Chapter 13
T he squalid warehouse on the riverfront stank of old fish waste and damp wood. The leaks in the rotted areas of the ceiling had left permanent water and teakwood stains on the concrete where the water seeped through and dripped incessantly.
Lifting his booted foot in distaste, Brodie stepped around a puddle and made his way to the office area inside the unused warehouse that had been left to Mother Nature’s mercy. Why Florence wanted to meet in this rickety old building he couldn’t imagine, but as Leonard Searcy, he had responded to her text meeting. Ditching her new partner wasn’t always easy and she had information on Kelpie.
Florence was well aware of his undercover alias, one of the few people who did. As he moved quietly in the dimly lit recesses of the building, a sense of disquiet rested heavily on his senses, a disquiet he had felt before when he was in danger. Trying to shake off his uneasiness, he kept in the shadows, his body on high alert.
When the irritating screech of an alley cat suddenly screamed behind him, he whirled around and cursed as adrenalin ran through him when the sudden fight or flight response kicked in. Then he shook his head in disgust, his heart still thrumming like a train engine as the mangy-looking orange tabby disappeared into the shadows. This case was really getting to him. He couldn’t wait for it to finally be over. Then he could get the rewards he had coming to him.
Having his own precinct would make all the misery he’d been through since he’d met Pauley MacBride worthwhile. If he played his cards right, he’d be her boss. Then he could savor his victory over her and make her life miserable for as long as she stayed in the police force, or even beyond if she quit. No, he wasn’t through with her yet, not by a long shot.
Turning back around, he heard the gunshot just as it ripped into his upper chest on his right side, sending him spinning around and falling towards the floor in shock. The fiery pain was agonizing and his glimpse of the dark figure with the hood over his head didn’t even tell him who shot him. His fingers scrabbled in his pocket for the 999-auto button on his cell as the dim-lit surroundings were slowly eaten up by darkness. His last thought wasn’t his life flashing images through his brain like people said they experienced when they thought they were going to die. No, Brodie’s last thoughts were that this dirty warehouse floor was a disgusting place for life to end.
The figure in black stood over Brodie and kicked his limp body. The blood pooling quickly beneath the man’s shoulder told him it was a critical shot. He couldn’t stand Brodie Macalister aka Leonard Searcy, and icing the maniacal blowhard was a treat, not a chore. He turned away in satisfaction. No need to waste another bullet, no one would be finding this body for a while. Let him die as slow as possible.
Kelpie wanted Luca MacBride attacked tonight, or killed would be better, to keep the police off the scent of the bigger picture. A little harder since Neamh appeared to be well guarded, but not impossible. As long as Belton remembered what he was supposed to do, it should go easily enough. A little blackmail went a long way in Belton’s case. If the kids got hurt in the process, he got paid either way.
He glanced at his watch. A little after 4:00 in the afternoon. The donut eating contest at the festival should be over by now, and Angus Sangster would be heading back to Neamh with his unknown stowaway in the back of his truck.
Grinning wolfishly, he whistled his way towards Brodie’s Kawasaki parked behind the warehouse. Too bad he hadn’t driven the Ducati, that was a sweet machine, but this bike should get him into Kelly Woods easily enough to oversee this evening’s fun. If all went well, and he was sure it would, he would be a much richer man by morning. And the blame could be laid at Brodie’s feet. Cripes, that prick had thought himself so high and mighty. A sneer of satisfaction curled his lips as he sped towards High Meadows Road. It would all be over soon.
***
J AMIE SNIFFED THE AIR appreciatively as he walked into Lucerne’s kitchen where pans of covered scones were cooling on the table. “Smells delicious, lass. Fresh scones I see. What else have ye got going this year?”
He walked up to his daughter and placed a kiss on her flushed cheek. Her dark hair was pulled back in a bow and her apron covered the white mound of her tummy. He patted the mound with a chuckle. “Ye’ll be out of there soon, laddie. Be good to yer mother while ye are waiting.”
