“They willnae get the chance, I promise ye,” he swore solemnly, his blue eyes intense on hers.
“Hugh, be careful,” she whispered, catching his hand as he turned.
Hugh grinned then, his white teeth flashing. “’Tis what I do, lass. I am the savage, remember? They’d be best tae fear me, aye?”
Claire met his eyes and saw the humor and excitement reflected there. “Oh, God, you’re going to enjoy this aren’t you?”
“A wee tussle will be good for my heart health,” he teased, tweaking her chin.
Shaking her head, she squeezed his hand before dropping it. “You’re such an ass.”
“That’s nae verra flattering, lass.”
Her response was nothing short of a snort but it seemed to please him, as his grin grew even wider and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “There’s my bold lass again. Now stay.”
“I’m ever obedient,” she whispered, swallowing back her fear.
“Och,” Hugh scoffed in turn as he melted into the crowd. “There is nothing obedient about ye!” Just like that, he was gone from her sight, and Claire felt the urge to stand on her toes to try to catch sight of him but refrained, knowing that in doing so she might give whoever was looking for her an easy target. And there was no doubt in her mind that they were out there. She trusted Hugh’s instincts on the matter absolutely, so she tried to look casual, taking another doughnut from the bag and taking a bite. It was sawdust in her suddenly dry mouth.
“Ya-a-a-ah!” The shout came again and Claire eased further into the crowd as they pressed around the fish market. The fish flew back and forth as her eyes followed the action, but her mind was fogged with worry for Hugh, his safety rather than her own at the forefront of her mind. For all his bravado, these were modern times with modern weapons that he wouldn’t be able to combat.
Bodies pressed in from all sides and a voice whispered close to her ear. “I hae them. Walk now. Leave the way we came. I will follow.” Claire turned but Hugh was already gone.
Her feet began to move automatically and Claire thought with a touch of wonder that if Hugh had asked her in that particular moment to follow him to the moon, she would have complied without hesitation.
Chapter 30
On shaky legs, Claire walked woodenly out to the street, along the sidewalk, and around the corner from Pike’s Market. In less than a block, she was on an empty narrow lane heading toward a deserted alleyway. Traffic hummed from nearby streets, but all Claire could focus on was the footsteps echoing behind her, calling for her to look back. Clutching her purse, she fought the urge to do that or to run. Bold lass? Ha! This sickening anxiety was akin to being stalked by a mugger, knowing that they were there and knowing that trying to flee was the quickest way to provoke an attack.
“Mrs. Manning.”
The voice was close behind, but Claire ignored it and walked faster. A car passed by and she resisted the impulse to call for help. Was it one agent or two, she wondered, fighting the panic welling up inside of her and trying to remember what she had learned about self-defense, but her mind was clouded. How had she put this danger aside all week? How had she forgotten about it? Where was Hugh? What did he mean see Scotland with him?
“Mrs. Manning?” A hand landed on her shoulder and, unnerved, Claire swung around to face her dark-suited pursuer just as Hugh emerged from between two buildings and slipped a brawny arm around the lone agent’s neck. She stepped back with surprise, a hand to her throat, as the agent struggled against Hugh’s unyielding grip and kicked out.
“This guy botherin’ you, ma’am?” Hugh said in a brash Southern drawl, dragging Claire from her shocked stupor. “Do you know this guy?”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life,” she answered honestly, raising a brow at his “good ole boy” accent.
The man tried to pull Hugh’s arm away, to no avail. “I’m a Fed …”
Hugh tightened his arm around the man’s neck, cutting off the words that would have been impossible to plausibly defend against. “A fiend? A thief? A molester of innocent women?” He looked at Claire. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay,” she said, not having to fake the quiver in her voice. It was an agent! And he would have had her if not for Hugh. Thank God for his instincts! “Thank you, he was really creeping me out.” The agent’s eyes bulged, his face turning red then purple before her eyes. She darted a look at Hugh’s determined face and then back to the agent. “Umm, maybe you should …”
The agent sagged and fell to the ground at Hugh’s feet, unconscious.
