The Presence Read online

  His heart thundered in his chest. Damn her! Had she gone down, fallen…scared herself into a state of catatonia?

  He took the spiral stairs at a dangerous speed. “Toni?” There was no answer, but he knew the route she would have traveled. He strode swiftly toward the great laird’s tomb.

  He frowned at first, seeing only that the slab was shifted over. Then he got a whiff of the sickening smell just as he looked in.

  He didn’t reel; didn’t fall back.

  He’d been wrong, dead wrong. They weren’t going to find Annie O’Hara in the forest. She was here. How? his mind shrieked.

  At the moment, how didn’t matter. Toni was no where to be seen, and his sense of panic was growing.

  He bolted back up the spiral stairs, feeling an urgency to find her unlike any premonition he’d ever experienced before.

  Premonition. Aye! For that’s what it was. That picture of Toni, blond hair trailing…facedown in the water.

  The trees shielded her from the first second she moved into the cool green darkness. She tore across the brook, heedless of the fact that she soaked her shoes and jeans up to her knees. The cold didn’t mean anything, not at this moment. Then, finding the thick trunk of an ancient oak, she leaned against it, getting her breath, trying to think rationally.

  She was certain that, this time, she had found the remains of a recent victim, those of Annie O’Hara. It actually made sense; it was logical. The other bodies had been dumped here, in the forest. And now a body was actually discarded, right in the castle. Bruce’s castle! That should make Bruce appear guilty. Except that…it couldn’t be!

  She heard thrashing, and she turned around.

  “Miss Fraser!”

  It was Eban’s voice, Eban calling her.

  Why? Why had he chased her in here? And where was Thayer? He had been far ahead of Eban when she had looked back. In fact, she hadn’t even realized that Eban had followed her.

  “Lass! ’Tis dangerous in here!” Eban called with dismay. “The laird doesn’t want ye in here, y’know!”

  Flat against the tree, she remained perfectly still until she heard his footsteps moving on. She started to move out from around the tree. But as she did so, she was stunned to see Thayer, frozen, dead still, standing directly in front of her.

  “Toni!” he said softly. “Ah, Toni, here y’are! Luv, I’ve been lookin’ for you. Ah, Toni! I’m sorry, really, truly sorry!”

  They nearly crashed into one another. If Kevin hadn’t shouted, David never would have stopped the car in time.

  Ryan braked to a halt and leaped out his side of the car just as Gina came out of hers. They both rushed at the minivan.

  “Something’s wrong! Really wrong,” Ryan said.

  “Yeah! You can’t drive!” David accused, but Ryan’s look silenced him.

  “What? What?” Kevin demanded.

  “We were at the castle maybe fifteen minutes ago. Toni is gone, the door to the castle was standing wide-open and the door to the crypt is open!”

  Ryan paused for breath, and Gina continued. “And the constable’s car is upside down at the bottom of the slope!”

  “We just came up the road—Toni isn’t on it. Did you find Bruce?” David asked anxiously.

  They both shook their heads.

  “Neither did we,” Kevin ventured.

  They stared at one another for several seconds. Then they looked to the dark green canopy of the forest. Kevin groaned.

  “She had to have run in there!” Gina whispered.

  “All right, all right, let’s go!” David said. He and Kevin exited the minivan. The four of them stood together, looking at the forest. Then they walked in.

  When they came to the brook, David said, “Kevin and I will follow it this way…you two go that way.”

  And they parted.

  He couldn’t possibly have the strength to hurt her, Toni thought. But she dared not take that chance. She stared at him a moment, then turned to run again.

  “Toni, wait! For the love of God, lass, wait!” he cried.

  For the love of God!

  She ran. She thought she was leaping brush and dodging trees in a race to go deeper into the forest, but she came back to the water instead. Standing dead still, trying to think of her next move, she heard a groan. Her eyes darted to the water…to her left. Farther to her left.

  There was someone in the water. Someone. Not a body, since the person was groaning. Male, or female? She couldn’t tell. She couldn’t even see clearly, the branches were so low, the green darkness so vast… The groan sounded again. The mass was moving.

  “Oh, my God!” she breathed, and rushed forward.

  He rode Shaunessy hard down the hill, reining in when he saw the cars. The two of them, almost touching. The constable’s car, down the slope.

  He dismounted, leading Shaunessy quickly toward the entry and the brook.

  Eban came out of the forest, shaking his head. Bruce strode quickly to him, catching him by the shoulders. “Eban, where’s Toni?”

  “In there!” Eban said, waving a hand. “But the lass won’t come to me!”

  “Eban, you’re certain? Who else is in there? All of them? You’ve got to answer me, Eban. Thayer? Thayer…he struck Jonathan. He’s in the woods now, right? Eban, listen carefully. There’s a body in the crypts. Do you know how it got there?”

  Eban stared at him, then frowned. “Laird MacNiall, there be lots o’ bodies in the crypts.”

  Bruce prayed for patience. “One of the murdered girls is in the crypts, Eban. Do you know how she got there?”

  Eban stared back at Bruce, shaking his head. “Y’don’t keep up the place, Laird Bruce, if y’ll forgive me sayin’ so!”

  “Get to the castle and call Detective Inspector Robert Chamberlain. Please. Quickly, Eban. Get him out here.”

