To Blind a Sniper (Women of Purgatory Book 2)

by India Kells

  At some point during the interrogation, one of the captain’s men came to say that they were bringing the corpses to the station. That single sentence seared unbearable pain through her soul. The officer also described that they had found injured individuals nearby, probably wounded by Calvi, but that they were all taken care of, already on their way to the hospital.

  Questions were asked for several hours before the Captain was satisfied. Gabrielle stepped by her side to tell her she had to oversee the procedure with the authorities, and check with the team, but that she would come back.

  Finally alone, Matt guided his sister to her room as he would find something to eat. As she faced the entrance she knew so well, she was unable to go through it. Inside would be the reminder of her last moments with Wesley and she may never be ready to see that again. Instead of pushing the door and entering, she turned away. Her feet brought her in the hallways, to a staircase, and before she realized it, the sharp and cold highland wind welcomed her on the western turret.

  The sky was so crisp and cloudless now, adorned with beautiful twinkling lights. The moon was only a slice of silver, barely illuminating the rolling hills. It was as if the weather had decided to clear up once the final battle was over.

  Gone was her rifle and bodies she realized, probably taken by the police.

  Mac ignored felt the cold as she looked at the last place she had seen Wesley alive. And for the first time since she killed him, she didn’t try to stop her grief. It poured out, shaking her to the core. This was the end. There was no more inside of her. For a long moment, she cried, standing in the wind, her eyes where the man she loved had taken his last breath. When the last tears were being dried by the wind, she wanted to die. What was left for her in this life? Maybe there was a chance for her to be reunited with Wesley in the next one. It was a fantasy, and she knew it would remain one. Her brother needed her. They had already lost their parents and only had each other. And her newborn niece needed her. She ought to grip that sliver of hope very hard. It was her duty.

  Movement came behind her but Mac didn’t move. However, she was glad when Matt hugged her from the back and held on tight.

  “I’m so sorry, Ellie. Gabrielle told me how much you loved him.”

  Unable to speak, she nodded.

  Gently, he turned her and led her away from the windy, cold night. Back inside, a few lamps glowed as they reached the kitchen. He asked her to sit on the stool. She obeyed him like a mindless puppet. Matthew later put a tray of tea and biscuits in front of her.

  “It’s the best I could do. You need to drink and eat a little, Ellie.”

  The knot in her throat didn’t allow her for much but a sip of hot tea. She took the cup and it required all her will to swallow it down. The warm liquid was soothing, and she tried another tentative sip. Matthew sat by her side, concern all over his face.

  “Little sister,” he put his hand on hers, “I’m so sorry for what happened.”

  The sadness in his voice made her look up at him. “What for? Nothing is your fault.”

  “Maybe it is. If I would have explained my anger when you left, instead of pushing you away, you would have stayed and none of this would have happened.”

  Mac frowned. “I’m not following you, Matt.”

  In clear turmoil, Matt stood and started pacing the room. “I was so hurt when you decided to leave the first time. When you threatened to enlist and disappear. You think I don’t understand why, but you’re wrong.”

  Mac dismissed his words. “It’s not important anymore, Matt.”

  “No, it is. I need you to accept it. I didn’t want you to go. But you were being caged by Mother and Father. You never fit the definition of what a daughter should be in their minds. The first time you left, I understood why. The pressure was too great and you had the chance to find your own path. To be truthful, I envied you. You were able to taste freedom in a way I scarcely thought I could.”

  Mac had never heard her brother, so unsure, opening his heart in such a manner.

  “But when our parents died and you came back for the funerals, I was beyond relieved. The whole world had been crumbling down on me, and the task ahead was so immense, I never thought I could do it alone. When you announced you were leaving again, without knowing when you would be back …”

  Matt took a deep breath, like he was bracing himself. “I was so hurt; I was feeling so scared that I did exactly like our parents: I retaliated. I attacked you, spewing all those awful things on how your rebel side was destroying our family that you were the deception our parents had predicted. And many more I can’t even remember.”

  “I told you, Matt, it’s no longer important. You only wanted me to be someone I wasn’t. You wouldn’t be the first, and certainly won’t be the last.”

  “No! You’re wrong!” Matt almost shouted his answer, getting to his feet, pacing the kitchen floor. “You’re wrong. I’m proud of the woman you have become. Damn, if my daughter has the luck of being like you, if only a little, I would be the happiest man ever. I was the one who frightened. So scared of being alone, running the estate and being head and chieftain that I resented your freedom. I would have switched places with you in an instant. The truth is, I was desperate for you to stay. I needed you by my side. It was so difficult on my own.”

  “Oh, Matt.”

  “Ellie, it wasn’t your fault. I never told you. I didn’t have the courage back then. I doubted my capacities and in retrospect, I had to be alone. To prove to myself that I could be Laird MacKinnon in my own right. And I did just that. Unfortunately, I hurt you in the process, more than I thought I did. And up until now, I was still mad at you for leaving.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  “The possibility of never seeing you again. Of you not being part of what I shared with Jenny and now the baby. It made me realize what a fool I had been that my grudge was only pride and youthful stupidity.”

