Page 101 of Highland Sword
Aidan.
The impact of the satchel’s weight drove Burney into him. Aidan grabbed for the pistol, and she watched in shock as they tumbled over the edge of the dock together.
She rushed to the side and watched in horror as they fought in the icy river. Aidan went under first, but then Burney was pulled down.
She heard footsteps on the dock behind her. The carriage driver was here. The two Mackintosh men raced out of the warehouse onto the dock.
The driver drew a pistol from his coat but quickly realized who they were.
“Aidan went in the river. I can’t see him.” Morrigan leaned over the edge, ready to go in after him.
He’d come to her rescue. He knew she was in trouble. Aidan knew where to go and how to find her. He was the love of her life. Her future. He couldn’t die. She wouldn’t let him go.
“I’m going after him.”
Morrigan was about to jump in when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind. She struggled to get free. Once again, she was back in the surgery in Edinburgh. Her father was dead, and she was being dragged out of the room. She was too late to do anything.
“Let me go,” she screamed. “I won’t let him die.”
“There he is, Mrs. Grant. By the bank. He is coming out.”
A few paces downriver she saw him. Aidan. There was no sign of Burney.
The men rushed down to help him out.
Suddenly, her knees wobbled. Everything had happened so fast. For a few insane moments, she’d nearly lost hope.
“Get blankets,” she told the driver, gathering her strength.
Morrigan ran along the bank and threw her arms around him. A dry coat was thrown over him, and she pressed her face against his wet clothes.
“You’re alive. Thank God. You’re alive.”
He held her and kissed her, then pulled away and ran his eyes over her face. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “I found a secret panel behind the bookcases and surprised him. He’d come to collect whatever valuables he’d left behind.”
“When I couldn’t find you inside the house, I knew.”
“How did you know to come here?”
“Remember when Searc told us it was a smuggler’s house?”
She nodded. Knowing but not paying enough attention.
“I’ve heard since I was a lad that many of the old houses along the river have tunnels that lead to the river. When I saw the boat tied up to the old shack and those two bruisers, I knew that was where you’d be coming out.”
Morrigan motioned to the men still lying inert on the dock. “You did this?”
“The moves I saw you using on the pell in the training yard, I put them into action here.”
He was soaked to the bone. His teeth were chattering and he was still in good humor. As they walked back toward the carriage, she spotted the bag she’d been carrying for Burney. She asked one of the Mackintosh men to bring it for them.
“What do you think is in there?” Aidan asked, holding her tight.
“A trail of frailty and fear.” Morrigan looked up into the eyes of the man she loved. The man she would stand with and fight beside till the end of their days. “There is nothing that can touch us in there, but those papers might mean hope and freedom for scores of others.”
CHAPTER39
