Murdoch

by Diane Darcy

  As he heard the door squeak, Murdoch approached the darkened side of the house, carefully slipping inside through a broken window.

  His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and he could hear voices below him yelling in a threatening manner.

  Yelling at Sarah, no doubt. Frightening his woman!

  He slipped past a broken-down bed, past junk piled high, and into a hallway. Light spilled from below and he sneaked a quick peek down a staircase where all the noise was coming from.

  He took a step backwards into shadow. If he went down the stairs, he could get them all trapped in a tight space. A random bullet could hit Sarah if the men below felt threatened.

  One man tromped up the stairs and Murdoch slammed a fist into his head, caught him, and threw him over his shoulder. With no need to hide the sound of his footsteps, he walked to the next room and hid his body behind an old couch in a dark corner. He took the man’s weapons and threw an old blanket on top of the large male.

  Two guns in his belt, he placed the third at the top of the stairs as a backup in case he needed it.

  More yelling erupted from downstairs.

  Sarah’s voice responded in kind. There was his brave lass.

  Everything within him told him not to go down the stairs. They’d be trapped. There’d be no sneaking, no bolt hole. None of the ploys he was used to using.

  Sarah could get hurt in a gun fight.

  He wasn’t yet proficient with guns. There’d been no opportunity to learn, to practice.

  If it was just the grandfather, he’d wait. Use stealth. But with Sarah a captive, that wasn’t an option.

  He checked the safety a second time, assuring himself the gun would fire. Holding a gun in his right hand, he descended, one foot at a time, not bothering to hide his footfalls. They’d think him one of them and he’d have the element of surprise if only for a short moment.

  “Where is the microchip, old man? I’m not going to ask again. I’m going to, how do you say? Get the answer out of your granddaughter’s hide.”

  The second man laughed in a crude and suggestive way.

  In a stroke of luck, the two men had their backs to him as they stared down at both Sarah and the elderly man he assumed was her grandfather, sitting on a couch. He’d been bruised and battered, and he sat stiffly before them, stubbornly silent.

  Tension bunched Murdoch’s muscles as he pointed the gun at the back of the man yelling at Sarah.

  Her face filled with tension as she leaned into her grandfather, seeming to bolster the older man. She glanced up to see Murdoch and her eyes widened briefly, relief flooded her face, and she sucked in a breath before looking down.

  “Please, don’t hurt us. I promise I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  Good lass for distracting them and giving him the extra time he needed to cross the room.

  He shoved his gun back inside his belt as he hurried forward. He grabbed one of the men and wrenched him backward before quickly doing the same with the second male.

  He placed himself between the men and Sarah.

  From the floor, they both stared up at him in shock as they looked at the gun in his hand. “Toss yer weapons aside, else I’ll be forced to kill ye both.”

  They each tossed a gun aside. “Who are you?” The bigger man with a crooked nose asked.

  “He’s the man who broke my finger at the hospital,” Ivan glared sullenly.

  “I’m Donovan.” The man with the crooked nose said. His mouth gaped. “Oh, this all makes sense now. Did Fredrickson send you?”

  Murdoch lifted a brow, his demeanor all confidence. “What d’ye think?”

  The bigger man swallowed. “You’re the Highlander, aren’t you?”