  “You’re not stupid. You were hurt. I only wish you had told me. I would have stayed for you.”

  Matt came back to her, and sat down.

  “Yes, you would have stayed for me, when you needed to leave for yourself. When I see what you have done, the person you have become, the choice was obvious and wise. I was wrong. You had to go. Please forgive me for being such a fool.”

  Mac smiled at him and embraced her big bear of a brother. “You are forgiven. I love you. And from now on, if you need me, tell me. You’re the only family I have left.”

  Images of Wesley came to her mind, and she shook them away.

  “You’re welcome to stay, Ellie. Stay here with me and Jenny. She’s coming back tomorrow with the baby. Stay here to take care of the baby with us. Heal with us.”

  Mac smiled and turned in her brother’s embrace. “It hurts too much being here now. I see … I see Wes. Everywhere. I need to be alone, away, for a while.”

  “You’re going back to Purgatory?”

  She shook her head. “No, I need it. Off the radar and invisible. Away. Do you understand? Gabrielle wants to speak to me later, but I can’t. Not now.”

  Matt nodded. “But you will come back?”

  Mac forced herself to smile at the uncertainty she felt from him. “I promise.”

  He looked at her face, satisfied. “Where do you want to go?”

  “I don’t know. Just making decisions is difficult right now.”

  “If I can offer a suggestion, little sister, I think I have the perfect hideaway for you.”

  Chapter 38

  Two months later …

  Fire danced in the stone hearth, the only source of light in the little cottage. Winter snow fell like a steady curtain blinding the landscape even more in the late afternoon. Through the snow and frost, Mac saw the rolling sea over the cliff.

  The old cottage of her great-grandmother, lost in the Orkney Islands, had been a blessing to her bleeding heart. With no commodity, no electricity, and no possible way for anybody to reach her by phone, Mat
t had a brilliant idea when he suggested this place. Maintained by a friend of the family, Mac hadn’t visited in years, but it remained the same as the image from her past memories. The daily necessities of living here and making small repairs to the thatched roof or removing snow in inclement temperatures, when not walking to the nearby village for goods, filled her waking hours with a soothing routine. And at the end of the day, when her body wasn’t tired enough to sleep, she would go for a run, and run until her bones aches and her muscle screamed. She would sometimes run until she couldn’t move any more, stopping herself from the siren song of the cliffs and roaring sea, falling in the thick snow until the burn turned to frost.

  Mac promised her brother she would return for the baptism of the next generation of the MacKinnon clan after the holidays, maybe in February. If she wasn’t too lost in time, it was now a little above two months since Jenny had given birth. Mac would leave her safe haven in two weeks to reappear into the world. She would plaster a smile on her face and rejoice with the family. That part was simple. It’s what would happen afterward that scared her. She wasn’t sure what the next step was. She owed Gabrielle and Purgatory a call. The organization could probably have reached her, even in her far away isolation, but they didn’t, and she was grateful for it. Now was time to thank them and tell them … Tell them what?

  Mac, still lost in contemplation of the distant ocean, noticed the snow easing a little. The clouds were thinning and with chance, the moon would greet the coast before the end of the night. Mechanically, she grabbed her coat, put on her boots, and went outside.

  The wind was biting cold and the last snowflakes swirled around her by the time she reached the cliff. Her face was freezing, but she welcomed it. And when the sun started to set over the thinning clouds, the air shimmered with diamonds, a rainbow of colors cutting through the gloom.

  Only in this moment did Mac allowed herself to think of Wes, to open the gates of grief again and let her tears mix with the twilight. As time passed, the uncontrollable sobs faded into silence.

  Then, once the sun had sunk over the horizon, she turned back to her cottage.

  Routine took her mind back to the present, putting Wesley away in a safe place inside of her heart, locked up deep. It was too late for a run, so she opted for cleaning and cooking. And when she felt the first sign of sleepiness, Mac didn’t fight it, glad for drifting off, even only for a few hours.

  A loud noise woke her up. Disoriented, it took her a moment to get her bearings. Her eyes looked around the small one-room cabin, and even though the fire was no longer, glowing embers gave enough light to confirm that she was alone. Slowly, she released her grip on her gun under her pillow and realized that the sound that woke her up was the wind battering the small house. The snow storm had picked up again as she slept and was now billowing full force. It blanketed the cottage, isolating her even more. The cries of the storm made her remember that night when she fought Calvi near the mountain. When she was so close to touch Wesley. She had missed that last chance to make contact. The memory was difficult to push back but knew too well what would happen if she wallowed too long.

  Gone was sleep. Again. Mac wrapped herself in a wool blanket and stirred the fire back to life before sitting on the couch. The whistling sound increased in intensity, its steadiness making her relax. Her eyes were drooping once more when a silhouette passed across the side window. Or was it a shadow? As her heart sped up, she retrieved her weapon and went behind the wooden post near the kitchen area.

