The next hour passed in much the same way. For the most part, Gavin was kept so busy that he couldn’t keep a watchful eye on Kate. Nevertheless, he was aware of her quiet presence as she moved from one ward to the next, emptying bedpans, administering bed baths, and he didn’t know what all.
Relief came when a couple of medical students from Woolmanhill arrived. Dr. Proctor soon put them to work. “Take her home,” he told Gavin, nodding in Kate’s direction. “And thank you for helping out.”
Gavin didn’t waste time. “Get your jacket, Kate. I’m taking you home.”
She took one look at the determined set of his features, nodded, then went to the closet where she’d hung her jacket. She had just slipped into it when a woman screaming in terror burst through the front doors. A heartbeat behind her, a man built like Goliath pushed his way in.
Everyone froze.
In a soft undertone, Taggart spoke to one of the medical students. “The telephone is in the front office. Phone for the police and tell them that Giant is here and looking for trouble.”
The command came too late. The big man blocked the exit. The woman backed away and suddenly grabbed a pair of scissors from a set of surgical instruments and raised them threateningly. “Animal!” she screamed. “I’ll kill ye before I’ll let ye beat me.”
The man called Giant advanced with his fist raised to strike. “Ye stole my money, ye thieving bitch,” he hissed.
“To feed your children,” she shouted. “Ye promised ye wouldna spend your wages on drink, but ye lied.”
“It’s my money,” he roared. “I earned it. I can do as I like with it.”
Kate stepped between Giant and his wife and put her hands up in a placating gesture. “Giant,” she said soothingly. “You don’t want to do this. Remember what happened the last time?”
Far from soothing the big man, her words seemed to enrage him. From out of nowhere, he produced a knife and raised it threateningly. Gavin felt the ground shift beneath his feet. Time slowed, and he had a vision of Alice before she had jumped from the rail of the yacht into the waters that were to become her grave. Kate was just as reckless.
All this passed through his mind with lightning speed, so when Giant took a step toward the diminutive figure who held him off with nothing but her own puny strength, his pent-up fury boiled over. Snarling like a wounded beast of prey, in one flying leap, he knocked Kate out of the way. Giant was startled, but he soon recovered. With a furious roar, he lunged at Gavin. Kate let out a cry, but Gavin was ready. He twisted the big man’s arm, snapping it, and sent him toppling to the floor with a well-aimed knee to his stomach. Giant moaned and groaned, but he did not get up.
Dr. Taggart clicked his tongue. “Another patient to see to,” was his only comment.
Gavin crouched down and took hold of the big man’s collar. “Who sent you?” he demanded angrily. He gave him a shake. “Who sent you?”
Giant moaned.
“Gavin!” Kate kneeled down beside him. “Leave him be! We know him!”
“He’s a regular,” Taggart amplified. “Who did you think he was?”
Gavin got up. He was breathing hard. “Obviously I made a mistake,” he said.
He walked to the closet, stripped out of his apron, and donned his coat. “Let’s go,” he said. His eyes were still leaping with fury as he looked at Kate.
“Wait!” she cried. She crouched over the big man, felt in his pockets, and produced a handful of coins. “Here, Bella,” she said. “Take this. Feed your children with it.”
Bella snatched the money from Kate’s hand, hesitated, nodded, and hurried out.
Gavin snared Kate’s wrist. “Don’t argue,” he said. “Not one word.”
He gave a satisfied grunt when he saw her meek demeanor. Only then did he stride for the door, dragging her behind him.
She could hardly keep up with him as he dragged her up the steep hill of Marischal Street toward the market cross in Castlegate. There were no drunks or prostitutes here, largely because police headquarters were strategically located across the road. There were, however, more lights and cabs with drivers waiting for fares.
“He could have killed you!” He sounded more composed.
“Giant? No. He’s a bully but not stupid. I could have talked him into giving me the knife.” It looked as though he was losing his composure again, so she said quickly, “Did your brother arrive? Have you talked to him?”
“No. Alex is on assignment. He’ll get back to me as soon as he can.”
“What about Dr. Taggart?”
“I didn’t have a chance to ask him anything. He put me to work as soon as I arrived. I did, however, see Will’s solicitor. I’ll tell you about it once we are clear of this sewer!”
He halted a cab and bundled her into it, then, after giving the driver directions, jumped lightly in beside her.
“We’re not going back to Miss Hunter’s?” she asked. The directions he had given were for a hotel on Union Street.
He had positioned himself to look back the way they had come. A sound resembling a hiss slid from between his clenched teeth.
“What is it?”
“We’re being followed. I was afraid of this.” He turned to face her. In the same hard voice, he went on, “Can’t you do anything right? I told you not to leave Miss Hunter’s house. You were safe only as long as you stayed hidden.”
She shook her head. “No one followed me.” She was sure of that, or she would have sensed danger. “I was very careful.”
“I’m the one our villain is watching. I should have expected something like this. I
did
expect it. I should have taken better care of you.”
Exasperated, she said, “Stop blaming yourself for circumstances beyond your control.
I
decided to come to the clinic,
me
, Hepburn, not you. Stop trying to play God.”
He wasn’t listening. His attention was still on the cab that was following them. “He’s still with us,” he said.
She looked out the window. There were cabs coming and going, but nothing to rouse her suspicions.
She tried to close her mind, to use her gift to determine whether they were in danger, but, as ever, when she was with Gavin, her gift gave her mixed messages.
“So what do we do now?” she asked glumly.
Even in that dim interior, she could feel his eyes boring into hers. “What we do,” he said, “is give him the slip and get you back to the house, only this time, I won’t let you out of my sight.”
She shivered and hugged herself with her arms.
