Chapter 29
There was only so much a person could take before they snapped.
Hearing the terror in Allegra’s voice when she called to tell me a man was following her in Inverness was my breaking point.
Walker Ironside was a former Royal Marines Commando. I had the utmost respect for him because everyone knew it was no ordinary military unit. They were special operations and considered one of the most elite forces in the world. After his time in the military, he’d gone on to join a close protection team in the US, acting as security for high-profile members of the public. From there, he became Brodan Adair’s primary bodyguard before returning to Scotland to settle down as head of security at Ardnoch Estate.
The man had contacts and knew how to find people.
He’d found Hamish in just a few hours.
At the sight of Hamish stumbling out of a pub in this dimly lit area of Newcastle, I quietly got out of the car. Hurrying across the street into the shadows along the buildings, I followed him as he strolled in a slight zigzag toward his flat.
“Whatever you do, make sure there are no cameras around when you do it,” Walker had warned me before I’d left Scotland.
So earlier in the evening, I’d waited until someone let me into Hamish’s apartment building so I could make sure there were no cameras to witness what I planned to do. There were none. They weren’t wanted in places like this by certain people. Graffiti marred every inch of the ground floor of the building’s interior. There was a broken, rusted old bike just lying off to the side, rubbish that had been left to rot. The place stunk of urine and rotten food. It would do. I’d departed the apartment building to wait outside the pub Hamish visited every night.
And now there he was.
Blood pumped fast and hot through my body as I followed the bastard, picking up speed without alerting him. A group of lads on the other side of the street appeared, but they were too busy laughing and messing around to take note of me or Hamish.
The apartment blocks came into sight. A group of men were hanging out by a modified GTO and they turned to watch us. I looked away. I wasn’t in their business. Hopefully they’d stay out of mine.
Allegra was safe on Ardnoch Estate. Frustrated and concerned that I’d made the decision to go after Hamish alone, but safe and sound. Knowing that allowed me to focus.
Hamish dropped his keys trying to get into the building and almost bollocksed up my plans. But he quickly righted himself and entered the flats.
I picked up speed as he stumbled inside, following him through the door and giving him a shove.
“What the fuck?” He slammed against the stairwell.
As he straightened, his bleary eyes widened. “Jared?”
Loathing almost crippled me. And shame. That I came from such a pathetic waste of space. Grabbing him by the collar, I shoved him along the wall until I had him pinned.
He reeked of whisky.
“Get off!” Hamish struggled, but he was no match for me on a normal day, never mind on a day I still brimmed over with the rage and panic I’d felt listening to Allegra yesterday on the phone as she escaped Inverness.
I never wanted to feel that powerless again.
I slammed Hamish against the wall, his head making a dull thud off the concrete.
As he groaned, his head rolling, I snarled, “You made a big fucking mistake coming after my wife.”
The words echoed off the walls and Hamish blinked rapidly. In confusion. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. I know it was you who killed the sheep, killed the chickens. And I know it was you who had someone following Allegra in Inverness yesterday. That is the last mistake you’ll ever make.”
Whatever Hamish saw in my face sobered him quickly. “No, no, lad, I didn’t come after your missus. No way. I’m not that stupid. I know who she is. Even if I’m not feart o’ you, I know who her family is.”
No.
I ignored what seemed like Hamish’s genuine confusion and fear because I knew in my gut he’d been messing with the farm. No matter what he’d told the police.
I slammed him again and pain tightened his features, seconds before he turned chalk. “Oh, I’m gonna be sick.”
“You fucked with my farm and came after my wife! Admit it!”
When he said nothing, I pulled the Swiss Army knife I carried with me for work out of my pocket.
Hamish stopped whimpering and locked eyes on it as I brought the blade up to his face. “You wouldnae,” he whispered.
“You know what I’m capable of, Hamish. You know who I was before I moved to Ardnoch.”
He swallowed hard.
“And I might have stuck to the legal route if you hadn’t come after my wife.” I pressed the tip of the knife against his throat. Hamish stretched away from it.
And I hoped like hell my bluff would work.
“Fine, fine.” Hamish nodded frantically. “It was me. The farm. I killed the first ewe and had someone else do the chickens and the other ewe while I was away. It was me!” Spittle flew out of his mouth. “But I didn’t do anything to your missus. I promise! I promise. It wasn’t me!”
Fuck. I’d expected to have to hurt him worse than that to get a confession. He really was an utter coward.
Releasing the pressure on the knife, I watched the small prick on his neck open up, blood trickling down. I felt no remorse. Eyes on Hamish, I watched his relief as I pressed the knife back into its slot and slid it into my pocket.