  “Fredrickson sent you?” Ivan echoed, then swore profusely in Russian.

  ~~~

  What did Donovan think? Donovan thought he was having a very bad day.

  The Highlander had been sent to watch them? To watch him?

  To make sure he didn’t screw anything up?

  Well, all right. From the outside looking in, they might seem incompetent, but now they not only had the old coot, but his granddaughter as well. The old man wouldn’t be so tough once they started in on her, now would he?

  Donovan lifted both hands in a calming gesture of peace. “Sorry about the delay, but I promise, things are looking up. It took us a while to find his granddaughter, but now we have her. Don’t worry; he’ll be induced to talk.”

  “I’m not worried in the least.”

  “Look, I’m sorry we took the girl off you, but how were we to know we were working toward the same goal? You can tell Fredrickson I have this under control. You don’t need to be here.”

  “Oh? I think I truly do.”

  “You’re one of them?” The girl’s voice broke as her eyes filled with tears. “You’ve been in on this the entire time? You tricked me!”

  Donovan rolled his eyes at the hurt in the girl’s tone. “Play with the big boys and you’re going to get hurt, girly. Of course he’s in on it. Up to his thick neck.” Even Donovan had to admit the man’s plan had been brilliant. Play the hero and gain the girl’s trust. The man had more brains than he’d given him credit for. Or maybe Fredrickson was pulling his strings same as Donovan’s.

  “You liar! You thief! I hate you!” Betrayal filled the girl’s voice as she struggled now, as her grandfather tried to calm her. “You’re going to hit me now, too, aren’t you? Slap my face like Ivan did?” She held her cheek while looking accusingly at Ivan.

  The Highlander’s face hardened. “Did he now?” The man surged forward and struck Ivan with his gun so fast Donovan gaped at his speed even as Ivan groaned and held his hand over his bleeding cheek.

  Donovan raised a calming hand. “We were just about to question her. Maybe you’d like to do the honors as the two of you seem to be acquainted?” He wanted the guy gone, but if he left, the first person he’d call would be Fredrickson. And then Donovan would be getting a call. He let out a breath. He did not want to deal with this! “Look,” calming gesture again. “Just put the gun away and I’ll tell you what I’ve accomplished, all right? Maybe you can fill in the blanks.”

  “The blanks?”

  Even the man’s guttural voice was scary. “Yes, what you found out when you had the girl.” Things were just not going his way. It wasn’t fair! A frail old man wasn’t supposed to have the stamina to hold out the way he’d done. “Be sure to tell Fredrickson that the old man was out for an entire day, all right?” Even now Donovan suspected the old guy of trickery, but they’d not been able to rouse him. He’d roused soon enough when they’d brought the granddaughter in, hadn’t he?

  Resentment flared. Joining with Fredrickson was supposed to take him to the next level, not leave him feeling threatened all the time. He scowled. What was with the gun in his face? Would they double cross him? Get the microchip and cut him out?

  He hated this whole thing!

  He liked being his own boss.

  Maybe small was better than large.

  “Look, could you do me a favor and get that gun out of my face?”

  The guy didn’t budge.

  “We’ll let you have first crack at the girl, all right? Deal?”

  “The lass is mine.”

  “What?” What was the guy going on about?

  “She’s mine.”

  Donovan lost patience. “All right, Neanderthal, take her. There are a few beds upstairs if you need that kind of thing. But just don’t kill her, alright? We’ll work on grandpa here and find out what he really knows, okay? He’ll talk now. It’s just a matter of time.”

  The Highlander didn’t hesitate. He shoved his gun in his belt, slung the protesting girl over his shoulder, and took her upstairs.

  Donovan expelled a long breath.

  The guy was barbaric. Menacing. He was glad he’d had the girl to offer.

  One thing was for sure. He did not want to work with Fredrickson again.

 
Now if he could just figure out how to get out of it.

  ~~~

  Sarah hung over Murdoch’s shoulder and felt more safe and secure than she’d felt in the last hour.

  Okay, so she’d doubted him when Donovan’s henchman took her. And she felt completely horrible about that. But the moment she’d seen him she’d felt nothing but relief. Even when Donovan thought Murdoch was working with them, she’d known it was a ruse on his part. Somehow he’d tricked them. And he’d said he wasn’t a good spy!

  She remembered how his claim that she belonged to him had irritated her in the beginning, but now whenever he said it, she felt safe. She was his. Under his protection. With him.

  “We have to go back for my grandfather.”

  Murdoch took her out of the house. “As soon as yer safe, I’ll go back.”

  “I could help, too! Give me a gun!”

  He snorted. “Ye doonae even like to touch guns, let alone use them. Anywise, I’ll not take any chances with ye. As soon as yer safe, I’ll go back. I’ll not see yer grandfather harmed any further, ye have my word.”

  She softened at that.

