HauntedLaird

by Tara Nina

  “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 go
od 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 nerv
ously 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.