The Presence Read online

  Maybe that was why Toni’s scheme had looked so good. He’d thought time spent with her might change the way she saw him. It hadn’t changed anything for him. He’d been fascinated by her more every moment they shared. She had talent and a passion. She could dig into hard work, just as she could wane rapturously about a dream. When her hair brushed his fingers, when she gave him her smile, eyes brightening…

  But then, there had been MacNiall. Even as Toni faced off with the fellow, any fool could see that the sparks were about to ignite.

  Fuck MacNiall. Thinking about him was damned irritating.

  Sometimes Thayer hated being British, and he loathed being Scottish. Many centuries had gone by, yet too often they were considered something of a lesser country by their neighbor—good old England! Wars, and the fact that they shared an island and pacts, be damned. Underneath, it was still there. They still groveled so over any old bloke with a title before his name!

  “Your roast, sir.” The pretty little barmaid was back. She hovered after she put the plate down.

  Not bad. Not bad at all. It was those shorts….

  “I’m Thayer,” he told her. “What’s your name?”

  “Katherine,” she said. “Katie, to me pals.”

  “Katie, then, nice to meet you.”

  She glanced back at the bar. Another girl had joined the workforce there. She was older, tougher looking, someone who’d worked pubs for a few years, no doubt.

  “I’m on break,” Katie said.

  He angled his head, smiling. “So, can you join me, luv?”

  Her smiled deepened. She’d been waiting for the invitation. Ah, so his shoulders weren’t what they might have been, but he seldom had trouble with women.

  She took the seat opposite him. “What brings you to Stirling?”

  “I’m looking for a bit of excitement.”

  “In Stirling?”

  He shrugged. “It was close enough.”

  “You’re out in one of the villages, eh? Sounds like you come from Glasgow.”

  “That I do,” he told her. He took a bite of his roast. It was good.

  “And you, Katie? You’re from Stirling?”

  She shook her head. “Orkney.”

  He arched a brow. “Talk about a need for excitement! So, have you found any in Stirling?”

  “I’ve only been here a few days.” She leaned closer. “And the bloke what owns this place…what a jerk! I think I’ll do better heading for Edinburgh, or Glasgow. They say there’s some life going on there, at least.”

  “Katie, life is where we find it. All along the road.”

  She smiled and proved to be more of an aggressive little vixen than he had imagined. “Think that you could show me some life along that road?” she queried.

  He hadn’t realized that her hands were beneath the table until he felt her fingers squeezing his knee.

  He placed his fork down, crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed her with definite interest and amusement. “Katie, lass, you can’t begin to imagine what I can show you along the road.”

  “I’d love to see,” she said.

  He smiled, leaning back in his chair. “Maybe we could meet later.”

  There was a breath of excitement in her voice. “Maybe we could!” She rose quickly. “I’m off at two. So I shouldn’t be seen sitting here with you…if we’re going to get together later.”

  “Good thought,” he told her gravely. “Very good thought.”

  “Meet me down by the graveyard?”

  “Perfect,” he told her.

  Jonathan’s information regarding Bruce had been accepted as it had been offered, Toni thought—as a good sound reason for them to stay out of the forest, and as a darned good reason for him to feel very uneasy about the situation.

  Toni was certain that David had told Kevin, and that Gina had let Ryan know. Thayer wasn’t around, so he was the only one who didn’t yet know.

  The bodies had been found here. And Bruce had discovered one of the dead girls. Now they were all left a little uneasy, she thought. And she couldn’t help wondering if they should just cut their losses and leave.

  She was scrounging in the refrigerator, looking for something cold to drink, when Gina came into the kitchen.

  “Don’t get any food!” Gina ordered.

  Toni closed the refrigerator and looked at her. “Actually, I wasn’t, but why not?”

  “Because we should go on a picnic.”

  “A picnic? Where?” she asked Gina carefully.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to drag anyone into the forest. I’m not sure where to go, but we’ll find a meadow somewhere. With sheep.”

