by Terry Spear
“Have they incurred any profit? If so, where has the money gone?”
“A bank, Miss Hawthorn.” He stiffened. “You’re quite a wealthy woman. All the money is there. You can have your own accountant verify that the expenses and receipts all are correct.”
She raised her brows, showing a slight upward tilt to her mouth.
Cearnach stared at Elaine as the beautiful she-wolf sat straighter, her lips parted. Her uncle had told her she was the key to his heart, to the treasure. Not in goods, but in land holdings.
She took a deep breath. “Had my uncles planned to settle down here? In Scotland?”
Mr. Hoover shook his head. “They were seafarers. The ocean was their bloodline. They wanted this for you. For the child that neither of them had.”
Tears reappeared in her eyes, and Cearnach took her hand and squeezed it.
Mr. Hoover watched the intimacy between them and pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his brow.
“Why did they want me to mate with Kelly Rafferty, then? Did you know about that?”
He swallowed hard and gave a jerky nod, his gaze settling on hers.
“Then why?”
“You were so young. You needed protection.”
Cearnach snorted.
“Something to fall back on,” Mr. Hoover hastily said. “After your uncles died, you disappeared. Four months later, word reached us that pirates had attacked the ship you’d been traveling on. It was nearly a year before we learned you had become Rafferty’s wife and then that he had died. If we could have located you, you would have had the income to use as you saw fit all these years. Did… did you want us to continue to maintain your estates, ma’am?”
“I will have Guthrie MacNeill verify the accounts,” Elaine said. “I’m certain he will manage them from now on.” Then she looked at Cearnach as if she realized that since she was a mated wolf, it would be his business also.
She took a deep breath and Cearnach bowed his head slightly to her, acknowledging that he was in agreement, knowing what she was about to say and wanting her to know he was behind her on this. “I’m mated to Cearnach now. So we’ll need to make the deeds out in his name also.”
Ian let out his breath. “Hell, Cearnach.”
Everyone looked at Ian.
He shook his head and folded his arms, but didn’t say anything more. Cearnach knew he’d hear an earful as soon as he was alone with his brother. He should have told his brother that he and Elaine were mated before anyone else—particularly someone not of their pack.
Frowning deeply, the solicitor cleared his throat. “Do your kin know about this?”
“The Kilpatricks and McKinleys?” Elaine shook her head. “No one else officially knows here, either. I don’t plan to tell my kin. It’s none of their business. After the way they treated me, I don’t claim them as my own clansmen.”
“Can I… speak with you privately?” Mr. Hoover asked Elaine, looking more than concerned.
“I’m mated. So whatever you have to say can be said in front of my mate.”
The solicitor looked a little gray.
“What is it that you wished to speak to me about in private?” she asked when he didn’t say.
“Nay, Miss Hawthorn. I will have to confer with your cousins as to whether they wish for me to share this information with more than just yourself.”
“Who’s paying you for your services, Mr. Hoover?” she asked, her back and tone of voice stiff, alpha-like.
“For the management of your properties, you are, miss. Uh, I guess, I’m no longer managing your properties if the MacNeill clan will be responsible for them in future. For this other matter, your cousins are.”
“My cousins,” she said.
Cearnach was about to rise from his chair to force the solicitor to say what he had wished to say, but Elaine stayed him, a hand on Cearnach’s arm. “If you can’t share the information, it really doesn’t matter,” Elaine said. “I want to see each of these places. Would it be possible?”
“Aye. The occupants of the two manors are human. I’ve told everyone that you have arrived in Scotland and might wish to see your properties. One of the buildings is an ancient keep. One of our kind lives there.”
“A kinsman of mine?” she asked, her brows furrowing.
The solicitor hesitated to say, then shook his head. Lying? Hiding some truth?
“Can I see them today?”
“They’re spread out over Scotland. One of the properties is located about three hours from here.” He pointed to one of the manor houses on the sheet of paper Ian was looking at. Mr. Hoover closed up his laptop. “I’ll see about changing the names on the deeds.” He rose from the chair.
Cearnach and Elaine stood.
Mr. Hoover bowed his head a little, looking like he wished nothing more than to leave immediately. Why? Because of the news about Elaine and Cearnach’s mating?
Cearnach suspected her kin would be furious, and the little man did not wish to be the bearer of ill tidings.
“Aye. Good day, ma’am, sir, my laird.”
“Will you show him out, Cearnach?” Ian asked.
Cearnach felt torn. He didn’t want to leave Elaine alone with Ian, afraid of what he might say to her while he was gone.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Elaine promised Cearnach, giving his hand a squeeze, her smile a promise that everything would be okay.
He kissed her cheek. “All right.” Then he gave Ian a warning look, which made his brother give him a raised brow in return. Cearnach reluctantly escorted the solicitor out of Ian’s office and shut the door.
Elaine retook her seat.
“My mother didn’t force this on you, did she?” Ian asked, his eyes narrowed as he studied her response.
“No. Not Flynn, either. Cearnach said I forced it upon him.”
