by Maggie Way
“Aye.” Duncan glanced at Alice. How could she even know that? There were no pictures of Regina hanging on the walls in the castle. Heck, she’d just found out that Regina was the maid who had seen the incident.
“What does he think happened to his daughter?”
“I’m no’ sure.”
Alice didn’t have to ask Conell where his daughter was; she already knew.
She was dead.
Her apparition was standing in the tree line. Her hair matted around her ashen-white face. The hem of her dirty dress was torn.
Alice never took her eyes off the apparition, even as they stepped into the tree line. The ghost would vanish and reappear farther away, then hold Alice’s gaze.
Regina, Alice called out in her mind.
The apparition just tilted her head and disappeared again, but this time, she didn’t reappear.
Alice’s foot caught on a root, and she tripped.
“I’ve got you, Alice.” Duncan caught her by the arm before she fell. He righted her and led her to the door. “Are you ready for this? Donae let his gruffness scare you off.”
The log cabin was aged, with a little garden in the front that had been overtaken by weeds. The windows were dirty, and the rocking chair on the porch looked like it, too, had seen better days.
“I’ll be fine.” She rapped her knuckles against the wood door.
“Go away,” a man hollered from inside the house.
“Conell, it’s Duncan. I need to ask you some questions.”
There was a scuffle before the door was yanked open. The man they called Conell Hughes bowed his head. “My lord.”
Lord? Did bartenders in Scotland get a title too?
“May we come in?” Duncan asked, and Hughes opened the door wider.
“I wasnae expecting visitors, or I would have cleaned up.” Conell scratched at the stubble on his chin.
“It’s okay.” Duncan patted him on the arm as he passed. “We willnae take much of your time.”
They moved inside the small cabin. Newspapers were spread across the table. A blanket lay on the back of the couch. Pictures of the groundskeeper and Regina were in frames on the table.
“Conell Hughes, I’d like to introduce Alice—”
“Graham.” Alice held out her hand, and when Conell didn’t make a move to shake it, she lowered it back to her side.
“Daniel has asked her to look into Elizabeth’s death, and she’d like to ask you some questions.”
“I’ve already told the constable what I know.”
“I’m not a cop,” Alice answered. “I’m actually a medium.”
“A witch!” Conell demanded. “You brought a witch into my home.”
“Calm down, old man. She’s no’ a witch, but she did see Elizabeth’s ghost.”
Conell crossed his arms over his chest without taking his eyes off Alice. “What do you want?”
“To know more about what Regina saw that night. Did she ever tell you?”
“She told me the same thing she told the constable.”
Regina appeared in the room next to her father. The air in the room turned cold. She met Alice’s gaze. Her eyes brimmed with tenderness and compassion, making Alice’s heart clutch.
I miss him so much. Please tell him I love him.
He won’t believe that I can see you.
Regina vanished and reappeared by the window. She pointed to the windowsill. Tell him my locket fell behind the heater. He’ll have to believe you.
Alice cleared her throat. How was she supposed to tell a man his daughter was dead when he might not even know?
“Mr. Hughes, do you know what happened to Regina?”
Conell’s face turned crimson before paling again. She watched as he cycled quickly from anger to resignation. “Something bad. A father knows these things. She wouldnae have just left town without keeping in touch with me.”
There was a sourness in the pit of Alice’s stomach that was growing with every second that she didn’t tell him the truth. She was going to have to cut the tendril of hope from his grasp. It was the right thing to do, and yet, it felt so very wrong.
I was his daisy.
“She was your daisy,” Alice said, pulling the bandage in one fell swoop.
Hughes’ mouth parted, and he balled his fist. “What the hell did you just say?”
Duncan took Alice’s elbow and guided her toward the door. “We’ll just be leaving now. We dinnae mean to start any trouble.”
“She said she was your daisy,” Alice repeated and pointed toward the furnace. “She said her locket fell behind the heater.”
