Duncan barely avoided rolling on top of Maggie. She had been knocked unconscious, but at least she hadn’t been shot. The slice of pain shooting across the back of his arm was proof of that.
He was quite aware that Judd was still armed, which made Maggie a vulnerable target. The crack of the gunshot still echoed as he shifted to his feet, squatting low to shield Maggie and to give himself leverage. He launched himself at Judd’s knees.
Duncan’s size and force knocked Judd down and across the porch. Judd’s head glanced off the side of Lachlan’s trunk and snapped forward. Duncan was more than happy to meet it with his fist. Blood spurted from Judd’s nose and he howled in pain as Duncan rammed a shoulder into his middle, driving him backward down the stairs.
Duncan grunted in pain himself. He should have used the other shoulder. He could feel the warmth of his blood seeping through the back of his sleeve. It had been a long time since he’d felt the pain of a battle wound. He’d never thought to live through that again and, in truth, he hadn’t missed it. Yet, a black rage had filled him when he’d spied the gun aimed at his Maggie’s heart, and he would not be satisfied until Judd’s heart no longer beat inside his chest.
Duncan pushed himself upright, then scraped the tangle of hair from his face. Judd lay in a dazed heap halfway down the stairs. His suit was dirt-smeared and torn, blood had dripped from his chin, marking his white shirt, staining his tie. He looked beaten, another foe vanquished.
But the gun was still in his hand.
For the first time, Duncan felt real fear. Even when he had charged into battle against the Clarens, willing to give his life to the honor of defending his people, he had not felt emotion of this magnitude. Yes, he’d fought for all members of his clan; man, woman, and child. But never for one particular woman. It had never been Maggie’s life at stake.
A roar began low in his chest. This sniveling blackguard had come here intent on doing battle with an unarmed woman. His woman. The roar erupted with the force of a volcano, the hills echoed his raging battle cry as he launched himself off the porch.
Judd turned his head at the sound, barely managing to roll away in time to avoid being crushed by the massive force of Duncan’s body. Duncan twisted to his side, grunting as his shoulder bore the brunt of his fall. He rolled to his belly and reached out, latching a firm hand around Judd’s ankle as the bastard tried to scurry out of reach.
“Ye willna hurt her.” Duncan growled through bared teeth as he dragged the man toward him. “No’ ever again.”
There was terror in the smaller man’s eyes, but he quickly regrouped. He had been using his hands for leverage, trying to resist Duncan’s greater strength by grappling at the ground. Now he gave up and rolled to his back, bringing the site of the gun down, resting his hand on his stomach for balance. The muzzle was pointed directly at Duncan’s head. “I don’t know who the hell you are or where Maggie dug you up, but it looks like you lose.” He spat out the blood that streamed into his mouth. “And here I thought she understood the balance of power.” He cocked the gun. “You know, brains win over brawn every time.”
“Think again, mister.”
Judd turned to look at Maggie, who stood over them, holding the fireplace poker like a spear. Duncan could only see her in his peripheral vision. He didn’t dare turn, instead keeping his gaze fastened firmly on Judd … and the gun.
“Go awa’ from here, Maggie,” he said. “I said I’d handle him and I will.” Even as he said it, he was busy trying to calculate just how fast he’d have to move if Maggie followed his command. Judd could swing the gun wide and shoot her through the back in the blink of an eye. Would he be fast enough? Beads of sweat trickled down his neck and under his collar. His palms grew damp. He tightened his grip on Judd’s ankle.
“He’s holding the gun, or hadn’t you noticed that?”
Eyes widening at her thankless tone, Duncan growled. “I see that bump on the head didna knock any sense into ye.”
“It gave me a helluva headache is what it did.” She shifted her weight. “Another thing I owe you for, Judd.”
“The one paying here will be you, Maggie,” Judd spat out. “I explained everything to you, but you wouldn’t listen. I could have given you everything you ever wanted if you’d only understood. Don’t you see? We would have been perfect together. You belong to me, Maggie. Mine. All mine. But you ruined it all. Why did you do that? Why? I loved you and you ruined my life.”
Maggie let out a shocked laugh. “Your life? I ruined your life? Why I ought to—” She swung the poker up and Judd flickered the gun in her direction.
“Maggie, don’t!” Duncan yelled.
Judd moved the gun firmly back toward Duncan, his aim maddeningly sure-handed. “Listen to the man. Unless you want to see him shot through the head first.”
Maggie froze, the poker high over head, then slowly lowered it.
