HauntedLaird (12 page)

Did he have to be near for her to feel the strange
electricity in the air?

The door opened and time seemed to stop. The crowd
disappeared and nothing mattered but the lanky man standing in the doorway.
Timothy McFae walked in the place as if he owned it.

Lynn tilted her head so the hat’s broad brim hid her face.
She kept her head at just enough of an angle that she could still keep an eye
on him in the mirror behind the bar. Not sure if the other two had seen him,
she gave them the decided-upon signal. She reached her left arm up in a
stretching motion and touched a lighted sign. She pressed the button at the
bottom and it went out for a second before she turned it on again. Since where
Travis sat was in her direct line of sight, she saw him slink out of the corner
and disappear into the crowd. Without looking to her right, she knew Fin had
done the same.

She lowered her gaze when Timothy turned up at her side.
Using the hat as her shield, she made sure he couldn’t see her face. It didn’t
appear as if he recognized her when he ordered his drink then turned his back
to her and started chatting up the lady on his other side. He was so busy
bragging that he’d recently come into a huge sum of money he didn’t see Travis
and Fin box him in.

Travis leaned in on the opposite side of the lady and
whispered something in her ear. She gasped, slapped Timothy’s face then spun on
her heels and left. Lynn could only imagine the horrible secret Travis shared
with the woman to garner such a reaction. They knew the moment he regained his
focus and realized what had happened. Timothy’s eyes widened and his hand
dropped from his cheek and automatically became a fist.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Lynn stretched from the barstool to
whisper in Timothy’s ear. She made sure he felt what she pressed into the small
of his back. “You’d hate it if my finger slipped and made a mess of your back.”

He did exactly as she hoped and dropped his hands to his
sides. She continued to press the barrel into his back. Fin moved in closer to
his side.

“The society would like ta have a few words with you,” Fin
stated, staring him down.

“I no longer belong ta the society,” Timothy proclaimed,
trying to hold his ground against the three of them, but Lynn heard the fear in
his voice.

“You got that right,” Fin snapped. “But we have a way o’
dealing with traitors and when we’re done, the police want a crack at you for
the death o’ Lonnie. If there’s anything left o’ you.”

Timothy’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He
darted a glance around but no one looked his way.

“That’s right,” Travis stated calmly. “No one’s going ta
help you. Now let’s be walking out the door without any incidences.” He nodded
toward Lynn. “We wouldn’t want the lass ta trip and her finger ta slip, now
would we?”

The moment they exited the bar, a plain white van pulled up
to the curb in front of them. Timothy gasped when the side door slid open and
several young men from the society stepped out. They surrounded the group.

“It be okay ta put that thing away now, lass,” Fin’s
grandfather said as he worked his way to stand face-to-face with Timothy.

“Oh, yes,” Lynn replied cheerfully. “Just let me do my lips
first, they’re a bit parched.”

Timothy’s face fell when he saw she didn’t have a small
pistol but a tube of lipstick. His cheeks reddened and a fierce snarl rumbled
from him as he watched her coat her lips then tuck it away in the pocket of her
sundress.

“Timothy,” Thicket MacIntyre stated sternly. “You have but
one chance ta make an honest man out o’ yourself. Tell us where the MacKinnon
be.”

“And if’n I don’t?” Timothy tilted his chin defiantly and
glared directly at Fin’s grandfather.

“Then we load you into the van never ta be seen again.”

The tension in the air made Lynn’s skin crawl. She hated
confrontation but knew this was unavoidable. The two held their glares locked
on one another for what seemed like minutes, but wasn’t more than a few
seconds. His decision was helped along by a couple of men in the van obviously
rearranging items of torture for him to see. Would they truly use those?
Judging from the looks on their faces, she decided they wouldn’t hesitate if
the need arose.

Nervously, Timothy licked his lips then attempted to make a
break for it. He punched at Fin’s grandfather, who ducked and landed a solid
blow to the younger man’s midsection. Though winded, it didn’t stop the
freaked-out Timothy. He spun around, swinging wildly, hitting anything in his
path. Travis grabbed one of Timothy’s fists with one hand and punched him in
the face with his other hand. His lip split open, spurting blood down his chin.