  Was her mind playing tricks on her or did Calvi’s rogue men discovered her hideout? She doubted that any remaining henchmen would find it useful to come after her. She suspected that another thug took his place and that certain of them were even happy he was gone for good.

  As she started to relax, there it was again. This time, heading for the door. Ready to aim, Mac frowned when the figure knocked. Knocking? What kind of assassin was that? Or maybe it was John from the village. Matt had told her he would call him if he needed to reach her. The intruder knocked once more, more forcefully this time. It was cold outside, and if John was indeed on the other side, she couldn’t leave him there. One hand with her weapon behind her back, she unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.

  It wasn’t flurries and wind that made her move backward when the man entered her home. Unable to breathe, her feet glued to the floor, she saw Wesley Sorenson pushing back the hood of his winter coat before stepping inside her small cottage, his familiar blue eyes never leaving her face. He closed the door and stood in front of her.

  “Are you going to invite me in or shoot me, Mac?”

  Realizing she was aiming at him, Mac decided she had officially lost her mind, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Was that how it happened when someone fell into madness? And then they become hermits and have encounters with dead people?

  “Mac, look at me.”

  His low voice, she dreamed of his voice, prayed the skies to be able to hear it once more.

  “Mac …”

  And then, the ghost touched her hair and she jumped. Mac took two steps back, her weapon trembling at the unbelievable vision before her.

  “It’s impossible! You cannot be here, you’re dead.”

  Shaking his head, the apparition lifted his hands in peace. “I’m not dead. It had been a close call though.”

  “I shot you! There was blood before you rolled down the hill, lifeless. Captain Montgomery told us that he retrieved two bodies …”

  Wesley nodded. “That’s true. Jorge Calvi’s and the one of a man from whom he stole a car to come to the castle. To avoid trails, he had put his corpse in the trunk of the vehicle that he had parked on the other side of the hill.”

  Mac didn’t realize how shaken she was until her entire body quaked. She lowered her gun and then reached at him to touch his cheek. His hair was longer and his face gaunter, his jaw sprinkled with golden stubble. Her hand hovered to his temple, where the bullet should have killed him. There had been a wound, she hadn’t imagined hitting him. The scar looked like a spider web; angry red lines on his skin.

  Still in shock, he grinned. Not a full-blown smile, but his lopsided one, full of sadness and mischief. The same one etched in her mind. Mac let her gun drop to the floor as her eyes filled with fresh tears. Her fingers detailed his face before she kissing him.

  The taste of Wesley, the heat of his mouth, made her remember all that she had found and feared to have lost. It was difficult to wrap her mind around it, was she in a dream? Still doubting, she leaned back to look at him again, to touch his face. He was so pale.

  “Tell me what happened. How did you find me?”

  Wesley nodded, understanding that questions needed to be answered. He shrugged out of his coat and removed his boots before sitting on the sofa with a sigh. He had lost weight and was tired, she saw it on his face. Suspicion crept in.

  “If you have been wounded, and severely so, are you even allowed to be out of the hospital?”

  Instead of answering her, he tapped the seat beside him. “I didn’t flee the hospital, Mac. Not exactly. But I’m tired, I’m not fully recovered yet. Probably walking in the snow from the village has taken a toll.”

  Sitting, she grasped his hand. He tightened his grip and pulled her on his lap. Cradled in his arms, he put his head on hers, his nose in her hair.

  “You, Lady MacKinnon, are a difficult woman to find. Gabrielle fought with your brother, who clearly knew where you were. I can say that you’re not the most stubborn MacKinnon I’ve ever met.”

  Mac frowned. “What do you mean by fight?”

  “Give Gabrielle more credit than that. She wouldn’t hit him. I was speaking about obtaining information from him. Gabrielle tried to find you, and then Sully and Lance, but Matthew remained closed mouthed. Only when I could get out of the hospital and make my way to Almirth and have a discussion with your brother did he finally reveal where you were.”

  “I’m surprised, but after thinking, I
believe the papers for this cottage haven’t entered the numeric age yet.”

  “They haven’t, because Gabrielle told me that she had put one of your hackers on it, I can’t remember the name of the guy, and he raged for days trying to find a single piece of information that would lead me to your location. After a moment, we thought you were hiding inside the castle, but that was debunked by your brother.”

  “I couldn’t stay at Almirth, not after I had killed you. Which brings me back to the question of how can you be alive?”

  Wesley cupped her face, his palm so warm against her cheek. “I think because of your skills and a miracle.”

  He kissed her forehead. “When I was pushed by Calvi over the hill, hands bound and a gun at my back, you were on that turret. I heard Calvi calling you, asking you to bring your rifle and stay alone in the castle. When the castle came into view, I hoped to have a single chance to tell you to shoot. To shoot Calvi, even if I was in the way, because I knew that if you didn’t, he would kill me and escape, and I couldn’t bear to think of what would happen to you next.”