Highland Hearts of the Clan Kincaid Box Set

by Elise Ramsay

  Tearing into the Castle, Catriona continued to breathe hard and weep as she ran. Coming in through one of the front entrances, she made a great show of distress until, finally, people began to appear, all trying to find out what the commotion was all about.

  Evan appeared from the great hall. His eyes were bleary and he had a slightly vacant look. He had, of course, been drinking. He looked at her with much interest and little concern.

  “Why are you shrieking, sister?”

  “Where’s Kyle? I need to speak to Kyle.”

  “Why?”

  “Please, Evan, you have to find him.”

  Catriona knew that she could not blurt out the details of Fiona’s death here, in front of the assorted clansmen and women who had gathered about her. That could go very wrong, with high emotions and clansmen setting off in all directions. Kyle was not a steady enough leader to control that if it happened. One false move would ruin her plan. Catriona tried to convey with her eyes that she could not speak in front of this small crowd. Squinting at her, Evan finally understood. Leaning in, he took her roughly by the arm and pulled her towards him. In a play of his own, he addressed her.

  “Catriona, you’re drunk. I will not have you making a display of yourself here, in front of your own Clan! Ach, we will find Kyle, right enough. Then you can explain yourself to him.” With that, he pulled her sharply away and along the corridor back into the great hall. Catriona could hear shocked mumblings behind her. No doubt tales of her drunkenness would have run wild through the Clan before the day was over.

  On reaching the great hall, Catriona was relieved to see they were alone. He let go of her arm as soon as they had been out of sight of the rest. For a moment she wondered at the differences between Evan and Kyle. Kyle was becoming easier to read, more open in his cruelty. Evan was more or less silent for most of the time. Of course, he was the younger brother of the Chief, and a Chief who was very vocal and arrogant at that. Yet, Catriona did not really believe that Evan was intimidated by Kyle. He seemed mostly to be observing him in some way.

  “Catriona, what was that all about?”

  “Evan, I couldnae say it there, in front of the Clan.”

  “Say what?”

  Catriona knew that Evan was shrewd. Her performance would need to be immaculate. Bringing forth images of everything that she had seen that day, Catriona began to weep. It was no performance.

  “Catriona!”

  “I... I’m sorry. I found a body, out on the far edge of our lands. She’s dead.” Her hands began to shake as she thought of the awful sight of Fiona Sinclair’s mutilated body.

  “Who, for God’s sake?”

  “Fiona Blair.” Catriona wept in earnest.

  Evan seemed not to know what to do with his sister. As she drooped forwards, her head almost in her lap, he could do nothing but stare at her curiously. Her shoulders were shaking and the sobs seemed almost as if they were being ripped from her chest and expelled from her body. He slowly reached out a hand, as if to stroke her hair. At the very last second, he dropped his hand back down into his own lap. Catriona must have known this Fiona Blair quite well, he mused. He hadn’t known her himself, but had known of her.

  “Catriona? What had happened to her? An accident of some sort? What?”

  Catriona lifted her head and turned horror filled eyes upon him.

  “Nay, Evan. This wasnae an accident. Somebody has ripped Fiona Blair apart. I’ve never seen such an awful sight. And they just left her there, laying on the ground at the side of the woodland.”

  “Where exactly, Catriona?” Evan needed her to concentrate. He needed to know exactly what had happened. An idea was beginning to form in his mind, but he could not quite bring it forth.

  “Catriona?”

  “It’s an hour from here. South east along the Turloch Valley pathway. There’s the very edge of the large woodland, you can get to it from the path.”

  “The edge of Sinclair land, and the start of the Kincaid.”

  “Aye, I suppose it is. I dinnae know it so well, Evan.”

  “Right, we need to get you to Kyle. He’s going to want to question you, so you need to be ready for that.” He grabbed at her arm again, this time less roughly than before.

  You need to be ready for that. The hairs on her arms stood on end and Catriona felt suddenly cold. What had Evan meant by that? It was as if he knew she was not telling the full truth. Was he warning her, or threatening her? Evan led her upstairs to his own rooms.