When his loose hand somehow managed to grab a hold of Lynn,
she reacted instantly, kicking him in the shin while Travis landed several
consecutive blows to his face. Fin clasped Timothy’s hand that had a grip on
Lynn’s shoulder and forced him to release her. Barely able to stand and
bleeding profusely from several lacerations on his face and the cut on his lip,
Timothy resigned himself to being caught. He spilled his guts and gave them the
location of where he’d taken the MacKinnon.

“If this is the money you be boasting all over town about,
it will help make peace with your mother,” Thicket MacIntyre stated point-blank
as he removed the manila envelope from Timothy’s inside jacket pocket. Timothy
tried to stop him but was held in place by the quick actions of Fin and Travis
at his sides.

Thicket turned and got in the passenger seat of the van. The
others who had arrived with him returned to the van and shut the door. The
three police officers who’d moved Lonnie’s body earlier had been standing out of
sight at the rear of the van, waiting for their cue. They moved in to collect
Timothy for jail.

“You are under arrest for the murder o’ Lonnie Grooms,” one
of them said as he moved to stand face-to-face with Timothy. One of the other
two pulled his hands behind his back and locked his wrists in handcuffs. The
third one read him his rights as they shoved him into the back of a police van
that pulled in behind the society’s van.

Travis and Fin spoke briefly with Thicket MacIntyre and laid
out a plan of action. They would meet at the piers in South Queensbury. There
were several that were no longer used for ferry services. Timothy hadn’t been
specific as to which one housed the MacKinnon and Brother Leod’s hideout.
Though they wanted to leave Lynn behind, she refused and hopped into the
backseat of Fin’s sedan.

The early-evening traffic wasn’t too congested so they made
good time. They parked behind an active food market down the street from one of
the unused ferry locations. Though the ferry services no longer ran, the area
still maintained a mini-mall, a few scattered houses and an apartment building
on the main road before the turnoff for the street that led to the piers. With
three possibilities to choose from, they split into teams and made their way in
different directions away from the community. A few feet from the building she,
Travis and Fin were assigned to, Lynn stopped dead still.

“He’s not in this one,” she whispered and closed her eyes as
if concentrating all her senses on just one thing—Padon.

A tingle started in her core and trickled outward to the
tips of her toes, her fingers and her nose. She shivered, opening her eyes. “I
know where he is.”

She turned and took deliberate steps toward the worst of the
old ferry piers. She kept her flashlight pointed downward and hoped the tall
grass helped hide her movements from anyone who might be inside the rundown
building located on the far end of the pier. Sneaking up on them would be
impossible since they had to traverse the length of the rickety wooden structure
to get to them. Travis and Fin followed after, giving the birdcall signal to
the others.

Once they’d all gathered in the overgrown weeds, several of
the stealthier young men were assigned to swim along the pilings under the pier
and climb up to flank the building from the far end. When they were in
position, they were to give the signal and the others would attempt to sneak
along the pier to the building.

Lynn closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

Please keep Padon and these men safe. Don’t You think
being cursed for two hundred years was enough trouble for this family?

Her prayer was cut off and their actions stalled when two
cars turned down the lane that led to the pier. Everyone ducked close to the
ground until the cars had passed. They watched as the vehicles came to a stop
and parked near the pier they had intended to search. Everyone kept hidden but
all eyes remained on the individuals getting out of the cars. Five people in
total, a man and a woman who drove the cars and three rather large men who got
out of the passenger seats.

They were too far away to hear the words that were
exchanged. But from her body language, the woman wasn’t happy at having to stay
behind. One of the big guys picked her up and set her on the hood of the car
she had driven then kissed her on the forehead. The smaller of the men remained
with the woman as the other three walked down the pier toward the building.
They disappeared inside when the door was opened.

Damn. This couldn’t be good.
Lynn chewed her bottom
lip and waited. Travis and Thicket sat on each side of her while the younger
men did as they were instructed. They moved without being seen by the man or
the woman as they entered the water, using the weeds and overgrowth as their
cover.

Lynn noted Thicket stared at the man and the woman left
behind at the cars. Was he plotting a way to deal with them? After several long
seconds, he leaned close to her and Travis.