“I’m doing three soups tonight,” she replied to his question, smiling at his words towards his grandchild. “The babe might be a lassie, ye know,” she mocked.
“Very doubtful according to Doc,” Jamie replied, his eyes twinkling. “He’s too big to be a girl.”
“Are ye saying I’m getting fat?”
Jamie grinned. “Nay, lass. Everything but my grandson is the size it’s always been, it’s just his pouch that has grown out at an amazing rate.”
Lucerne laughed. “I can agree with that.”
“So what soups are ye making?” he asked with interest, sneaking a scone from beneath the thin towel covering over one pan.
“Traditional American chili made with beef, Smoked Haddock soup, and Scottish traditional Hairst Bree with lamb and plenty of veggies.” She waved her hand at the scone he was taking a bite of. “And of course, plenty of fresh hot baps and scones with honey and butter to go with them.”
“Can’t wait,” he enthused, lifting the lid on the chili pot. “I’ve developed a taste for this chili through the years. Yer mother loved it.”
Her eyes softened. “Aye, I remember. Where’s Pauley?”
“She and Delilah are with Dal and Darro in the corral. She’s trying to gentle Sunshine towards the men. I thought it might be easier for Sunshine if I made myself scarce since the horse doesn’t know me at all.”
“Are ye doing okay, Dad?” she asked gently, her eyes searching his face.
Jamie shifted uncomfortably. “Ye know me, lass. I won’t be celebrating the day of the dead with open doors tonight. Plus, Pauley’s been on edge all day. She can’t explain why, she just says she feels like something bad is coming. She’s been as jumpy as a cat.”
“This whole thing with Luca doesn’t help either,” Lucerne added, nodding with sympathy.
When the dogs set up a high-pitched barking commotion outside, Jamie cocked his head to listen. “That sounds like an awfully excited bark for those two,” he said, heading towards the front door.
“I’ll say.” Lucerne turned the burner off under the bubbling chili and waddled after her dad.
Outside, Bo and Misty were barking furiously and jumping against the tail gate of Angus’s truck.
“Here now, what’s wrong with ye two,” Angus bellowed, coming around to help Poppy out of the truck cab.
Jamie hurried to the back of Angus’s truck and laid the tailgate down. Immediately, both dogs jumped into the truck and rushed to the spare supply box Angus kept covered under a tarp near the front of the truck. They were barking and growling for all they were worth.
The commotion was bringing Darro, Dal, Pauley, and a few others flying towards them to see what was going on.
Angus came around and stood there scratching his head. “Bo, Misty, settle down,” he ordered, but the dogs started pulling at the tarp and shaking it in their teeth.
A high-pitched squeal suddenly emanated from the box. “Call them off, call them off! They got my shoe!”
Darro’s firm command rang out in the early evening air. “Bo! Misty! Heel!”
The dogs immediately stopped and sat on their haunches, growling. Their gaze didn’t waver from the box.
“Whoever ye are, come out of there right now,” Darro ordered. “If ye have a weapon, I suggest ye throw it out first or I’ll sic the dogs back on ye.”
“Okay, okay, just keep the dogs off me,” whimpered a scared voice.
“Belton?” Luca asked tentatively.
“Luca? Ye out there?”
“Belton! What are ye doing here?” Luca climbed into the truck and pulled the tarp off the young man inside. “How did ye find me?”
The lad with the bright reddish hair peeked above the box, his blue eyes watering slightly. “Everyone knows where ye are, Luca,” he hissed. “There’s a contract out on ye.”
Dal leaped into the truck behind Luca and grabbed Belton by the arm and dragged him upright in the box. The dogs growled more ominously and Belton shrank back.
“What are ye talking about Belton,” Pauley spat at him. “What contract? Who has a contract on my son?”
