Rainne shook her head as she watched him go. “Boys,” she said.
They followed Mitch down the hall and out the front door. He was wrapped up against the cold and stroking the snowmobile like it was a cat.
“Let’s go,” he said to Rainne.
Rainne ran down the front steps of the castle, careful not to slip on the snow, and climbed onto the machine behind Mitch.
“Oh,” Lake called after them with a grin. “Pick up Betty as well. She’s been calling every ten minutes saying she needs to be here.”
“Damn it,” Mitch grumbled. “I knew there was a catch.”
Lake was still grinning when he went back inside the castle.
“I’ve never been on one of these,” Rainne said.
“Neither have I.” Mitch started pressing buttons.
Worriedly, Rainne looked over at the burned-out wrecks of the other snowmobiles making a black mess of Caroline’s front lawn.
“Maybe we should fetch someone to tell you what to do before we go?”
“It’s like riding a bike,” Mitch said as the snowmobile sputtered to life and lurched forward.
They bounced over the snow towards the gate, stopping and starting randomly. Rainne held on tight and wondered if after everything she’d been through she’d meet her demise taking a ride with Mitch.
“See?” Mitch shouted, sounding far too pleased with himself. “Easy.”
They rode through the snow-covered streets into town. The storm had passed, leaving an icy white world in its wake. Power was still out, but cell phones were working. Only the main roads were cleared, which for Invertary meant the road to Fort William. The rest of the town was snowed in.
The picturesque beauty of the small Highland town made Rainne sigh with pleasure. A clear blue sky over a blanket of white. The loch glistening in the sun. Kids playing in the street, wrapped up tight and using tin lids as makeshift sledges. They whooped with laughter when the snowmobile drove past, throwing snowballs at Mitch. Cars were buried to the point that they’d lost their shapes and looked like massive white bubbles. Trees bent under the weight on their boughs. Roofs were piled high with snow, just waiting to fall and bury anyone standing beneath them. There were snowmen outside some of the houses. All of them looked happy. There was something comforting and peaceful about the aftermath of a storm.
They came to a halt in front of Invertary clinic and Rainne climbed off.
“I need to go get Satan. I’ll come back for you once I’ve picked her up.”
Rainne eyed the snowmobile. “Will we all fit?”
Mitch looked behind him. He seemed to be trying to figure out a way to get them all on. Rainne decided to intervene before he had Betty sitting on her lap.
“Is there any chance you can take Betty to the castle then come back and get me?”
His sigh was heavy and clearly fake. “Fine, but only because you’re the groom’s sister.”
“And not at all because you get to play with the snowmobile for longer.” Yeah, right.
The American grinned before gunning the engine and heading up the street. Rainne shook her head as she watched him go. It was hard to believe Mitch spent most of his time in business suits and board meetings.
She pushed through the door to the converted Victorian house that was now the town’s only medical facility, and the noise hit her. Shouting, complaining, swearing. Rainne raised her eyebrows at the nurse, and doctor’s wife, who was behind the desk.
“What’s going on?” Rainne said.
Janice rolled her eyes. “It’s a guy called Reynard. Megan shot him in the backside and he’s not happy. The police were in to question him. They want to move him to Fort William now that the road’s open but we need to wait for an ambulance and a police escort to take him.” She grinned. “He can’t sit in the standard police van. The seats are too hard and would hurt his sore bum. We wouldn’t want the mastermind behind the attack on our women to get uncomfortable in any way now would we? While we’re waiting for his ride, I’m making sure to take really good care of him.”
“He’s getting a lot of sympathetic treatment, then?” Rainne said.
“Oh, aye.” Janice nodded solemnly.
Rainne grinned at the woman’s faux innocence. “Where can I find Alastair?”
“Room two, and he’s grumpy as well. Men. Whether it’s a broken limb or a paper cut, it’s all the same. If they spent five minutes dealing with labour pains they might have a better understanding of what real agony is.”