  “And sheep poop!” David added cheerfully, coming on in behind Gina and taking a seat with them at the kitchen table. He grinned at Toni. “I’ve already told her, Kevin and I are in.”

  “I guess it’s just us,” Gina added. “Bruce is gone, and Thayer took off this morning.”

  Toni looked at both of them quizzically. “You’re not upset?”

  “Upset?” David said, looking at Gina, frowning.

  “About the bodies having been dumped in these woods, and about Bruce having made the discovery of one of them,” Toni said.

  David shook his head. “As long as you and Gina don’t…pick up the trade and go running around in the forest, no. I’m sorry, of course. And I understand now why Bruce is so weird about it. But no, I’m not upset.”

  “We just need to be cautious,” Gina added. “Women usually need to be smart about what they’re doing.”

  Toni nodded. “Um. Good.”

  “Are you upset?” Gina asked.

  “No!”

  “Are you coming on our picnic?”

  Toni was quiet for a minute. “Mind if I beg out of it myself?”

  “Why?” Gina asked, sounding a bit hurt.

  “I’ll leave it as a romantic outing for two couples,” Toni said.

  “Hey, it’s never like that,” David protested. “We’re all friends.”

  “But I’m still the odd man out when we’re down to five.”

  “We’ve been five lots! Last trip to Scotland, we were five. And the year before that,” Gina reminded her.

  “You guys are all great. I didn’t mean that I felt like the odd man—or woman—out when I’m with you. It’s just that you should go alone. Besides, I want to go wander around the village a little,” Toni said.

  Gina sighed and looked at David. “I guess it’s just the four of us, then. And the sheep.”

  He rolled his eyes at Toni. “Very romantic.”

  “You’ll love it,” she told him. “I know you guys—you’ll pack real plates and glasses, you’ll sip champagne on a hillcrest, looking out over gorgeous hills and dales, and you’ll have a great time.”

  “I still don’t understand why you don’t want to go. We’ve been in the village,” Gina reminded her.

  “Yes, but every time we’ve been in, it’s been with a mission, buying things, getting to know the local hardware store. I’m going to explore like a tourist. They’ve a centuries-old church and an ancient graveyard… And you know me, I like to dawdle. You guys just get bored,” Toni told her.

  “She wants to be an isolationist,” David said.

  “You know you hate old churches and musty graveyards,” Toni reminded him.

  “I always go to them.”

  “Of course, you do. And then I feel guilty when I dawdle too long,” Toni said.

  “The sheep are going to miss you,” he said.

  “And I’ll miss them, minus the sheep poop, of course,” Toni said.

  Toni had planned on taking her time getting ready, but she discovered, to her dismay, that she found being alone in the castle somewhat unsettling—especially after Jonathan’s revelations that morning. Grabbing her handbag, she ran down the stairs, anxious to get out.

  One of their rental cars, a minivan, was parked out by the stables. Thayer must have taken the little BMW, she determined. Bu
t the van would be fine. Any vehicle would be fine.

  She quickened her steps, surprised that she was in such a hurry to reach it. Yet, as she neared the car, she stood stock-still.

  A scratching sound was coming from the stables.

  Of course, there are horses in it, idiot! she told herself.

  But it didn’t sound like the kind of noise a horse would make.

  She hesitated, caught between the stable doors and the car. What would make that kind of a noise? Someone stealing the horses?

  She stood for a moment in indecision. If someone was stealing the horses, and she tried to stop them, she might well get hurt. No, the smart thing to do would be to get the hell out, go to town and get Constable Tavish to come back with her.

  But as she stood there, the noise stopped suddenly. She’d been seen. Absurdly frightened by such a small thing, she started to hurry toward the car.

  “Ah, Miss Fraser!”

  She froze, then turned. Eban Douglas was standing in the shadowy doorway of the stables. The wizened little man was wearing his customary grin. An eerie grin, she decided.

  “Eban!” she said, trying to sound cheerful. She didn’t know why, but today, his presence made her uneasy.

