Loving the Highland Warrior (Highland Destiny #2)

CHAPTER 1

Chloe Sinclair sat on the edge of the ambulance with a scratchy blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The paramedic insisted she remain there while they stitched her up. A bullet had grazed her upper arm, but it was nothing serious. She was lucky. Luckier than some of the guests in the museum.

Six masked men with guns had invaded the Edinburgh museum during the gala event, the one she had planned for months as a major fundraiser.

Her sister, Evie, had traveled from the States to join her and visit for a few days.

Then, all hell broke loose. Chloe frantically searched for Evie in the ensuing chaos when the men forced them from their chairs and made them lay face down on the floor.

Someone had managed to call the emergency number to alert the police to their dire situation. The moment that happened, Chloe had started looking for Evie.

She had excused herself to go to the ladies’ room and hadn’t returned.

Worry gnawed at her. When she saw Evie sprinting up the staircase to the next level, her heart had rammed in her chest. One of the men had followed her, tried to grab her on the stairs, and capture her.

But Evie…she hiccupped a breath, remembering. Evie had kicked him in the face!

She couldn’t believe it when she saw her sister do that. Then Evie ran up the rest of the stairs.

When the sirens sounded, the man upstairs ran back to rejoin the others and then they left as quickly as they had arrived, leaving wreckage in their wake, exited through the front door and into the night before the police arrived.

When the officer asked her if there were any more people left in the museum, she told him her sister was still in there.

Now, she waited impatiently for the officers to return and tell her the results of their search. Her leg bobbed up and down in a nervous tick as she waited, chewing on her thumbnail. If Evie were here, she’d tell her to stop it.

When she caught sight of the officer emerging from the museum, alone, her heart sank. She knew instantly something wasn’t right by the look on his stoic face. Chloe jumped to her feet, tossing off the scratchy blanket.

“Where is she?” she demanded, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

“I’m sorry but there isna anyone inside the museum,” he said.

His gaze cut to the front of the museum as another officer emerged, carrying two things she recognized. A pair of shoes and a black satin handbag. Hot pinpricks of fear broke out all along her body as she watched the woman approach carrying the personal items.

“We found these,” she said when she arrived next to the other officer.

“Those are Evie’s,” she said, her voice wobbling with emotion.

The officer handed them to her. “I found them in the loo.”

Damn it all. Where the hell was Evie? Why had she taken off her shoes? Maybe because she’d heard the gunfire and thought she might have to make a run for it. She couldn’t do it in four-inch stilettos, so she had left them behind.

Chloe took the shoes and the handbag from the officer. Inside the handbag was her small wallet, her cell phone, and a little drawstring bag in blue velvet. She pulled out the bag, but it was empty. She had no idea what it was. She had never seen it before.

It was unlike Evie to leave her cell phone behind. But then, things had been chaotic.

“Are you sure she wasn’t in there? I saw her go to the second level. There are cameras in the museum.”

The officers exchanged a look. “The cameras weren’t working,” the woman said.

Chloe blinked as she glanced from one to the other. “What do you mean they weren’t working?”

“We’re already checking for the footage. There isn’t any,” the male officer said.

Her stomach turned over, a sick feeling creeping through her as she stared in disbelief at the two officers.

She didn’t understand what was happening.

The intruders hadn’t taken anything from the patrons or the museum.

What was there to take? Why come to the museum?

It didn’t make sense. Still, she was convinced her sister was inside.

“But, Evie—”

“There is no one left inside, miss,” the male officer said, his tone one of patience.

“But—”

“You should go home and get some rest,” the woman said. “There’s nothing more we can do tonight.”

Panic began to set in. “My sister is missing. If she’s not in there, then one of the men took her.”

“Did you see them take her?” the man asked.

Chloe sank to the edge of the ambulance, the cold metal biting into her bum. “No.”

“Then how do you know she’s missing? Likely she got out with everyone else and returned home,” the officer said.

But Chloe was shaking her head hard. “No. She doesn’t know the city. She wouldn’t leave without me. I’m telling you, if she’s not in there, then something is wrong.”

The female officer reached for her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Why don’t I give you a ride home?”

It was a suggestion to appease her, she knew. But something niggled at her. Told her not to leave the scene of the crime. Surely, Evie was still in there somewhere and she would emerge any second now, barefoot and angry she was left behind.

“I can’t leave without my sister,” she said, hot tears threatening her eyes.

The two officers exchanged a glance. Then the woman said, “We’ve checked the place several times. There is no one left inside.”

She didn’t believe them. Evie wouldn’t have disappeared into thin air.

“Come on, now. Let’s get you home.”

She hated the thought of leaving without her, but the officers gave her no choice.

She allowed them to drive her to her flat.

She sat in the backseat clutching the handbag and shoes with a death grip, her knuckles white.

When they arrived at her flat, the female officer walked her to the door and saw her safely inside.

She dropped her sister’s shoes on the floor, then placed her handbag and the small blue velvet bag on the coffee table.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she reached into her own handbag and brought out her phone. She punched in the number and waited for her boyfriend, pacing the small length of the apartment. Finally, Bruce’s sleepy voice answered.

“Chloe? It’s late. Is everything all right?”

“No, Bruce.” She said his name on a breath. “Something terrible has happened.”