“Afraid?”
“No. Just tired.” Before he could berate her, she went on quickly, “I can’t stay at Miss Hunter’s forever. You can’t protect me forever. You have your own life to live, and so do I.”
“That’s not how it works.”
His words puzzled her. “That’s not how
what
works?”
He shrugged, and it seemed that he wasn’t going to answer. Finally, he said, “I promised myself that I would hunt down Will’s murderer and see him brought to justice. Can you imagine how I would feel if he got through my defenses to you? You and Will. I can’t separate you in my mind. Ah, here we are. Stay close. And do as you’re told.”
The cab slowed. The hotel was close to the Music Hall, and people were exiting from the theater and spilling onto the pavements. When the cab stopped, Gavin tossed a coin to the driver and propelled her not into the hotel lobby but into the Music Hall. The hand cupping her elbow urged her to move faster, and she was sure that in the morning she would have bruises where his fingers gripped her. He didn’t look to the right or left. He didn’t stop until they came out of the building by the back door. She sucked in a breath when she saw the gun in his hand.
“What—” she began.
“Hush!” He gave a shrill whistle, and a passing cab drew to a stop.
“Where to, guv?”
“King Street,” Gavin replied tersely.
Within minutes, they were making a detour along Union Terrace and going back the way they had come.
Twelve
The voice was changing, fading, and she didn’t want to let it go. It kept the shadows at bay, and the visions of a beast of prey stalking her, gaining on her. The sun, so brilliant only a few moments ago, was obscured by a bank of thick clouds. She heard the tread of footfalls behind her and the sound of branches snapping as the beast moved in for the kill. Her own feet felt like iron and moved in inches. Just as the beast leaped for her, she sucked in a breath to scream and opened her eyes.
It wasn’t a beast. It was Macduff, and he was licking her hand. Her pulse gradually slowed. It took a moment for her to get her bearings. Gavin hadn’t taken her back to the house but to the gatehouse. It was small and sparsely furnished, and she was resting on the only bed, or the only bed she knew of in that small building.
Dalziel was talking in whispers, but she could just make out what he was saying. Poor Dalziel. He couldn’t stop apologizing for not making sure that she was tucked up for the night in the main building. He’d rescued Macduff but had never imagined that she had slipped away.
She turned her head on the pillow and gazed through the open door into the adjoining room. They’d moved the table so that she was in view even while she slept. She wondered how Gavin would make good on his promise to keep her in sight at all times. Miss Hunter might have something to say about that. They couldn’t stay here. Then where would they go?
She couldn’t summon a sliver of ire. For one thing, she was too comfortable and far too drowsy. It was well past midnight, and she could scarcely keep her eyes open. But there was more to her compliance than mere fatigue. He had helped out at the clinic as though he were the lowest lackey, he, a man of the world and a self-confessed pleasure seeker. He wasn’t all bad.
Dalziel was still apologizing for not taking better care of her. She’d have to make it up to him for causing him so much trouble.
“You’re not to blame,” said Gavin. “She’s as obstinate as a mule when she makes up her mind to do something. She wanted to go to the clinic, and nothing anyone could say or do would have stopped her.”
She’d heard words like these from her father, too, but her father’s words didn’t have the power to sting her. He always said them with a smile in his voice. Gavin Hepburn’s voice was threaded with impatience. It was pathetic that she should care for his good opinion.
“When is the funeral to take place?” Dalziel’s voice.
“I haven’t had time to see the minister yet, but the service will be held in St. Nicholas Kirk. Perhaps you would take care of that?”
Dalziel nodded. “I’d be happy to. I have many happy memories of St. Nicholas. My father was an assistant there when I was a boy.”
“Your father was a minister?” Gavin sounded surprised.
“He still is, though he has retired to a smaller parish in Kintore.”
“What about you? Did you ever consider taking the cloth?”
Kate felt her eyelids drooping. She knew Dalziel’s background. He was the eldest in his family and had gone into commerce to support his younger brothers. He was doing quite well for himself, too, when he was set upon and robbed by thugs on one of the docks. Passersby carried him to the clinic, and that was where he had met Dr. Rankin. According to the doctor, Dalziel was never quite the same after the beating, but he’d found a position at the clinic that suited him. He was shy, rather sweet, and very good-looking, or he would have been if he didn’t frown so much.
A bell went off, and she opened her eyes. Gavin had moved out of her line of vision, but she could see Dalziel. He snapped his fingers, and Macduff trotted after him, evidently going out for the dog’s nightly constitutional.
“Hello?” Gavin’s voice. She hadn’t been dreaming. The bell came from the telephone. “Alex? Where are you?”
Alex Hepburn, she thought drowsily, the secret service agent.
“London? Yes, I know you’re on assignment. I understand. Can I at least tell you what’s going on here? I could do with a second opinion.”
She listened as he began with finding her on the moor and ended with their present situation, where they were pretending to be an engaged couple so that he could keep her out of harm’s way.
“Absolutely not!” She jumped at the vehemence in Gavin’s voice. “I refuse to use her as bait to catch Will’s murderer, and that’s final.”
She would hope not! Alex Hepburn wasn’t the nice man Gavin had described to her. In fact, she didn’t like him at all.
“What?” Gavin laughed, but it sounded forced to her ears. “You need your head examined, Alex. This escapade is not going to end as yours and Mahri’s did.”
His voice became more testy. “Yes, yes, Cousin James and his Faith. I know what you’re saying, but you’re reducing our granny to little more than a match-maker.”
She was sure that she could hear the laughter traveling all the way along the lines from London to Aberdeen. Gavin was obviously not amused. “Of course I remember the prophecy,” he said. “It doesn’t work in this case.”