“Thank you for your time,” Duncan said before rushing Alice out of the door. He yanked the door closed behind them and led her until they were away from the cottage. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Uh, his daughter is dead, and she wanted him to have her locket. I was trying to provide some closure.”
“What is wrong with you?” Duncan asked, stepping back. “He disnae even know if his daughter is dead and you’re telling him that she is. That’s no’ something you just blurt out.”
“I’m sorry,” Alice said, glancing at the cottage. “She was in there. If it was me, I’d want to know. I didn’t think…”
“That’s your problem. You donae think about the consequences of your actions. You’ve probably single-handedly destroyed him.”
“Or helped him.” Anger bubbled in Alice’s belly. Her entire body heated from the inside out. Duncan hardly knew her, and here he stood judging her….again. “He wouldn’t be the first.”
Alice had spun on her heels to storm away when the door to the cottage opened.
“Alice, wait,” Conell called out.
Alice stopped and turned around. Conell stood in the doorway. A locket attached to a chain dangled from his fingers. A lone fat tear trickled down over his aged face, and she knew that, even though she’d provided proof, she had also just broken the man’s heart. “Please come back.”
Alice glanced from him to Duncan and back. “I’m sorry for your loss. I shouldn’t have come here. If you’ll excuse me.”
She turned and started running through the forest.
“Alice, wait,” Duncan called after her.
“I just need a minute alone,” she hollered back and kept running as a barrage of feelings assailed her. Anger, sadness, defeat, failure, one after the other, over and over again.
Her only thought was to run. Run from her abilities, run from the turmoil that she managed to inflict on everyone, just run. She’d thought to go back to the castle, but running into the Barracuda was the last thing she needed. She just needed to be alone for a single minute, without anyone’s watchful eyes or judgments.
She ran until her lungs burned and sweat and tears clouded her vision. She ran as long as her legs would carry her, only stopping when she came upon a creek. She stopped and rested her palms on her knees, trying to catch her breath and center her emotions, some of which weren’t even hers. Empathy was yet another one of her fantastic gifts that she’d like to wrap and give away.
She began to pace, kicking rocks as she went while she tried to calm her erratic heart and breathing. Regina appeared again, and Alice walked right through her ghostly presence, sending a chill down Alice’s spine. She didn’t care. It was yet another reminder that she was alive.
Regina’s ghost dispersed and reappeared. You helped him.
Alice nodded. She knew she had. She knew it was the right thing to do, but damn if she wasn’t tired of being judged. Everyone in her life had judged her. First, as the daughter of a criminal, and again in college, as being bad in bed. The Barracuda even judged her as not being good enough to be friends with Cassie. Alice could handle all of those things, including whatever Duncan might currently be thinking about her. What she couldn’t handle was not helping someone so obviously in pain, not when she could help him find some closure or comfort.
“It was the right thing to do,” Alice sai
d out loud, not limiting their conversation to her mind.
Thank you.
“Now, help me. Tell me who killed Elizabeth, so I can stop my best friend from succumbing to the same fate,” she pleaded.
The truth will be revealed.
“Stop playing games and just give me a damn name,” Alice demanded. “I helped you. Now tell me.”
Regina frowned. Find my body and you’ll find the killer. Regina looked off in the distance before meeting Alice’s gaze. You must go. You cannae be in the forest after dark, or you’ll suffer the same fate.
Regina disappeared just as quickly as she’d shown up.
“Nice. No name, just get out of the forest. Is that all you’ve got for me?” Alice yelled out. Suffering the same fate wasn’t an option. Cassie would never forgive her if Alice died before the wedding. The sun started to lower, the canopy of trees started to darken, and Alice headed back the way she’d run. She was bound to run into the cottage, or maybe even Duncan looking for her, before nightfall.