“This may no be as bad as it seems.”

Without further comment, he stood and walked toward the cars.
The man took a fighting stance as the woman scrambled from the hood, grabbed a
heavy-looking stick from the driver’s seat through the open window and made
ready to use it.

Had Thicket lost his mind? He was going to get the shit beat
out of him.

Chapter Twelve

Padon carefully walked around the room, taking note of which
floorboards creaked, which didn’t and which seemed to sink with his weight.
With every pass of the wind, the room seemed to sway, making him aware of the
delicate condition of the building. He shut off the light the way Lynn had
shown him at the MacIntyre’s farmhouse. Beams of moonlight streamed in through
assorted cracks in the ceiling. He moved into the far corner of the room and
looked out of that window, hoping to obtain a different perspective on his
location if possible.

From this angle, he saw that he was out over the water in a
stilted abode at the end of some sort of walkway. He caught sight of several
dark people-shaped dots moving into the water from the shoreline. Someone was
swimming and disappeared out of view underneath the walkway. Who and why? He
squinted, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness both inside and outside the
window. Movements in the weeds gave him proof that whoever was in the water was
not alone.

But if he saw them, it was a great possibility so did
Brother Leod and his men. How many men were in Leod’s band of disciples? If
they were all like the few he’d encountered already—Lonnie, Timothy and the big
redhead—then escape would not be an issue. The problem he now faced was those
in the water and along the shore. Who were they and what did they want? He
removed the curtain from the window so his view would not be obscured then he
went to work on a weakened floorboard.

He wedged the tip of the sword between two of the rotted
planks. It didn’t take much to pry it loose. The edges of the board crumbled as
he worked it free as silently as possible. When he managed to remove the third
board, he caught sight of a person looking up at him from the water.

“MacKinnon, it be good ta see you again,” the male voice
stated in a hushed tone loud enough for him to hear.

Padon grinned. “It be good ta see ye again as well, Fin.”

He reached down and gave him a hand up through the hole in
the floor. Once secure inside, Fin lay on his stomach with his head inside the
hole and spoke to someone Padon couldn’t see.

“Let them know, we’ve found him.” A second later he was in a
crouched position at Padon’s side. “Any idea how many we’re up against on the
inside?”

“Nay,” Padon answered, keeping his voice low. If the
building swayed in the wind, he didn’t doubt the walls were thin and any noise
might be heard easily if they weren’t careful. “Ta mi knowledge there be only
two but I doubt that be all o’ them.”

“It’s not. We saw three more enter the building so that
makes at least five. No telling how many more may be here already. Can you
swim?”

“Aye,” Padon replied with a nod. “But the hole need be
larger for mi ta fit.”

Before Fin could help pull more boards from around the hole,
Padon caught him by the arm. With a finger to his lips, he nodded toward the
door. Male voices could be heard faintly coming down the hall. Heavy footfalls
came closer and closer. Quickly, he and Fin lifted the old desk that was
already turned over and set it in front of the hole. Since it wasn’t far from
where the hole was to begin with, he hoped it wouldn’t be noticed that they had
moved it. Fin ducked down behind the desk, making sure the removed floorboards
were out of sight as well.

Padon took long strides, placing distance between him and
his escape route, hoping not to draw attention to it or Fin. He drew his sword
and stood ready for another mini-skirmish for his freedom. A sideways grin
tickled his lips at the thought of another fight. Aye, it had been way too long
since he’d had a decent fight to blow off the pent-up frustration built within
him. He licked his lips as Lynn’s face popped into his head for a second and
reminded him he was frustrated in more ways than one. The heaviness within his
bawls wouldn’t let him forget it.

He spun his sword in his hands and readied himself for the
only relief he was going to get anytime soon.
Let’s just hope this one is
more o’ a challenge than the last.
He sighed.

The door swung open and a nasally voice announced, “As
promised,” right before a thin man wearing glasses let go of the doorknob and
stepped back into the hall out of sight.

Though he couldn’t see him, Padon recognized the next voice
instantly. “Ye best nay be lying or ye be paying with thy tongue.”

