Page 46 of Highland Crown
They could find out. Searc had ears in every corner of Inverness. British officers, merchants, men at the courthouse, dock workers at the new harbor—information was eagerly bought and sold. And like a crate of oysters, the fresher the merchandise, the more valuable to the buyer.
“You said he had some news about your family?”
“Only a message for me.” Isabella’s voice quavered slightly, but she cleared her throat and continued. “He said, tell the doctor the lasses have been moved, and they’re safe.”
“Where were they moved? Who took them?”
She hugged her hands around her middle. “He didn’t say.”
“Why trustanythinghe said?”
“The man was a Highlander, Jean said, and no Englishman. He told her he was one of those who’d chased off the blue-backs on the coach road near the Stoneyfield House. They followed us here.”
A dozen questions arose in his mind. No one helped anyone here, unless they wanted something in return. Cinaed’s weapons smuggling was beneficial to the clans. He was worth keeping alive. But no one knew to connect him with the trade, and they couldn’t have known he had anything to do with John Gordon. He’d given no name at the inn. They couldn’t know he was involved. It had to be Isabella they were interested in.
The most troubling thing was that they knew she was a doctor. They knew her identity, which meant they also knew about the reward. And now they knew where she was staying. But if the reward was their motive, why had no one shown up to take her? And why move the two young women to a “safe” place?
He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m grateful for what they’ve done. But I don’t understand why they’re doing it.”
“Neither do I,” she admitted. “Tonight, I decided to stay by the window and watch for them.”
“Are they out there?”
She shook her head and glanced at the window. “If they are here, I haven’t seen them.”
He stood, and for a moment the room swung around his head. He put out a hand and she was there to take it.
“You’ve hardly eaten anything for four days. You need time to regain your strength. I can call for one of the servants if you need to use the water closet or—”
“Just help me to the window.”
The dizziness went away as quickly as it came, but Cinaed put an arm around her shoulder, savoring the feel of Isabella against him.
She helped him pull the blanket around him as they walked.
The lane below was quiet. In the shadows, a movement drew his eye. And then another. “They’re still out there.”
“I don’t see anyone.”
“Beyond the cart toward the river. A man is crouching by the stack of lumber, watching the gate.” He pointed up the lane. “Look in the shadow of the deserted cottage halfway up the lane. Two more.”
Isabella’s body went tense and her hold on him tightened. “This is what I feared. If they simply wanted to deliver that message, then why are they still here? What do they want?”
He didn’t know. He didn’t have much faith in faceless informants, even those who seemed to know so much. At the same time, he didn’t want to destroy Isabella’s confidence that these men might be protecting her family. Something was amiss. They could be the same ones who’d come to their rescue, but he couldn’t be sure. And even if they were, Isabella’s question echoed in his head. What did they want?
The news of a British soldier being shot while members of his regiment were run off by a gang of rogue Highlanders had to have spread far and wide. But the reward of a thousand pounds for handing Isabella over was even bigger news.
“For as long as we stay here, you must never venture outside these walls.” He took her hand and drew heraway from the window. “And don’t worry about the decrepit and tumbledown look of the house. Because of his business, Searc has made this place a fortress. The walls and doors are thick and the window shutters on the lower floors are reinforced with iron bars. He’s built an underground tunnel that leads to a dockyard downriver by the old pier, and another that leads to a stable inland beyond the ropeworks. At any time of the day or night, he could snap his fingers and have more than a dozen armed men here ready to fight off any invasion of the law. The city authorities know this, and the British are aware of it. He lines their pockets handsomely to leave what is his alone.”
“What is his,” she repeated. “Unfortunately, I have yet to prove to him I’m worth protecting.”
“Then we need to change that.”
“How?”
“Let me show you.” Taking Isabella’s hand, he led her wide-eyed to the bed. “After tonight, Searc will never question that you’re my wife.”
CHAPTER14