Claire gasped. “Oh, my God, is he …?”
“He’ll be fine.”
Claire threw herself into his arms, hugging him fiercely before pulling back with a frown. “Are you crazy? You could have killed him!” she scolded.
Hugh lifted a brow and waited a moment for something further before asking, “Am I tae assume by yer tone ye would consider that a bad thing?”
“Yes, it’s a bad thing!” she huffed, slapping ineffectually at his chest. “We don’t need to give them more reason than they already have to hunt us down. Oh my God, how did they find us? Me? How did they know I’m here? What do we do now? And ma’am? Ma’am? Where did you get that accent?”
“Heard it from a man in the market.” Hugh brushed her hair back tenderly and pressed his lips against her forehead as he soothed away her fear and panic.
“Well, it was smart,” she told him with a slight smile, his touch having worked its usual magic and her heartbeat returning to normal. “He never saw you and will hopefully assume that some tourist came to my ‘rescue.’”
Hugh shrugged off the compliment. “I hae my moments. Come, we need tae away quickly. He wasnae alone in the market, and there may be others tae follow.”
“What about him?” Claire asked. “Would it be wrong to just leave him here?”
Hugh shook his head. “But it willnae be long before he awakes. We need more time.”
“He might have some handcuffs,” Claire said, then reconsidered. No, they couldn’t leave any indication that they had known who he was or leave any fingerprints. A car passed them by then, the driver looking on curiously, and with a glance at her watch, Claire knew that they didn’t have long before the street was filled with rush-hour traffic.
“Let’s just leave him and gae.” Hugh pulled the unconscious agent into the gap between the two buildings, hiding him from view of passersby, and urged Claire into motion. She turned to walk away then but had an idea and hurried back to the agent. Pulling the large handheld radio from his belt and finding his cell phone in his jacket pocket, she used her shirt to wipe her prints away before dropping both into the sewer runoff drain.
Hugh took Claire by the hand, pulling her along as he strode briskly away from the scene.
“That should buy us some more time, since he’ll have to find a phone before he can call it in,” she said, almost at a run to keep up with Hugh’s long strides.
“Good lass,” he said but was frowning fiercely. She could tell that his mind was working on a solution. “Is there some place we can gae?”
“My brother Ryan’s office is not far from here.” Hugh nodded and released her hand.
“Gae then, walk quickly,” he said, giving her a nudge forward. “I will follow once I make certain the others are nae following.”
“No!” Claire protested. “Come with me.”
Hugh shook his head. “I will follow ye, lass, but I will nae walk wi’ ye. I will nae give them proof that we are together where they mayhap hae none. Now, gae!” He gave her a push and Claire went reluctantly. “Faster, lass!” he urged. “This is nae time to dawdle.”
Resisting the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him, Claire hitched her purse over her shoulder and began to walk with purpose to the south. It was four o’clock and the streets were filling with cars and pedestrians, a crowd that would only thicken in the next hour or more. It would be good for them to have bodies to lose themselves
among, but would Hugh be able to track her movements through them?
Her weak estimate of “not far” was closer to a mile, and Claire reached her brother’s office building twenty minutes later, worrying that Hugh had not been able to follow and was even now wandering lost on the streets of Seattle, worrying over how close the agent had come to getting her, and worrying that they would find her again.
Time ticked slowly away as she paced the lobby restively.
When Hugh did walk in the door almost ten minutes later, Claire’s relief knew no bounds. She ran to him, flinging her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tightly as he gathered her up in his powerful embrace. She kissed his cheek, nose, and mouth frantically before Hugh caught her head in his big hand and took her lips in a more ardent kiss as he lifted her to her toes and then off her feet before they finally eased apart. “I should gae away more often,” he said with a grin.
“You should never leave me at all!” Claire countered. “I just worry then worry some more. As long as you’re with me, I don’t worry at all.”