  She could trust him. He always kept his word. Her grandfather was battered, bruised, and a little worse for wear, but there’d been nothing wrong with his sharp gaze. Murdoch would free him and he’d heal. But why do it alone?

  She struggled. “Let me down! I can help!”

  He set her down by the fence, grasped her by both shoulders, and shook her. “I doonae want yer help. I want ye safe! I wanted ye curled up and warm in my bed when I returned with yer grandfather this night. I doonae wish any man’s hands upon ye but my own!” He swallowed. “When I saw ye, realized ye’d been without my protection … ” Seeming at a loss for words, he finally shook his head.

  “But—”

  He hauled her into his arms and pressed her close, his arms enveloping her. One of his hands covered her back, the other, her waist. “They had ye. Could have done aught while ye were without my protection.” He shuddered. “They offered ye to me, to do as I liked. What if that offer had been made to another?”

  He grabbed her shoulders again and pulled back to look down. “Ye were supposed to be safe in my care!”

  “What is going on here?”

  Sarah gasped as a man rounded the corner, gun in hand.

  Murdoch swung and punched the man in the face, once, twice, and the gun went off. The man was unconscious before he slumped to the ground, leaving Sarah to gape at the ringing sound, and the speed at which Murdoch struck.

  “Are you hit?”

  “Nae.” He grabbed Sarah again. “Yer mine, lass. Ye must be safe. If yer here, my attentions will be divided, do ye understand? Run now. Hide in those bushes,” he indicated a clump about twenty yards away. “I’ll be along with yer grandfather soon as may be.”

  Stubbornness had Sarah crossing her arms. “You’re being sweet and all, but—”

  “Ye’ll go and do as yer told! I have to keep ye safe! Why do ye not ken? ’Tis like an ache in my gut. Ye’re driving me daft, woman! I cannae let the cannons blow ye away! The muskets are so fast, I cannae stomach it if aught touches ye! A sword slicing through ye! I could nae bear it! Doonae ask me to do such!” He glared at her. “Understand me well, ye will be kept safe, do ye ken? If I cannae keep one small woman from harm, then what’s the use of me?”

  Sarah gaped at Murdoch, his heartfelt declaration, strange as he’d worded it, melted her to the core. She raised a hand to his face. “Murdoch—”

  The screen squeaked and Donovan’s voice pierced the darkness. “What is going on here? Did you shoot him? Are you trying to steal the girl for Fredrickson? That would be a completely stupid move on your part. Her presence here is about to crack her grandfather right open.”

  Murdoch froze and Sarah looked past him to see Donovan and Ivan standing on the porch, guns drawn again.

  She flinched. She should have listened to Murdoch and hidden.

  Murdoch looked over his shoulder but, hands on her hips, kept her firmly on his opposite side, blocking her with his body.

  Headlights glowed in the distance, showing a car barreling down the dirt road. All stayed frozen in place as they watched the black SUV flying toward them.

  It came to a fast stop and the dust behind it moved forward, catching up, covering them in a fine layer of dust.

  A large, square-shaped figured emerged from the passenger seat.

  “Mr. Fredrickson.” Donovan sounded shocked. “What are you doing here?”

  The wide man straightened his suit, buttoning it. “Bring them.”

  The driver and two more men quickly reached inside the car and to the accompaniment of shrieks, dragged out her mother and sister. Even with only the light from the porch and the headlights, she could see Jessica’s bruised face.

  “Mom. Jessica.” Fear slid up Sarah’s spine and she tried to take a step toward them, but Murdoch’s grip was unbreakable. “How did you find them?” The words burst from her.

  When the wide man smiled, his face appeared sinister. “Your sister accepted Bruce here as a friend on Facebook. It wasn’t hard to find her location. She was even helpful enough to post some pictures.”

  Sarah gaped at Jessica. “But how?”

  Looking scared to death, Jessica drew in a breath. “We did a bit of … of shopping. Just clothes and stuff at first, but we both purchased new iPads and an Internet hookup.” She said the words faintly. “I’m … I’m sorry. We should have listened to you.”

  More armed men rounded the corner.