The grin couldn’t be stopped as the words of his
brathair
Ian tickled his ears as well as his heart. It was a voice he believed he’d
never hear again. His eyes widened with joy as his oldest
brathair
,
Gavin, entered the room.

“Padon.” Gavin’s happiness resounded in his one-word
exclamation as he closed the distance between them. Padon sheathed his sword
right before they hugged tight. He didn’t want to let go for fear it was all a
dream and Gavin would vanish.

“It be good ta see ye, Padon.” He heard another of his
brathair
’s
voices. Struan.

He opened his eyes as he pushed out of Gavin’s hug. Ian and
Struan stood behind Gavin. Each clasped him tight, patting his back and
claiming their joy at his return home.

“But you are not home,” Brother Leod’s sinister tone stated
from the doorway, “and you never will be.”

Ian and Struan both lunged in his direction but he was well
calculated in his move, slamming and locking the door closed. Ian pressed his
ear to the door and listened. After a few seconds, he turned back to them.

“It sounded ta be three sets o’ feet. The sniveling wimp who
led us here, MacGillivray and another, heavier person.” He shrugged with a
grin. “Probably that idiot he calls his right hand, Roy.”

“A redhead, meaty kind o’ guy with limited wits?” Padon
asked.

“Aye.” Ian nodded.

“Then that be him.” He turned toward the desk. “It be clear,
Fin.” When he stood, Padon introduced him. “This be Fin MacIntyre. He be here
ta help.”

“MacIntyre?” Gavin stated the question as if he were
thinking of something or someone. “Ye be kin ta Thicket MacIntyre?”

“You know his name?” Fin sounded surprised as he nodded.
“Most just call him Ole Man Thicket.”

“I nay be like most.” Gavin grinned.

“Aye, that be the truth,” Padon, Ian and Struan stated in
unison then the
brathairs
laughed.

Padon cleared his throat and his voice took a somber tone.
“I be afraid ye have fallen inta a trap at mi expense.”

“We expected it,” Struan piped in with a smile.

“This Brother Leod has some sort o’ magical control over
fire,” Padon replied on a rushed breath. He needed his
brathairs
to know
what he learned of their enemy.

“We know. It nay be a good resource for him,” Ian said with
a bit of humor in his voice. “How do ye think he lost his good looks the last
time we met? Ye think he would learn ta no mess with the MacKinnon
brathairs
.”

The knot in Padon’s chest relaxed. His
brathairs
knew
it was a trap and still came. They came for him, even though he had not
succeeded in killing MacGillivray and prevented them from being cursed. Instead
he had fallen as well. This blasted curse may have kept them separated,
suspended in time for many years, but it had not broken their tight-knit bond
as
brathairs
.

He breathed more easily, knowing the curse could and would
be defeated. The MacKinnon
brathairs
would make sure of it. And
vengeance would be sought if it meant his last breath in the name of his
family. He swallowed deep, preventing the monster of hatred from rearing its
ugly head and marring his reunion. There would be time for the hunt for
MacGillivray and a time to kill that black-hearted demon.

“I hate ta cut this reunion short,” Fin interrupted. “But I
smell kerosene. We need ta be leav—” He didn’t get to finish the sentence
before flames started licking the walls.

Gavin attempted to grab the doorknob but it was too hot and
sealed shut by the locks.

“This way,
brathairs
. We have a way out,” Padon
announced as he shoved the desk across the room, showing the hole in the floor.

Since he no longer needed to worry about silence, he grabbed
another board and yanked it from the edge of the hole. It had to be several
feet wider if he and his
brathairs
were to fit. Ian grabbed a board from
the other side and pulled it free. The walls around them lit up with flames,
urging them to work quicker. Everyone grabbed floor planks, tugging, ripping
them loose and tossing them aimlessly.

The second the hole was big enough for all to fit, Fin
lowered through, followed by Straun. Ian hesitated.

“Ye know I hate ta be wet unless it be inside Izzy,” he
jested.

Gavin glanced around at the fire swallowing the room and
shoved him hard. “Wet and safe or dry and burned ta a crisp. The latter, ye
never be between Izzy’s thighs again.”

“Point taken.” Ian dropped and landed with a splash, sending
water up through the hole with the force of a geyser.