  “Seein’ to the lads, I be,” he said, indicating the stables.

  “Yes, thank you!” Toni said cheerfully.

  “The rooone…he’s lookin’ a bit weathered.”

  “Excuse me?” Toni said, then realized that he was saying “the roan.”

  “Oh, well, Ryan will look in on him later,” she said.

  “Y’don’t want to give the boy a look yerself, miss?”

  Go into the dark stables with only Eban around for miles? Not in a thousand years!

  “Um…I’m afraid I wouldn’t know if he was ailing or not, Eban. Ryan is the one who knows about horses. If you think he’s really ill, though, we could call a vet?”

  “I’d not feel right, mum, callin’ in the doc withoot one of ye seein’ to the boy.”

  “Eban, trust me, you have my permission to do so,” she said. She felt as if he was pressuring her. Pressuring her to go into the dark of the stables. If he didn’t look so strange, would she have thought anything of it?

  Yes! Because women had been murdered around here. Their bodies had been found in the forest. And like it or not, this little man was weird!

  Bruce MacNiall and Jonathan had done a fair job of scaring them all, she thought. Still, she wasn’t going into the stables.

  “Eban, I’m asking you to please call the vet out. And thank you so very much. I’ve got to get going.”

  Whatever it was that unnerved her, she was hard put not to run to the car. With a forced smile and a friendly wave, she hurried her footsteps.

  Old habits died hard. She raced for the left-hand door, then felt like a fool, remembering that she was in Great Britain.

  She grimaced foolishly as he watched her, and walked around to the right door.

  “Mind ye, keep yer eye on the roads!” Eban called to her.

  “Yes, I will, thanks!”

  In the car, she switched on the ignition and started down the rocky driveway. Angry with herself, she stopped the car near the point in the forest where they had gone into the canopy to find the stream and wade in the water.

  Her hands were shaking.

  She put the car into Park, telling herself that she was being ridiculous. So much for priding herself on the fact that she didn’t have a prejudiced bone in her body! Eban had frightened her—because he had such a strange look.

  Then again, she didn’t really know Eban. He was just…around. Caretaking. He’d helped them out several times when they’d been working. They’d seen him…and they hadn’t seen him. Yet, when they hadn’t seen him, he still must have been around, watching them.

  She took a breath, ready to put the car back into gear, really beginning to feel a bit ridiculous.

  Eban worked for Bruce MacNiall, keeping an eye on the castle. It would have been his job to report to MacNiall, they just hadn’t known it.

  Then something caused her to look toward the forest.

  Bruce was there, on his huge black horse, right at the point where they had entered to reach the stream. She shaded her eyes from the morning sun, trying to get a better look at him. He was waving to her, beckoning, and he looked impatient.

  “What?” she murmured aloud. “He insists we stay out of the forest, and there he is, waving me into it!”

  And then, there had been Jonathan’s words that morning….

  Frowning, she got out of the car, wishing that she’d remembered her sunglasses. He waved again. The great black turned and went down the path.

  “What the hell…?” she muttered aloud.

  He’d disappeared down the trail, expecting her to follow.

  “All right. Great!” she said. Maybe it was safe to go into the forest as long as she was with him. But he’d found one of the two bodies dumped in the forest! she reminded herself.

  “I’m only going so far!” she said, and realized that she was still talking to herself. But even as she approached the first canopy of trees, she felt again the strange hesitance she had felt the day before. And she had been with a crowd of people then! And that was before she knew about the bodies!

  This was insane. She shouldn’t trust him. And yet…she did. Somewhere in her heart, she’d felt a deep unease regarding Bruce. But even as she’d felt it, some thing in her soul had rebelled.

  And now, for some reason, she was compelled to follow him.

  As soon as she came into the field of trees, she was blinded again, having gone from surprisingly bright sunlight to a dark expanse of green.

  “Bruce!” she called out, irritated. “I am not coming any farther—”

  He had dismounted and was in front of her again.

  “Bruce, dammit!” she told him.

  Come, please.