“I believe you.”
Hamish watched me retreat in disbelief. “That’s it?”
“I got what I came for.” Disgust washed through me again as I looked him over. “Genetics are interesting, aren’t they?”
“What?” He touched the wound on his neck, his pallor paling further as he saw the blood on his fingers.
“You are nothing like your parents. Either of them. Physically, aye, but personality? It was like you skipped out on all their genes in that respect. You shame the McCulloch name.”
Hamish sneered, braver now I no longer had a knife to his throat. “You sound like my fucking father.”
“He was a hundred times the man you’ll ever be,” I reminded him, my tone lethal.
“Aye? What do you think he’d think of this?” Hamish gestured between us. “Maybe you’re more like me than you think.”
I used to worry that I was. But now, I realized I’d just been playing a part as a boy to survive. That ability had come in useful tonight. I’d shrugged on that part as easily as I had shed it almost a decade ago.
Huffing in amusement, I lifted the hem of my long-sleeved tee, revealing the mic pack Walker had procured for me. “I am nothing like you.”
Hamish vomited and I stepped back until I reached the door.
It was barely open when he whined, “Scum! You wee grass. You piece of shite!”
“Nah.” I flicked him one last look. “The only shite here is you, Hamish. And you’re about to get flushed.”
Sleep was hard to come by, especially on the hard mattress of the cheap hotel I’d booked a night in. Finally giving up on sleep at three in the morning, I’d gotten in the car. I stopped at the halfway point for breakfast and chatted with Allegra on the phone, explaining what had happened. But I was desperate to see her in person. Because now neither of us knew who had followed her that day.
“I think he probably just recognized me,” Allegra had said in my ear as I’d eaten in the roadside café. “Some creeper who didn’t think about how intimidating it would be for me. It wouldn’t be the first time. Hey, it could even have been paparazzi.”
“Do you think?” Some of my tension eased, because that did make sense.
“Yes, I think so. I think we can relax. Especially now that we know for sure Hamish was behind what happened on the farm.”
We did know for sure.
That’s why I stopped in Inverness before returning home and left the recording of Hamish’s confession with Jim Rowley. He’d listened to the recording with a hard look on his face.
“Is it enough?” I asked.
“It’s enough to bring him back in for questioning. We’ll make him think it’s enough and he’ll probably confess.” Jim had shaken his head. “Hamish always was a thorn in Collum’s side. That apple fell very, very far from the tree.”
“Aye,” I’d agreed gruffly.
“You’re more like Collum than Hamish ever was.”
Emotion had thickened my throat as Jim studied me.
“You made him very proud, Jared.”
The grief of my grandfather’s loss still stung, but that day it was fucking overwhelming. Afraid I’d break down in front of the police officer, I offered my thanks and got the hell out of there.
Now as I approached the farmhouse, I could feel that grief building toward the surface. The sight of Allegra hurrying out the front door to greet me caused that burning ache in my chest to rise until my throat constricted. I’d barely jumped out of the Defender when my wife threw her arms around me.
My wife.
I’d never in a million years have guessed how good those words would feel.
Almost as good as how Allegra felt against me.
My grip on her was tight. Too tight. She shook against me, and guilt cut through the grief, because I’d worried her by taking off like that. But as she held on tighter and whispered my name over and over in a soothing tone, I realized she wasn’t shaking.
I was.
“He died in my arms,” I blurted, the words wrenching out of nowhere.
Allegra jerked back, her gaze wide with anxiety. “Who did?”
“My grandfather.”
Understanding softened her expression. “Jared.” She reached for me, cupping my face in her palm. I closed my eyes, leaning into her touch. “Tell me.”
The memory filled my mind. Still clear as day. Granddad in my arms. That big man, helpless in my fucking arms. My eyes flew open and I felt the wet leak down my face, but I couldn’t stop it. I’d never told anyone the details. Just that he’d died in front of me. “I saw him go down. We were looking over a fence that needed reinforced after a gale had knocked the hell out of it. I turned and he was on his knees, clutching his arm. I got to him and he just collapsed onto me.
“I couldn’t help him,” I gasped. “I called for an ambulance, but I couldn’t help him. And he was looking up at me for help. After all he’d done for me … and I couldn’t help him. He was so scared. That big man. That strong man. He was so fucking scared and I couldn’t help him.”
I was barely aware of falling to my knees or Allegra coming with me. She was like a life raft as I clung onto her and cried like I hadn’t cried since the moment my grandfather died in my arms.