***

Thirty minutes later, a knock sounded on her door. It was nearing three in the morning. She peered out the peephole to make sure it was Bruce. When she saw it was, she opened the door and ushered him inside. As soon as the door was closed, she fell into his arms. He held her, holding her tight.

“What is it? What’s wrong, lassie?” he asked. He pulled back, holding her at arm’s length and noticed the bandage on her upper arm. “Ye’re hurt.”

“I-I don’t know where to start. It’s all so awful!”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the sofa where they sat together. He held her close, his muscular arm reassuring around her. She tucked her head under his chin as she fought off the tears.

“Ye said something happened at the museum tonight? Was the gala not a hit? How did ye get hurt?”

When she heard that, she burst into tears.

It took several minutes for her to get her sobbing under control enough to tell him what had happened.

“Everything was going so well,” she said and sniffed. “Then these men came. Masked men with guns. Oh, Bruce, it was horrible!”

“Men with guns?” he repeated, sounding horrified. He glanced at her bandaged arm again. “Were ye shot, lass?”

“It’s nothing.” She wasn’t concerned about her arm.

The pain had subsided. “I don’t know what they wanted.

They stormed in and made everyone get on the ground.

They didn’t take anything like wallets or purses.

It was as though they were looking for something.

But nothing was stolen from the museum, either. ”

She sniffed again.

“What about the police? Did they come?” He continued to hold her close.

“Yes, but it was too late. They must have known the police were called because they all left the museum before they arrived.”

“I’m sure they have a lead, aye?” he asked. “There are cameras in the museum.”

She sat up straight, meeting his gaze. “That’s the other weird thing. The cameras weren’t functioning.”

Something flickered in his sharp blue eyes. She didn’t understand what it was. Was it relief? But why? Her gut clenched tight and she got a strange sense from Bruce.

What was it Evie said?

Always trust your gut. It’s never wrong.

Her gut was telling her something was off about Bruce. It was a feeling she had never had about him. Until now.

“Someone cut the cameras. Likely that someone was one of the intruders.” His voice was dead calm as he said it. Then he glanced around the flat. “Where’s Evie?”

She sprang to her feet and paced the small area in front of the sofa. Tears threatened again. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“She disappeared. I don’t know where she is. She never came out of the museum.”

He stared at her in silence, his face devoid of emotion. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry, Chloe.”

She spread her hands in defeat. “I don’t know what to do.”

Bruce got to his feet and walked over to her, wrapping her in his arms once again. The odd sensation that something was wrong dissipated. It was stress and worry making her question everything. He kissed her forehead.

“I should have been there,” he said, the guilt lacing his tone.

But he had had a gig at the pub and wasn’t able to make it. She understood, of course. She had been elated Evie was with her. Now, she was missing.

“Where could she be?”

“Ye need to get some rest, lass. In the morn, file a missing persons report. I’ll go with ye, if ye like.”

“Yes, please.”

He walked her to the bedroom where she kicked off her shoes. She sank onto the bed, still dressed in her evening gown and clutching his hand.

“Stay with me tonight?” she asked. “I don’t want to be alone.”

He brushed the back of his hand over her cheek. A faint smile flickered over his face. “All right. Rest, now. I’ll make ye some tea.”

When he left the room, she kicked off her shoes and curled on her side, still dressed. But it wasn’t long before exhaustion took over and she was fast asleep.

***

Bruce MacDonald returned to the bedroom, a steaming mug in his hand.

Chloe, though, had fallen asleep. He placed the mug on her bedside table and then did a cursory glance around the room, looking for anything out of place or different.

He took long, slow, quiet steps through the room, examining the top of her dresser, the bedside tables, the top of her chest. He kept his hands clasped behind his back to keep from disturbing anything.

When his search turned up nothing, he stepped out of the room and slipped his phone from his pocket to make a call.

“Well?” John, his brother, answered in a terse tone.

“She doesn’t know anything,” Bruce said.

As he stood outside her bedroom door speaking in a hushed voice, he saw it then. The blue velvet bag rested on the coffee table next to Evie’s black handbag.

“I did find something interesting. The bag.”

He walked over to the table as he spoke and picked up the bag. There was nothing in it.

“No stone?” he asked.

“It’s empty. I’m telling you, the lass disappeared before my own eyes. She used the keystone.”

He had chased her up the stairs and almost caught her, but the lass had kicked him in the head.

It still throbbed. She had scrambled up the stairs to the second level where he found her hiding behind a samurai statue with her hand clutched into a tight fist. He had been certain she had the keystone.

Plus, he had heard the humming coming from the small thing.

“Then it’s already in the past.” John heaved a sigh of annoyance. “We need the other piece of the keystone to follow her. Keep an eye on her sister. She may have it and not know it.”

“I doubt that, but I will,” he said.

As he ended the call, he stuffed the bag in the pocket of his jacket on the off chance he’d find the other stone. Another quick glance around the room yielded nothing.

Chloe stirred then. He reached for the mug as she rolled over, her eyes blinking open as she looked up at him.

“I brought the tea, lass.”

She waved it away. “Come to bed.”

He replaced it on the bedside table, then slipped off his jacket and his shoes and crawled in bed beside her. He took her in his arms as she snuggled against him. If the other piece of stone was here, he’d find it.