Boards cracked around them as the fire grew. Neither waited.
Gavin quickly followed Padon into the water. It seemed as if they barely hit
the water before the walls of the room caved in. The only things keeping the
building from falling in on top of them were the solid underpinning and
pilings, but it was a matter of time before those were engulfed as well.

“Padon,” Lynn screamed as she ran toward the burning
building. Travis caught her around the waist and snatched her from her feet,
holding her tight against him. He dragged her away from the pier’s edge.

“Lass, you can’t go out there. It’s no safe.” As if to
emphasize his words, the building crumbled upon itself and the pier became
engulfed in flames. “Damn. Fin.”

She heard his muttered words and knew he was worried for
Fin’s safety as was she once it hit her Fin was out there as well as several
others. She stopped struggling and leaned into him, giving as much as receiving
support as they waited, hoping for a miracle.

The woman she had just met named Izzy stood at her side,
staring out over the water. She twisted a section of her shoulder-length,
two-tone-colored hair in her fingers nervously as she waited. The top section
of her hair was dark but about two inches of it from the end was bright white
as if she were letting it grow out to its natural color. The way the fire
danced in her brilliant green eyes made them appear as if they were glowing
with anger mixed with despair and she chewed her lower lip intently, showing
her angst. Lynn reached and touched her shoulder, giving her a weak smile of
hope. Izzy only nodded, batting back tears that threatened to fall at any
second.

The man who had driven the other car, Ned, stood beside her
and Lynn saw the pain in his face. The older man maintained a stocky fighter’s
stance and didn’t say much. But it was obvious. He was more than a member of
the society. She’d learned a few minutes earlier that he worked for a woman
named May, who came from America in search of a castle and a family who’d been
cursed. In her heart, she believed in the story she read in an old diary she
found in a box of books at a store that was going out of business. It turned
out to be the MacKinnon brothers’ sister Akira’s diary. According to Ned, if it
weren’t for May’s strong will and tenacity, the brothers would probably never
have been found and freed.

“Ian, you best be safe,” Izzy stated as if voicing her
wishes made them happen.

“I be nothing less, mi
dona leannan
.” Squealing, she
turned and ran toward the dark figure walking from the water off to the right
of the burning pier. When she leapt, he caught her in his arms and kissed her
so passionately, Lynn blushed. There was no doubt those two were a pair and
belonged to one another.

Looking past the ardent couple, Lynn’s heart pounded at the
sight of Padon taking long, hurried strides in her direction. His flesh was
cold and wet when he took her in his arms. Water dripped from his hair but she
didn’t care. He was safe.

“I thought you were trapped inside.” She looked toward what
was left of the burning pier. His fingers touched her chin and turned her face
to him.

“A madman and his fire can nay keep mi from ye, mi wee one.”
Padon captured her lips and led her mouth into the hottest kiss she ever
remembered.

Lifting onto the balls of her feet, she deepened the kiss,
not caring who watched or stood near. She stretched her arms around his neck as
best as possible. His hands moved to her back, tugging her tightly against him.
The wet kilt around his waist did nothing to hide the way he felt about her.
His hard cock pressed against her abdomen and as short as she was, it seemed to
poke her in the bellybutton. The stroke of his cock to that sensitive navel
sent phenomenal pings of need to her clit. It tightened, ready to burst if he
so much as touched it.

“Ahem.” Travis cleared his throat loudly to gain their
attention. It thrilled her to see Fin stood safely at his side with Travis’ arm
hanging loosely across his shoulders. When they broke apart, he nodded toward
the sound of sirens far off in the distance. “We need ta be leaving or we may
have a lot ta answer for.”

Padon brushed another quick kiss to her lips. “Until later,
mi wee one.” The heat in his eyes promised more than just a kiss and her
stomach did flips.

They turned in unison to see Ian at the water’s edge with a
bow and arrow.

“Ye say ye saw a boat tied under the pier and ye undid the
plug for the fuel.” He was talking to one of the men who had swum under the
pier with Fin to rescue Padon.

“Aye,” the young man proclaimed excitedly as he pointed at a
dot on the water, headed upriver. “It was draining as they boarded so it
shouldn’t last much longer before they run out o’ fuel.”