“Dinna let him use me tae bargain wi’, Maggie,” Duncan warned. “He canno’ hurt me.”
Now it was Judd’s turn to laugh. It ran on the side of irrational and made Duncan’s skin crawl. The man was truly mad. “Where did you dig this guy up, Maggie?” Judd demanded. He narrowed his gaze on Duncan now. “Let go of my ankle.” He flickered the gun toward Maggie. “Do it.”
Duncan gritted his teeth and swallowed just enough rage to keep him from clawing his way up Judd’s narrow frame and ripping his heart out through his throat. He was certain he could kill this man. But he wasn’t certain that a bullet wouldn’t pierce Maggie’s heart before he got his hands on Judd’s. He let go.
“Very good.” Judd scrambled to his feet, wiping his mouth along his sleeve. He waved the gun, motioning Duncan. “Join her. You’ll be joining with her eternally anyway.”
“If you only knew,” Maggie said under her breath.
Duncan got his first good look at her. She was pale and there was a noticeable bump on the side of her head. Despite her bravado, she was clearly hanging on by a thread.
“Steady, Maggie. Dinna do anythin’ rash,” he said softly. Her eyes flickered to his briefly. There was stark apology and regret. He motioned to her with a short shake of his head. “It’s no’ over yet,” he whispered.
“When did you switch to the brute savage type?” Judd goaded, clearly smug now, but his eyes glittered with a mad rage. “Slumming it, Maggie? Is that what turns you on? I never pegged you for a slut, but then it seems I was mistaken about many things. Too many things. Blinded by my love for you and you think to mock me like this?”
Duncan vowed that he would be wiping that smile from Judd’s face. And he planned to take a good deal of pleasure in the doing of it.
“I’m not slumming anywhere. It’s not money or slick Wall Street charm that gives a guy class.”
Hatred flickered in Judd’s eyes, sending a renewed jolt of fear and anger through Duncan’s body. “Maggie—”
“No, let her talk.” His grin could only be described as feral. “And since when did you choose men based on class?” he taunted. “I thought you got off on power. Who has the power here, Maggie?” He waggled the gun.
“If you were truly powerful, you’d have been able to take a simple no from me, Judd.”
Only Duncan saw the tightness at the corners of her mouth, or the way she held her head and shoulders so rigidly. She was terrified but damned if she’d let anyone see it. She was standing up to Judd as fiercely as any warrior he’d fought with or against. She’d fight until the battle was done. Duncan felt something shift inside him.
He’d lay down this life and any other for her, proud to have known her, whatever the duration.
It hadn’t escaped his attention that if Judd killed her, Duncan could spend eternity with her. But the thought of her dying ripped at the heart he had not thought he owned.
She would not die here today. No’ if he could help it.
“Well, this little reunion has been fun, but I’ve got more pressing matters to attend.” Judd smiled again. There was a desperation to it that made Duncan’s gut tighten in dread. “Who wants to go first?”
“You said I ruined your life,” Maggie said. “Seems like the only one ruined here is me. Certainly you have enough things going for you, big man in the world of high finance, to not feel ruined because one woman walked out on you.”
Hatred twisted Judd’s face into an ugly mask. “You have no idea what your run-in with the police cost me! I should have wrung your neck the first time I had my hands around it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Veins popped out on Judd’s forehead. Duncan balanced his weight, and flexed his hands against his legs, ready to shove Maggie down and launch himself at Judd if he moved so much as a muscle toward her.
“My boss got wind of our little domestic dispute. He wanted to know if I was handling the matter.” Growing more visibly agitated, Judd was clenching and unclenching his fist, the gun bobbing dangerously. “I was up for promotion, but he wasn’t going to promote someone who couldn’t control his own personal life. I had to make you understand that.” Sweat was beading on Judd’s forehead now, too. “Why wouldn’t you understand that? You had to come back to me.”
Maggie shifted her weight, moving slightly closer to Duncan. “Just how did you find me anyway?”
Judd puffed up a bit, his irritation smoothing out somewhat. “Power, Maggie. So what if Henderson is a tightass who can’t see beyond his idiotic family values. He should never have fired me, Maggie. I might be having some difficulties, but I’m still a powerful man.” He snapped his fingers. “People jump when I do that, Maggie. Your timely little inheritance situation came to light when your cousin tried to contact you.
“It’s all over now, Maggie. I’ve lost everything. It’s only fair that you lose everything too.” He swung the gun out, straight-armed.
Duncan could remain silent no longer. “Maggie, move back.”
