Winter's Touch (Immortal Touch Series) (29 page)

He’d finally had the broken window in her bedroom replaced, and had the bars removed as well. They were a harsh reminder of his initial cruelty toward
s her, and he couldn’t tolerate the sight of them.

Perhaps he should leave.
Then again, maybe he deserved no less than to stay and endure the torment. It was fitting punishment for all the lives heedlessly taken. Oh, but life had been so much easier when he was still dead inside. Empty of her influence. For the hundredth time, he wondered how and why he had ever allowed things to go so far.

And what was she doing right now?

~*~*~

“
This is a really bad idea.”

Abby stood anxiously watching while Eva tried to cram everything she needed into one carry-on bag.

“You’re right. There’s no way I can fit two weeks’ worth of stuff in here.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it
!”

“I’m going and that’s all there is to it.”

“But Scotland? Eva, this is crazy! You’re not thinking rationally.”

Maybe that was true, but she’d come too far to back out now. The round-trip airline ticket had been purchased
and an international telegram sent to Lainie’s address. Luckily she already had her passport from that senior trip to Paris. Stopping what she was doing, she faced her mother directly and firmly.

“Mom. You know I’ve always been responsible. Up until now I’ve never given you any reason to think otherwise. You have to believe me when I say I know what I’m doing. I really do. And I’m asking you to trust me.”

“I
do
trust you, but you have to look at this from my perspective! You’re leaving the country and you won’t even tell me
why!
”

“
I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that. I made a promise. Don’t we have a bigger suitcase somewhere?”

“Attic. Are you absolutely sure your friend will be meeting you at the airport?”

“I’m sure.”

“Because you probably won’t be able to rent a car, you know.
Most places require you to be at
least
twenty-one.”

“It’s not a problem. She’s a very reliable person.”

Abby sat on the edge of the bed and tried in vain to appeal to her daughter one more time. “Sweetie, when I said you should do whatever you have to do, I didn’t mean you should put your whole life on hold for him. Are you ever planning on finishing your college courses? You’ve worked so hard to throw it all away.”

“I’m only going to be gone two weeks.
I’m not throwing anything away. School will wait.”

“But you’ve emptied your entire bank account for this trip!”

“So I’ll find a job when I get back. Whatever.”

“Eva, what’s happened to you?”

Her mother’s voice sounded so wistful that Eva threw her arms around her, trying to reassure her with a hug. “Mom, it’s still me.
I’m
still me. But you have to let me live my own life. This is what I need to do right now. Please understand.”

Abby sighed. “
Well, hell. Maybe Edwin was right. Maybe I
am
too overprotective.”

Eva grinned. “Since when are you taking advice from him? If you want
my
advice, I think you should put on that slinky red dress of yours and make a date with Dr. Hunky.”

Laughing, Abby told her, “It’s good to see you smile again.”

“Don’t forget to feed Rio, okay?”

“Please. Does he look like he’s missed a meal?”

“So you’ll drive me to the airport tomorrow like you said?”

“Yes. Just promise me, baby, that you’ll be safe.”

Eva zipped the bag closed and hefted it to the floor. “I promise.”

She had no way of knowing it would be a promise
she couldn’t keep.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Nethy
Bridge 

“Och, child, but ye’re a welcome sight for these old eyes!”

Lainie couldn’t stop beaming at the girl in the car beside her. When she’d first
spied her standing forlorn and alone in the Inverness Airport, she could scarcely believe that Eva had actually followed through with her plans to visit. The relief she felt upon learning that the girl was alive and well was immense.

“It’s good to see you too, Lainie.” Eva tried not to seem jittery, but being in a vehicle that was zipping down the left side of the road made her
awfully nervous. She tried to focus on conversation instead. “How’ve you been? Did you have a nice Christmas?”

“Aye, it was
right pleasant. But what I want to know is what brings ye here? How is it that Jules let ye out o’ his sight?”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“I imagine it’s quite a story, at that. Does he know ye’re here?”

“No. He
...we haven’t spoken since the twenty-third.”

Lainie appeared puzzled. “Is he still in
Oregon, then?”

“As far as I know.”

“And where have
yoo
been?”

“At home.”

“Do ye mean to tell me he let ye leave?”

“He didn’t let me. He
made
me.”

The car swerved and Eva grabbed the dashboard anxiously.

“Now ye’ve
got
to explain
this
one to me, lamb!” Lainie shook her head in amazement.

“Well
...what it comes down to is...basically I’m crazy in love with him.”

The woman bit her lip. For a time she said nothing, but soon she began to chuckle, then laughed harder and harder until Eva feared she would
veer into oncoming traffic.

“So!
Got to him, did ye? That rapscallion! I should’ve known. I should’ve
known!
Takes beauty to slay the beast, that it does! So he panicked and sent ye packin’, did he?”

“Something to that effect, I suppose.”

“Then what are ye doin’ here? I know ye didn’t come all this way just to see an old lady.”

“I was hoping you could help me.”

“I’ll do whate’er I can, child. But I don’t know what makes ye think he’ll listen to
me
.”

“I had something else in mind.”

“Well, out wi’ it then.”

“I want to see the place where he was murdered. Do you know where it happened?”

“Och, aye, he showed me the spot once. But why would ye want to be seein’ that?”

