Page 56 of Hold a Candle

“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.”

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