Authors: Sarah Hoss
Chapter 19
Pine trees swayed to the rhythm of the wind and somewhere nearby, an owl called out.
One-two-three.
An owl answered. So was the game the two owls played while Grant waited to find out his fate. As if they were taunting him, discussing between each other the outcome of all of this.
Grant knew he was in the mountains but not far. Sitting on the side in one of those nature lookouts. John and the other goon stood apart, one on each side of him and to the front was Aiden so that he could look them in the eye. The moon hung full and low in the sky giving him the ability to see what was going to happen.
A cool breeze ruffled his hair and gooseflesh decorated his skin. A part of him wondered if it was from the breeze or the unknown. For the second time in his life, he was afraid. The first being when Margo had crashed and died.
Now, here he stood, staring at her brother and it all came rushing back to him. He could hear the sirens, see the flashing lights on the building. He had focused on her, trying to keep her calm. She was suspended upside down as the car had flipped. He remembered smelling a combination of her perfume and the exhaust of the car.
“Grant, it’s been a long time.” Aiden approached but kept a distance.
“What is this about? The debt has been paid.”
“Are you serious?” He gave a pissed-off snort and glanced away, shaking his head in disbelief. “This has
nothing
to do with Malcolm and his debt.” He circled as he spoke. “Have you forgotten her so easily?” Then, walking toward Grant, he punched him in the face. His head flung to the right. “You bastard.”
He spit blood then focused his attention on Aiden. The goons still stood their ground.
This was about Margo?
“Do you think I could forget her? Christ.” Aiden shook his head. “I loved her. I was the one who wanted a relationship.”
“Oh, and she didn’t? Is that what you are telling me?”
“That’s what I’m saying. All she wanted was someone to lift her standing within the community and I was the key to doing so.”
He took a step closer. “You son of a bitch, she is in the ground not four years and you speak so badly of her.”
“Why do you think I broke it off with her?”
“She said it was because you were cheating on her and decided to be with the other woman.” He clasped his fist in front of his chest and massaged it as if he ached to punch him.
Grant calculated his thoughts. He had to be careful of what he said not knowing how short this man’s fuse was. Clearly, Margo had been telling him lies.
He sighed. “That night.” He paused as it all came back to him again. He could smell her perfume, see the way her necklace sparkled in the light of the restaurant. “I had gone to the restaurant with a ring in my pocket. I was going to propose during dessert. In the middle of the meal, her phone went off and she excused herself. After a few minutes, I went looking for her, just to make sure she was all right.”
In the hallway where the bathrooms were, a Harry Belafonte song played. He didn’t see her standing there. He returned to the table and told the waiter they weren’t finished and he would be right back, then he walked through the restaurant to find her. She stood with her back to him over by a large palm tree in the corner of the room. It was so large that it almost hid her. He approached but stopped dead in his tracks as he overheard the conversation.
“Yah, I’m pretty sure he’s going to ask me tonight. It’s done. Soon I will be the lady of the castle and all that it entails.” A pause. “I told you, nothing will change between us. But this is my chance to be something more. My family was left with nothing but a lot of debt hidden by a good name. I am not letting an opportunity like this pass.”
He closed his eyes. They weren’t kidding when they said love was blind and he’d been living in the dark way too long. He turned and headed back to his table. Thoughts of what to do absorbed his every move, so much that he nearly knocked over a vase and ran into a waiter. He had to end it. How?
Ordering a whiskey shot, he waited for her to come back. She was all smiles as she approached, apologized for being gone so long, and explained that her girlfriend had just had a fight with her husband and needed to talk.
“I ordered us some dessert.”
“Thank you.” She adjusted herself in her seat.
“There is something I want to tell you.”
She smiled, and he knew that she was thinking, Here it comes.
“I’m listening.”
She took a sip of her wine.
He downed the shot. He felt uncomfortable sitting here. He suddenly wanted to be any place but here. Scratching his cheek, he then rubbed his forehead.
“Grant, what is it?”
Here it goes. “I am ending our relationship. I’m sorry.”
She continued to sit, smiling as if she hadn’t heard him. Then realization hit her and she looked dumbfounded.
“You are doing what?”
“Breaking up with you.”
“Why? You can’t just break up with me.”
“I can and I am. As for why, I think you can handle only one man in your life and it isn’t going to be me.”
Her face turned an ugly shade of pink then red. “I haven’t the faintest idea of what you are talking about.”
