Callum

by Melissa Schroeder

  A man in a mask stuck his head in.

  “Give it over, you bastard.”

  He knew without a doubt that it was Fletcher Lennon.

  Kenneth opened his mouth to tell him to go to hell when a cloth was placed over his mouth. His head was spinning as fell back onto the chair. Fletcher checked all of his pockets. He felt the diamond being pulled out, and he thought he said no, but they left him there. He pulled himself up out of the seat, his eyesight fuzzy as he watched taillights disappear into the fog of Edinburgh.

  The bastards had gone too far this time, and he was going to make them pay.

  * * * *

  Callum watched as his cousins set the cloth-wrapped diamond on his desk.

  “What a jackass. He was running around Edinburgh in the middle of the night with it wrapped in a simple cloth? He’s lucky we’re the ones who stole it,” Angus said.

  “Did you get it?” Phoebe asked from the doorway.

  They all turned to face her, and he couldn’t help the way his heart jerked at the sight of her. Her hair was pulled back from her face, she had changed into her casual clothes again, and her eyes were red-rimmed as if she had been crying.

  “Yes,” Angus said, apparently not noticing the way the tension in the room had risen. “Now all we have to do is put it back in the sword.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” she said. “I haven’t gotten to the part of what to do with the jewel.”

  “Do not think you will be staying here for much longer,” Callum said quietly. “You will be leaving in the morning.”

  Angus glanced from him to Phoebe then back to him. “What’s going on?”

  “Leave it alone,” Callum warned.

  “No, I think it’s best to tell him, don’t you?” Phoebe asked. “Your cousin found out that I was working to get a grant when I got here. If he had been a little more truthful at the beginning, I would have known that McWalton was dirty. I did not give him any information, especially when I found out the grant wasn’t real.”

  “You used us?” Angus asked.

  “No. I knew you had something of interest. And I would not have done it without your permission.”

  Callum crossed his arms and snorted. “Too late now, lass.”

  “I tried to tell you I called it off. That I called him and told him that I didn’t have what I needed for the grant.”

  “When was that?” Fletcher asked.

  “The night that Callum was shot.”

  They all turned to her.

  “Are you sure?” Logan asked.

  “Yes. It was a few days…” her face turned red. “Well, never mind that. It’s just that I found out it was possibly some kind of scam. Then Roberto Totaro told me that McWalton was broke and had no interest in historical artifacts of Scotland.”

  “Roberto Totaro?” Callum asked. “How do you know him?”

  It was stupid, but hearing the man’s name had jealousy whipping through his blood. He didn’t like it, and he wasn’t sure he liked her anymore, but he knew without a doubt that Roberto was a ladies’ man and had a different woman every night.

  “He’s a friend.”

  Callum rose out of his chair. “Just what kind of friend is he?”

  Her eyes widened then she snorted. “Not that kind. He married my former personal assistant, Izzy. He checked out McWalton because he didn’t like him.”

  Callum relaxed a bit. “He always had good instincts. Back to the night I was shot.”

  “Yes, well, I called and he didn’t answer. Truthfully, I stopped taking his calls. He made me uncomfortable.”

  “Did he try anything with you, Phoebe?” Anice asked quietly.

  Phoebe looked at his cousin, then shook her head.

  “Truthfully, I never met him in person. Not until tonight. I had seen pictures of him, but he was worse in person. It was on the phone. There was something that always made me guard my tongue around him.”

  “But he knew you were here,” Logan said.

  “He had contacted me after I talked to Angus.”

  Silence filled the room.

  “Now, onto the diamond. I don’t know if just getting the stones will break the curse. I need to figure out the last of this passage if that is okay. I know that you don’t trust me, but right now, I’m all you’ve got. At least let me decipher that.”

  They all turned to Callum. He wanted to deny her, tell her to get the hell out of his house and out of his life, but he didn’t think he had a choice.

  He nodded. “But the book stays in this room.”

  She agreed. “If you don’t mind, I would like to look it over right now. I’m not that tired, and I think I was on to something.”

  “I think we all need some rest tonight. Why don’t you come down in the morning and we can all look at your translation with fresh eyes,” Angus offered.

  She looked at the desk where the book lay, then at Callum. “I’ll bid you good night.” Then she slipped out the door and Fletcher motioned for Belvidore to follow her.

  “You don’t trust her?” Anice asked.

  “First, she lied to us,” Fletcher said.

  “I say that we all mutually lied.”

  Her brother rolled his eyes. “But we have another problem.”

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “I think someone in this household is leaking information,” Fletcher said.

  Callum studied him for a second. “Phoebe.”

  He shook his head. “Those shots were not at you, but at her. You said they were aimed at her, and if you had not stepped in front of her, she wouldn’t have survived.”

  “And that is right after she had called that bastard and told him she wasn’t going to work for him anymore,” Angus said. “That son of a bitch. He hired someone to shoot her.”

  “Or he did it himself. Another problem we have. How did he know we had hired her?” Fletcher asked.

