Secrets of the Highlander

by Janet Chapman

  Oh, that had sounded intelligent. But she’d be damned if she would say what it really looked like.

  Jack apparently had no such reservations. “You don’t think it looked like a dragon?”

  “Dragons are mythological. And what we saw was definitely real, so it’s likely reptilian.”

  “And the slime I found at the break-ins? Was that from a reptile?”

  “It couldn’t be. Reptiles have scales and they’re dry. Amphibians are slimy.”

  He sat back on his heels. “So we’re talking about two different creatures, then? Is that what you’re suggesting?”

  “I have no idea who or what broke into those shops. Maybe the kids concocted some sort of slimy goo to throw you off their trail.”

  “Forensics can’t break it down to any known substance in their data banks.”

  They were getting off track here. “You’re assuming one thing has to do with the other, Jack. Just because we saw something last night that we can’t identify doesn’t mean it’s responsible for your break-ins.”

  He studied her in silence for several seconds, then started chopping again.

  “I’m just saying we should keep this our little secret,” she said through gritted teeth. “What would be the point of telling anyone?”

  He stopped chopping and looked at her. “So you don’t think I should ask Kenzie Gregor what the creature is?”

  Megan couldn’t stifle her gasp of surprise, and she wanted to kick herself when Jack’s eyes narrowed at her response. She quickly tried backpedaling. “What makes you think Kenzie would know anything about this? Have you even met him?”

  He started chopping again.

  “Jack,” she growled, just as a fast-moving plane crested the mountain to their east, diving toward the lake and swooping over their heads with a high-pitched roar.

  Megan scrambled to her feet and started waving and shouting. The plane nosed up into a steep turn, circled around, and roared past them again, this time not a hundred feet above the lake a few hundred yards away.

  “It’s Matt!” she yelped, watching it circle a nearby island before finally setting down on its skis and taxiing toward them.

  “You’re not riding back with him. He flies like a maniac,” Jack said, coming to stand beside her.

  “He won’t fly like that with a pregnant woman on board,” she called back, running toward the four-seater Cessna that had come to a stop a hundred yards out on the lake. But she skidded to a halt, her excitement turning to dread when she saw Kenzie climb out the passenger door.

  Instead of rushing to her, Kenzie stood hunched over beside the plane, his hands braced on his knees as he sucked in large gulps of air. He looked so sick, Megan realized this was probably his first plane ride. She turned her attention to Matt, who was speaking into his radio mike. He finally climbed out his side, focused not on her but somewhere over her shoulder.

  “Did you radio Dad to tell him you found us?” she asked Matt, drawing him to a stop in front of her. She finally got his attention, his expression fierce as he gave her an assessing, visual inspection.

  “I just spoke with your mother, and she’s calling him now. Grey and Robbie headed out on snowmobiles around midnight last night to look for you. Why in hell haven’t you been answering your satellite phone?”

  “Because it’s at the bottom of the lake,” Jack said, walking up beside her. “Along with her sled.”

  Matt snapped his gaze to Jack. “What happened?”

  Megan stepped between them. “I got ahead of my headlights and ran into open water,” she said. “Jack fished me out.”

  She heard a heavy sigh behind her, just before Jack took hold of her shoulders and moved her off to the side. “My sled’s frozen in the slush,” he told Matt, who was suddenly looking amused. “We were chopping it out while waiting for someone to show up. Why don’t you take Megan back with you, and I’ll finish getting it free.”

  “And if you can’t get it free?” Matt asked.

  “Then I’ll walk back.”

  Matt eyed him in silence, then nodded.

  “I’ll stay and help,” Kenzie said, finally joining them, though he looked as if a soft breeze might knock him over. He extended his hand. “Kenzie Gregor.”

  Jack shook it. “Jack Stone. And I’d appreciate the help, if you don’t mind riding back on a sled designed for only one rider.”

  “I’d just as soon walk back, thank ye.”