Belton shrank back down and looked fearfully around. “They could be watching,” he hissed. “Ye can’t let them see me or they will know I failed my assignment,” he cried miserably.
“All right, that’s enough,” Darro ordered firmly. “Luca...Dal...bring Belton into the barn where we can question him in private. I don’t want him in the house. As of right now, we are on red alert. Angus, make it happen...discreetly. And cripes, someone get Belton a hat to cover that beacon of hair!”
“My fishing hat is in that box, Luca,” Angus ordered. “Get it on the lad and the three of ye hop on out of my truck.”
“What about the dogs?” Belton whined, terrified.
“The dog’s will no attack ye unless I give the order,” Darro replied. “Bo! Misty! Friend,” he ordered. “Now, heel.”
The dogs immediately jumped out of the back of the truck and stood panting by Darro, one on each side.
Belton’s jaw dropped open as Dal stuffed the fishing hat over Belton’s curls and he stood up.
“Whether or not ye are a friend remains to be seen,” Darro added sternly. He strode over to Lucerne. “Honey, take Poppy, Delilah and Corey inside, but ye don’t have to go to the saferoom just yet. Dal and Henry will guard the house front and back. Lock the doors and wait for more information. Do ye have yer phone on ye and charged?”
Lucerne’s face flushed. “Um...yeah...kind of.”
His eyebrow shot up. “Kind of? Either ye do or ye don’t. Which is it?”
“I have it, but it’s nae charged,” she confessed. “I’ll put it on the charger in the kitchen while I’m working on the food for tonight.”
“What’s a contract, Uncle Darro?” Corey’s little voice quavered uncertainly, his gaze lancing between Luca and Belton.
Darro took a moment to pick Corey up and reassure him. “Nothing to worry about right now, laddie,” he said gently. “Ye go with yer mother, Poppy, and yer sister and protect them.” He sat Corey back down on the ground and pointed him towards Lucerne who held out her hand with a smile.
His little face took on a determined look. “Aye, Uncle Darro, I can do that.” He marched away towards the women.
Jamie was proud of the little lad. He had the makings of a fine Scottish gentleman. He glanced over at Pauley. She was trembling with anger and fear. “Steady lass,” he murmured, putting his arm around her waist and steering her towards the barn.
“I’m going to shake that kid senseless,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “How dare he come here with something nefarious in mind.”
“We don’t know what it is yet,” he reminded her.
“It’s something,” she pointed out. “That makes it nefarious, and in my book, he needs his arse kicked up between his shoulders.”
“Is that yer cop’s book? Or yer mother’s book?”
Pauley didn’t answer, she just stiffened suddenly and her gaze swiveled in the direction of Kelly Woods. She and Jamie heard it at the same time, an urgent command on the wind and in their ears.
“ Run for the barn.”
“Run,” Jamie and Pauley yelled simultaneously as he grabbed her hand and they sped on winged feet towards the barn. Something pinged the horseshoe above Luca’s head as he hurried the last few steps towards the barn.
“Get inside now,” Darro ordered as he waved them in, followed, and shut the barn door. Three adults and three young men stood panting and staring at one another.
“W-what just happened?” Luca gasped.
“D-didn’t ye hear it?” Pauley exclaimed, her face pale and her brown eyes huge.
Jamie nodded. “Aye, I heard it.”
“Heard what?” Dal stared at them, his eyes huge and his blond hair practically standing on end.
“Someone told us to run,” Jamie replied, staring at Pauley.
“W-We only heard ye two yell,” Belton croaked, his arms full of goosebumps, his face white against his bright red hair.
“Someone told us to run,” Pauley insisted.
Jamie could feel his skin crawling as he looked around. Who had told them to run?
“The only thing I heard was ye two yell, and then the gunshot knocking off the horseshoe over the barn door. It came from the direction of Kelly Woods,” Darro snapped.
