‘Get that animal out of here,’ growled Max to Harry. ‘I don’t like dogs.’
Harry gave Shona a casual kick out of the door and the dog yelped loudly, then turned round and snapped at the man’s shoes. Another kick and poor Shona was out on the path and the door was slammed shut.
‘How could you?’ Terry screamed at Harry. ‘What’s the poor dog ever done to you?’
‘Be quiet!’ snapped Max. ‘Sit down on that sofa.’ Terry sat down, trying to stop her limbs from trembling. She was damned if she’d show these men how terrified she was. At least they’d be gone by the time Atholl returned from seeing his uncle and he wouldn’t be involved.
Then suddenly they heard the uneven sound of a motorbike coming up the road and stuttering to a halt in front of the cottage.
‘Who the hell’s that?’ Harry turned a white, frightened face towards the door.
Max pulled Terry in front of him and held the gun against her head. ‘Whoever it is, I won’t give them the chance to get away.’
Terry looked in terror towards the door. She could hear Shona barking joyfully—it had to be Atholl returning early. Any minute he’d come in—and then what? They all waited, frozen, hardly breathing. A few minutes passed—still no sound except distant traffic coming up the road towards them.
‘Where the hell is he?’ muttered Harry uneasily. ‘Perhaps he’s taken the dog for a bleedin’ walk.’
‘Shut up!’ snarled Max, tiptoeing to the window and peering out of the corner. ‘He’s not there. I think you’re right, Harry, he’s taken—’
There was a crash and the door from the kitchen burst open behind them. The men spun round and Atholl said, ‘What the hell’s going on?’
His gaze took in the scene of Terry with Max holding a gun to her head, and the prone body of Harry lying across the sofa with a large wound on his leg.
He sucked in his breath. ‘Good God, Terry…’ He turned to the two men and said in a low, harsh voice, ‘What the hell have you done to Dr Younger?’
Max laughed unpleasantly. ‘Dr Younger? You’ve been misinformed, my friend. Allow me to introduce Dr Theresa Masterson.’
Atholl frowned and made to come towards Terry. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, but put that bloody gun down.’
Max pressed his gun more firmly against Terry’s head and said unsmilingly, ‘Don’t come any nearer, or else your colleague will get hurt. If you co-operate, we’ll let her go, eventually.’
Atholl stood stock still, his blue eyes bright with fury, a muscle working in his cheek. ‘You bastards…’
Max laughed, a coarse, cruel laugh. ‘She knows a little too much about us, don’t you, darling? We need to make a new life and we don’t want her putting a spoke in our plans. A little money to help us get away would be a good start.’
‘I see.’Atholl stepped back, looking at the men assessingly. Then he said in a voice that was dangerously cool and unflurried, ‘And how much were you thinking of?’
‘We were thinking of ten thousand, but now you’ve appeared on the scene we might be tempted to take more…’
Terry watched Atholl with anguished eyes. He had been dragged into this and it had been her fault for not leaving the moment she’d known she’d been discovered. He looked so cool, so relaxed, as if there was nothing unusual about a gangster waving a gun in front of him.
Then several things happened at once. An explosion of sound. Both doors suddenly crashed open and several uniformed, shouting policemen burst into the room. Almost before they’d come in Atholl leapt at Max in the split second the man’s attention had been diverted and punched him to the floor, forcing the gun out of his grip. Max lay there stunned for a minute, having hit his head hard on the fireplace surround, and was leapt on by one of the policemen. Harry was being held down on the floor between two policemen, his wrists handcuffed.
A large policeman helped to haul Atholl up from the floor where the force of the punch he’d given Max had landed him.
‘We told you not to go in, Dr Brodie. You could have ruined the whole operation,’ he growled. ‘It was a risky thing to do…both of you could have been killed.’
Atholl looked slightly abashed. ‘I couldn’t wait,’ he said simply. ‘You weren’t going to go in for ten minutes. God knows what could have happened in that time.’