  “Why are we not going to Kyle?” Catriona felt a little wrong footed.

  “He’ll have to come to us.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he has somebody staying in his rooms.”

  “Oh.” Catriona said, full of knowing.

  “Ach, no. It’s not a lassie. It’s Thomas Mackinnon.”

  “Thomas Mackinnon?” Catriona tried not to show anything more than vague interest in the guest.

  “Aye, he’s sick or drunk or something. Whatever it is, he’s moaning and groaning and Kyle won’t let him leave.”

  “Won’t let him?” Catriona tried not to sound concerned.

  “Aye, he won’t let him leave until he’s recovered himself.”

  “Oh, aye, of course.” Catriona fought the feeling growing inside her that Thomas Mackinnon was likely Kyle’s prisoner. Had Thomas Mackinnon seen something? Did he know what had happened? Had he been a part of it? There were more questions than answers, and Catriona was growing exhausted.

  “You wait here, I’ll fetch Kyle.” As he left, Catriona’s fear rose to a new height and she feared she would be sick. Get a hold of yourself!

  Catriona spent those precious few minutes getting back into character. Shocked, but not too shocked. She had told it all already to Evan, she must not overdo it. If she simply behaved in the same way, said exactly the same things over again, Evan would become suspicious himself. He seemed to her to have suspicions enough already.

  Hearing footsteps, Catriona knew that her moment had come. This was the start of her plan.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lachlan Kincaid made Darach go through each and every part of his day again and again.

  “Is the body still there?”

  “Aye, uncle, as far as I know.”

  “Did you touch her at all?”

  “Aye, I had to turn her over. I didnae know until then if the woman was alive or dead.”

  “But you left nothing of yours behind?”

  “Such as?”

  “Anything that could be linked back to the Kincaid Clan.”

  “Ach, no, I didnae leave anything there.”

  “And the lass, this Catriona, you say, she has returned to the Castle to find evidence?”

  Darach’s heart sank. Lachlan Kincaid sounded utterly incredulous at the idea. When Darach thought about it, he realized how unsound it appeared. How could he explain to this man that he had delved into the very soul of this woman and had seen inside, her need to atone? How could he explain the years of suffering and neglect which had led one man into madness, and his sister into a lifetime of guilt which should not have been hers? Lachlan would laugh him out of the room.

  “Aye, Uncle. Catriona has gone back to Sinclair. She strongly suspects that her own brother has killed this woman, in the hopes of fostering an excuse for rightful vengeance upon your clan.”

  “But surely, she is with her brother in this? How can she be against him?”

  “I believe her to be.”

  “And I do not.”

  Darach could see another side to his uncle now. A side where all the smiles and the laughter lines had left his face, only to be replaced with emotionless logic. Perhaps that was what had made him so successful, his ability to switch off his heart and think only with his head.

  “Why would the sister of our greatest enemy confide in you that her brother may be a murderer? You, blood kin of the Kincaid!”

  Darach was beginning to see what Lachlan saw. How ridiculous he mu
st look, and yet he knew in his heart that Catriona was true to him. He could not tell his uncle he had made love to her. Darach could not use that, of all things, to claim his better knowledge of Catriona.

  “Aye, I understand why you’d be suspicious Uncle.”

  Lachlan seemed not to have heard him. Instead he was thoughtfully rubbing at his temples. After some minutes of this silence, Lachlan sat up straight and looked directly into the eyes of his nephew.

  “A trap. Of course, she was a trap! Catriona Sinclair is a witness! Her brother dumps the poor wench’s body, then leaves his sister nearby to wait, hoping that someone connected to the Kincaid will happen by.”

  Darach could see where this was going, and he didn’t like it. He had promised to get assurances of her safety from the Kincaid because he had been so sure that he knew his own kin. What Darach had not anticipated was this cold, logical approach to potential danger. The thought processes honed to a knife’s edge over years and years of feuding.

