Page 43 of Sadie's Highlander (Highland Protector 1)

Metal plunked against metal as the attendant droned out in a bored tone, “Keys, loose change equaling less than one dollar.”

Oh God.Sadie bit her lip and held her breath.

The attendant placed her beloved brooch at the edge of the bowl and slid it under the window toward her. “One item of costume jewelry. Pin with one stone intact.”

Sadie reluctantly picked it up, cupping the precious keepsake in her hand and staring down at it as though it could somehow tell her how to make things right again. She sniffed and swallowed hard, blinking back the sting of unshed tears as she shoved her keys and money into the pocket of her jeans.Things will never be right again. Not ever. Just move on and accept it.She glanced back down at the pin as she walked along beside Miss Martha. Strange how the silver of the brooch seemed almost tarnished now and the colors of the stone looked sort of washed out and dull.

How appropriate. She’d failed the oath the unique symbol stood for, so now its beauty had left her. “I don’t blame you,” she whispered to the bit of jewelry. “I know I threw everything away.”

“What?” Miss Martha toddled faster and leaned in close, peering over at Sadie and concentrating so hard she squinted. She fluttered her fingers against the back of her ear and shook her head. “I think I need new batteries in my hearing aids. I can’t hear a damn thing lately.”

“It wasn’t important.” Sadie forced the closest thing she had to a smile across her face and held it until her cheeks ached. Once they reached the parking lot, she held out the brooch to Miss Martha. “Here. Could I ask one more favor of you? Please?”

Miss Martha frowned down at the pin in Sadie’s hand, then shifted her scowl up to Sadie’s face. “What?” Her tone dripped with wariness.

“Could you see that this gets back to…its owner?” Sadie cleared her throat, struggling to keep her voice from cracking.One minute at a time.That’s how she’d have to get through this—survive one minute at a time. “It needs to be returned to the MacDaras.”

Miss Martha puckered her mouth and kept her hands locked around the short handles of her black patent-leather purse with the faux-alligator-embossed trim.

Sadie took a deep breath and tried again, shoving the pin closer to the old woman. “I don’t have the money right now to pay you back the bail money and the gas it took you to get here, but I should have it by the end of next week.” She swallowed hard, fighting the despair threatening to gag and suffocate her. “I’ve sold quite a few short stories. Serials. I’ve been uploading them to a fan-fiction website. I should get a deposit wired on the fifteenth.”

The weight of the brooch seemed to grow heavier by the minute as Sadie waited for Miss Martha to reach out and take it.Please. Just take the damn pin. Please.

Miss Martha didn’t say a word, just stared at her with a narrow-eyed, puckered look. The old lady’s knobby fingers tightened on the handles of her purse and she still didn’t move to take the brooch.

Sadie barely nudged the edge of the gleaming keepsake against the side of Miss Martha’s hand. “Here. Please take it. There’s a shelter for the homeless behind the church. I’ll stay there until I go to court and see what they’re going to do. I’ll be easy to find, so you won’t have to worry about me skipping town and getting you in trouble. Depending on what my sentence is—if there’s any fines or…anything—I’ll be out of Brady and out of everyone’s hair as soon as legally possible. So…if you could just return this for me, I’d really appreciate it.” She gnawed the corner of her bottom lip, waiting for Miss Martha to take the damn pin and say something—anything to end the awkward silence.

The elderly woman finally snatched the pin out of Sadie’s fingers and dropped it in her purse. “I’ll take care of it, but you’re makin’ a big mistake, girl. Big mistake.”

“It’s complicated, Miss Martha. More than you’ll ever know.” She couldn’t explain it in any better detail to the old woman. Alec and his family—hell, the whole town—had to hate her by now and she wouldn’t blame any of them. Especially not Alec. But the least she could do to make amends was to keep the secret of his family’s oath and legacy close to her heart. She could do silent better than anybody. Alec’s secret would go with her to the grave. That’s the least she could do after all she’d destroyed.

“Well…” Miss Martha snorted out an impatient huff and nodded with a stiff bob of her head. “I’ll do as you ask and return the brooch to the MacDaras—even though I think you’re makin’ a poor choice—but one thing I will not allow is your livin’ in a shelter. Not when Harold would be more than happy to share his room with you. Sounds like you won’t be needin’ a place for more than a few days—right? You can earn your keep by cleanin’ all the other rooms at the bed-and-breakfast and make sure Harold eats like he’s supposed to.”

Harold? Who the hell is Harold?Miss Martha just stood looking at her. Sadie finally blew out a heavy breath. “I’d be grateful for the room and the job…but who is Harold?” Was he some decrepit old man who needed a caretaker?

“My cat.” Miss Martha hissed out an impatient snort and glared at her as though she thought Sadie had lost a marble or two. “You met Harold. You sat there on the porch with him all afternoon the other day.”

“The black cat with one ear?” Poor Harold was older than dirt and looked like he’d seen more alley-cat brawls than his nine lives could handle.

“Of course.” Miss Martha gave Sadie the same perplexed look she’d given her earlier. The old woman clearly thought she was nuts. “Who did you think I was talking about? The goat?”

Sadie remembered the goat Miss Martha kept in the fenced-in yard. That ill-natured animal was more territorial than any professionally trained guard dog. The goat was Miss Martha’s very effective security system. “No. I figured it wasn’t the goat. You wouldn’t keep him inside…uhm…would you?” The Higgins sisters were a tad quirky. Maybe the goat did have his own room. After all, due to Miss Martha’s benevolence, Sadie was now Harold the one-eared cat’s new roomie.

“Of course not.” Miss Martha blew out a pert hissing sound that clearly reinforced her opinion that a goat inside was absolutely ludicrous. She yanked open the car door and motioned for Sadie to climb in. “Besides—the goat’s name is Walter. Who in the world would name a goat Harold?”

Chapter 24

“I went to the jail.” Alec leaned forward and thumped his knuckles on the desk. “She was no longer there and they wouldna tell me where she went nor who came t’fetch her.” He’d barely held his temper with the uniformed woman behind the desk of the county facility—especially when she’d threatened him with an inside tour of the men’s holding cell. He didna have time t’be jailed. He had to find Sadie. That thought alone had curbed his tongue.

“Where the hell is she, Dwyn? Ye have yer ways and yer contacts, but I have mine as well. Ye best be tellin’ where my Sadie is and ye best be doin’ it now.” He would find her—even if he had to tear apart the entire county in the search.

Dwyn remained silent.

“Damn ye!” Alec funneled his frustration and pain into his fist and cleared the desktop of the neatly piled stacks of maps and blueprints.

The explosion of paperwork launched into the air, then fluttered down to the floor like softly falling snow. How had life soured so quickly? One moment, he’d had a future with the woman he loved; the next, all that he’d e’er protected and cherished had been torn asunder. Alec jabbed a finger at Dwyn. “Where the hell is she, man? I ken that look on yer face well enough. What the devil d’ye play at?”

Dwyn meandered around the room, hands clasped to the small of his back as he paced. He didn’t speak, just occasionally heaved in a great intake of air, then slowly blew it out, each time giving Alec a sideways glance.

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