With a laugh, Rainne headed to Alastair’s room, attempting to tamp down her nerves by counting backwards from twenty while breathing slowly. It didn’t help. She pushed open the door to find him lying in bed, eyes on the wall-mounted TV, remote in hand. He didn’t look happy.
“Hey, how you doing?” Rainne said as she entered the room.
She stood a couple of feet from the bed, unsure of her welcome.
“Rainbow, am I glad to see you. Get me out of here.” He started to sit up, but a machine attached to his thumb by a clip began beeping and the door banged open.
“Stay in bed,” barked the doctor.
“I feel fine. I want to go home. With Rainne.”
Alastair’s skin was grey, his eyes were tight with pain and his hair was matted. Yeah, he looked fine.
“Not going to happen.” Doctor Murray put a hand on Alastair’s shoulder and firmly pushed him back into the bed. “Stay,” he ordered. “You have a tube in your chest, your arm in a cast and you have two broken ribs. You’re not going anywhere. Not before the chest drain comes out.”
“When will that be?” Rainne asked as Alastair growled like a trapped animal.
“Tomorrow, probably,” the doc said. “The damage to his lung was minor. It should be healed by then. Well, healed enough to stop from leaking air. His ribs will take a lot longer to mend. And moving around won’t help.” He glared at Alastair.
“I hate being in here,” Alastair said.
“And we hate having you in here.” The doc slammed the door when he left.
Alastair watched him go. “He’s a bastard when he doesn’t get any sleep.”
“Or he’s fed up dealing with unreasonable men who are clearly injured and won’t listen to expert advice.”
He scowled at her, and Rainne ignored him. Instead she tugged at the white cotton blanket and tucked him in.
“You’ve only been here a few hours. Talk about a drama queen. This is pathetic. Just sit back, watch TV and you’ll be free soon enough.” She refilled the plastic beaker beside his bed with ice water as she wondered why every hospital room she’d ever been in was painted mint green. She imagined someone thought it would be soothing. It wasn’t.
“When I see this colour now, I think of hospitals,” she said. “Don’t you think a nice patterned wallpaper would be much more welcoming?”
“I don’t want to be welcomed. I want to go home.” His head thumped back onto the pillow.
There was more shouting and cursing from the room next door.
“Maybe once that guy goes you’ll be able to relax,” Rainne said.
“I’m never going to make it.” Alastair looked up at her. “I’m going stir crazy. And we need somewhere private to talk.”
She really wished he’d stop saying that. It made her want to put her fingers in her ears and sing la, la, la until he gave up.
Rainne stepped back from the bed. “No we don’t. Everything is fine.”
“I’ve been thinking.” Alastair completely ignored her. “Last night brought clarity. I’ve been an idiot.” His eyes were dark with emotion. “I’m glad you came back, Rainbow.”
She shook her head. “No. Don’t be. I shouldn’t have come back here. It was selfish of me. I didn’t think it through. I didn’t realise my actions would rake up so much pain for you.”
The damn man rolled his eyes at her. “Don’t over dramatize this Rainbow. I’m fine. I’ve dealt with it. Part of me thought you were like my mum. I realise you
aren’t. Issue closed.”
Rainne gaped at him. “That’s just...nuts. You can’t get over a revelation like that in a matter of hours.”
“You want me to go into therapy for years, only to come to the same conclusion when I’m done?”
“You don’t know what...”
“If you tell me one more time that I don’t know my own mind, I’m going to lose the plot entirely. I’m not an idiot. I know what I damn well think!” He took a deep breath, winced and then scowled at her. “I’m glad you came back. I’m glad you had the courage to ask me to try again. I want to. I want you.”
The words sounded more like a threat than a romantic declaration.
“Even if that were true.” She ignored his frown. “How could it work between us? I didn’t think this through before I came here. I didn’t think about the practicalities, let alone the emotional baggage we’d need to deal with. Your life is here and mine is in Glasgow.”
“We can figure that out,” he said.
