Chapter 7 Lachlan #2
That surprised me. Lucy came from a crappy home life. Her father had abandoned her when she was a kid, leaving her with a selfish mother and a stepfather Lucy wouldn’t even talk about, she hated him that much.
“So you’re saying I should just let them get on with it.”
She grinned. “I know your need to manage people comes from a good place. I’ve never met anyone as protective as you. But yeah … you need to let them get on with it without any interference.”
I thought about Robyn’s tears when Mac opened his eyes yesterday morning.
Those were genuine.
As much as she grated, she might actually want to have a relationship with Mac. I sighed. “Fine.”
“Good chat.” Lucy laughed as she walked past me. “I’ll let you know if I need a car for Inverness later.”
“Sure.” I continued to my room, but just before I could swipe my key card over it, the door opened and Sarah McCulloch appeared.
“Oh.” She blushed beetroot. “I’m sorry, sir, I was just … tidying up.”
I narrowed my eyes. “All housekeeping duties should be done by now.”
I had been wary of hiring Sarah McCulloch as a housekeeper because her grandfather hated me.
I’d thought it was a deliberate attempt to spy on Ardnoch.
Thane said I was being paranoid, that Sarah just needed a job, and everyone knew I paid my staff above-average wages.
Considering she’d worked at the castle for a year without incident, Thane had been right.
Yet I felt her eyes on me now and then, and she blushed and stammered around me until even I was uncomfortable.
Her crush was obvious.
I could put up with it.
But not with her in my rooms when she shouldn’t be there.
Cheeks hot red, Sarah couldn’t meet my eyes as she bent to collect a bundle of sheets.
I hadn’t seen them.
Relaxing, I stepped aside as she muttered, “Sorry, sir, we had to clean the guest rooms of those who left early, and we fell behind. Mrs. Hutchinson thought you wouldn’t mind if we left your suite until last.”
Mrs. Hutchinson—Agnes—my head housekeeper.
Feeling remorseful for snapping at her, I replied, “Of course not, Sarah. My apologies. Do you need help with the sheets?”
“Oh no, Mr. Adair.” She looked horrified by the thought as she scurried by, her face almost hidden behind the bundle. “I’ve got them. I’ll just take them to the laundry chute.”
“Fine. Thank you.” I escaped into my room, away from her nervous energy, and closed the door behind me.
My rooms looked in order. Nothing seemed to be touched.
I was growing paranoid.
Or was I?
No, it couldn’t be Sarah. A man attacked Mac. Unless we were dealing with more than one person?
But little Sarah McCulloch? I couldn’t imagine her hurting a fly, let alone a doe and a grown man.
Head beginning to pound, I quickly changed my shirt and was about to leave when the phone in my room rang. Only staff members had my room number. I picked up. “Adair.”
“Sir.” It was Jock. “I’m sorry, but there’s been another incident.”
Adrenaline rushed through me. “Who is it? What’s happened?”
“No one is hurt, sir. But Ms. Willows is pretty shaken up. Can you meet us at her studio?”
“I’ll be right there.”
Eredine Willows was my Pilates, yoga, and mindfulness instructor.
More than that, she was my friend.
Not in the same way as Lucy; I cared a great deal about Lucy.
But Eredine was different. I felt as protective of her as I did of Arrochar.
Knowing what I’d helped her escape from, I felt furious that someone used her to get to me in this way.
The studio was a modern building on the edge of a private loch on the estate.
Loch Ardnoch was small and could be found by following a path that cut through the golf course from the castle, a mere ten-minute walk.
The wall of the studio facing the loch was made entirely of glass, and Eredine led her classes from there so members had a view of Loch Ardnoch as they worked out or practiced mindfulness.
When I built the place, I didn’t have anyone in mind for it.
Then I met Eredine by chance in LA.
She was looking for a new start, preferably somewhere remote, and I’d offered her the position at Ardnoch.
Knowing how private she was, I’d helped her find a cabin to rent north of the village, far from the estate, with no other neighbors around.
You would have thought I’d handed her a million dollars, she loved that place so much.
She loved her studio too.
Someone had violated her space.
The rage I’d felt when I heard of Mac’s attack came burning back.
Why was this fucker going after everyone I cared about?
The coward needed to come at me so I could end him.
I was more than aware of the shredded yoga mats, the damaged walls, the broken windows, and the spray-painted words across the cracked mirrors, but my priority was Eredine. She sat with her back to the wall, knees drawn to her chest, not looking at anyone.