He worked his jaw as his anger grew. “Don’t think me the fool. You have another man on the side. That’s who called tonight. Well, he can have you.”
Grant waved the waiter over and asked for the bill.
Margo ripped the napkin off of her lap and through it on the table. They continued to argue for a few minutes longer until she stood up and left the table. Throwing money on the table near the bill, he jumped up and chased her.
They had driven separately to the restaurant because she had said she had to work. Now he wondered if she hadn’t been with the other man. He couldn’t let her get into her car, though. There had been way too much wine consumed.
He stood in front of her car. “Get out.” She shook her head. “Get out!” She started the car. He ran over to her window and tried to open the door. “Don’t do this. Let me in, and I’ll drive you.”
“Fuck off.”
He jiggled the door handle but to no avail.
She put the car in gear and took off, nearly knocking him over as she pulled out of her spot in front of the restaurant. He watched as she drove the half block to the light, but she didn’t stop and blew through it, to be T-boned by another car. He screamed, and as he ran, he yelled at a passerby to call for help.
When he got to the mangled mess of a car, she was dangling in her seat, held in place by the seatbelt. Blood dripped from her head. He tried the passenger side door, but it wouldn’t open. She had locked the doors to keep him out.
When the emergency personnel arrived, he was still trying to get to her. He stepped back and let them work, but when they pronounced her dead, he dropped to his knees and wept.
“I tried everything I could to get to her and save her, but it wouldn’t have mattered. The impact killed her.” Grant hung his head as a tear slid down his cheek, long-forgotten details pulling forth a fresh new wound.
“You lying piece of shit.” Aiden ran toward Grant, fury and anger flowing off him like sparks. He would refuse to hear anything that would tarnish his sister’s memory. He saw the error in his words now.
The two of them gripped forearms and wrestled back and forth, each almost losing their footing. Grant recovered first and took a swing, his fist connecting with Aiden’s right cheek. The man staggered backward a little. He took another swing, his fist landing in his opponent’s mid-section, causing the man to fall to his knees.
As Grant reached down to grab Aiden by the shirt, Aiden brought his fist up and hit him between the legs.
Grant dropped.
“Grab him and hold him.” Aiden stood, wiping the blood from his face. “I’m fucking over this and it ends now. I came to avenge my sister’s death and that is exactly what I am going to do.” Aiden accepted a gun from John.
Grant stared at John, unable to believe that he would be a part of this. “Why?”
John smiled but it didn’t last long. Walking up to him, John leaned in and whispered, “Satisfaction. See, I was the other guy.”
Grant didn’t have time to react before John threw a punch connecting with his face. Shaking his head to clear the pain, Grant recovered and spit blood.
His pulse thundered through his veins as Aiden leveled the gun at his head. The two other men released him and stepped away. As he prepared to cock the gun, a shot rang out, hitting him in the leg right above the knee and causing him to drop. He yelled out in pain. Then all hell broke loose.
“Shhh, we can’t let them hear us.” Malcolm placed his hand on Christina’s shoulder. “I need you positioned across the street in the woods and ready to shoot. If Aiden makes one move to harm Grant, then take him down.”
Malcolm turned back to the scene unfolding before him. His cousin stood, surrounded, with Aiden circling him. He was saying something, but unable to hear.
He, Ramsey, and Graham moved into position in the woods beside the clearing and waited. When he saw Aiden’s men leave the warehouse with Grant, he was afraid they would lose him. He had ran out the door carrying his wife, but when he saw Abigail running as if she could catch the car, he sat his wife down on the nearest chair and went after her. Graham, Ramsey, and Christina came out of hiding and Graham got in the car he had parked nearby.
“We have to go after them,” Abigail said, panting.
“We will. I’m going to call a cab for you and my wife. Take her back to your house. We will meet you when we have our chief.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew some cash. Placing the money in her hands, he then turned to Christina.
“Call a cab.”
He ran back over to his wife, squatted down in front of her, and touched her cheek. “We must part for a moment longer, but it won’t be long.”
She smiled at him. He had missed her so much while they were apart.
“Forgive me?”
“Malcolm, aye. Go, get Grant, and come back to me.”
He kissed her soundly, dreading to part from her, but knowing he must. “Go with Abigail to her house. We will meet you there.”
He left then, left her sitting on that chair, and never looked back. Afraid he wouldn’t go.
Now, here they sat in the woods, waiting for the right moment to save Grant.
A fight broke out between Aiden and Grant, and using the distraction, the two men moved a little closer.