Suddenly the barn door pushed open and they could all hear the screaming coming from the woods on the gush of wind as it pushed through the barn and out the other side. The swirling, surging, unearthly screams died when the burst of wind was gone. The candles flickering inside the pumpkins and turnips didn’t go out though, and the instant silence was more eerie than the banshee screams. The eerie flames through the eye sockets of the carved vegetables only added to the spooky atmosphere enveloping them.
“What the hell was that?” Darro thundered, his fingers trembling slightly as he ran them through his dark hair. Beside him, Bo and Misty were growling softly, their tails tucked between their legs and their ears lying flat on their head. They circled him cautiously in protective mode.
Jamie had never seen the confident lord look so shaken before. He was pretty sure he looked just as bad, although the experience with his dead brother gave him something to compare this experience to.
“Maybe it was G-Gramma Caulfield?” Luca offered, the whites of his eyes glowing in the dimness.
Darro glared at Belton. “Just what is it ye were supposed to do here?” he barked. “Speak up! I want answers!”
Belton was so white Jamie thought he might faint.
“I-I was supposed to get Luca to escape with me into Kelly Woods. I didn’t want to, b-but I didn’t know what else to do when she was watching me, so I-I climbed into the truck and hid like I was told. I thought once I got to Neamh, maybe I could find a way to save Luca,” he blubbered, snot running down his upper lip.
“Who is she ?” Pauley snapped.
“I-I don’t know, she wore a mask,” Belton whined. “S-She said she was sent by Gravedigger to give me my orders. I’ve never seen her before today. M-most everyone at the festival was wearing masks.”
“Did this Gravedigger have a mask?” Pauley barked.
“Nay. I-I’ve seen him around before, but I don’t know if I’d know him in his real identity. He always wears weird make-up and changes his hair color. And he is always dressed in black. He’s the one with the contract on Luca.” Then Belton’s face crumpled and he sobbed. “H-He made me watch while he shot Leonard Searcy, then told me that’s what would happen to my mum and sister if I failed to get Luca into the woods tonight. H-He’ll be looking for me now too.”
Jamie started. “Brodie’s dead?” he asked in disbelief. “Where did he shoot him?”
“Who’s Brodie?” Belton asked, his eyes still frantically searching the shadowy corners, his hands shaking.
“Brodie is, or was, Leonard Searcy, an undercover cop infiltrating the drug gang in Dunlaven Market,” Pauley replied grimly.
Belton gasped. “I-I’ve been selling drugs to a cop? Oh, my sweet Lord,” he groaned. “My mother will kill me if Gravedigger doesn’t get me first.”
“Do ye know who Kelpie is?” Pauley asked, her lips tight.
“I don’t know,” Belton moaned. “I think he might be the new boss? I overheard Tommie and Arthur talking in the basement at Hope Barks one night. They didn’t know I was down there and I kept quiet. They said he was supposed to be at the docks on the morning after All Hallow’s Eve. I’m guessing it’s to meet the shipment they’ve been getting ready to go out. I didn’t want to know that because the more ye know, the more likely ye are to get buried if the constables get too close. Loose ends and all that.” He was literally wringing his hands by now and Jamie could see a damp spot on the front of his jeans.
“Did ye tell Gravedigger that Luca was a confidential informant for the police?” Pauley inserted the question into his misery.
Jamie could tell she wasn’t having much sympathy for the lad.
“Are ye kidding me?” Belton shouted. “If I’d done that, I’d have been dead a long time ago. I think Tommie must have noticed his car the night we were bringing stuff from the warehouse into the basement. Luca was parked across the street from Hope Barks, so Tommie and Arthur might have questioned it too. Those miserable lowlifes notice everything,” he finished with a screech.
Darro took out his cell phone and dialed a number. “Angus? Is everything quiet out there? Someone took a shot at Luca from the direction of Kelly Woods. Have ye seen or heard anything?”
