Highland Sanctuary (The MacDaniels Book 1) Read online

  Amy grabbed a small trashcan to put the broken pieces of glass in as her phone rang. Rocky barked incessantly, growing shriller with each ring. On the fourth ring the answering machine finally picked it up. “Hey, this is Amy’s answering machine. That should give you a clue to the fact that I’m not here right now, but if you feel up to leaving a message go ahead, it can’t hurt. I might even feel up to giving you a call back.” She smirked at her voice.

  “Amy, you will give me a call back.” Her breath caught. A pounding began in her chest, faster and faster it went. Fear. Unadulterated fear filled her at the sound of that voice. “The number hasn’t changed.” He took a deep breath as if he could inhale the very scent of her fear from wherever he was. “I do so miss your voice, and the feel of your body… It drives me mad.” Her eyes went wide and her breathing became erratic as the voice continued. “Amy, why did you run from me? You know the drugs do crazy things to me. I need you by my side.” Knees buckling she leaned against the wall. “You really should call me back, after all, we’re still married. I know you’re there. In fact, I know a lot more than you think…”

  As she sunk to the ground the machine cut off. Crouched in the corner amidst the broken glass she wept. Rocky sat beside her growling at the offending machine. Her crying turned to a keening sound as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Good dog,” she whispered on a choked sob.

  It did no good calling the police. The Deputy had kept silent. He had proclaimed his innocence, but he was just as guilty as Matthew, if not more so. No one would find the dishonorably discharged Navy SWC. He had promised to kill her. No one would help. No one could help. It was too late to tell the DEA that Matthew had been involved in the death of her brother — too late to tell them that was why she ran. It was too late to tell them Matthew’s greatest secret. Why tell anyways? It just got people killed. The last person that had tried to help her had been killed. He had been murdered in cold blood and it was all her fault. All of it was her fault.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning Alec was standing with his friend Nancy inside a place called Lilly’s Books, “Alec, Lilly Cadera is graciously allowing you to stay in her cabin, so you better act like you enjoy it and be nice.”

  Nancy had been Alec’s best friend in college, never steering him wrong. She had even tried to warn him about Morvena, but he had not listened to her.

  “Alright, Nancy, this is me havin’ a laugh,” he made a face that one could interpret as a smile before Nancy rolled her eyes at him. “Och, lass, yer too uptight.”

  “Alec, I don’t think you truly understand just how hard it was to get Lilly to agree to rent out her cabin to you. This time of year it can be rented out for a lot of money. Besides Lilly is a good friend of mine, so please behave. She used to work with me at the agency. When it went belly up we both went our separate ways, though we stayed in touch.” Nancy smoothed down her ruffled skirt as she continued to speak, “Lilly just wanted to meet you. She wants to make sure the cabin is to your liking.”

  “Ye could ‘ave asked that over the phone.” It was true. Nancy could have, but Alec sensed there was a reason that devious woman had wanted him to come in person.

  “Just pretend like you’re happy for five minutes. Please?”

  Fine. He would pretend that he was happy, but it didn’t mean that he had to like it. Alec sighed and turned away to check out his surroundings, “Tis a verra nice cabin.”

  He gave her a look and she threw her hands up in the air, “Alec MacDaniel, you are driving me insane. You should be excited, not looking like you’re about to walk a plank.”

  Excited about what? How could he be excited? Life was just changing way too fast. It was hard being excited when all you could think about was someone you loved, and lost.

  Wondering down the aisles of books he saw the true crime section, something that had once been a joy to him — stopping criminals and making them pay for their crimes. The aisle seemed to glare at him, screaming his failures like a banshee wailing in the wind. Books on murder, mayhem, drugs, terrorism, etc all lined the shelves, famous in all their painful glory. Would it ever get easier? So far the wound was still a gut wrenching one. True, it did not hurt as much as it once did, but it still served as a constant reminder of his failure.