  “That’s right,” Anice said, pouncing on the idea. “She got the call from McWalton after we hired her.”

  The implications started to come together in Callum’s head, and he didn’t like it one bit. “She was set up from the beginning.”

  “Now, I’m not saying she wasn’t at fault, but she is a liability to McWalton now. He knows we have the book and she is translating it for us. Which means that he knows we need her. Add in the fact that you’re in love with her, and he would do some horrible things to her to get back at us.”

  He ignored the comment about being in love with her. At the moment, though, the only thing he could think of was her safety. “Give me the diamond, and I’ll put it in the family safe. And Phoebe doesn’t leave the house.”

  “She’s not going to like that,” Angus warned.

  “Too damned bad.”

  And with that, he took the diamond and left the room. He knew his cousins wanted to talk more about what their plan was, but he didn’t have it in him tonight. All he wanted to do was sleep and forget he ever met Phoebe Chilton.

  * * * *

  Phoebe read the passage she’d just written and blinked. She wasn’t sure if she had translated it correctly. The words kept blurring, and her head was aching. She wasn’t accomplishing much with her thoughts scattered and her heart aching. She knew most of it was her own fault. Callum would have been mad at her if she had told him when she realized the truth about McWalton. She had been a coward, afraid of what he would do. And now she knew.

  Of all the things she had been called in her life, and there had been a lot of names from her coworkers and her husband, nothing had hurt as much as being called a whore by a man she loved.

  “You’re looking a bit peeked,” Belvidore said as he rolled in a teacart.

  Callum shifted in his seat and grumbled.

  “You might be a little irritated with me, Laird, but our Dr. Chilton needs to keep her strength. And you missed dinner young lady. That cannot be good for you.”

  She glanced outside and realized that dusk had fallen already. “I ate
a large lunch.”

  The servant tsked. “Not enough to keep a bird alive.”

  She laughed. “I ate enough.”

  “I’m trying to work,” Callum said in his best “lord of the underworld” voice.

  Belvidore threw his employer a nasty look. “Angus needed a moment with you.”

  “He can’t come here?”

  “I’ve no idea, sir. But he said it was urgent.”

  He looked at her, then Belvidore.

  “I will stay,” Belvidore assured him.

  She shouldn’t be so hurt by his distrust. She earned it. She knew that. It still didn’t mean that she didn’t feel hurt by it.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  She sighed when she was finally alone with Belvidore.

  “You must give him a little time. He’ll understand.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think it will ever be the same.”

  He patted her on the shoulder. “That is not always a bad thing, lass. I’ll leave you to your work.”

  “Oh, but Callum doesn’t trust me alone.”

  Belvidore stopped by the doorway. “He does. He’s a man who has had his pride hurt. The only wound greater than that is death. Give him time.”

  He left her alone to work, but he had given her too much to think about. She had hurt Callum, deeply. She needed to make it up to him, but how? The only way she knew how was to help with the curse, which meant that she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. And she needed to prove herself to him.

  She pulled out the desk drawer and slipped the diary and the notes into it. Restless, she stood and walked over to the window to look out. It wasn't going to be easy, but she had a penance to pay. It had been difficult to gain his trust to begin with. It was her fault, but it didn't mean that she couldn't fix it. If there was one thing Phoebe Chilton was good at it, it was planning and executing a plan. All she needed was to hold onto her patience and prove to Callum that she wasn't going to lie to him again.

  She heard a sound behind her and thought it might be Callum returning. "Don't be mad at Belvidore. He said you really wouldn't mind."

  When she turned she found McWalton standing in the doorway.

  "What are you doing here?"

  The smile he gave her had no warmth in it. "An eye for an eye, my dear."

  His eyes were glazed in a way that a rabid animal might look. He was dressed in the same clothes as the night before, his hair was unkempt, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days.

  She tried to scoot around the desk and reason with him. If Callum caught him there, he would think they were working together. Worse, he might kill the man, and then Callum would be in jail.

  "I don't understand what you mean."

  "He took something of mine, I will take something of his."

  Fear slithered down her spine and then curled into her stomach when she saw the gun. She opened her mouth to scream, but he rushed forward, smacking her head with the butt of the gun. The room started to spin as she fell to the floor.

  "An eye for an eye, Dr. Chilton," he whispered into her ear as he lifted her into his arms. Then, her world faded to black.

  * * * *

  "I think you need to get over your irritation, cuz," Fletcher said to Callum as they walked back to his office.

  "Indeed? You of all people believe her act?"

  Fletcher shook his head. "That woman cannot be deceitful to anyone."

  "She lied to me."

  "She lied by omission. Which is not really a lie."

  Callum stopped in his tracks. "Why are you pleading her side?"

  Fletcher studied him for a second. "Phoebe loves you. You were both attracted to each other from the beginning, but it grew. Hell, you were bouncing around here like some kind of damned schoolboy with a crush."

  "You sound jealous."

  "None of us planned on marrying, did we? But you thought about it with her. You were definitely thinking about the future. And that isn't something any of us have thought about for a long time."

  “And so I should forgive and forget? Give me a break.”