“I got ta admit, boss, we all felt a wind burst fly through here a few minutes ago, but didn’t hear or see any gunshots. Sounded like the banshee’s were on the loose though, if ye ken me. It’s a perfectly clear night now. Do ye want us to check out Kelly Woods?”
“Nay. Meet me at the helicopter pad. We’ll do some air surveillance while the rest of the lads guard the house and grounds.”
Darro dropped his phone in his pocket and tentatively opened the barn door. “It’s dark now, so getting to the house should be easy enough unless our sniper has a night vision telescope. Dal, get Luca and Belton into the secure room in my study along with Lucerne and the kids. I’m texting her now.”
“Aye, boss,” Dal replied. “Hunker down and run lads.” The three boys took off like rabbits for the back door so the house would be between them and the direction of Kelly Woods.
He turned to Pauley. “Do ye want to accompany Angus and me in the chopper for a surveillance sweep?”
“Aye,” Pauley replied firmly.
“I’ll be coming along too,” Jamie added grabbing Pauley’s hand.
It was only a few minutes until they were coming around the East side of Kelly Woods. Angus spotted the motorcycle and the small black car parked at the edge of one of the wood paths to the interior. “Look, there’s someone coming out of the woods,” he said through the headphones.
Darro pointed the helicopter at the lone figure and spoke over the loud speaker as he set it down. “Police! Halt and lay flat on the ground,” he commanded. The figure quickly complied.
Jamie arched his eyebrow at his announcement and Darro shot him a quick grin.
“I’m the police constable, I’ll approach the figure,” Pauley announced, opening the door on her side of the helicopter. As she stepped down, she called out, “Inverness Police, put yer hands behind yer head and stay flat on the ground.”
“Pauley MacBride, thank the Lord,” exclaimed the sobbing woman.
“Florence?” Pauley asked in disbelief. “What happened to ye? Where’s yer partner?”
“The Ghillie Dhu killed him,” Florence screamed as she peered through barely a crack in her eyes. Her entire face was ruddy and swollen. “Get me out of here before he comes back.”
Jamie’s hair stood up all over his body as he squinted into the woods. They all looked at each other as Darro and Angus moved to help support Florence as she sagged and weaved.
“Florence, what happened to ye?” Pauley asked. “Ye look like ye were struck by lightning.”
Jamie had to agree. The woman’s long dark hair was flying around as if it were charged with electricity, and one side of her hair was almost all white. There were dark shadows beneath her terrified eyes. Her black clothing was torn and dirty, blood seeping from the little holes in the cloth as if someone had laced it with shotgun fire.
“It was the Ghillie Dhu,” she screamed hysterically. “He killed Gravedigger, just fried him.”
“Ye mean the hitman?” Pauley asked with a frown, checking the woman over to make sure she wasn’t bleeding from an artery.
“All I know is he was my partner, Juice. I don’t know anything about a hitman,” she babbled.” H-He forced me to come up here with him. He said he’d kill my son if I didn’t get rid of Belton and Luca.” There was a wild light in her eyes. “It’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen, ye won’t believe me until ye see it fer yerselves. He turned Juice to dust, I tell ye, and then he looked at me, and I thought I’d explode.” Florence slumped in Darro and Angus’s hold and they gently lowered her to a sitting position on the ground.
“Cripes,” Darro cursed as he stood up. They all stared into the woods, no one offering to go in and see if Florence’s words had merit.
Angus folded his arms. “Well...I vote we wait fer morning. She said the laddie was dead, so a night in the woods isn’t going to cause any more harm. Besides, this woman needs medical attention.”
“I-I have a headache,” Florence complained, holding her head in her hands.
They all stared uneasily into the darkness and Jamie agreed with Angus. Scotland was full of such legends and people’s experiences, his own included, that made him hesitate to go into those creepy dark woods. And it was All Hallow’s Eve, the one day of the year, according to legend, when the dead came back to visit their loved ones left behind. Some welcomed it, others dreaded it.
He was one who dreaded it.