  “Then, she comes along, just as you are turning the body over, both you and the dead woman covered in blood.”

  “But she didnae say I’d killed the woman.” Darach decided to omit the fact that Catriona originally had thought him to be the killer.

  “Aye, she will have played you like a fiddle. Anything to put her at the scene, then she’d say aught to let her escape without coming to harm. Then, she could be seen to head back to her Castle, crying and wailing that her fellow clans-woman was dead and that the blood kin of the Kincaid had been bloodied, his hands all over the dead woman!”

  “Uncle! It wasnae like that!”

  “Ach, Darach. This is the Highlands, lad. We do things verra differently.” He nodded at Darach kindly before rising from his seat and heading off with purpose to join his sons in debate. Aye, you do things differently here. Doesnae make them right!

  Kyle closed and locked the door to his chamber. There was no sense in letting that idiot, Thomas Mackinnon escape. Especially now, when the crucial moment had arrived. When Evan had rushed into the room, first staring in bewilderment at the crying heap of a man that was Thomas Mackinnon before beckoning his brother to follow him, Kyle had known that the body had been found. Thomas Mackinnon must not be able to bring his plans to ruin now. The damned fool had lost his nerve. The killing had affected him badly. Kyle thought, with some disgust, that Mackinnon was a poor excuse for a man. Crying his eyes out and being sick everywhere, like a wee lassie! He should be ashamed of himself!

  Kyle knew he could not keep Mackinnon for too long without raising suspicions at both Sinclair and Mackinnon Castles. Why had he, once again, picked a useless fool to work with? If Mackinnon did not regain his senses, how could he release him? Kyle would most definitely be given away then. If Mackinnon went out spilling his guts, telling all he knew, the plan would be over. Furthermore, Kyle himself would be at risk. If the quivering fool spoke aught of how Kyle had slain the wench, there would be no hiding place. Not only would he be exposed as setting the plan in the first place, but the very nature of the killing would be declared a secret murder. Having no good reason for slaying his own clans-woman, the killing would not be left, as was customary, to be dealt with in the Highland way of vengeance or compensation. It would no longer be an acceptable Clan against Clan killing, whereby the wronged Clan could take out their own revenge, as was their right. Nay, maybe the matter would even be sent to one of the King’s new sheriffs. They were appearing everywhere now, even in the Highlands. His experience of them thus far was that they dealt mostly with thefts. Theft still being the biggest crime in Scotland. But maybe they’d like to cut their teeth on something new. What better than the vicious slaying of an innocent clans-woman by her own Chief? Kyle shook off the notion; surely, it was too farfetched! Still, Mackinnon was a problem, sheriff or no sheriff.

  “Come, Kyle. Catriona has found something.” Evan hurried him out of the room. Kyle did not see his brother’s curious look as he turned the key in the lock, making Mackinnon his prisoner.

  “Found something?” Kyle was intent on his own role. He must not look as if he were expecting this. Even his own brother must not be suspect him. Lord! Since the death of his Da, there was naybody Kyle could trust anymore!

  “Aye, she’s found a body Kyle.”

  “Where? Who?”

  “Ach, she’s in here, you can ask her yourself.”

  Kyle had not spoken to his sister since the day he had struck her across the face. He had, of course, seen her awkwardly fleeing earlier, upon presumably finding their mother. Still, Catriona did not know that he had seen her.

  Kyle would need to play this right. He still wasnae sure if his sister stumbling upon the body was a good thing or a bad thing. Only careful interrogation would settle his mind on that question.

  On entering the chamber, Kyle looked at the shaking, weeping form that was Catriona. His hatred for her grew and grew, in a way he could not explain. The fact that she was a sobbing mess, dirty and disheveled, inexplicably made Kyle want to strike her again. He imagined doing just that, and smiled to himself at the secret pleasure.

  Evan stepped quietly back, out of Kyle’s vision. As usual, he said nothing. Evan quietly mused that this approach had won him many a secret. In Evan’s silence, Kyle’s manner often became more unguarded and imprudent than he might have planned for. Something was very wrong here and Evan intended to find out what it was. He trusted neither his brother nor his sister, but had an instinct that, before this affair was over, he would be forced to choose a side. Evan knew he must choose the right one.