She rubbed her arms, from the chill, before starting in a jog back in the direction of the cottage. The birds and crickets that had been chirping fell into silence and Alice slowed her steps. She strained to hear. Anything. There was nothing. No sounds. Even the wind was still. The hair on the nape of her neck stood on end. She could feel eyes watching her as she stood in place scanning her surroundings. The sound of a limb cracking had her moving again, this time at a full-out run instead of the jog from before.
She’d jumped over a log and had just glanced over her shoulder when arms caught her in mid stride and spun her around. She opened her mouth to scream before she realized it was only Duncan who had a hold of her.
“I’m sorry I yelled, but I dinnae mean to make you run. Are you okay?”
Alice glanced back the way she’d come to find nothing in sight, and yet, still no sounds of forest animals within earshot. “Someone was watching me.”
“Well, they say the trees have eyes.”
“It’s not the trees I’m worried about,” Alice said, pushing out of his arms. She continued back toward the castle. She stepped into the clearing and felt the tension in her muscles slowly recede.
“Did you enjoy your run?”
“I snapped. I had my momentary lapse of judgment. I just needed a few minutes by myself.” She glanced at him. “I’m just so tired of being judged for who I am and everything I do. You couldn’t possibly understand.”
Duncan mumbled something beneath his breath that she didn’t hear and she didn’t bother to question. Probably another comment that was just going to make her mad. She wasn’t one to normally let a comment like that go, but she didn’t have the energy to argue with him…or anyone.
They neared the castle to see the Barracuda hovering through the kitchen window, and Alice moaned. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with that woman.
“Come on.” Duncan entwined his fingers with hers. “You cannae fight with that woman on an empty stomach. I’ll cook. It will give you more time to yell at me for scaring you in the woods.”
He led her to the SUV and Alice stopped. “I can’t just leave. I’m here for Cassie, remember?”
“You leave that up to me.” Duncan grinned and opened the SUV door, waiting for her to climb in. He pulled out his cell phone, and his fingers flew across the keyboard. He grinned before climbing in behind the wheel. “It’s set. They’ll meet us at my place. You get to eat in peace and spend time with Cass without the watchful eye of her mother. It’s the least I can do to make up for yelling at you.”
Cassie’s mouth parted. “One text and you worked all of that out?”
He glanced at her as he started the SUV. “Havenae you heard? I can move mountains.”
Chapter Seven
Duncan’s mind was spinning with what he’d witnessed. He’d heard of psychics and mediums before, but he’d never met one in person. He’d promised to help her, and that was exactly what he was doing. Instead of heading to the pub like she probably thought, he turned down an old rock- and dirt-covered road that led to his own personal oasis away from town and watchful eyes. His home wasn’t the biggest he’d ever lived in, and didn’t boast servants, but it was his – a place to come and go as he pleased, without making headlines of any kind.
“Who lives here?” she asked as he killed the ignition and opened the door.
“I do.” He waited for her to join him on the porch. “I donae bring many people here.”
“Not a social guy when you aren’t getting your patrons drunk, huh?” she teased.
He opened the door and walked inside, flicking on the lights. “Welcome to my house.”
Alice walked into the middle of the room and slowly turned around. “Comfy and very manly.”
“Thanks.” Finding his own identity, which didn’t include his family’s expectations, had been easier than he thought when he bought the open-floor-plan cottage. Getting out from beneath the thumb of his family name hadn’t been as easy. When he’d first arrived in town, people had treated him different. But even that notoriety had slowly faded away, and now he was just another town local, Duncan, owner of the Broken Spirit. The press and media only showed up, on occasion, to see if the family screw-up was still screwing things up and had anything scandalous to report. His last scandal had been buying the bar. Not that Alice needed to know about his past.
“Can I get you a drink? An ale or a glass of wine, perhaps a shot of whisky? Something to take the edge off of the day you’ve had.”
She grinned, and her eyes sparkled. “Wine would be great.”
Duncan walked into the kitchen, poured her a glass of wine and grabbed himself a bottle of ale before returning to the living room. He gestured to the couch. “Have a seat and relax or snoop, whatever you fancy, while I get stuff started in the kitchen.”