“Come on, Judd,” she said, her voice wavering a bit. “You’re a money man, not a killer. Can you stand here and gun me down in cold blood?”
There was a roar of an engine just as Judd slipped his finger across the trigger. His attention was diverted for one split second. It was all Duncan needed.
He lunged at Maggie, shoving her down and covering her with his body. A stand of trees jutting out prevented Duncan from seeing the vehicle he heard spewing gravel as it swung around the last bend. Judd was just far enough out in the clearing to be in sight of the oncoming car. Duncan could only pray it was not Cailean.
Duncan lifted his head just in time to watch Judd turn back, and fire … directly at him.
“Freeze! Police! Put down your weapon!” It was Deputy Branson.
Duncan had been hit in the side, but even with the red haze of pain blinding almost all his senses, he was able to focus enough to watch as Judd swung around and fired at Branson.
Branson took him down with one clean shot to the head.
Maggie was safe. Maggie was safe. The words echoed in his pain-fogged head. She began to struggle beneath him and another realization dawned. As soon as Branson stepped toward Judd’s body, he would be able to see Duncan and Maggie, sprawled on the ground.
“Are ye okay, Maggie mine?” he said in a low whisper next to her ear. “Yer no’ hurt?”
“Other than having two hundred pounds of Scot on me, no,” came the muffled reply.
Duncan laughed, sucking in his breath at the resulting pain. “Och, Maggie Claren, ye’d have made a fine warrior.”
She tried to wiggle from beneath him. “Are you okay? Duncan, what hap—”
He kissed her and held her down one moment longer. “Shh. It’s all right now. Yer safe.” Then he squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated hard … and disappeared.
• • •
Maggie rolled to her back as the weight on top of her suddenly vanished. “Duncan?”
“Maggie?”
Deputy Branson’s shout jerked her head around. She choked on a gasp at what she saw just beyond him: Judd’s lifeless form, sprawled awkwardly on his back in the dirt. There was another uniformed man kneeling over him. Branson’s partner, she guessed. She hadn’t known he had one.
God, was it really all over?
“Are you hurt? I called for an ERT team, but it will take them a few more minutes to get here. Just lie still.”
“It’s okay, I’m—” She moved to sit up, but her head reeled. “What happened?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Claren. He stashed his car halfway down the mountain on an unused service road and hiked in. We didn’t know he was up here until your cousin told us.”
“Cailean? Is she okay?” She struggled again to sit up, but stopped short of standing when Branson put his hand on her shoulder.
“She’s fine. She’ll be up here in a few minutes. I almost had to hog-tie her to stay in town.
“Your cousin was in the middle of checking out and she got all funny, sort of spacey. My sister was worried and called me over. She was okay when I got there, but she was adamant that you were in danger. She told us about your former fiancé and we decided to follow up. We found the rental car with his name on the papers.” He touched her arm anxiously when Maggie laid back down. “Everything is okay now, Ms. Claren, he can’t hurt you again.”
“Who …?” She closed her eyes.
“I did. It’s okay. There’s no question of responsibility. You’re in the clear. It’s all over.”
Maggie saw Deputy Branson through completely different eyes. He looked and sounded amazingly competent for a good ol’ boy cop. Apparently she’d misjudged him as well. Boy, she was on a roll. “Are you okay? I’m sorry you had to … what I mean is … thank you, you saved my life.”
“It’s my job.” His eyes were steady on hers. “Thank your cousin. You know, I’ve got an aunt who knows things like that. Mighty handy to have around at times.” He grinned. “A dang nuisance otherwise.”
Maggie managed to smile. “Yeah,” she said weakly.
The ERT truck rolled in just then, along with two other cars. Branson’s partner called to him. “Will you be all right?” the deputy asked her. “Just lie still until the medic gets over here.” She nodded easily, but he grinned and dipped his chin. “Promise?”
Maggie’s smile was easier this time. “Promise. Thank you again, Deputy Branson.”
Maggie was reassuring the medic she was fine and submitting to some tests while she held an ice pack to her forehead when Cailean rushed over.
“My god! Are you okay?” She knelt in front of Maggie. “I didn’t know until it was almost too late. I swear. I’m so sorry. Oh Maggie, I—”
Maggie looked to the medic who was taking the blood pressure cuff off her arm. “Can I have a few minutes here?” The young woman nodded and moved to the front of the truck. Maggie turned to Cailean. “It’s okay. I’m okay. You saved my life, Cailean. Maybe it’s not such a curse after all.” She tried to smile.