  “So, Catriona, wee Evan here tells me that you’ve been out and found yourself a body! Is that right, lassie?”

  It was the first time Catriona had heard her brother’s voice in weeks and it struck terror into her heart. Courage, dinnae fail me now.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Darach paced the floor of his chamber. It was only hours since he had watched Catriona depart on her journey towards certain danger. It felt like days. Darach clenched his fists and ground his teeth, feeling more frustrated than he had ever done in his life.

  Knowing there was no point in approaching his kin once more on the matter, Darach realized that he must decide upon a plan of his own. However, whatever plan he did come up with could only be seen to be going against his kin. In whatever way he would try to explain it, they would never be able to see that he had tried to act in the interests of all those he cared about. Darach looked out at the star strewn night sky. It would be hours and hours until his noon meeting with Catriona at the stream at Glannoch. He could not even rest until then, his mind and body would not allow it. What danger was she in right now? Was she even still alive? Darach punched the cold stone of the wall as he thought of the lass going back in to that evil place to get evidence. Evidence that would help his own kin. Yet, his own kin would do nothing to help her. And what of his meeting with Catriona? He would be forced to tell her that he did not have the assurances that he had so easily and confidently promised. He rubbed at his painfully swelling fist. Darach had promised to help Catriona in any way he could. If that meant going against his own kin, then that’s what he would do.

  Raging emotions threatened to overwhelm Catriona. Standing before her was the man who had smothered her own Ma to death. The same man who had ripped at the body of the only friend she had left in this God Forsaken Castle. Her fear and hatred of him battled for control. Catriona knew that neither emotion would help her now. She needed to look emotional but to think clearly.

  “Catriona? Answer me.”

  “Aye, Kyle. I’ve found a body out there this afternoon.”

  “Did you know the person?”

  “Aye,” She began to weep again. “It was Fiona Blair.” Catriona let her head drop. She couldnae look at his face. She did not trust herself if she saw any pleasure there.

  “Fiona Blair?” Kyle sounded shocked. Too shocked.

  “What had happened to her? An accident?”

  Catrion
a fought down bile. How could he be so matter of fact? He had torn the life out of her friend. This vicious, evil beast was acting as if he knew naught of it.

  “No, Kyle. It wasnae an accident. She was a terrible mess -- somebody had killed her on purpose.”

  Kyle sat down on the edge of Evan’s bed with a sigh. “That’s awful. Who would have done such a thing?”

  Evan shifted silently. In that moment, he knew full well who had done it. His Chief was not quite the excellent liar he thought he was.

  Catriona began to feel hot and dizzy. The unreality of the conversation and the energy it took to keep playing her part were almost too much.

  For some reason, Thomas Mackinnon was important. Catriona would find out why, but first she must get these awful moments over and done with. Drawing in a deep breath, her resolve began to return to her.

  “I dinnae know a person in this world who could do the awful things I saw, Kyle.”

  “Aye, well, that person must be out there, sister.”

  “Aye.”

  “Where exactly did you find the body?”

  The body. Fiona was not even a person to him. She was a tiny part of a bigger plan.

  “I was telling Evan, she was laying down by the start of the woodland off the Turloch Valley pathway, an hour’s ride maybe.”

  “Oh well, there we have it. The Kincaid have slain one of my very own clans-women!” Kyle stood up angrily.

  Evan, still behind his brother, eyed him. The outburst had come far too soon to be believable. Evan now saw the whole plan and smiled to himself. How was it that age alone saw to it that this insane fool before him was the Chieftain of one of the most powerful Clans in the western highlands?

  Catriona, thinking similar thoughts, cast her head down again and began to weep. She could not let Kyle see her disbelief, it would give her away.

  “They will pay for this, right enough!” Kyle went on, blissfully unaware of his siblings’ incredulity.