Chapter 31 Robyn #2
I’d followed Lucy and Eredine to Eredine’s lodge in the woods.
It was exactly as I’d imagined. She was surrounded on three sides by trees, and the lodge was built on stilts with a wraparound porch, small but picturesque.
She had a ton of colorful plant pots scattered here and there along the porch, though it looked like some were dying in her absence.
It felt utterly remote, and while I wasn’t surprised it was to Eredine’s taste to be out here alone, I was taken aback she’d want to be out here alone after what happened to Lucy and McHugh.
Yet, her whole face seemed to brighten as we escorted her into her small but chic home.
While we lounged on the sofa and Lucy on one of the armchairs in the open-plan living area, kitchen directly behind us, Lucy’s bodyguards stood vigil outside: one out front, one out back.
“Isn’t it weird taking them everywhere with you?” I asked, sipping at the coffee Eredine brewed.
Lucy shrugged. “They’re usually with me all the time. I’ve just never needed them to be with me all the time while I’m at the club. One of the many perks of being a member. So, no, it’s not weird, but it is annoying.”
Remorse filled me. “We will find him, Lucy. One of these days, he’s going to slip up.”
“Oh gorgeous, it’s not your fault, and you giving me big puppy eyes only makes me feel guilty.” She waved her hand, her gold bracelets jangling. “And anyway, I don’t need to be here. I could leave anytime, so staying is my decision.”
“Why are you staying?” Eredine asked.
Looking comfortable and at home here, Eredine was snuggled up on the opposite end of the couch.
While I’d spent lots of time with the young woman, I was still no closer to knowing her.
I had no doubt of her kindness, compassion, and sincerity, but I’d also never met anyone so secretive.
There were ghosts in her eyes, and I sensed Lachlan had some inkling as to what haunted her.
Despite our intimacy, he refused to divulge much about Eredine, and honestly, I admired him all the more for it.
He was a loyal friend.
Lucy answered Eredine’s question, “Because the people I care about the most are here, and I’d feel like I was abandoning them.”
My smile was soft, affectionate. “We wouldn’t think that. We’d be happy to see you safe.”
“Well, that’s how I feel about you. I can’t leave. Not until I know Lachlan and you all will be okay.”
“I think Lachlan is more than okay.” Eredine shot me a big, mischievous smile.
I felt my cheeks heat. “Please stop.”
“I can’t. I have been dying to get away from the estate so I could ask you what is going on. I’ve never seen him like this. He called you his girlfriend.”
I glanced from her to Lucy who looked just as curious.
“We’re …” I tried to sound more casual and less giddy than I actually felt. “We’re giving it a real shot.”
Eredine shook her head in amazement. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it?”
Laughing, I replied, “No need to sound so surprised.”
“It’s not a surprise he wants you,” she hurried to reassure me, glancing at Lucy for help, who was contemplating me with an unreadable expression. “But Lucy and I have known him awhile, and he has always been about the casual.”
“He has his reasons for that.”
“They are?” Lucy asked.
“His reasons,” I said gently but firmly, and she pressed her lips together, looking a little displeased by my refusal to share. “But we both agree there’s something more between us, so he said he wants to try.” I bit my lip to halt my smile.
“Oh my God.” Eredine looked happier than I’d ever seen her. “I wasn’t sure if he was kidding about the whole girlfriend thing so this is amazing news. Does that mean you’re staying in Ardnoch?”
“We’ll see. We don’t want to pressure each other.” My eyes moved to Lucy who still seemed to be processing what I’d relayed. Suspicion crept in. “You’re okay about this, right?”
She cocked her head, brows together, a soft smile on her lips. “Of course, I am. I’m … I am so thrilled Lachlan has pulled his head out of his ass …”
“But?”
Lucy grimaced. “I care deeply for you, Robyn. I’m just worried about you.”
Understanding, I nodded. “I know where I stand with him. And I know there are no guarantees. But … he’s worth the risk.”
She considered this and then shot me that charismatic grin. “Then I’m happy for you both. If you weren’t driving, I’d suggest a toast.”
“We can toast coffees,” Eredine said.
The three of us leaned in, holding up our mugs, and Lucy announced, “To Robyn and Lachlan. May our action hero be worthy of our real-life heroine.”
I chuckled while Eredine awwed and we clinked our mugs together.
Discussion spiraled from there into girl talk, and we shared stories about past relationships.
I say “we,” but it was me and Lucy. As ever, Eredine was closemouthed about her past, and Lucy didn’t broach the subject.
Following suit, I left well enough alone.
It was the first time in a while I’d seen either woman so relaxed, and I wouldn’t ruin it by asking questions Eredine wasn’t comfortable answering.
“Oh shit!” Lucy exclaimed as her eyes caught the clock on Eredine’s kitchen wall. She shot to her feet. “I completely forgot I have a video meeting with a director in half an hour. Oh shit, shit, shit. Do you think they can get me back to the castle in time?”
“Of course.” I hurried to my feet, grabbing the sloshing cup of coffee out of Lucy’s hand. “It’ll be cool.”
“I’m interested in this part,” she explained as she slipped back into her boots. “It’s the first in ages that’s sparked something in me.”
“It’ll be fine,” I reassured her. “Go, go.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve got my car.”
“Maybe you should follow us back?”
In all honesty, it was nice to be off the estate. I was enjoying Eredine’s company, and I still wanted to visit the fairy glen nearby. I said so to Lucy.