  He looked up, across the store, when he heard a knock on the glass window and Lilly Cadera ran to open the door. He listened as a familiar voice said, “Lilly, what’s up with opening so late today?’

  Lilly flashed a smile at the woman Alec recognized from the night before, “Hey, Amy, my friend Nancy is in town. She brought a guy too: Alec MacDaniel, a Scottish Highlander. His looks alone are going to be bringing in the masses to my store. Bored housewives are going to be fanning themselves with books saying, “Ah, Alec MacDaniel is a fine specimen of man,” for the next few months if they find out he’s here, so we’re opening late today.”

  He heard a laugh and thought that it sounded remarkable, “Lilly, I think you’re exaggerating just a tiny bit.”

  “No, I’m not…” Her eyes were wide and Amy wondered just what was going on. “Well, we’re opening late because my friend’s in town and it’s been forever since I’ve seen her. I’m not exaggerating about Alec, take a look for yourself…” Lilly pointed over at him and Amy’s face changed. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She was speechless.

  Alec flashed her a grin. “Well, if it’s not the loon.” He noticed that the white t-shirt she wore had a picture of a bride and a male stripper running away from a groom and a caption that read ‘The bachelorette party was too much fun.’ He also noticed that her jeans were slung low on her hips and that the sweatshirt she had tied around her waist only emphasized it. He fleetingly wondered what was in the backpack she had with her. Was she in school?

  He was certain that his devil of a grin caused a ripple of under current to run through her stomach. He wore a similar outfit to the one he had worn last night, except now he was wearing a slate gray button up dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and dark dress slacks. At least, he assumed that he was affecting her by the way her breath hitched for a second before she seemed to realize what he had said.

  Then Amy glared at him. It was not just any type of glare either. It could have peeled the ten layers of paint off of his parent’s attempt at a nursery for Ian. His mother had been convinced Ian would be a girl. His father had been convinced that Ian was a boy. They each sneaked in the room and painted over the colors until the week before Ian was born. His mother had thrown in the towel, said she changed her mind on the colors. The tears in her eyes had told a different story though. His father had painted it pink again in the middle of the night for her, Alec had helped. As a result, Ian had a pink room until he was twelve. It had never bothered him, but he received never-ending teasing from his brothers. Alec smiled at the memory.

  Amy’s eyes narrowed and her lips were pushed together into a pencil thin line. “Well, if isn’t the jerk.”

  Nancy and Lilly both looked confused, “um… have you two met?”

  Alec opened his mouth to answer, but was stopped by his cell phone ringing. He pulled it from his pocket and opened it, “Yes?”

  “Och, my dear Alec, why hasn’t my own sweet lad called his poor mum?”

  Alec’s smile came out in full force. “Ah, my dear sweet sainted mum, the one who is fashed because her oldest is neigh thirty and without a wife?”

  “Alec Kirk MacDaniel, dinnae take that sassy tone with me.” Alec resisted a cheeky response. “My own son…”

  “Mum, I love ye, ye know I do. I called Rory to let him know I made it.”

  “Aye, but not yer mum. The lass that suffered the pains of child birth for yer sorry hide.”

  “The same mum who told me that if my plane fell into the ocean it would serve me right for leavin’?”

  There was silence on the other end. “Lad, what did ye say to yer mum? She looks ‘bout to cry.” His father’s voice provided comfort, but sadness at
the words.

  Alec’s playful spirit deserted him at the thought of his mother crying because of what he said, “I dinnae mean it.”

  “Alec, no son of mine will be a wanker. Ye better straighten out yer head or come home so I can box ye upside it. Now, how did yer travels go?”

  “Quite well, Da’. I should be done ‘round the time Ian comes home from England for break.”

  “Speakin’ of yer brother,” he whispered, “he’s in trouble with yer mum.”

  In the background Alec heard, “Alan MacDaniel, don’t ye be spreadin’ gossip! I want that runt home, so I can box his ears in myself!”

  “What did Ian do, Da’?”