‘I’ll be putting a report in,’ grumbled the officer.
Atholl ignored the man and strode over to Terry, who was watching the scene with a mixture of bewilderment and relief. He sat on the sofa and put his arms round her. ‘My darling, what’s been going on?’ he asked gently, touching her bruised and bleeding face delicately. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were being threatened before? I was actually on my way to try and find you, and stopped off here to pick up my car. I was just about to open the door when a pack of policeman burst out of the bushes—apparently they’ve been shadowing you, hoping you’d lead them to these two brutes.’
Terry closed her eyes and big tears squeezed themselves out and rolled down her cheeks. ‘I couldn’t,’ she whispered. ‘I was told not to say anything about what happened in London. I’m so sorry, Atholl. I didn’t think they’d find me here. I thought I was safe…and I didn’t want you involved when—’
‘It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, sweetheart,’ he murmured, cradling her head on his shoulder and rocking her backwards and forwards as one would a frightened child. ‘All that matters is your safety. It’s all behind you now.’
One of the policemen gave a polite cough. ‘Excuse me, sir, we’re taking these men away now. Er…perhaps when Dr Younger’s had time to recover a little, you’d both come down to the station. I believe the Met will be sending up an officer to complete all the enquiries.’
As Max was led out he turned round to look at Terry. ‘Didn’t take long to find yourself someone new, did it, sweetheart?’ he said bitterly.
The house seemed very quiet when all the policemen had gone, escorting Max and Harry to a police van. For several minutes Atholl remained holding Terry, neither of them speaking, then he turned her face toward him, bending his forehead to hers.
‘And I thought you and that bloody man had got together again, and that was the reason you’d finished things between us,’ he said softly. ‘That was why I came roaring after you, to make you tell me the truth, force you to admit that you still loved him.’
‘How wrong you were,’ said Terry wanly. She looked at Atholl with tears in her eyes. ‘I couldn’t tell you the truth because I loved you so much. I didn’t want you to be involved. I’d been told it would be complete folly to reveal my background.’
Atholl took her hands in his. ‘I can make an educated guess that you’ve been given a new identity—some sort of police witness protection?’
Terry nodded. ‘It was all taken out of my hands really. Even the BMA was informed about my new name and the records changed. I was to get another job far from London through the agency you used. You see,’ she added sadly, ‘I thought Max really loved me. I was wrong. He wanted to get in with my father, gather information discreetly about the bank my father worked for, the times of cash deliveries—things like that.’
‘Max seemed quite well spoken and educated—not the kind to want to rob a bank,’ observed Atholl.
‘He and his brother were gamblers—they needed plenty of money to pay their debts and fund their lifestyle.’
‘But surely your father was very discreet about anything to do with the bank?’
‘My father was quite a lonely man after Mum died. Over a few months he came to adore Max. They played golf together, Max took him racing, we all went to the theatre. Dad regarded him as the son he’d never had. Dad was thrilled I was going out with such a seemingly charismatic and successful man.’
Atholl nodded. ‘He built up a rapport with your father, I’m sure, and your father would trust him.’
‘Exactly. Max had led us to believe that he was a producer and a writer for a television company an
d my father was fascinated by the media world. After a while Max told him he had an idea for a play about—would you believe?—a gang of bank robbers. He asked my gullible father to help him write it. Of course, Dad was intensely flattered and excited—it gave him a new lease on life.’
‘And after that I guess it was easy to extract information about bank practices regarding security, times of cash deliveries, and so,’ said Atholl grimly.
Terry sighed. ‘Dad was an innocent—and so was I, of course. Max manipulated my father so that he never realised he was being indiscreet.’
‘But why were you on witness protection?’ asked Atholl.
Terry took another long sip of her whisky, draining the glass, then said grimly, ‘I was at the bank when the raid took place. I’d gone after work to meet my father, which I often did. We were going to have a meal out together. I waited by the side door I knew my father would use. I…I remember there was no one around, but a car with its engine running was parked at the other side of the street…’
Terry’s voice faded a bit as the scene replayed itself in her mind.
