Page 61 of Highlander's Runaway Seductress
The Laird reached for his cane and stood. “The only way that’s best: capture him and send him away. Ye nor he are of me territory so I cannae legally imprison him, and there is nothin’ that I can charge him for. I’m sorry that he hurt ye, lad, but bein’ greedy isnae a crime that can be charged for.”
“I assure ye, yer Lairdship, Ben will do somethin’ that will force yer hand,” Damien said. “We need to find Amelie and get her out of harm’s way. first.”
The Laird towered over Damien. “Ye think he will harm me daughter?”
Thinking of Ben’s hateful eyes and his cruel sneers, Damien nodded grimly. “I daenae think there is any length he willnae go to for what he thinks is rightfully his.”
Laird Dolberry levelled an assessing look at Damien, that felt more as if he were cutting into him, layer by layer. “Since I daenae ken this man, I will have to rely on yer judgement. Mark ye that when all this is over and done with, ye and I will be havin’ a long talk. Now, let’s go find Amelie. But first—”
He called the soldiers that were there and directed them to find a servant and go to the visitors’ quarters for Benjamin McLowe while they went to find Amelie.
They left the room and took the steps down to the main room and then onto the main living quarters. Damien felt his stomach tighten as the Laird knocked and pushed open the door, only to see that the room was empty.
“She’s been gone a long while,” Damien said, pressing a hand to the cooled bedding.
“She’s either in the kitchens or in the garden,” Laird Dolberry said, but as they left the room, the soldiers came down the corridor.
“McLow isnae here,” one of them reported. “And from the looks, hasnae been here in the past hour either.”
Laird Dolberry turned to Damien, then back to the guards. “Have ye checked the kitchen?”
“Nay,” the guard said, and as he was about to turn, a woman came into the hallway.
The woman’s face was marked with surprise, and when the Laird turned to her, told her the situation about Ben and asked if she knew where he and Amelie were, the woman paled.
“They left for the town a few hours ago, me Laird,” the woman stuttered with nerves. “Mister McLowe said he wanted to see the town before he went back to Inverness. They went to the stables and took a carriage out.”
“Where are the stables?” Damien asked.
The Laird snapped an order to a soldier, who hurried off before the Laird strode away to his rooms. “Damien, come with me.”
Hurrying after him, Damien entered another set of chambers and Laird Dolberry directed him to a trunk. “If we’re goin’, we’re nae goin’ unarmed.”
Crouching, to loosen the latches, Damien pulled out a broadsword and a few dirks. Grasping the pommel, he slid the sword from the scabbard and smiled at the sharp steel edge.
“I daenae think we’ll need this, but we’ll carry it in case.”
He handed the sword to the older man and strapped the dirk on his side then slid one into his borrowed boot. “We’ll find them, and after all this—” he paused to find Laird Dolberry’s attention “—I would love to marry yer daughter, Laird Dolbery. I’ll do whatever ye ask of me.”
“Hold onto those words,” Laird Dolberry said. “Let’s find me daughter first.”
“I think ye should carry that sack of silver Ben wants,” Damien advised. “It will do good to distract him if he is usin’ Amelie as a ploy to get it.”
“Aye,” Laird Dolberry nodded sagely, “Shrewd thinkin’, lad. I think—”
Damien cocked his head. “Ye think what?”
The older man shook his head, “I’ll tell ye when we’ve found me daughter.”
* * *
The sun was setting, and Amelie could aware that the shadowed clearing they were in kept getting dimmer and colder. She huddled down in her coat while Ben paced and cursed under his breath. He kept on muttering how ungrateful Damien was and how all he wanted was the silver.
“W-why are ye doin’ this, Ben?” Amelie asked. “Ye daenae need to harm me to get what ye want.”
“Ye were a means to an end,” Ben replied. “I want that silver and if I have to use ye for it, I will. Damien kens it, and all this could have been avoided if he hadnae changed his mind and just gotten the damned silver.”
Amelie looked at the cold and blue body of the poor innocent coachman that had been killed, and bit back sorrowful tears. She had never thought that Ben would turn out to be this sort of man—cruel and callous. He had killed a man just to get him out of the way so he could kidnap her.