“I have to try to find out what happened. If I knew that, then maybe there would be a way to find a cure for his
...ailment.”

“I
can’t imagine what ye expect to find there. But if ye want to see it, I’ll take ye there tomorrow, after ye’ve had a chance to rest up. I’m sure ye must be tired.”

Eva rested her head against the car door.
For the first time in weeks she felt a measure of peace. “Thanks, Lainie. I knew I could count on you.”

~
*~*~

Exhausted from traveling, Eva hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings the day before. But now, as she emerged from the spare bedroom in Lainie’s quaint stone cottage, she felt much more wide-awake and alert.

Lainie was busily setting the table. “Mornin’, lass! I hope ye slept well.”

“Very well, thank you. Do you need any help?”

“Not a whit. Have a seat.”

She pulled out a chair while inhaling the
heavenly aroma of breakfast. “I have to tell you, I really have missed your cooking.”

“W
ell, I’ll have to fatten ye up while ye’re here then, won’t I? Ye’ve grown a wee bit skinny.”

“I haven’t had much of an appetite lately,” she admitted.

“Got to keep yer strength up. Makin’ yerself sick isn’t goin’ to help matters any.”

Breakfast was
hearty, consisting of bacon, eggs, baked beans and something made of potatoes that Lainie referred to as tattie scones. Eva found it unusual to have beans for breakfast, but was assured that it was a perfectly common thing. Afterwards she was given a quick tour of the small but charming home. Every inch of it was cozy and unpretentious and distinctly characteristic of her hostess.

“This house is adorable!”

The woman was pleased by the compliment. “I’m comfortable enough here. It was once a crofter’s cottage, long before I bought it. I’ve done a wee bit o’ renovatin’ since then, o’ course.” She put her hands on her hips and gave the girl a discerning look. “Well now, I expect ye’re antsy to go see what ye came all this way to see, aren’t ye?”

“I am,” she admitted. “Can we go now?”

“Aye, it’s a fairly short walk. Bundle yerself up, it’s cold out.”

It
was
cold, but fortunately the sky was clear and there was no snow. Eva had brought with her a simple hooded winter coat, as the sable was far too impractical an item. That, along with the necklace, remained back home.

They headed out across a field toward
s a wooded area in the distance. “That’s the edge o’ Abernethy Forest there,” Lainie informed her. “Ye should come in the spring. A lovely sight, it is. Tourists love this area.”

“Mm.” Eva’s mind was elsewhere. Her stomach knotted as she wondered what she would do if she found nothing at all. And
if she wanted to be perfectly honest with herself, chances were she wouldn’t. It would be better to face up to that fact now.

They continued to walk in silence until Lainie said,
“There’s the old cemetery up ahead, borderin’ the forest. We could have taken the road here, but it was quicker to cut through the field. That’s the road Jules was on when he met up wi’ that horrid man.”

As they neared the decrepit gravestones, she pointed out one in particular.
“That’s right where the bastard was sittin’. Right on that stone.”

Fascinated, Eva knelt before the crumbling grave and touched the cold
sandstone marker. To her disappointment, the inscription was completely worn away. She wasn’t sure whether or not it might have had any significance. “Do you know whose grave this is?”

“I’m afraid
nae, lass.”

Straightening, she looked around. “Can you show me where the Welshman’s buried?”

“Aye. Right o’er here.” Lainie walked a short distance into the woods, then stopped between two towering Scots pines. “Between these two trees. That’s where the brute tried to bury Jules. And that’s where he lies now instead. See, I put that slab o’ stone there to mark the place.”

Eva sighed. She didn’t know what she
had expected to find, but it was unlikely there was anything here that could help. “All right then. This might seem like a stupid question, but do you remember if there was anything at all different about that day? Like, I don’t know, an eclipse or something?”

“N
ae, nothin’ special as I recall.”

“Were there any other murders in the area around the same time, maybe?”

“Och, nae. Nethy has always been a safe place to live. Not countin’
this
.”

“Maybe we should dig him up,” Eva suggested dubiously.

“Saints preserve us, what on earth for? He was just a man, like any other. A wicked and violent man, but a man nonetheless.”

“What about the knife?”

“Just a huntin’ knife, from what Jules said.”

“He mentioned a shed or something.”

“Och, that old thing’s collapsed and been gone for years.”

“
Well,
something
out of the ordinary had to happen here. People don’t just wake up from the dead! Maybe he was...what is it?”

Lainie had
developed a thoughtful expression. “I was just thinkin’. About what ye said. About other murders in the area.”

“Yes?”

“As I said, there wasn’t anythin’ like that. But there
was
the drownin’, a couple o’ days before.”

“Drowning?”

“Aye, a lad o’ eighteen disappeared while fishin’ for salmon in the River Spey. He wasn’t able to swim, and it was assumed he was swept away and drowned.”

“Was the body ever found?”

“Nae. His family took it hard, and the younger brother especially. They were very close.”

Eva tried not to let her hopes rise too much. After all, it was a long shot. “Was the boy from this area, by any chance?”

“Aye. His parents have passed on but his brother lives here still, though he’s turned into a disreputable sort. Drinks like a fish. Been married and divorced four times, from what I’ve heard.”

“Do you happen to know where he lives? I’d like to talk to him.”

“Where he
lives!
Ha! All ye have to do to find
that
one is go to the Rabbit.”