  His father spoke quietly into the phone, “that brat pulled a prank on yer mum and she’s none too happy ‘bout it. I’ll tell ye more later, but for now she’s givin’ me the evil eye. Keep yer wife happy or eat yer supper elsewhere… Love ye, Son.”

  Alec hung up with a smile on his face. His youngest brother Ian was a bit of a prankster. They all were really, so there’s no telling what he did to their mother. Ian just happened to be the most creative, although, since he was the youngest he was also the safest from their mother’s anger. When he looked up he noticed Lilly and Nancy were still waiting for an explanation. Amy was gone.

  Chapter 5

  Amy slid her sweatshirt over her head as she walked into the office, angrily whispering curse words as she saw the numbers on the clock. Well, there was a first time for everything. Dropping her backpack at her feet, she plopped down in the chair behind the rental desk. Quickly signing in, she held her breath. He was sure to notice. Nothing made it past Dylan James. Nothing.

  The chair scraped against the tile floor… Turning around she smiled, preparing herself for what was to come. Her boss hung his head out of his office, “Amy, you’re late?” He sounded more shocked than anything. Amy surmised it was because she had never ever been late before.

  She shrugged, “I’m sorry. I went over to ask Lilly if those books about Costa Rica had come in or not, but she’s got some fancy guy over there. I’ll head back once he’s gone and check on it though.”

  Dylan leaned against the doorframe of his office. The flannel shirts he wore made him seem more like a lumberjack than the owner of an outdoor equipment rental company. However, today was apparently not a flannel shirt day. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re not too excited about this ‘fancy guy’?” He stepped further out of his office and she barely suppressed a grin at his flamboyant Hawaiian shirt.

  Holding back a laugh she croaked out, “Are we advertising the Hawaii trip today?”

  “Hey, now. My wife brought this back from her business trip in Oahu. It would hurt her feelings if I didn’t wear it.”

  “You’re such a good husband,” the grin was in full force now. Dylan James was a man madly in love with his wife. That is why he was safe. That was why she still worked here when her skills could put her working for major firms. Well, it was one of the reasons. Dylan James always had everyone’s best interests at heart. Amy suspected that at one time he had been a vastly different man, but that was before Marie. Marie had changed him, for the better.

  “Of course I am. Why would I be anything else? I’ll let you in on a secret.” He shifted his face into a deadly serious look. There was no telling what he would say next as he leaned forward in what could be best described as a conspiratorial confession. “I screwed up quite a bit while Marie and I were dating.” Amy rolled her eyes. “Now quit stalling and answer the question.”

  Amy once again rolled her eyes. Dylan was such a kidder, but could never be distracted from his ultimate purpose. “Fine. Because I met him last night and he accused me of having a screw loose.”

  Silence greeted her. A look of shock passed over Dylan’s face before he threw back his head and laughed. The laugh was a deep boisterous thing, full of joy. It lacked the condescension she had come to expect from people over the years. In fact, Dylan’s laugh was purely from amusement. Not at her though. He would never laugh at her. “The guy called you crazy?” She nodded. “And he’s still alive?” She nodded again and her boss laughed even harder. “To think I never thought I would see the day that you would let someone talk to you like that.”

  Amy frowned, thinking back on the last seven months. It was true that she had stayed away from the other workers. They had seemed to understand her need to ignore them, but her boss thought it gave him a reason to pry. In the end they had struck up a casual friendship. He knew more about her than anyone else, yet he was still in the dark about so much. He was right though, it was a rare thing indeed when she let someone speak to her as she had the Scot. “Dylan, it’s not funny. The guy was a jerk and I can barely understand him because of that dang accent.”

  “What accent?”

  “I swear the guy acts like he’s from Scotland or something.”

  “Well, now, isn’t that where you’ve always wanted to go?” Still leaning against the doorframe, he gave a wink.

  “That’s beside the point. You have no idea how embarrassing it was! I mean, I was staring at him like I was a freaking crazy lady and he… Why are you grinning?”

