Page 37 of Return to Clan Sinclair
Carlton shrugged. He leveled a look on the boy that had him staring down at the carpet.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I ran for Papa.”
He doubted if the man had simply walked away. “How long ago was this?”
“A quarter hour, no more than that,” Macrath said.
He nodded, pushing back his fear. Fear never worked to his advantage. He needed to be cold and calm in order to rescue Ceana.
“She wasn’t wearing black,” Virginia said. “She wanted to look pretty, so I loaned her one of my dresses.”
He concentrated on his notebook, trying to ignore her words. “What color was it?”
“Light green, with a bouquet of flowers embroidered on the fabric in places. Bouquets of pink and blue and yellow. It has a round collar and tight sleeves.”
Macrath gently touched his wife’s arm. “Bruce is not a fashion reporter, my love.”
She nodded. “Of course. Of course.”
Her smile was tremulous, more a gesture for Macrath than an expression of genuine humor.
Bruce tucked his notebook back in his jacket pocket and nodded at Macrath. “I’ll take the road to Edinburgh,” he said. “I think that’s the way he would have gone.”
“I’ll go toward the village.”
He shook his head. “No, I want you to stay here. This might be a feint, something to draw you away from Drumvagen. I want you here to protect Virginia and the children.”
“Then I’ll send some of my men,” Macrath said.
He had no objection to that and only nodded. He wished, now, he hadn’t sent his two best operatives to Edinburgh. The third man accompanying him to Scotland had been sent to the station to investigate a recent report.
An American matching Henderson’s description had been seen on an earlier Inverness train, disembarking at a station not far from Kinloch Village. Where he’d gone from there, Bruce didn’t know.
He tried to put himself into Henderson’s shoes. If he were intent on kidnapping Virginia again, he would be concentrating on an escape plan. As wealthy as Henderson had become, he could afford to hire a ship.
Before he left the library, he turned and gestured to Macrath, pulling him aside.
“Have your men interrogate the harbormaster. See if any new ships have recently berthed there.”
“What do you think will happen to Ceana once he realizes his mistake?”
“It might not be a mistake,” he cautioned the other man. “You think he took her deliberately?”
“It’s a thought,” Bruce said. “He might be willing to trade one woman for the other. Or it’s a way to draw you away from Drumvagen.”
“I should’ve gone after the bastard ten years ago,” Macrath said.
“You didn’t have any legal standing to do so. At least now, once he’s back in Scotland, you do.”
Macrath looked a little mollified by that. He nodded curtly and went back to stand beside his wife.
Bruce wanted to warn him that sometimes being protective was not enough. You could shelter your family, live a life serene and isolated from the rest of mankind, but bad things still happened. A crazy man appeared; war broke out.
Life changed just when you thought it was safe.
This time, however, he couldn’t fail. He couldn’t allow something to happen to Ceana. This time would be different.
Before he could reach the door, it flew open, so hard he was surprised the handle wasn’t embedded in the far wall.