  He started walking again, hoping to get as far away from the conversation as possible. He wanted to do just as Fletcher had said. Even knowing how duplicitous Phoebe had been, Callum wanted nothing more than to forgive her. He needed her back beside him. And that bothered him more than anything else. The fact that he wanted to ignore her deception was troubling to say the least. If there was one thing he understood, it was holding a grudge.

  “What has you so afraid, Callum? That this might work and you might have to take a chance for once in your life?”

  Anger mixed with fear was a dangerous combination in Callum. He whirled around and faced his cousin.

  “I took a chance once, or did you forget? I put my father, your father, our entire leadership at risk. And they lost their lives because of it.”

  “Bloody hell. That had nothing to do with you. Did you see horrible things? Of course you did. But I know without a doubt, they did not die protecting you. Did they?”

  No, they hadn’t. They had been fighting by his side, and for the first time in his life, he had felt like a man. Until the British had outflanked them. Then, everything had turned to hell.

  “No.”

  “So, get over yourself, Callum. You’ve had it bad. You have the bad memories. Get over and move on. If you don’t, breaking the curse just isn’t going to mean a damned thing if you are bent on spending the rest of your life paying for a debt you don’t owe.”

  With that, Fletcher turned on his heel and stormed off. It wasn’t normal for him to show such a temper, and he usually kept his feelings to himself. None of them were acting like themselves lately. From the moment he had found the diary, they had been in turmoil. Phoebe had added to it.

  He drew in a deep breath and started back to his office. He had to get himself prepared to be with her. One night without her had him crawling the walls. She had lied to him, planned to sell him out, and he still wanted her. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? Callum Lennon was known as a man of steel. Emotions didn’t bother him. But in less than a month, the woman had him acting as if she were the center of his universe.

  He shook his head and stepped into the office. It was empty. The lights were still on and there were a few papers on the floor. The Bruce’s sword lay on the floor in front of his desk.

  The diary was nowhere to be found. Anger filled him as he walked further into the room. She had done it to them again. Then he saw the note.

  You take, I take. If you want to see your precious doctor alive again, meet me where the Bruce’s heart rests and bring the diamond.

  The bastard had her. Every bit of her duplicity dissolved as he realized that her life was now at stake. And in that second, he knew without a doubt that Phoebe was the center of his universe. If he lost her, nothing mattered.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Phoebe stumbled as McWalton pulled her along in the dark. There was little lighting around Melrose Abbey, but apparently he had the eyes of a cat.

  "You know the guards will see us at some point."

  He said nothing. He hadn't said a word other than to give her commands since she had come awake in his car. It had left her with too much to think about. Was he planning on killing her? Of course he was. He had gone completely mental. She stumbled again, this time on purpose, trying to slow him down.

  "So you plan on shooting me and leaving me here in the abbey? That seems a bit dramatic for, well, a heterosexual man."

  He whirled around and smacked her. The hit was so hard, she fell back a few steps and it left her slightly dazed. Lord, she had hit a button with that one, hadn’t she?

  "If you cannot shut up, I'll gag you."

  He turned and yanked on the rope again to pull her along. This time it wasn't an act when she almost fell down. The slap had her head still spinning and her lip bleeding.

  "If you think he'll come after me, you're wrong, you know. He doesn't care."
/>
  He snorted. "He would give his kingdom up for you."

  "Apparently you've been drinking. Or did you forget last night?"

  He turned and she flinched, ready for another smack. He smiled, apparently sensing her fear, and she wanted to curse. Showing a man like him fear was a death sentence.

  "He will come. If he was through with you, he would have left you at the castle last night. He didn't. Hell, he’d have kicked you out of their house without a thought if he didn't care. He does. And it will be my pleasure to have you die in front of him."

  "Apparently you haven't been listening. He won't care, so you might as well save us the time and kill me now."

  "I strenuously object to that idea, Phoebe. Not after I dragged my arse all the way down here to Melrose in the middle of the night," Callum said from the shadows.

  Her heart jumped into her throat when she heard his voice. McWalton giggled. It was the only description she could use for it.

  "I knew it." He yanked on the rope and pulled her against him. She struggled, trying to get away, but she felt the cold steel of the gun against her temple.

  "Show yourself, McLennan."

  He stepped into the weak overhead light. He looked tired…and very, very mad.

  "I knew you would come. She said you wouldn't, but I knew it. Did you bring the diamond?"

  "Yes."

  "And let me guess? You came alone."

  Callum said nothing. He kept his concentration on McWalton and didn't look at her. The side of his cheek flexed, and she knew that he was grinding his teeth. A sure sign Callum was furious, but he appeared relaxed as he walked forward.

  "That's far enough."

  McWalton's fingers dug into her arm as he backed up a step.

  “I have the diamond.” Callum pulled a cloth out of his pocket. “Now, hand over Phoebe.”

  McWalton’s breath was hot against her skin as he snorted. “I don’t think so. If there is one thing my ancestors taught me, it is to never trust a McLennan. Show me the stone.”