  Sarah’s heart knocked in her chest and she closed her eyes.

  Her entire family, everyone she loved, was surrounded by danger.

  Even with Murdoch on their side, how could they possibly get out of this?

  Chapter Eleven

  Donovan’s bad day just took a turn for the worse. He’d nearly peed himself when Fredrickson exited the car. He glanced around when one of his men came out of the house, rubbing his head.

  “What happened? I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck.”

  Donovan glanced around in confusion and noted that some of his men were missing. Courtesy of the Highlander? And Fredrickson showing up like this? It scared him witless and spiked his anger. “What is this? A blasted party? Are we having a social event here?”

  He glanced at the Highlander. “What are you doing out here? I thought you wanted the girl.”

  “I do want the lass. She’s mine.”

  “Shut up about it already! Sheesh. I thought we were going to question good old granddad. I thought you were coming right back. Next thing I know you’re practically proposing to the girl in the front yard and now Fredrickson has her family. What is happening?” He wished the words sounded less aggrieved and more forceful, but he was having a wretched day, wasn’t sure who to blame for it, and was terrified Fredrickson was going to kill him.

  He threw his hands up. “What is this, Grand Central Station? I have everything under control.” He couldn’t seem to shut up. “How did you find me, anyway?” He finally addressed the man himself.

  “I have my ways.”

  What he meant was that he had his spies. “I was just telling your boy here—”

  “My boy?”

  “The Highlander.”

  Fredrickson looked at Murdoch, Murdoch at him. Both men were frightening in their own way.

  “He’s not my boy.”

  Everyone turned to stare at Murdoch and the man’s expression hardened as he took in every man around him.

  Donovan looked into Murdoch’s wild eyes and his heart sank into his stomach. “Vot der’mo.”

  The Highlander shoved the girl to the ground, yanked a gun out of his belt, and started shooting.

  ~~~

  The guns deafened.

  Murdoch stood over her, and Sarah had her arms over her head, as if that would stop a bullet.

  Sarah heard men shouting out, screaming.

  Murdoch grabbed her by the bac
k of her shirt, stood her up, and shoved her toward the corner of the house where her mom and sister were already running.

  Sarah made it around the corner, then stopped next to her sobbing family.

  The gunfire slowed to an occasional bark.

  “Is everyone all right? Is anyone hurt?” She realized that every single person she loved was here, at this location, under threat. Murdoch was the only one who stood between them and certain death, but as big and scary and capable as he was, a bullet could end him.

  She glanced around the corner, but didn’t see him. Well she wasn’t going to sit here and wait for him to do everything. “Come on,” she whispered. “I know where grandpa is.”

  She led the way around to the back door and climbed the three wooden steps.

  Jessica balked. “No way. I’m not going inside that place.”

  Sarah didn’t blame her. “Then wait here. Hide.”

  “I’m not waiting here.”

  “Make up your mind,” Sarah hissed.

  “Come on,” Mom dragged Jessica to some bushes next to an old clothesline pole. “We’ll be right here. Don’t you dare leave without us!”

  Sarah made it inside only to hear bad guys in the other room. It sounded like they were in the front of the house and she sneaked down the staircase. “Grandpa?” she whispered.

  “Here.”

  She found him hiding behind an old washing machine, looking ill, older. “Oh, Grandpa. Come on, lean on me. We’re going to have to sneak out. Can you do it?”

  He nodded. “Of course. Sarah, I’m so sorry I got you involved in all of this.”

  “We’ll talk about that later.”

  They sneaked back up the stairs and to the back door.

  She still heard an occasional gunshot, an occasional scream, and had to believe that Murdoch was all right. Otherwise they’d have given up, right?

  Outside once again, her family sprang up from their hiding place. They rushed forward to help. “Take him and get away from here. Hide. I have to try and help Murdoch if possible.”

  No way was she leaving that man behind. She belonged to him? Well, if that was the case, then he belonged to her too!

  She peeked around the corner and the dinging of a bell made her realized the door to the SUV was open. She darted forward, dove into the driver’s seat, and looked into the back.