Chapter 20
The sound of the gunshot reverberated through the mountains. Malcolm curled his lips into a grin. Christina had hit her mark. The two men holding Grant spun around to see where the shot had come from. Aiden gripped his arm as it hung dead at his side.
John ran toward Aiden, grabbed the gun from his hand, and aimed at Grant. His intent was clear, to finish what they’d started. He let off a round the same time Christina did. Hers must have gone first, for she shot John in the shoulder, causing him to jerk when he fired. His shot ricocheted off the tree behind Grant. The odds were even now. He and Graham ran through the woods and attacked the two men as they had let Grant go when the shot was fired.
Malcolm gripped the shoulder of his man and swung him around, pushing him up against a tree. He threw three left-handed punches, one right after the other. The other man nearly fell over and used the moment to duck and scramble away. Going after him, he was brought up short with a knee to the side. He grabbed the man’s leg and twisted, causing him to fall to the ground, catching himself with his hands. He kicked him in the ribs, and the man curled into a fetal position and rolled over. He stood back a moment and glanced to see how Graham fared and was happy to see his assailant on the ground with Graham pointing his gun at him. In the distance, he could hear police sirens. Abigail had made the call just as she said she would.
“Grant, are you all right?” He pulled out his gun and pointed the barrel toward the man who had begun to crawl away.
“Aye, cousin. I’m fine.”
Christina came out of the woods and crossed the street.
“Lass, your shooting amazes me again.”
Abigail beamed at the praise. “Well, my dad always did want a son.” She smiled and winked at Grant.
The police showed up and after moments of talking with them and making sure they understood who were the bad guys, the four of them stood watching as Aiden, John, and his men were handcuffed and loaded into the squad cars.
Malcolm turned to his cousin and chief. “If no one has any objections, I would like to go to my wife.” No one objected, and he walked away toward the car.
Chapter 21
Pulling up to the curb, Malcolm and Grant jumped out of the car before Graham could put it in ‘park.’ They both ran toward the door, eager to see their women.
Grant opened the door and walked in. “Starshine, where are you?” he asked as he peeked around the corner into the living room. Finding it empty, he proceeded to the kitchen as Malcolm stroke purposefully down a hallway.
“They’re in the kitchen,” Grant said, jogging around the table and brining Abigail into his arms. She felt good, right. Backing away a bit, he examined her.
“Are you all okay?” His hands roamed her body, inspecting.
“Yes, they didn’t hurt me, us. They didn’t hurt either of us.” She returned the inspection and searched his person for any signs of damage. “What about you? Is this your blood?”
She pointed to the stain on his right chest. Her fingers fumbled with his shirt to see his skin and the wound that she feared might be there.
“Nay, it’s Aiden’s. We fought.”
She patted his chest, glad to hear the news.
Graham and Christina entered the kitchen. “Can I get you both something to drink?” She went to the fridge when they nodded and poured four glasses of lemonade and passed them out.
After an hour of talk about the day’s events and making sure that indeed everyone was truly unharmed, everyone but Grant stood to leave.
As the door closed, Grant turned and eased Abigail into his arms. “I owe you an apology. I should never have involved you as I did.” He slipped away and gently grasped her face in his hands. “When I found out that you had been taken and then when I saw you with a gun to your side”—he sighed—“I knew what fear was.”
She hugged him and laid her head on his chest. He ran a hand up and down her spine.
“It wasn’t as if you could have known it would turn out like that.” She peered up at him, meeting him eye to eye. “But you’re right. No more secrets.”
“Aye, no more secrets.” He kissed her. Gently at first, then with more urgency. He needed her to know how he felt. As if that one kiss could tell her everything in his heart.
Reluctantly, he stepped away. “I have to go back.”
“Really?”
“Aye. I’m chief, and therefore I have duties. Besides, there is a lot to explain to a few people.”
She left his arms, and he felt empty. He wanted her in his life. During the months they had been chatting online, he had grown to care for her more than he realized. Now, with all they had been through, he wanted her near.
“I don’t want you to go, but I understand. You will be wanting to take the shield with you.” She turned to look at him. “Is this goodbye then?”
He watched as a tear slipped down her cheek. Seeing it made him feel two things—sadness, for he never wanted to see her cry, and happiness, for it meant that she felt something for him too. She had every right to turn away from him and he would understand it if she did.
“Nay, in a week, I want you to come to Scotland. I will have an airline ticket waiting for you at the airport. You can ship the shield and sign over the paperwork to me then.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Yes. It’s a date.”