  “I think we should all fly home,” Megan said, not wanting Jack and Kenzie to spend any time together. She looked at Jack. “Dad or Robbie will come back with you tomorrow to get your sled and see about pulling mine out. We can’t leave it in the water for more than a week without getting fined by Inland Fisheries.”

  Jack shook his head. “I’ll get mine out now, then come back with your father tomorrow or the next day.” He turned and started walking away.

  Megan ran to catch up with him, grabbing his sleeve to make him stop. “Jack, I want you to come back with us now.”

  “No, you just don’t want me alone with Kenzie,” he told her quietly, turning so the others wouldn’t hear. “Which makes me wonder, are you worried about his welfare or mine?”

  “Fine, then. I hope you both get frostbite,” she snapped, turning to flounce off to the plane.

  He pulled her around to face him before she had taken two steps, completely ruining her dramatic exit. “Forget those DNA samples and everything else for today,” he told her, seemingly unaware of—or more likely ignoring—her outrage. “The moment you get home, I want you to go to your doctor and get checked out. You might have gotten some lake water in your lungs and you could develop pneumonia. Have your mom go with you.”

  “Any other orders before I leave, Chief Stone?”

  “As a matter of fact, yeah,” he said, pulling her against him and kissing the scowl right off her lips. He leaned back just enough to look her in the eyes. “Fasten your seat belt, and see if the name Walker works for you, for our son.”

  “We’re having a girl!” She shoved him away, and this time she ran to the plane.

  She climbed in the passenger side and fastened her seat belt. “I don’t care what I dreamed last night; you’re a girl,” she told her belly, giving it a pat. “And don’t you worry, I’ll teach you to hold your own in this world. Especially against men.”

  Matt climbed in beside her with a chuckle. “Sorry, sis, but you’re having a boy.”

  She gave her brother-in-law a smack in the arm. “I wanted to be surprised!”

  “Hey, don’t kill the messenger. I didn’t decide the kid’s sex, his father did. Speaking of which, I see he’s back in your life.” He put on his headphones before she could form a comeback. He started the engine, ran through his preflight check of gauges and controls, then gave the plane enough throttle to turn them facing up the lake into the slight breeze. Megan stared out her window, watching Jack and Kenzie on their knees, chopping the sled free.

  As the plane’s skis skimmed over the snow and rose into the sky, her gaze moved to the shoreline, where she could see the fire trailing up a thin plume of smoke. When Matt banked left toward Pine Creek, Megan lost sight of their cozy little camp, effectively putting the most wonderful night of her life behind her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I would ask what yer intentions are toward Megan.”

  Jack stopped chopping and looked across his snowmobile’s seat at Kenzie. “Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

  If his expression was any indication, the huge Scot obviously didn’t like having his question answered with another question.

  Jack was beginning to see why Grand-père admired these historically fierce Highlanders. Kenzie Gregor could be a throwback himself; despite his modern clothes and short hair, Jack could easily picture the man on a medieval battlefield, wearing a kilt and wielding a sword with lethal accuracy. The guy was well over six feet tall, and when he’d taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, Ja
ck had seen enough muscle to make a bear turn tail and run.

  Or make a woman’s heart melt?

  “Megan’s like a sister to me,” Kenzie said as he began chopping again.

  “It’s just as well you feel that way about her. She doesn’t particularly like tall men, anyway.”

  Kenzie looked over the sled at him, his eyes narrowed. “For the last five months she hasn’t liked men in general. I’m still waiting to hear your intentions, Stone.”

  “I intend to marry her, preferably before our son is born.”

  “Are ye, now?” Kenzie said, suddenly amused. “Then I hope you’re prepared to drag her kicking and screaming to the altar. I didn’t exactly see her returning yer kiss a moment ago.”

  Jack shrugged and started chopping again. “She’ll come around.”

  “Matt said you did what ye did because Megan was in danger in Canada. He also said ye think the problem may have followed her here.”

