizbeth and Cain left the underground passages via the beach access when they heard me calling for Charlie.”

  “That seems to be the gist of it.”

  I hugged Alex. “I’m sorry I scared you. I love you, and my mind has been imagining every possible scenario. Let’s fill Lord Dunphy in on what we know, and then let’s go home. Suddenly sleepy Ashton Falls sounds just about perfect.”

  “What about the wedding?” Alex asked.

  “I’m sure Adam will understand if we skip it. Now that there are people in the village who know that Catherine is the daughter who has been prophesized to read the parchment, I’d just as soon be halfway around the world from here.”

  “I agree.” Alex hugged me again. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter 11

  Tuesday, December 24

  “I’m so happy you decided to come home early, but wasn’t your mom upset?” I asked my best friend, Ellie, as we wandered up and down the tiny downtown section of Ashton Falls, picking up last-minute gifts for our families.

  “Actually, she wasn’t mad at all. I think she was ready for some peace and quiet after eight days with all of us in her tiny house. She has plans with my aunt for tonight and tomorrow, so I’m sure she’ll be fine, and I think both Levi and I are very happy to be home.”

  “Well, you have to bring the kids and come for dinner. I know it’s Christmas Eve, but we’re also celebrating Cathe
rine’s second birthday since we were flying home on her actual birthday. My parents will be there, along with Harper, and I invited Pappy and Hazel as well.”

  “We will definitely be there.” We entered a toy store. “I’ll need a gift. Do you think Catherine would like this doll?”

  “She’s more of a stuffed animal person. Maybe this little dog or this lamb is pretty cute. She met a horse at the castle she was fascinated with, so if we can find a horse, I’m sure she’ll love that.”

  Ellie began to sort through the pile of plush animals.

  “You guys should come for dinner tomorrow as well. Zak is making a huge feast, and it just wouldn’t be Christmas without you.”

  “I was actually hoping you’d ask since we’d originally planned to be with my mom for Christmas, I don’t have any ingredients to make Christmas dinner.”

  “Come for brunch in the morning as well. I am so happy to be here in my home with my family and friends. I feel like I want to wrap myself up in everyone I love.”

  “I guess it must have been terrifying when you realized Alex was missing.”

  “It was. I know she’s fine and it didn’t seem as if she was ever in any real danger, but it really bothers me that there are people in the village who know about Catherine and the fact that she is the one who has been foreseen to read the parchment. Sure, she’s only two now and can’t read, but the people in that village seem like the sort who will remember and wait.”

  “So, just don’t go back to Ireland again. At least not with Catherine.”

  “I won’t. But I do think I might sign her up for self-defense classes when she gets a little older. Maybe karate. Do you think two is too young to start?”

  “Maybe she’s a little on the young side, but I know that parents start their kids early with that sort of thing.” Ellie reached into the pile and pulled out a stuffed toy. “I found a horse. A black one. I would have preferred white.”