by Maggie Way
“Donae worry about a thing,” he said, pulling her against his chest into a hug. “Celeste loves to plan parties, and she’ll enjoy pitching in. I’m sure she’ll make it spectacular and kick me out of the pub for the night.”
“She’d do that?” Alice asked with uncertainty in her voice.
“Of course, besides she knows the locals and how to get everything done, and she likes you.”
“She doesn’t even know me.”
He smiled down at her. “She knows Cassie and the McGregor clan. She’d be happy to help, and besides, it will give her something to do to get her out of my hair and keep her preoccupied from her own issues.”
Her eyes searched his, as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth. He was. She’d eventually see it or feel it or whatever it was that she did.
“I underestimated you.” Her worried look turned into a smile.
“Everyone always does, lass. Donae take it personal. I’m a lot more than meets the eye.”
She had no clue what secrets he was hiding, and if he played his cards right, he hoped she might never find out.
“Thank you.”
He lowered his lips to hers and pressed a soft kiss. “We better get back before they come looking for us.”
“What about the woods and Regina?”
“We’ll leave when you’re done, but for now, enjoy spending time with Cassie. I know how excited she is that you’re here. So be there for now.”
“You’re right,” she said, slipping out of his embrace. “I should be here…in there with her.”
“After you’re done, we’ll go poke around in the woods until nightfall, and if we donae find anything, we’ll go again in the morning.”
“Really?”
He playfully slapped her ass before pulling the door open. “Be prepared to spend the night at my house. The less prying eyes we have on what we’re doing, the better. Especially if you’re getting a bad feeling.”
Alice stopped where he was holding the door open. She slid her hand behind his head and lowered it until her lips were on his. She’d initiated the kiss with him for the first time since they had met. He didn’t make a move to pull her into his embrace, to touch her. He let her take what he so willingly was ready to give. When she broke the kiss, her eyes sparkled, but she didn’t say a word.
They both turned to go inside only to find Celeste and Cassie standing in the hallway, both of them with their mouths parted.
“We were just coming out to...” Cassie started.
“…check on you guys,” Celeste finished. “What an interesting development.”
Duncan couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips, or the fact that his sister noticed.
“Interesting indeed,” Alice teased and slipped by the women. “Come on, ladies that candy isn’t going to wrap itself.”
Cassie spun around to follow her, but Duncan stopped Celeste. “I told Alice you’d be happy to plan the bachelorette party.”
“Of course, I will.”
He nodded. “Great. Then I willnae have to call Mom.”
“That kiss was….something.”
“I’m no’ talking about that with you.”
“Uh-huh.” She grinned. “You donae have to. Cassie and I saw it with our own eyes.” Celeste spun around and headed down the hallway, whistling as she went.
Chapter Ten
Alice carried the last box of wedding favors into the house and had just set it on the dinner table when Duncan appeared behind her. He glanced back toward the door before whispering, “Why donae you go get a change of clothes while I talk to Daniel and let him know our plans? We’ll meet back at the SUV.”
Alice winked, left the dining room, and took the stairs to her room two at a time, almost running into Rowan.
“Where are you off to?” he asked, stopping and turning to follow her.
“To my room to grab a few things.”
He followed behind her, and they paused outside her room. Her hand was on the knob when they both heard a noise inside her room that sounded like a door shutting.
Rowan pushed her out of the way and tossed the door open. They both walked inside and paused. All of her things were strewn around the room. The dresser drawers had been left open.
“Someone’s been in here.”
They met each other’s gaze. “The passageway.”
They both ran for the wall to find the passageway still partially open. They hurried inside. Rowan stopped and flicked on the running lights before leading her through the tunnel, trying to catch who had ransacked her room. Her mind raced with who they might find.
They came to the bend in the passageway, one that led farther into the castle and to the other entry points. They glanced in both directions and strained for any sign of which way the person had fled. There was nothing, no indication of which way to go. She tapped his arm, gestured farther into the castle, and then pointed at her own chest and in the other direction.
He shook his head. He didn’t want to split up. She could see the hesitation in his eyes. It didn’t matter because whoever had been in there was quickly getting away. Alice took off at a jog down the corridor that led outside, unsure what she might find.
The pounding of his boots going in the opposite direction told her that he’d gone the other way instead of following her. She pulled the lever to open the passageway. A gust of night air smacked her in the face as she stepped outside, hoping beyond anything that she might find who’d just left her room. The grounds were empty, other than a few maids with baskets in their hands. Nothing and no one that looked out of place.
“Crap.” She slid back into the passageway and headed back the way she’d come, heading back to her room in the hope that Rowan might have made it back. She ran out of the opening and straight into Duncan’s arms.
He caught her around the waist, and a look of relief flashed in his eyes. “What happened in here?”
“Rowan and I walked in to find it this way. We heard noises in the secret hallway.”
“Where is he?” Duncan asked, taking her hand.
“We split up in the tunnel. I took the way to outside the castle, and he followed in the other direction. I don’t know where it ends up. I’ve never gone that way.”