Ian didn’t say anything for a moment as if he was taking that in, then nodded as if he agreed. She’d expected him to laugh or smile or something. Not just seriously agree.
“You were the one we were trying to track down for weeks in the St. Andrews area. Cearnach was certain someone evil had taken you hostage, and he needed to rescue you.”
“I’m sorry he worried about me for so long.”
“We all did.” Ian leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “What do you think the Kilpatricks and McKinleys want with you?”
“If no merchandise is hidden anywhere, or if it was discovered years ago, then I don’t know why they would want to have anything further to do with me.”
Ian shook his head. “They wouldn’t want you to be mated to one of us. Certainly not to Cearnach, of all people.”
“Why him?”
“His friendship with Calla. Now she’s called off the wedding between her and Baird. They wished to speak with you about some matter, and now you’re here and siding with us.”
She made an annoyed little huff under her breath. “That was easy to do after all they’d done to Cearnach and me.”
“Aye, but they won’t see it that way. They’ll feel justified in everything they’ve done.”
Cearnach stalked into the solar. “Was anything important discussed while I was gone?” He took a seat next to Elaine again and put his arm around her shoulders.
Ian laughed. “You must have run the solicitor out of the building.”
“Duncan met me on the stairs and is giving him the royal escort out.”
“Not only have you created ill will with Elaine’s clan over Calla but now also concerning Elaine,” Ian said.
Cearnach shrugged. “Couldn’t be helped. That clan is bad news.”
Ian nodded. “I’ll ask Guthrie and Duncan to see if they can learn anything about what the solicitor alluded to. I suspect we will have more trouble.”
“They won’t give back my ID and the rental car and all,” Elaine said.
“I suspect not. But we have our ways,” Ian assured her.
“By force, you mean?” she asked.
“If we have to, aye.”
“What do you think this is all about, Ian?” Cearnach asked.
“I believe that Elaine’s kin know where more of the stolen goods are hidden. Or maybe not exactly where, as they would have already procured them. Somehow Elaine is the key.”
“Just because of the clues I have. When Robert tells me what he knows, hopefully we can decipher the location, if anything still exists,” Elaine said.
Ian looked at his desk as if he was deep in thought. “I’m not sure.”
“What are you thinking?” Cearnach asked.
“Did they ask you to share what you knew about the treasure without coming to Scotland?” Ian asked Elaine.
“Yes. But I wouldn’t tell them what I knew, assuming they’d find the goods and cut me out of them entirely.”
“Are you certain?” Ian asked.
She frowned at him. “Of course, I’m certain. They were all a bunch of pirates.”
“Nay, lass, that’s not what I mean,” Ian said gently. “Are you certain that Kilpatrick was only interested in the information about the treasure? If you had given it to him over the phone and not bothered to come to Scotland, would he have been satisfied?”
“What are you saying?” Elaine asked. “That they wanted me just as much as they wanted the goods?”
“Aye, that’s what I’m thinking. Though it could very well be that it’s just your information they want.”
But from the tone of Ian’s voice, that wasn’t what she thought he meant at all.
Chapter 22
As they sat in Ian’s solar discussing the reasons why Robert Kilpatrick wanted Elaine in Scotland so badly, Cearnach asked her, “Could it be that your kin wanted to get hold of your properties because they are profitable?”
“It’s possible that’s what this is all about.” She sighed. “I don’t wish to delay this any further. I want to see the properties,” Elaine told Ian. “I want to see if they might hold the goods my uncles stole from you and just take a look at the places also.”
“I’m certain your cousins would have searched them thoroughly. It appears to me that your uncles used the stolen goods to make sound investments. These, in turn, are now back in MacNeill hands, but are more valuable than the original goods your uncles stole from us,” Cearnach said, as if worried she might be disappointed.
She agreed he might be right. Yet, she wished she could have seen the goods. She envisioned a dragon hoarding its treasure. She had hoped they were more than a few barrels of useless stuff. She’d never realized her uncles had been good at making investments. Her mother and father had been, but she’d always thought of her uncles as the kind of men who lived off of one cache of stolen goods to the next. Never did she imagine that they could have been wealthy landowners.
It saddened her to learn she’d had an older brother, lost to an earlier war, whose death had upset her parents so much that they’d moved to the Americas. Had they worried about losing her, too? Why hadn’t her parents ever told her about him? Or about the other son who died before he was born.
“If you wish to survey your lands, I’ll make the necessary arrangements. You will have a guard force at all times,” Ian said.
She frowned, not wanting to create more work for his clansmen. “Do you believe that’s really necessary?”
“Aye. I don’t know what the McKinleys and Kilpatricks are up to where you’re concerned. You’re one of us now. I won’t permit either you or Cearnach to travel alone until we learn that the treasure doesn’t exist or discover some other reason why Robert is so desperate to see you—alone.”
“I don’t want you or your people to feel put upon.”
Ian and Cearnach gave each other smiles. “The thing of it, lass,” Ian said, “is that we live for adventure, train to fight, and protect. I will have a time choosing some clansmen to accompany you without offending those who are not chosen.”