  She thought he said the words softly, yet she questioned her own sanity because she wasn’t certain that they had been real words.

  She thought about just turning and running, but for the life of her right then, she couldn’t do it. Nothing had changed. She had to follow. She was drawn.

  “Stop, then, wait up for me!” she said, her words angry. She was starting to feel like an idiotic teenager in a bad B horror movie, who’s in the very spot where the maniacal killer always strikes.

  But that was insane. Bruce was right in front of her. Sanity be damned. Instinct assured her that he’d never hurt her.

  She didn’t want to rely on instinct; she didn’t want to dream. She never, ever wanted to admit that she hadn’t shut down the visions that had haunted her with such vivid brutality…

  “Bruce! Damn you, wait!”

  But he wasn’t waiting. And she couldn’t turn back.

  She started to hurry, walking quickly to catch up, stumbling slightly as she reached the soft, rocky embankment of the brook. She stubbed a toe and stopped, swearing. She rubbed her foot, really angry then, ready to tell him to go right to hell. Yet, when she looked up, he was nowhere to be seen.

  And she had come much farther into the forest than she had imagined.

  The trees seemed to be surrounding her, massive, so deeply green, in an eerie darkness. And there was a sudden hush all around her. No birds chirped, no insects buzzed.

  It was as if the world was waiting.

  “Bruce!” Her voice wavered, shocking in the stillness.

  And then…

  She had followed the trickle of the brook, but not even that sound seemed to be able to pierce the stillness. Ahead of her, water dashed and jumped over little rocks and fallen branches. She tried to remember playing in the water with her friends, how they had soaked one another, how they had laughed. She tried, desperately, to keep that vision in her mind.

  But she could not.

  She saw the large, downed branches, the blanket of green that was oddly out of place on the water. It was out of place. It was a piece of the f
orest, yes, but…set as if by human hands.

  No! A voice inside her shrieked out.

  Fear gripped her. The silence remained, as if all the forest, trees, bushes, fish, fowl, insects and even the air itself stood still and waited. And watched.

  She knew, long before she actually found the strength to propel herself forward, what she would find. She knew, yet she didn’t want to know. Then a calm settled over her and the blind fear abated.

  She walked purposely, steadfastly forward and lifted the branch. It was heavy, heavier than she had expected. She dragged it but inches.

  A scream formed in her throat, but it never left her lips.

  Bones. She had found bones.

  8

  “Ah, a hill full of long grass and flowers, a delightful breeze and bubbly! What more could one ask?” Kevin said, leaning back on the blanket.

  Ryan sipped his champagne, wishing that he could feel as relaxed as the others seemed to be.

  “A beer, maybe. A Bud. Cold,” Ryan said.

  “Aren’t we grouchy,” David said.

  Ryan shrugged and rose, stretching. “I wish Toni had come with us,” he murmured.

  “Well, of course, I wish she’d come, too,” Gina said. “But…why?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I’m worried about her. Rambling around in that castle alone…and going to the village alone,” Ryan said. “Who knows what she’s up to? Maybe she’s asking too many questions…irritating people.”

  Kevin laughed aloud. “Oh, my God, Ryan! You’re making it sound like the Village of the Damned, or something of the like!”

  He turned and looked at them. “Maybe it is.”

  “Oh, Ryan! I thought you loved it here,” Gina said.

  “I do.”

  “Then…?” David demanded.

  Ryan shook his head. A restlessness was sitting upon him. He gazed at Gina. She knew him, knew his moods, and she didn’t look happy. She touched his arm. “We’re out for a picnic with friends now, Ryan,” she said.

  “Right.”

  “And everything is going well—as well as can be hoped, under the circumstances,” David reminded him.

  “Yeah, great! A tall guy on a fantastic, huge horse rides in and we discover we’ve been gypped out of our life savings. Then we find out that this same guy has found the body of a murder victim in the woods. And now Toni is alone at the castle. What if MacNiall returns before we do? We don’t really know a whole hell of a lot about him,” Ryan finished.