  Jack straightened and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “News runs through your families like fire through sagebrush. Yes, I think she has something Mark Collins wants.”

  “And ye don’t want her to give it to him?”

  “A man was murdered because of the information Megan has. So she’s going to give it to me, and I’m going to turn it over to the Canadian authorities.” He began chopping the ice away from the rubber track, being careful not to damage it.

  “Ye intend to let the authorities deal with Collins?”

  “Yes. Once I turn over the information, Mark Collins will leave Megan alone, and that’s all I really care about. What was the favor you asked Megan for the other night, when you came to her house?”

  Kenzie bent down and started chopping again, this time up toward the ski. “That’s none of your business.”

  “Anything that involves Megan is my business.”

  “It’s a simple favor a brother would ask of a sister, so ye needn’t worry about it.”

  Jack flinched at the sound of metal striking metal. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t chop off the ski,” he said, tossing down his hatchet and standing up. “Let’s see if we can rock it loose.”

  Kenzie also stood up, tossed down his hatchet, then grabbed the running board of the sled. Jack did the same on his side, and they alternated lifting until Jack skipped a time and lifted when Kenzie did. The track suddenly broke free.

  Jack walked to the front, grabbed the handle on the ski, and lifted it free. Kenzie did the same, and together they dragged the heavy snowmobile forward twenty feet onto the packed snow. Jack stepped back to the handle-bars and turned the key. The starter engaged, but the sled didn’t start. He flipped the choke, turned the key, and the starter whined and the engine sputtered, but it still didn’t start.

  He plopped down on the seat with a muttered curse and gave Kenzie a speculative look. “You know anything about snowmobiles?”

  Kenzie shook his head. “About as much as I know about airplanes, which is that I don’t care for either.” He eyed the sled. “I’d be more help if it were a horse.”

  “Tell me something, Gregor. Before MacBain interrupted you that night of the break-in, were you trying to kill me to protect your little pet, or just disable me?”

  “What in God’s name are ye talking about?”

  “You ambushed me when I started after whatever the hell it was that ran out of that store.” Jack shrugged. “I was wondering just how far you’d go to keep your dragon a secret.”

  “A dragon? Ye think I have a pet dragon?” Kenzie actually took a step back. “Are ye touched in the head, mon?”

  “No, I believe that of the two of us, I’m probably the more grounded. Where you, my friend, seem to be straddling two worlds.”

  The towering Scot crossed his arms over his chest. “Am I now? And just which two worlds would those be?”

  Jack reached over and gave the key another turn on the off chance the sled would start. The engine only whined and coughed, so he gave his attention back to Kenzie. “I’d say you’re standing on the wrong side of society’s door right now, Gregor. Or maybe you’re simply wrestling with life in general.” He stood up, squaring off against the giant. “I don’t want Megan caught in the middle of this, so drop whatever favor you need from her.”

  “Caught in the middle of what, exactly?” Kenzie asked, his expression implying he had no intention of dropping anything.

  “Megan and I both got a good look at your pet last night when it crossed in front of our headlights, then flew toward that mountain,” he said, pointing east. “Megan startled it when she came through that opening in the peninsula, and she broke through the ice when she tried to avoid hitting it. She knows that you know where it lives.”

  “She’s guessing.”

  “She’s a scientist, Gregor, and what she saw last night is akin to waving a bone under a dog’s nose. So either you get rid of the beast, or I will—before it goes from stealing doughnuts to hurting someone.”

  Kenzie stared at him in silence, apparently trying to decide how much of a threat Jack really was. Then he suddenly headed back to where the sled had been stuck, grabbed his jacket, and started walking toward shore.

  “One week, Gregor. Then I start hunting your pet,” Jack called.

  Kenzie lifted a hand to indicate that he’d heard, and kept walking. Jack glared down at his snowmobile, wondering if confronting the Scot directly had been wise, or if he’d just plastered a bull’s-eye on his own chest. Because if Grand-père was correct, he had just backed the brother of a very powerful drùidh into a corner.