Elaine smiled at that. Instead of a group of men taking a step backward when asked for volunteers to accompany them, she envisioned kilted warriors, swords in hand, all stepping forward.
“If you’re sure…”
“I am, lass.”
Elaine stood and said to Cearnach. “I want to go on a treasure hunt. The first manor Mr. Hoover mentioned is not too far from here.”
“I’ll send word at once to have a force of men attend you,” Ian said. “As to the keep, it’s about five hours south of Argent Castle. I’ll ask Guthrie, Duncan, and Oran and a few other men to check out the place. The men will be thorough. The renter might be one of your kinsmen, despite what your solicitor said. I didn’t care for his hesitation when he responded after you pointedly asked if the wolf was related to you.”
“Make sure they take notice if the property is near a loch or has a waterfall nearby.”
“Aye, lass. They will make sure of it.”
***
Despite not expecting to be overly impressed, Elaine was when they arrived at the first estate.
Heavy stone walls and massive oak doors gave the immediate impression of the medieval three-story building being just as hardy as the Highlanders accompanying her.
“No loch,” she said to Cearnach, thinking of what her uncle had eluded to.
“Aye. No waterfalls near here. No pile of rocks.”
Two vanloads of warriors joined them as Elaine knocked on the door of the manor, the renters already informed of their visit. Wide-eyed, a matronly woman stared at all the men standing around.
“My husband’s kinsmen,” Elaine said, “wanting to see the property also. They’ll just look at the grounds. My husband will accompany me on a brief tour of the manor. The others will remain outside.”
“Of course, Mrs. MacNeill. Come in. I’m Tricia Haverstein.”
Calling Cearnach her husband when he wasn’t—and when her kind normally didn’t wed, nor had she ever planned such a thing—felt odd.
Inside, she toured the seven bedrooms, all with fireplaces and small glazed glass windows. Antiques filled each room, and all the walls were papered in floral designs. The older woman related details about the place as they moved through it. About all the people who had made changes to the building over the years. How at one time the manor was a monastery. She pointed to the window seats. “Prayer seats for the monks.”
Three spiral staircases led from one floor to another in the same manner as the stairs at Argent Castle, for protection in case of invasion. The kitchen looked old with its stone walls and fireplace, but was modernized with new appliances. A wine cellar where Elaine thought a treasure might have been hidden proved to hold nothing but racks of wine.
The woman motioned to one of the racks. “At one time a ship sank and casks of wine were brought here to be enjoyed by the vicar and the parson. It was called the ‘right of wreckage’ in the Middle Ages.”
“Finders, keepers,” Elaine mused.
“Aye.”
“Thank you for your time, Mrs. Haverstein.”
They left the manor, and when Elaine climbed into the car with Cearnach, she said, “The other manor is only three hours from this one.”
Cearnach studied her for a moment, then nodded. He called Ian and okayed the trip to the next medieval manor.
They stopped for a meal at a quaint little eatery and then they were off again.
The next manor was similar to the first, with ancient, beautiful oak doors and floors, stone walls, and antique-filled rooms.
Like the other, the place was not near any water. “This couldn’t be where they hid the treasure,” she said. “No loch. No waterfalls.
” She couldn’t help the disappointment in her voice.
“Aye, but remember the properties are worth far more than the merchandise your uncles stole. And they are yours.”
“Ours,” she reminded him.
“They are that.” He called Ian to let him know of their progress. “I’ll tell her. See you later.” He set the new phone down on the console. “They haven’t brought your car to the castle yet, Ian said.”
“Do you think they will?” Elaine asked.
“I don’t know, lass. Because you wouldn’t do as they asked, maybe not. It’s time to go home.”
She worried now what other measures Ian might take to get her property back and restitution paid for Cearnach’s vehicle. She hoped it didn’t mean a battle between wolf packs.
***
Duncan and Guthrie and the other men scouted the area surrounding the keep that Elaine owned. No one was at home, but they noted the smell of a gray wolf and suspected he might be Elaine’s kin and trouble. If they’d been human, they would have had to abide by human laws, such as those against illegal search and breaking and entering. But shape-shifting wolves had their own set of rules to live by. It was the only way their kind could live among humans without detection and survive as long as they had. Using a key, Duncan, Guthrie, and Oran entered first.
Even though his attention should have been on searching for hidden places within the keep, Duncan kept wanting to look through the drawers of the desk, learn the contents of the computer sitting atop it, and rifle through every cabinet, nook, and cranny in every room of the keep.
“He’s not any of the McKinleys or Kilpatricks we know,” Guthrie said, watching Duncan as he stared at another confounded bureau drawer.
Then he jerked it open and began searching through it. “He’s been here forever. Long enough to have known her uncles.”
Guthrie turned to the other men with them. “Search everything. All the drawers, cabinets, everything for any clue as to who he is. Or any connections he might have with the Kilpatricks, McKinleys, or Elaine.”
Either the guy was a neat freak or he had a maid who was one. Socks were rolled up in one drawer. Briefs in another. Sweaters were neatly folded in another.