Cailean looked around and whispered, “Where’s Duncan?”
Maggie hadn’t been able to think straight for two seconds’ since he’d blinked out, but she felt like something was wrong. Very wrong. “I don’t know.”
“You mean he wasn’t here for you? I can’t believe—”
“He was here.” She held Cailean’s hand. “He saved my life, too.”
“I thought Branson shot Judd?”
“He did. But Judd fired at me first. Duncan tackled me and—” She gasped. “Oh God.” The sequence of events flashed back through her mind in crystal clarity. He’d been shot! She’d seen the blood on his sleeve from the first time he’d been grazed, shoving her to safety. She tightened her grip. “I have to find him. I think he took a bullet meant for me. Twice. Oh God, I have—”
She started to get up, but Cailean stopped her. “Maggie, calm down. You’re not making any sense. He’s a ghost, he can’t die.”
“I’m making perfect sense. He can bleed, Cailean. If he can bleed, can’t he die again? I can’t just let him go like that. His time might already be up and then we’ll never, I’ll never …” Her breath hitched and she swallowed hard. “I have to find him. And I can’t with all these people around.” She looked to Cailean imploringly. “Please, help me get rid of everyone. He won’t pop back in until they all leave.” At least she prayed he would.
“But you have to be checked out—”
“I’m fine! Why won’t anyone believe that?”
Just at that moment, Branson stepped around the back of the truck. “I hate to do this, but we need to ask you some questions. You too, Ms. Claren,” he said to Cailean.
Maggie forced a smile on her face and tried to look more relaxed. Gauging from Cailean’s expression, she wasn’t fooling anyone, but she had to try. “I understand. But is there any way I can come down tomorrow? I have this bump on my head and I’d really like to just lie down for a while.”
Branson’s face creased with renewed worry. She cut him off before he could speak. “It’s nothing. The medic already checked me out, not even a mild concussion. It’s just been a lot to deal with.”
Branson smiled reassuringly. “We’ll have plenty to keep us busy today. Why don’t you two come down as soon as you’re able in the morning.”
“Thank you.” She hoped she didn’t look overly relieved.
It took another fifteen minutes, but with her cousin’s help, she was able to assure everyone she’d be fine, then she and Cailean retreated into the cabin while the various personnel dealt with everything else. She tried to shut that out. As soon as the door was closed, she turned to Cailean. “Thank you for helping me out there.”
“Of course.” She frowned, worried. “But you really should rest. Duncan will be back when he’s ready.”
“You don’t understand, Cailean.”
“I know he was hurt, but, really, I’m sure he has ways of dealing with that, wouldn’t you think?”
Maggie dipped her chin. “I don’t know what to think. I’m worried.” She looked to Cailean. “What if he doesn’t come back?”
She hadn’t wanted to voice her deepest fear, especially to Cailean, given how she felt about Duncan in the first place, but her cousin surprised her by pulling her into a hug. “I’m sorry, Maggie. Truly sorry. But maybe it’s better this way. You’re done here. You can come to Scotland with me. Or go back to New York. Whatever. Maybe it’s best to put all this behind you.”
Maggie was already shaking her head. “I can’t. I know you don’t approve, but I’m not going anywhere.” She moved over to the sink and pumped out some water. “I know you have to do what you have to do.” She raised her hand to stall Cailean’s response. “I won’t have you stay here because you’re worried about me. Nothing has changed except now you don’t have to worry about Judd. And now you know you don’t have to worry about Duncan either.”
Cailean nodded reluctantly. “Would you like me to stay until morning?”
Maggie shook her head. “Not because I don’t want you here or appreciate what you’ve done. Cailean, I can’t tell you—”
“Don’t. I’m just glad that for once it worked out right. But I can’t just leave you here.”
Maggie saw the fatigue and strain around her cousin’s eyes. “I can’t imagine how hard this is on you. You need to go to Scotland and find out what is behind all this. I need to stay here. At least for a while.”
Cailean sighed in defeat. “Okay, okay, I’ll go. I know Duncan will be more likely to pop back in if I’m gone. But you have to promise to speak to Branson in the morning. I’ll go down and talk to him before I leave.” Maggie nodded. “Is there anything else I can do for you before I go?”
Maggie smiled. “I really need to get out of here and look for Duncan. Create a diversion and cover for me until everyone is gone?”
Cailean rolled her eyes and sighed. “You’re incorrigible.”
Maggie winked. “It runs in the family.”