  “Because, dear Amy, your life is about to change.” He took a deep sigh, “Did I ever tell you about how I met my wife?”

  Before Amy could answer the phone began ringing, interrupting their conversation. She held up a finger signaling for him to hold that thought. “Blazing Outdoors, Amy speaking, how may I help you?”

  “Amy Killigan?”

  She instantly grew wary. No one ever asked for her by name. No one. “Yes?” Had he found her already? Her home number was easy to find, the location of her home progressively harder to find, but there was nothing, at all, that connected her to Blazing Outdoors. Not even an I-9. Her boss let her work under the table and never asked why. He would be screwed if the IRS found out.

  There was a sigh from the person on the other end of the line, “Mrs. Killigan, this is Sheriff Leann Newcastle of the Hope County Sheriff’s Department. I’m calling in reference to your brother’s murder seven months ago.”

  Amy knew that one day someone would ask. Someone would be interested. Someone would want to discuss what had happened… So many people had come and gone the day he died. The neighbors had fired off weapons that same day, maybe if theyn’t then the deputy would have been more prepared for the sight that greeted him upon driving up to the house. Not long before Matthew had shown up, the deputy had first tried to give her brother a ticket. He tried to give Finn a ticket for Rocky being off of a leash. Then when he showed up again… Well, instead of calling for help, Matthew had gotten to him.

  Taking a deep breath she decided to play dumb with the Sheriff. It would be better if no one knew that her ex-husband had called her. They’d ask questions. Questions were dangerous. Questions were even more dangerous when they had the ability to cost someone their life. The killing had to stop. “Did you guys finally find the prick that killed him?” Although, there could be another reason for the Sheriff to call. She felt hope creep into her for the first time in so long. Maybe they had caught Matthew. Maybe he had finally screwed up enough to where they would go after him and she would be free.

  Maybe she would not need her plan after all.

  “Ma’am, we did find one of the two suspects, yes. However, we only found his body. Jerry Carver, the suspect, was shot five times and left for dead at one of the local rock quarries. His face was beyond recognition, so the identification is not confirmed, but we found his wallet on the scene. We should have confirmation in a few hours. I just wanted to let you know first. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses, so we don’t really have any leads at this moment. We’re looking into it though. I’m sorry. I truly am. I know you wanted to have your day in court…”

  Amy felt tears prick her eyes; she wanted to have something else with the bastard. Not a day in court, but it was better the Sheriff not know what she wanted. Someone else just happened to do the dirty w
ork for her and she just happened to know who. “Yes, but he got the same death he gave to my brother. I guess that’s a form of justice isn’t it?”

  “Ma’am, normally I wouldn’t say this, but the suspect did get what he deserved. Once again, I am really sorry and I know you’re still grieving for your brother. On a side note, the officer that gave your brother the ticket before his death was suspended without pay for the last six months and today was the first day of his termination.”

  “Yeah, but he’ll probably get a job as a cop somewhere else.” They always did. People that broke the law never paid for it. Or at least not that she had seen.

  That thought gave her pause. Was she becoming jaded? Had it truly been that long since she had seen something to give her hope that everything would be alright?

  “No, he won’t. We’ve put a permanent black mark on his record and no one will hire him. I’m personally going to make sure everyone knows that he’s responsible for the death of a civilian. He should have done his job protecting you and your brother instead of protecting a criminal.”

  Just how much had he finally come out and told them? The day of the murder he had clammed shut, refusing to tell even the slightest of details. The other officers on the scene had chalked it up to shock from witnessing his first crime scene. Amy had known better though. Matthew could put fear in anyone. It never left, not even when he was no longer around. It was a long term thing with Matthew, hunting his prey until they thought they were safe, then coming out of the woodworks to scare them again. Fear was a terrible thing… Absolutely terrible. It tends to take over your life, every aspect, until you do not even recognize your own self anymore, until you were too far gone to return to the person you were before. “Thank you, Sheriff. I sincerely appreciate the call.”