Duncan led her back into the passageway until they came to the bend. Alice pointed the way that Rowan had disappeared, and they hurried down the hall. Her heart thumped wildly, her nerves shot as she worried, even knowing she was better prepared for whatever they found because of having Duncan in the darkness with her.
He slowed when the passage again split off. One passage led up a hidden staircase, the other down it.
She released his hand and was on the first step down when he caught her and shook his head. “We go together or not at all.”
“What if he’s in trouble?” she argued.
“Exactly,” he said, taking the lead on the stairs.
They jogged down the stairs and stopped at the dead end where a lever hung on the wall. He pulled it down and walked in first, with her right behind him.
A low light illuminated the stone walls in the dark room as they stepped farther inside. Plaques with names and dates were on the wall. Several people who Alice had never heard of, but there was no mistaking the grave markers. They were in the basement part of the castle that was being used as a mausoleum, a resting place for the dead.
The passageway door clicked closed behind them, along with the unmistakable sound of something sliding against the stone. Duncan released her hand and hurried back to the secret door. He pulled on the hook, and it barely budged in place. “We’re trapped.”
She moved throughout the room scanning for another way out. No way was she sleeping in a room for dead people. Some people might be okay with it, but for her, it just asked to have frequent visits from the dearly departed McGregor clan.
Duncan crossed the room, and she followed. The door was the same color as the stone. Duncan jiggled the knob to determine it, to
o, was locked.
Unease crept down her spine, grabbing hold and squeezing. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the dark or what she might encounter. It was the thought that Rowan might be hurt or worse, and they were stuck without a way to get out. She slid her phone out of her pocket and held it up.
“I don’t have any reception.” She moved across the room, holding the phone higher to the ceiling, and he did the same.
“Neither do I,” he said, letting out an aggravated sigh.
“I hope Rowan’s okay,” she whispered as he pulled her into his arms.
“Rowan is strong. Whatever he encounters, I’m sure he’s fine, probably better off than we are.”
“Someone’s bound to see my room, right?” She looked up into his face to read his eyes. “They’ll know something’s wrong when they see your truck still parked outside and my room ransacked. They’ll come looking for us.”
“Let’s hope it’s one of them and not whoever locked us in here,” he said.
Perfect. The strong Highlander was even worried that whoever had locked them in might come back. She walked around the room while he took a seat on a sarcophagus and watched her move from one end of the room to the other while scanning the ground. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for a weapon,” she answered, finding a metal pole from one of the corners and a shovel from the other. She grabbed them both and jumped up on the stone to sit with him. The weapons that might save their lives sat within reaching distance.
“Someone will find us,” he said, hopping down from his seat. He started pacing the room. “We just need to find something to pass the time so we do no’ let our imaginations get the better of us.”
She could think of several things to do to pass the time, not that any of the things she had in mind were appropriate for their surroundings, which included dead bodies.
He stopped and asked, “When is your fitting?”
“Tomorrow at noon,” she said.
“They’ll look for us before then.” He started pacing again.
“Tell me why you opened the bar,” she said out of the blue, trying to take his mind off of their predicament.
“Community,” he said, hopping back up to sit next to her. “A pub is often the center of a community. It’s a place for people to eat, drink, and celebrate.”
“So, you’re from here?” she asked.
“No,” he said, clearing his throat. “Tell me about the boy you saved. How you got involved in the case.”
She hated talking about herself, and even more so about that case. It had changed her life. She’d gone from an unknown to instant celebrity and with that came new worries and concerns. People didn’t care what they said when they voiced their opinions or beliefs that what she could do was real. It was yanking out her heart and putting it on display.
“I was contacted by Gloria, one of the women that worked for Winston. She was the son’s nanny.”
“Winston is…”
“Winston Wainwright. He’s the billionaire.”
“Go on.”
“I’d seen the coverage in the news. You’d have to live under a rock not to have known what was going on.” She cleared her throat. “I’d started getting premonitions, which to me meant nothing. A rock here, a crooked tree there. I had no idea who or what was trying to get my attention until Gloria came to my door.”
“How did she hear about you?”
“Through one of her friends that I’d helped the year before. She was searching for a wedding ring, and I’d told her where to find it.”
“Impressive,” he said.
“She lived across the country. So, I guess it left an impression.”
“So, you can find things?”
She nodded. “When Gloria arrived at my door, she was holding Jacob’s favorite hockey shirt. She said it was the last present his mother gave him before she lost her battle with cancer and he wore it every day.”
“Oh Lord. First his wife, and then potentially, his son. Winston had to be going out of his mind.”
“He was. The minute I touched the jersey, a vision hit me as if I was walking the same path as Jacob. I saw how he exited the house, which way he went, and where he’d ended up.”
“And you told the police?”
“I tried, and so did Gloria. They didn’t believe us. No one did.”
“How did you get them to listen?”