His eyes were dark with concern at her words. Not for the danger they had faced or the unknown awaiting them together, but for her alone. “Surely ye can see that I can nae longer be wi’ ye, lass,” he paused with a sigh as he eased her back onto her own feet. “They hae nae way of identifying me, nae way tae know for certain who I am. I can slip away, disappear, and I should do so now while they hae no evidence linking us together.”
Claire shook her head vehemently in denial. “No, Hugh! I promised to help you get back to Scotland. You just asked me to go with you!”
“That isnae my priority any longer. My priority is ye and yer safety. I thought I had tae be at yer side to protect ye against the danger I wrought, but now I can see that I am jeopardizing yer safety every moment I am wi’ ye. We need tae part now before they hae proof that ye aided in my escape,” he insisted.
“We don’t know that they don’t, Hugh,” she said stubbornly. “They could have a mountain of proof that we don’t know about! It would be better if both of us got away, right?”
Hugh’s nostrils flared and his brows drew together as they did when he was getting angry, but Claire just stared back until his head was shaking once again. “Nae, ’tis too much tae ask of ye any longer. Too much risk and too much for ye tae deal wi’.”
Her eyes widened at that. “You think I can’t handle it?”
“Lass, yer scared already,” he pointed out, using—perhaps deliberately—the word that had offended him so when she had used it days before.
Claire bristled. Perhaps she was a little concerned, but given the circumstances, she thought it was completely reasonable. And it wasn’t like she was so lost to her nerves that she couldn’t be helpful to him. “You were right. It is a horrid word. I am not scared, Hugh. I am rightly and justifiably concerned for your wellbeing.”
“And I am concerned for yers.”
The harsh bite of the words gave Claire pause. She looked up at him curiously, aware that his arms still bound her tightly against him. His expression was dark, uncompromising. It told her clearly that he wouldn’t relent now if he thought he was doing what was best for her. Hugh would sacrifice any chance he had to escape the country to spare her. He would fight for her. Claire’s heart skipped a beat, then warmed. Well, Hugh might not believe it but there was a fighter in her as well.
“It is too dangerous, lass. Surely ye can see that now?”
“No, you need me.”
“Cannae ye hae the faith that I might be able tae make my own way?”
“I do believe you could,” she said. “I just don’t think you should.”
“Well then, yer wrong aboot that.”
With a nod and a bright smile, Claire stepped away and played the age-old game of pretending to hear only what one wanted to hear. “You’re absolutely right. So we’re agreed then? We stick together.”
“That is nae what I said!” he protested hoarsely. “We part ways now.”
“Right, we stay together.”
“Sorcha! Dinnae be mad!”
Claire just smiled serenely and pecked him lightly on the cheek. “Together.”
Hugh eased away and ran his hands through his hair until it was standing on end. “Why, lass? Why?”
Because I love you. Claire swallowed the astonishing thought back before the words made it to her lips but she couldn’t deny the truth.
It had been an incredible whirlwind. Not a romance or even a seduction but rather a … charming that had taken her completely by surprise. Yet it didn’t truly come as one. There was so much about Hugh Urquhart that was worth loving and so much more worth risking herself for to save him. It was what called to her from the moment she had first seen him, what had started all of this. She wasn’t going to back down from it now.
“We should get moving before our agent friend has a chance to wake up and close the net on us,” she said pertly, turning for the door, though she was aware that Hugh hadn’t moved to follow.
“Sorcha!”
Claire blinked up at him innocently as his commanding voice echoed through the lobby. “Yes?”
“Yer doing it again,” he growled.
It should have been terrifying, but Claire found the sound of his furious brogue to be oddly comforting.
“I know, and feel free to berate me soundly about that when we get back to the house,” she said cheerfully. “Now, come on! We need to hurry.”
“I told ye, I willnae endanger ye any longer!”
But all his anger and frustration couldn’t crack the calm surrounding her heart. “You’re yelling at me,” she said softly.
“I’m trying to make ye see reason, lass!”