It was her turn to roll her eyes. “You made it clear years ago that you never want to leave Invertary. You dreamed of a life here.”
“What if I want more?”
“Is that even possible? We’ll never get past our trust issues. Let’s face it. You’ll always be waiting for me to leave you. I can see that now. I could promise you forever and you wouldn’t believe me. You don’t trust me. And that’s on me. I hurt you.” She bit her bottom lip for a second, aware he was watching her intently. “It was a dream,” she said at last. “You were the dream. Those few months we had together were the dream I kept coming back to, wondering what might have been. But there are some things that are better left in the past. I realise that now.”
“No—”
“Yes. At least coming back gave us a chance to talk things through.” She tucked her hair behind her ear as she backed towards the door. “It’s good to get closure.”
He let out a rumbling growl. “Closure?” He jerked towards her but grunted and plopped back down, his face even greyer than before. “What the hell are you talking about, woman?”
Whatever Rainne would have said next was lost when the door crashed open. A guy she didn’t recognise rushed in. He had a knife in his hand. Rainne froze. The man grabbed her arm and pressed the knife to her throat. His eyes were cold and sharp. There was a scar across his cheek, making his mouth seem lopsided. He was dressed in medical scrubs and his feet were bare.
“Get away from her!” Out of the corner of her eye she could see Alastair struggling to get out of bed.
Rainne wanted to tell him to stop. He was going to injure his lung again. But she was frozen. She felt a sharp sting at her throat, which made her whimper.
“You,” the man said. He had an accent. European. “You’re the one who came on the snowmobile. Where is it?”
Rainne stared at him. Her brain couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Her limbs were limp. Her voice wasn’t working. All she could think was that Alastair needed to stay in bed. She had to tell him to stay there. Everything else was blank. Confused. Blocked.
The sharp bite of pain at her throat intensified. She whined.
“Leave her alone!”
There was a crash to the right of Rainne as something toppled to the floor, but she couldn’t turn her head to see what. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the terrifying man.
“Don’t touch her. Get away from her, you bastard.”
The guy turned his cold eyes on Alastair. “One more step and I slit her throat.” He sounded calm, as though he was asking for sugar in his tea rather than talking about killing someone.
Not someone.
Her.
She started to pant. Her hands were tingling. “Alastair?” Her voice was a shaky whisper.
“It’s okay, Rainbow, I’m here. Stand still. We’ll sort this.”
The guy gripped her arm tighter as he looked back down at her. “Where is the snowmobile?”
She swallowed, and it caused the knife to press into her. She felt something wet run down her throat. Blood. She was bleeding. He’d cut her and showed no remorse. In fact, his face showed only brutal determination.
There was a roar and Alastair rushed the man. The knife left her throat as the guy swung at Alastair. He knocked Alastair across the room, where he hit his back on the edge of the bed and crumpled to the floor.
“No!” Rainne screamed. She struggled to get to Alastair.
He was lying on the floor, clutching his ribs.
“Alastair!” She couldn’t see blood. He wasn’t stabbed. But his ribs. His lung.
“Stop moving. Your boyfriend is okay. For now.” The knife pressed back to her throat. “I need the snowmobile.”
“What did you do with the doctor and nurse?” Rainne whispered.
He ignored her. “Where is the snowmobile?”
There was the unmistakable sound of an engine. Mitch was back. Early. Inside Rainne’s head she was screaming. Her mouth was dry. Her hands were numb. Her body shook. She had to get to Alastair. She had to make sure he was okay. She had to warn Mitch. He couldn’t come in here.
The guy spun her around, pulling her back against his chest. He covered her mouth with his hand.
Alastair was a groaning heap on the floor. “Damn it to hell,” he snapped. “Let her go.”
“One more word,” the guy said. “And she pays for it.”
Alastair made a strangled noise and Rainne struggled against her captor.
“I have no problem killing you,” he said against her ear in a voice so cold it made her freeze.