‘Go on,’ prompted Atholl gently. ‘Tell me everything.’
‘Suddenly a man burst out of the door, almost knocking me over, and ran across the road to leap into the car. I knew instinctively it was a raid and rang the police on my mobile—and for some reason the ambulance as well.’
‘And you knew who the man was?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Terry’s voice was bitter. ‘I could tell it was Max. His face was hidden, but he looked me right in the eyes—there’s no mistaking his eyes, they’re a most unusual colour. I could easily see it was Harry, his brother, in the car—he wasn’t covered up at all. Until that moment I had no idea that I’d been going out with a criminal—the man who caused my father’s death.’
Atholl said quietly, ‘Your father died—did they shoot him?’
‘No,’ said Terry in a small, sad voice. ‘He’d been bound and gagged and he had a heart attack. I…I couldn’t save him. I knew as soon as I saw him when I ran to his office that it was too late.’
Atholl hugged her to him, stroking her back comfortingly. ‘A terrible, terrible thing…’ he whispered. ‘And I guess the police wanted you as a witness?’
‘Without me, the police felt they didn’t have enough evidence to secure a conviction even if they caught Max and Harry. I was told my life would be in danger if I stayed around while they were still at large.’
Atholl grinned. ‘That’s one thing you won’t have to worry about now—those two won’t be going anywhere in a hurry.’
Terry got up and wandered to the window, looking out at the beautiful view. She turned round and smiled brilliantly at Atholl. ‘Yes, thank God. No more deception, no hiding the real story. At last I can be me again…Theresa Masterson. I’m a free woman!’
‘I don’t care what name you go under,’ growled Atholl. ‘When we made love underneath the stars that night on the shores of the loch, I knew that I’d found the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We’ve both had lucky escapes.’
Terry shook her head. ‘I thought I’d never see you again,’ she said. ‘I thought you’d hate me for ending things so abruptly.’
‘No, don’t interrupt.’ Atholl put his finger to Terry’s lips for a second, gazing down into her eyes. ‘When you said you wanted to end it between us it was the saddest day I can remember—but you know something? I didn’t really believe you wanted to go—and I was right, wasn’t I?’
He stroked a tendril of hair from her forehead, and Terry’s heart began to do a little tattoo of happiness against her chest. She looked up at this man that she’d learned to love and thought she’d lost, and began to laugh.
‘“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive,”’ she murmured, and looked up into his kind, wonderful face. ‘If you really want me back, Atholl Brodie, that’s all right with me!’
‘I want more than that, Terry,’ Atholl said with dancing eyes. ‘I want you to change your name again—but for keeps this time. Don’t you think Theresa Brodie sounds pretty good?’
EPILOGUE
SUNSHINE bathed the gardens of the Caledonian Hotel, and the little crowd of people on the terrace spilled down the steps and onto the lawn. Their happy chatter and clink of glasses drifted across the air and down to the shore of the sound, where the hotel had a little private dock with a small boat moored to it.
Atholl looked down at his dainty bride, sparkling in her long, fitted cream dress with its low-cut neckline and bodice covered with tiny seed pearls.
‘You look so beautiful, Mrs Brodie,’ he said huskily. ‘I don’t think I can wait to get this reception over and board the boat to go over the sea to our little bit of heaven on Skye…’
Terry looked up at impishly. ‘You’ll just have to contain yourself, darling. There’s sixty people waiting to hang on your every word before we set off!’
Atholl groaned. ‘Then I’ll make the speech short for all our sakes!’
There can’t be many moments in life that as are magical as this, thought Terry, looking across at the sun-kissed, sparkling sea and back to the guests surrounding her and Atholl. When she’d come on that first apprehensive day to Scuola she could never have imagined that a few months later she would be feeling this happy, her whole being bubbling with the euphoria of being loved by a man she adored. After the horror of Max, she’d given up on men, distrusting her own judgement, frightened of being betrayed again. And yet, against all the odds, she’d found just the man she needed.