She took the wine and sipped, watching him over the rim of the glass, and instead of sitting, like a stubborn lass, she walked straight over to the bookcase and picked up a picture taken a year ago, when Celeste, his younger sister, had snuck away from the city to come and visit him in an attempt to run from one of her first transgressions. She’d managed to bring the news and media with her, not only into town, but back into Duncan’s quiet life and into his bar.
“She’s pretty,” Alice said, looking down at the picture.
“I would hope so. She’s got the same DNA.”
“She’s your sister?”
“Aye, she’s a model.”
“Yeah, I’m not seeing the resemblance.” With a smile on her face, Alice set the picture down and walked over to the bar that separated the living room from the kitchen. She sat down on one of the stools. “You must be proud.”
“She’s a handful, but I guess every family has issues. What does your family do? Do you have siblings?” he asked, unsure if Cassie or Daniel had ever mentioned much about her family.
“No,” she said, taking another sip. “My parents separated when I was young. My mother went on to marry a teacher, and they didn’t have any other kids, and my dad…well, he was the CEO for a medical equipment company.”
“Was?”
“He’s currently in jail, awaiting trial for embezzlement.”
“Is that why Cassie’s mom gives you a hard time?”
“The Barracuda has never liked me. Cassie was brought up prim and proper, and I’m sure the woman believes being associated with me will somehow ruin her daughter.” Alice shrugged. Her facial expression was unreadable.
“She thinks you’re no’ good enough?” Unbelievable. Duncan had known her for a day, and he could already see the good in Alice. She hadn’t come to the wedding to pick up other men or find herself a husband. She was truly here to help Cassie in whatever way was needed. Even if that meant chasing ghosts. She was good people, even if Cassie’s mom couldn’t see it. He did.
“I guess so,” Alice said, sliding off the stool. She walked over to the French doors and looked outside at the sun lowering behind th
e field.
Duncan moved to stand behind her. He put his hands on her arms and watched her reflection in the mirror of the glass. “I think Cassie’s lucky to have you as a friend, no matter what her mother thinks.”
Alice met his gaze in the reflection of the glass. “I’m the lucky one. Cassie has a heart of gold, and she’s been there for me more times than I can count.”
“Daniel choose wisely.”
“Aye,” Alice said and winked, mimicking how a Scottish lass might answer.
“Well, I for one am glad you’re here.”
“You like to chase ghosts and lose at darts, do ya?”
A smile formed on his lips as he listened to her teasing. He liked Alice this way, comfortable and kind of a smartass, different than the upset woman she’d been in the woods. She was beautiful, stunning. Not like his sister or her model friends, but even more so. She was sexy and beautiful, and she didn’t even realize it, which made her even more exquisite in his eyes.
There was a sexual charge in the air between them with their bodies so close. His desire to kiss her was at war with him doing the right thing and backing away. The depths of her blue eyes and plump red lips enticed him.
Before he could make up his mind, someone pounded on his door. Her cheeks tinted a cute pink hue. “You should probably get that.”
“I should,” Duncan said, and instead of walking to the door, he cupped her neck and lowered his lips to meet hers. What was meant to be a quick taste turned into something much more when she responded to his touch. She leaned into his body, rested her hands on his hips and opened her mouth, letting him taste. She tasted of strawberries, addictive and forbidden, as his tongue dueled with her. His fingers slid into her silky strands, and he pulled her closer, deepening and taking what she so willingly offered. His desire warred with the need to pull away.
The pounding came again, and like a bucket of cold water, she pressed against his chest and broke the kiss. She held his gaze, trying as she might to hide the hunger so obviously there. “That was a bad idea. I don’t want…I’m not….”
“Neither am I,” he said, taking her lips again, trying to steal any rational thoughts from her mind. They both ignored the pounding and the knocking, neither of them pulling away until they heard Cassie squeal from the other side of the room.