The door opened. Mitch stepped in. “I came to get you first,” he said before he saw her. “Betty was busy with the strippers. I couldn’t watch. I’m traumatised enough already. I’ll go back and get her later when she’s finished whatever the hell she’s doing. I hope those guys got paid a bundle for dealing with her.”
He turned and spotted them. Shock registered on his face as he took in the scene. In a split second he’d morphed into someone else. Someone bigger. Stronger. He launched himself at her captor, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The man shoved her to his side as he swung the knife. Rainne hit the wall. She saw the knife go into Mitch. He stopped mid-lunge as though he’d been pulled back by an invisible rope. Then he collapsed.
The guy crouched over Mitch, rifled through his pocket, came out with the key to the snowmobile and ran. Without as much as a backwards glance.
“Help!” Rainne screamed. “Help!”
She rushed to Alastair. “I’m okay,” he said on a groan. “Deal with Mitch.”
She pressed a palm to his cheek before turning to Mitch.
There was a knife sticking out of his side. There was blood. So much blood. She took a deep breath and screamed as loudly as she could. She fell to her knees beside Mitch, sliding in his blood.
“Don’t. Remove. Knife,” Mitch said through gritted teeth.
Rainne heard a clatter outside the door. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to help.
“Help!” she shouted. “Please help!”
The door crashed open and the doctor ran in. He took in the scene in front of him before rushing into action.
“Find my wife,” he ordered Rainne as he leaned over Mitch.
Rainne nodded and hurried from the room. She opened exam room one and rushed inside. The nurse was gagged and tied to the bed. She didn’t seem hurt. Rainne’s fingers trembled as she worked on the knot of her gag.
“He got free from his cuffs,” Janice said as soon as the gag was gone. “He grabbed me when I came into the room. He’s gone. We need to stop him.”
Rainne untied her legs. “He stabbed Mitch and took the snowmobile. Alastair is injured again. I think it’s his lung.”
“Where’s Hamish?”
It took a minute for Rainne to realise she was talking about Doctor Murray. “He’s with Mitch.”
“Hamish went to the pub to pick up lunch,” his wife said as she shook
off the bandages binding her wrists. “There should have been a police officer guarding that guy. I don’t know why there wasn’t. I met him earlier. He came from Fort William. I have no idea where he’s gone.” Her fury made it clear she planned to find out.
Rainne followed Janice as they ran into the other room. The look of relief on the doctor’s face was heart-melting.
“You hurt?” he asked his wife as she examined to Alastair.
“No. Just bloody angry. We’re missing a cop and now we’re missing a patient. I hope he bursts his stitches and gets an infection in his backside.”
Doctor Murray’s answering smile said it all. “We need an air ambulance,” he told his wife. “This is too much for me. Mitch needs surgery.”
Janice scrambled to her feet and reached for the phone. “They both need to be taken to the hospital.”
The doctor turned to Rainne. “Call Matt. The police need to get that guy and find out where the guard went.”
She nodded and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She fumbled as she dialled the castle.
“It’s Rainne,” she said to the person who answered. “We need Matt at the clinic. There’s been an escape and Mitch has been stabbed.”
31
* Kirsty *
Kirsty spent what should have been her wedding night checking up on the injured men in Fort William hospital. A visit to the hospital seemed a fitting end to the day. It was ten o’clock at night and her chance to get the wedding she’d dreamed of was over. At least everyone she cared about was in one piece. She was thankful for that.
Alastair’s chest drain had been replaced. His lung hadn’t been punctured again, but his wrist had needed to be recast. Mitch had needed surgery. The knife had penetrated his body low on his right side, missing everything major, but damaging his intestines. He’d been stitched up and put on antibiotics. He was going to be fine.
Kirsty sighed heavily as she watched the snow covered scenery pass in the darkness. They were part of a convoy of cars, filled with friends, heading back to the castle.
“I wish Rainne had come with us to see Alastair,” Kirsty said.
“She might go tomorrow,” Lake said, but Kirsty didn’t think so.
Here Comes the Rainne Again Page 20