‘Are you not going to cut the cake yet, Atholl?’ A tall woman with Atholl’s blue eyes came up to them. ‘Come on, son, we want to hear what you’ve got to say and then you can get off on that boat!’
‘Don’t worry, Mother. I’m as anxious to get off as you are to get rid of me!’ Atholl grinned.
Mrs Brodie turned to her new daughter-in-law. ‘And I’m very pleased that he chose the right lass—it took him long enough to find you,’ she said softly, and her eyes twinkled. ‘And it’s about time I had some grandchildren!’
Cyril banged a gavel on the table holding the cake and said importantly, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, pray silence for the groom, please!’
Atholl stood before the guests and pulled his bride towards him, looking down at her tenderly. ‘Today, everyone, you see a man who couldn’t be happier,’ he said simply. ‘I’ve met the love of my life, the most beautiful and marvellous woman in the world. I think I must have fallen in love with her the moment I first saw her on the quayside by the harbour the day she arrived. I know her parents would have been so proud of her, and I wish I could have met them to tell them that I will look after their darling daughter most carefully for the rest of my life!’
He raised his glass and smiled. ‘To happiness,’ he said. ‘And to my precious Terry.’ Then he kissed her gently.
Terry looked round at the assembled crowd and all the friends she’d made during her short time on Scuola—at Isobel, outspoken, unsentimental, but still dabbing furiously at her eyes with a little hanky. Bunty and Sue were cheering loudly and Shona lay on the lawn, panting happily with a huge pink bow round her neck that Isobel had tied on. Even the two old Mackie sisters were there, sitting primly on chairs to listen to the speeches and sipping champagne rather cautiously.
‘Help me step up onto the chair,’ she whispered to Atholl, and then, once she was up, she smiled brilliantly at the guests, who fell quiet as they watched her.
‘No need to tell you how happy I am,’ she said. ‘You on Scuola have become my family now, and I look forward to being part of your lives. I was very unhappy before I came here, but now…’ She looked down at Atholl and smiled at him. ‘Now I’ve found Atholl, everything’s changed. It…it’s like a dream come true!’
Then amidst the clapping there was the sudden skirl of pipes and a piper walked down the garden, playing a lilting tune. Atholl swung Terry down from the chair, and as people organised themse
lves to do an eightsome reel, he grabbed her hand.
‘Come on, sweetheart, let’s make a dash for it. Your case is on the boat so you can change later when we’re out of sight!’
A few minutes later they were drawing away from Scuola across the sound, with the sun still dancing on the waves and the sky a rosy evening pink behind the hills. Atholl put his arm round Terry and pointed out to the water behind them.
‘Looks like some other residents have come to wish us happiness,’ he murmured.
A school of dolphins was leaping rhythmically out of the water, starting to follow the wake of the boat, their curving bodies silver in the sun.
‘How perfect,’ breathed Terry.
Her eyes filled with happy tears. How unexpectedly her life had turned around—from deep sadness to unbelievable happiness. A sudden cheer floated across the water from the guests as they realised that Terry and Atholl had left the party, and they both laughed and waved back to them.
‘Dr and Mrs Brodie sail off on their new life,’ whispered Atholl in her ear, hugging her to him.
A new life…the past forgotten, the future tantalising and exciting. And Terry knew that, whatever storms lay ahead, they could weather them together.
THE PLAYBOY DOCTOR’S SURPRISE PROPOSAL
BY
ANNE FRASER
Anne Fraser was born in Scotland, but brought up in South Africa. After she left school she returned to the birthplace of her parents, the remote Western Islands of Scotland. She left there to train as a nurse, before going on to university to study English Literature. After the birth of her first child, she and her doctor husband travelled the world, working in rural Africa, Australia and Northern Canada. Anne still works in the health sector. To relax, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, walking and travelling.
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Hired: GP and Wife / The Playboy Doctor's Surprise Proposal Page 16