Claire nodded sagely. “How’s that working out for you?”
“I’m aboot tae strangle ye wi’ my bare hands,” he grumbled as Claire pushed open the glass doors and walked out onto the sidewalk, forcing him to follow.
“Again, feel free, once we’re safely back at the house.”
“I willnae …”
Claire’s temporary phone rang, surprising them both, but she didn’t hesitate to answer it since only one person had the number. The traffic had picked up as rush hour set in and Claire could hardly hear anything. She plugged one ear and yelled into the phone. “Danny?”
“Hey, Sis, I got what you need.”
“You figured it out?” she asked in surprise, meeting Hugh’s gaze with a smile.
“Did you ever doubt it?” he asked with his usual narcissism. “What’s all that noise? Where are you?”
Frowning at her usually languid brother’s suddenly urgent tone, Claire answered, “At Ryan’s office.”
“Holy crap, Claire,” he cursed. “You’re not in your car, are you?”
Claire looked at Hugh. “No, it’s back at the terminal. Bainbridge side. Why?”
Danny was silent for a moment, and Claire had to wonder what was going on in his head. “That was pretty stupid.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“Listen, I want you to come over here,” her brother said. “But don’t get in a cab. Just wait there and I’ll come and get you.”
Glancing around at the thickening traffic, Claire knew they couldn’t stay put even in the crowds that would soon be filling the sidewalks. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Strangely, Danny didn’t even question her, and that worried Claire more than anything else. “You’re right. Start walking south and I’ll get you along the way.”
“Danny, what’s going on?”
“Walk. I’ll explain when I get there,” was all he said.
“Danny, you don’t have a car.”
“Minions.”
Danny hung up on her, and Claire turned to Hugh with a frown. “Danny’s coming to pick us up. Let’s go.”
“What’s going on?” he asked, falling into step beside her.
Claire chewed her lip. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing.”
; “But ye dinnae think so,” he said perceptively. “I told ye I should leave ye.”
“You leave me now, you leave me to the wolves,” Claire predicted grimly.
Chapter 31
“Okay, spill it,” Sorcha commanded her brother the moment they were seated in the backseat of one of the vehicles she had previously identified to Hugh as a van. Their walk of almost a mile in the shadows of the towering buildings had passed in silence between them but had been filled with the raucous noise of hundreds of cars driving by them. Sorcha had clung to his hand, clearly apprehensive once more, but Hugh did not even consider reiterating the need for them to part.
Sorcha was the only thing he had a care for in this time, the only thing that made his life worth living each day. He had no other family, no home. In comparison, nothing else mattered, not even his own future. On and on she had gone these past days, preparing him for a life without her, when Hugh was certain that he would have forsaken any life at all to protect her. He would have killed that agent to assure it, and he would take on a hundred more, if need be. All that truly mattered was her safety, and if it was better guaranteed now with him at her side then that was where he intended to be.
Safe for the moment in the speeding van that rattled and groaned in a manner quite unlike Sorcha’s virtually inaudible vehicle, Hugh waited expectantly with Sorcha for Danny’s explanation. But Hugh should have known even from brief acquaintance with the young man that a simple answer would not be forthcoming.
“Maybe you are the one who should spill it, Claire,” Danny retorted, his voice more direct than Hugh had thus far heard. The lazy drawl of days past had been replaced by crisp tones.
Sorcha shot Hugh a wary look and answered, “I don’t know what you mean.”
That earned her a snort of disbelief from her brother, which Hugh thought was understandable. He wouldn’t have believed her either. His Sorcha was a horrible liar. Hugh met Danny’s gaze in the little mirror once more and saw the young man roll his eyes dramatically.
“She does know how to push a person’s buttons, doesn’t she?” Danny directed this at Hugh, who was able to comprehend the colloquialism well enough to quip in return, “Aye, a fellow might think such an ability tae be her …” Hugh paused, searching his mind for the correct modern expression. “Special gift? Do I hae the right of it?”
A Time & Place for Every Laird Page 24