  Jack was just popping the cap off his second Canadian lager when he spotted the two snowmobiles three miles down the lake, headed toward him. He crossed his feet at his ankles, settled back against the cowling of his sled with a sigh, and used the bottle cap to draw in the snowpack.

  He outlined an upright body with a long tail, took a sip of his beer, then added a set of large wings coming out its back. He glanced up to find that the snowmobiles were about two miles away, took another sip, then added a head to his sketch, complete with beady little eyes, a long snout, and flared nostrils.

  Yup, it sure as hell looked like Puff the Magic Dragon to him.

  The muted whine of the two sleds told Jack they were about a mile away. He checked the position of the sun, figured it was about an hour before noon, and took a long guzzle of the ice-cold beer, swishing it in his mouth before swallowing. He sure would love to have a power bar right now, or even better, another roast beef sandwich slathered with mustard. He tilted the bottle all the way up and drained the last drop of beer just as the sleds stopped ten yards from his feet and suddenly went silent.

  “Morning, gentlemen,” he said when the two men pulled off their helmets. “Nice sleds. I see they’re both two-seaters.”

  They sat on their snowmobiles, eyeing him. Well, Robbie MacBain was eyeing him. Greylen looked more like he was deciding exactly how he intended to kill Jack.

  “You promised to bring my daughter home safe and sound.”

  “She is safe and sound,” Jack told him. “And I had Matt Gregor take her home, so she’d get there quicker. You don’t happen to have any food, do you? Megan ate my last power bar this morning.”

  Grey’s scowl intensified.

  Robbie unzipped his saddlebag and tossed Jack a package of beef jerky.

  “Thanks,” Jack said, setting down his empty bottle and ripping open the small bag. He pulled out a strip of jerky and shoved the whole piece in his mouth.

  “What happened?” Greylen asked.

  Jack chewed. He knew he was pissing off Laird MacKeage, but he wasn’t exactly in a happy mood himself. He’d lost a three hundred dollar helmet, his brand-new sled was likely ruined to the tune of another thousand bucks, he was hungry and tired, and his knee was hurting again. And then there was the fact that as soon as Kenzie told his brother about Jack’s planned hunt, he was going to have a damn drùidh dogging his heels.

  He finall
y swallowed and stood up—smudging his drawing with his boot as he did so—and walked over to where his sled had been stuck. He drove his empty beer bottle into a small patch of slush that hadn’t frozen, filled it up, then faced the men as he held the bottle between his hands to warm it.

  “Something ran across in front of us as we were heading down the lake, and Megan had to leave the trail to avoid hitting it.” He used the bottle to point toward the ledge. “She broke through over there. I fished her out, then built a fire to warm her up and dry her clothes. It was my decision to stay put until daylight, when either I could get my sled out, or you came and got us.”

  “What was the something?” Robbie asked.

  “What were ye doing running the lake at night?” Greylen asked at the same time.

  Jack answered Greylen, as he still hadn’t decided how much to tell them about the creature. “The trail we were following came out on the lake ten miles north of where we wanted to be, so we decided to connect up with the ITS trail another six or seven miles south of here. We weren’t speeding, and we were following the club trail.”

  “Until something ran out in front of you,” Greylen said, climbing off his sled. He walked over to Jack. “So what was it that caused my daughter to leave the trail, Stone?”

  Jack took a guzzle of the melted slush and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. If Megan wanted to keep secrets, then she could lie to her father. “I’m not sure, exactly.” He pointed toward shore. “It was headed that way, last I saw it. I was more worried about Megan than it.”

  Robbie got off his sled and walked toward the ledge. Greylen followed. Jacked dug another piece of beef jerky out of the package and stuffed it in his mouth, wondering how Megan expected to keep the creature a secret, considering it had left tracks a blind man could follow. He trudged after the two men, washing down the jerky with another gulp of lake water.