“She won’t let us near her.” Jock fell into stride with me as I crossed the room.
I warned him off with just a gesture.
“Eredine, it’s all right.” I lowered to my haunches and tentatively touched her knee.
Large, haunted eyes looked up at me, and I cursed this stalking bastard to hell all over again. Guilt suffused me. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. But this isn’t about you. You know that, don’t you?”
Arrochar and Eredine were close, so she’d confided in the skittish young yoga instructor early on about the threatening messages we’d found around the estate, knowing Ery could be trusted.
As such, she’d been aware of the situation well before now.
I hadn’t sensed she was frightened beyond her concern for me and Mac.
But now her fear was obvious.
“Come here,” I whispered hoarsely, pulling her into my arms.
Thankfully, she came willingly, clinging to me. She trembled in my embrace.
“Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“I’m worried about you,” she whispered. “Look what happened to Mac.”
“I’ll be fine. Mac is fine. We’re going to figure this out. Can you tell me what happened?”
She shook harder. “I just … I found it like this. M-my afternoon classes are s-supposed to start a-a-at three thirty.”
“We’ll take care of that.” I looked up at Jock.
We needed to take photos, deal with members, and call the police.
However, I didn’t want Eredine to be alone.
Arrochar was a forest engineer, currently on site at Blairnie Forest, and probably unreachable.
The only person on the estate Eredine liked and trusted was Lucy. “Get Ms. Wainwright.”
I sat with Eredine, just holding her, staring at the threatening message spray-painted across the mirrors as we waited for Lucy.
Lucy’s eyes widened as she stepped into the studio and saw the destruction—and the message. Her expression darkened with anger and then softened with sympathy when she saw me holding Eredine.
“Eredine.” I cupped her pretty face in my hands, swiping her tears away with my thumbs. “Luce is going to take you to one of the empty cabins.” I’d built the extra accommodation along the loch. “I’m sending a security member with you, but he’ll stay outside.”
“Come on, angel.” Lucy held out her arms. “I’ll make you a strong cup of tea and keep you company for a while.”
Relief moved through me as Eredine melted into Lucy’s embrace. She was almost as tall as Lucy, but she still somehow managed to look small and fragile in her arms.
As soon as they were gone, I studied the message.
“Cameras?” I asked, referring to the security cameras placed outside the studio. “Eredine had classes this morning, so this had to have happened between noon and three.”
Jock scowled. “Cameras are wiped.”
“This is bloody ridiculous. I take it the cameras into the security room have been wiped too?”
“Aye, sir.”
“From now on, only you, Pete, and Kyle, and whoever you absolutely trust, have access to the security booth. If that means paying overtime, I’ll do it. Understood?”
He nodded grimly. “Understood.”
Exasperated, I gestured to the mess. “Just … call the police.”
A murmur sounded from Jock’s earpiece. He turned to me. “Mac’s daughter is here. And apparently Mac just called from the hospital to say we’re to allow Ms. Penhaligon access to his office and his laptop.”
Understanding dawned. Mac kept copies of all the evidence and his notes on his laptop. He wanted her in on this investigation.
Christ Almighty.
The mere thought of Robyn poking her nose into my life and estate exhausted me.
But I wouldn’t defy Mac’s wishes.
“Hold off on calling the police.” I gestured to the message. “Not until Ms. Penhaligon has had a look. Get one of your boys to escort her here.”
Not ten minutes later, Robyn walked into the room. She had a large camera draped around her neck that looked like something a professional reporter used. How did that get past security?
Mac, I realized.
To my increasing irritation, I couldn’t tear my eyes off Mac’s daughter. I would have felt her presence even if I hadn’t been watching the door.
She had an undefinable energy. Robyn wasn’t a typical beauty, but something I couldn’t quite put my finger on made a person look at her.
In Hollywood, an actor didn’t have to be physically perfect to be successful.
They just needed to have that thing. Charisma.
It couldn’t be taught. Years ago, my agent had tried to talk Mac into auditioning for work as an actor. Because he had it.
His daughter had inherited it.
Robyn’s gaze moved through me, washing over the wrecked studio. Her booted steps echoed off the damaged wooden floors as she strode across the space to stop at my side. A musky, floral scent surrounded her. She stared at the message:
I’ll make you see me
And it will be the last thing you ever see.
xoxo
Robyn read the message out loud. She glanced up at me. The sunlight streamed in through the shattered glass doors and made her changeable irises seem a grayish green. “Well, that makes me feel better.”
I frowned. “What does?”
“Knowing I’m not the only one you piss off.”