Her eyes darted to the clock, and she frowned in thought. “Promise me you won’t go to the glen later than six?”
“It doesn’t get dark for hours yet.” This far up, the sun didn’t start to set until around eight thirty at this time of year.
“I know how lost you get in your work. Just promise.”
“I already promised Lachlan I’d be back at the castle for dinner at seven. I plan to keep that promise.”
“Good.” She hurried over to give me a distracted kiss on the cheek, treated Eredine to the same, and then fled the cabin hilariously fast.
I flopped down on the sofa. “She’s a complex lady, that one.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know. It’s like she’s two people. The woman who loves acting, loves the fame … but then there’s this other part of her that seems to crave the idea of home, family. I think that’s why she spends so much time here.”
Eredine gave me a sad smile. “Yeah. I think you’re right. Sometimes she has these moods. She gets melancholy, and maybe it’s because she doesn’t know what she wants.”
I’d never been subjected to Lucy’s melancholy moods and was a little surprised to hear she suffered from them. “I wonder if what she wants is here in Ardnoch, not in Hollywood, and she’s just in denial about it.”
“By what she wants, do you mean someone in particular?”
Thinking of Thane, I shrugged. “Maybe someone here might have caught her eye, yeah.”
Eredine considered this. “That would be nice. For her to stay, permanently.”
The urge to pepper the young woman with questions about her own reasons for choosing Ardnoch was strong. “You like it here, don’t you?” I said inanely.
“Of course. It’s my home.”
“But that accent tells me somewhere else was home first.”
She smirked at my stealthy attempt to unearth her history. “Nowhere has been home until here. But I am originally from Chicago, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“How did you meet Lachlan?”
“In LA.” Eredine stood. “Another coffee?”
Her tone said, “Don’t ask me anything else.” Like I said, I didn’t push people. “Sure.”
A knock at the door stopped her midway, and I held up a hand to halt her from checking it out.
Instead, I did, peeking out the side window first and relaxing at the sight of one of Lachlan’s security team.
There were so many of them now, I didn’t know them all by name (even though Mac had introduced me), but I knew this woman.
At six two with a pretty face no amount of scowling or slicked-back hair could hide, the bodyguard was difficult to forget.
I opened the door. “Hey.”
She nodded. “Just wanted you to know I’m here now that Ms. Wainwright has left with her private security.” She gestured to the SUV parked out front. “I’ll be sitting in there, on guard if you need me. Now and then, I’ll take a walk around the perimeter too.”
“Great. I’m sorry, your name again?”
The guard straightened to her full height. “Everyone calls me Ada.”
“Thank you, Ada. I’ll let Eredine know.”
Ada nodded and turned swiftly on her heel, marching down the porch steps and across the drive to her vehicle.
I closed the door and turned to a bemused Eredine. In a creepy voice, I said, “Ada is watching over you. Don’t be scared if you hear footsteps around the perimeter.”
Eredine chuckled at my teasing. “Life is so weird right now.”
I chuckled with her, even as I felt a twinge of guilt for making light of the situation. The problem was, if I didn’t find ways to laugh at the absurdity of it all, I’d fall into a gloom of despair that a murderer was still out there, and the man … well, the man I cared about was still in danger.
Though Eredine offered to show me the way to the glen, I knew how distracted I could get while working, and I knew she was enjoying being home, so I declined.
Instead, she gave me what seemed like straightforward directions, and I got in my car with a nod to Ada, who frowned like she hadn’t realized I would be leaving the premises.
Vacillating between returning to the castle like I’d promised Lachlan if Lucy couldn’t come with me and going to the glen anyway, the reddening sky of the early evening persuaded me it would be fine if I went. I wouldn’t be long. The light was just too gorgeous to let it go to waste.
The glen was a mere five-minute drive from Eredine’s lodge, but it was up the narrowest single-track road I’d encountered thus far.
Tense behind the wheel, I kept a moderate speed in the event of confronting an oncoming vehicle.
As I followed the switchbacks through forested hills, I began to doubt my decision.
One, I’d made a promise, and two, it was foolish to go anywhere in the woods alone at the moment, no matter how capable I was.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath.
I needed to turn back.
Hoping to come upon a passing place to do a U-turn, I kept my eyes peeled. Just as I spotted one in the distance, a truck appeared ahead of me too.
It was going at speed, giving me no chance to get to the passing place first to wait for them to go by so I could do my maneuver.
Grumbling under my breath at the truck’s reckless speed, I waited for them to slow at the passing place so I could get by.
Instead, I heard the roar of their engine over the music playing from my radio, and my heart jumped into my throat as the truck with tinted black windows kept coming right at me. A bigger, sturdier vehicle than mine, I knew if it hit me …
The driver must be distracted, my frantic brain thought. I pressed my palm to the horn, blasting it.
The truck kept coming.
“Oh my God.” Fear exploded through me, and I slammed my foot on the brake.
Then horrific understanding followed when I saw the ski-masked face behind the wheel of the truck.
He wasn’t stopping.
Had no intention of stopping.
Instinct forced my hands to spin the steering wheel to the left, and I felt the ground give way beneath my tires as I soared off the embankment and down into the sloping valley of trees.
The sensation didn’t last long.
A tree caught my fall.
The sound of crunching metal filled my ears as I flew forward in my seat and—