“I didn’t.” Alice cleared her throat. “I flew to California to retrace his steps myself, and that’s when I found him. He’d tumbled down a hill and wasn’t breathing.”
“So, you did CPR?”
“I did, and thank God, he survived.” The memories had sat on Alice’s chest like a brick for the last year, a constant reminder of the good she could do and everything that followed. “I carried him from the forest to the back door of the mansion. You should have seen everyone’s face when I walked up with him in my arms. Both of us covered in dirt and mud. We were a sight.”
“I bet Winston cried.”
“He did, and Jacob was taken from me. That’s when the police tried to arrest me.”
A look of shock covered Duncan’s face. “You found the child, and they wanted to arrest you?”
She nodded. “They thought maybe I was the one who had taken him. It was all settled later when Gloria explained what had happened and I had proof that I’d just arrived in town, but for thirty minutes, I was handcuffed and surrounded by men who thought I was a kidnapper and worse than pond scum.”
“And the boy?”
“He told his dad he got lost and fell, and when he woke up, I was carrying him out of the trees.”
“Did the father at least thank you?”
“Yeah, publicly, and I wish he hadn’t. He deposited a million dollars into my account and publicly announced to the world that I was a true psychic and miracle worker.”
“What’s bad about that?”
“It was like winning the lottery. It brings a lot of questionable people out from the rocks where they’ve been hiding.”
“I’m sorry your good deed turned out badly for you.”
“That’s why I don’t charge, and won’t accept money, when I help people. I’ve seen what money can do, how it changes people. You never truly know who is being honest and who’s just out to take advantage of you.”
Regina appeared in the room, making the air around them cold enough for Duncan to shiver.
“Regina’s here,” I whispered and pointed across the room.
“Ask her who killed her,” he said, sliding off the concrete tomb and turning in circles as if trying to see what she could.
“Who killed you?” Alice asked.
Regina didn’t answer. She just pointed to another sarcophagus.
“Well?” Duncan asked. “Who?”
“She didn’t answer, but she’s pointing to the tomb that reads Alastair McGregor,” Alice said and moved closer. “Is this where you’re buried?”
She nodded before vanishing out of sight.
“What did she say?”
“She just nodded and vanished.”
Duncan squatted next to the stone for a better look. “There’s deep scratch marks in the stone here. It looks like someone might have opened it, maybe with a crowbar or something.”
Alice had walked around the room, looking for something, anything that they could use, when a noise came from the other side of the door, and they both froze.
Duncan grabbed his pipe and Alice the shovel while they listened in silence as the locking mechanism clicked and the door slowly opened.
Alice held the shovel firmly in her grip, ready to swing against anyone who walked in.
The creaks sounded louder than normal as the door slid open.
“This one was locked,” Daniel hollered to someone else. Relief flooded through Alice’s body.
Duncan dropped the pipe and yanked the door open farther. “Thank God.”
“Is Alice in here too?”
Alice mo
ved from her hiding spot. “I’m right here.”
“You had us worried, lass, especially after we found Rowan.”
Alice’s heart lurched again. “Is he okay?”
“Mrs. Smythe found him unconscious in the room where police had searched earlier. He hasn’t woken yet, but one of the maids said she saw him with you, so we checked your room. That’s when we realized you might still be in danger.” He started to turn and leave. “Let’s tell Cassie. She’s worried sick.”
“We can’t go,” Alice said, glancing back at the tomb. “I believe Regina’s body is inside Allister's crypt.”
“How do you know?”
“Regina told her,” Duncan said and slapped Daniel on the back. “We should look and call the constable.”
“You need a key for the door at the top of the stairs to even access this room,” he said, glancing between them both. “How did you two get in here?”
“The secret passageway.”
“I’d forgotten one of them leads in here. I don’t believe this room was even checked.”
“How did you know to look for us down here then?” Alice asked.
“My gut. I promised Cass I would leave no stone unturned until we found you both, even if that meant checking under every bed and behind every curtain.”
“Or in the mausoleum,” Alice said, resting her palm on Daniel’s arm. “Thanks for looking for me.”
“You’re like a sister to my Cassie. We’ll always look for you.”
“Where’s Rowan?”
“He’s with the doctor,” Daniel said and glanced at Duncan. “Can you take Alice somewhere safe until the constable arrives to open the coffin and they’re able to search for fingerprints in her room?”
“Aye. She’ll stay with me tonight, like we planned.”
Alice chewed her lip as unease settled over her. “What about Cassie? Is she safe?”
“You let me worry about Cass and my brothers tonight. I’m sending all the staff out of the castle to make sure there are no other issues.” Alice nodded and started out the door. “Alice,” Daniel called.
She turned mid stride. “Yeah.”
“Any idea what someone would be searching for in your room?”
She shook her head. She had no idea why someone would go through her things unless they thought she’d found something important. “I have no idea. The only thing that I’ve found since I’ve been here was Regina’s locket, and I don’t have it. Her dad does. Maybe the killer heard I had found it and thought I still had it.”