  “Aye, Laird Bruce. Aye!”

  Eban hurried toward the castle. Bruce cursed himself for not carrying his cell phone, slapped Shaunessy’s haunches so he’d head back, as well, and plunged into the forest himself.

  “Constable!”

  Toni rushed to Jonathan Tavish’s side, trying to help him up.

  He leaned on her heavily to gain his footing. “Toni… Miss Fraser…I’m sorry, but he’s a bad seed, that one, he is! Slammed me in the head, wrecked the car! And he’s loose.”

  Toni swallowed hard. “Come on. We’ll get out of here. There’s much worse, Constable Tavish. The body of that last missing girl…I’m almost positive I know where it is.”

  “Oh, aye?”

  He found some strength, straightening to look her in the eyes.

  “In the crypt. The castle crypt,” she said. “I—I don’t know what it means. I can’t believe that Bruce MacNiall… No, others had access, too.”

  “Aye, and who would that be? Your cousin, Miss Fraser?”

  “Anyone had access to the castle,” she said. “It wasn’t locked when we reached it, before we knew about Bruce. And there’s Eban Douglas, as well. He’s a local, and your friend, but he’s a strange little man. Think about it! Anyone had access.”

  “Aye, anyone had access,” he agreed.

  The sound of a twig snapping suddenly alerted them to another presence. They both looked ahead.

  Thayer had found her. He looked steadier, and he stared at Jonathan with loathing.

  “Toni…you need to get away from him.”

  She sighed. “Thayer, we’ll still help you. We’ll see that you’re represented. We’ll—”

  “Toni! You’ve got to get away from him. He clubbed me in the side of the head! Law-enforcement officers don’t do that!”

  “You bloody bastard!” Tavish roared. “You clubbed me!”

  “You’re not right, Tavish! You’re not right!” Thayer shouted.

  That caught Jonathan’s attention, and gave him back his full power. He rushed Thayer, slamming him down against the ground. She heard a grunt, saw that the wind was knocked out of Thayer, and that Tavish was about to s
lug him hard in the jaw.

  “Constable, no!” she cried, running through the water toward him.

  The blow landed. Thayer’s eyes closed. Toni’s heart leaped to her throat. Despite all that she had seen, something in her heart was denying it.

  “We’ve got to get him help. You might have killed him!” Toni said angrily.

  Jonathan Tavish straightened again and stared at her, brushing his muddied blond hair from his forehead. “Ah, lass!” he said, coming toward her. “Poor, wee, beautiful lass! I’d envisioned so much more for you!”

  She backed away instinctively. Too late, she realized that Thayer had been right. Indeed, he’d been barely walking, but he’d dragged himself after her because…he had known that Tavish would be in the forest.

  He took another step toward her.

  Toni screamed, as loudly as she could. She screamed again and then turned to run, praying that Tavish was in worse shape than he appeared.

  Fingers tangled into her hair, jerking her back. She went crashing down into the water. She tried to rise, but he had her by the throat. She desperately grasped his hands, nails clawing. He was extremely powerful. She saw the world going a darker green all around her.

  Green…black…

  She heard gasping, choking…no air.

  She slammed a knee against his groin with all her strength.

  Bruce burst out on the little copse that sheltered the stream. And he saw her. Toni. Facedown in the water. Blond hair trailing behind her, floating…

  “Toni!” He roared out her name in anguish, heedless of anything else around him as he raced over rocks, embankment, and into the water, falling to his knees, dragging her into his arms. She was still, so still, cold, silent…

  He pressed his mouth to hers, parting her lips, breathing in. He staggered up with her in his grasp, anxious to get her to the slick embankment to per form CPR. Yet even as he held her, she gasped, choked, coughed up a wealth of water. Then she opened her eyes.

  “Bruce!”

  It was little more than a croak, but it registered as a warning. He set her down, spun and caught the blow of Jonathan’s billy club right against his temple. He staggered back, falling on his haunches, his vision fading.

  “What…the hell are you doing, Jonathan?”

  “Taking care of a bloody murderer!” Jonathan told him.

  The pain in his head was staggering, the darkness, welcoming. But he fought it, fought to get back to his feet. “I didn’t murder anyone, and you know it!”

  “Eh? Like as not how the law will see it, Laird Bruce! There’s a fresh one in your old crypt.”

  “Aye,” Bruce said, warily meeting his eyes. “You know I did not put it there.”

  “Actually, I do. Y’know, Bruce, I’m a handsome fellow. But the girls never came to me quite as they come to you. And there was that castle, rotting on the hill! You never had appreciation, Bruce. Y’don’t deserve such a place. Now, if I don’t kill you, and your last victim, y’may wind up ruling some prison and gettin’ out again. So y’ll die here with the lass. I believe y’ve said yourself upon occasion, ye can buy a title these days. And a castle, on a hill.”

  “You’ve murdered people—to spite me?” Bruce said incredulously.

  Jonathan reflected on that for a minute. “Nae, the killing came first. Or maybe not. Maybe y’were the cause of it all, Bruce, because of Maggie.”

  “Maggie!” Bruce said incredulously. “Maggie has been gone a very long time, Jonathan.”

  “Aye, a long time.”

  “She was my fiancée, Jonathan,” Bruce said.

  “But I loved her first. And there was a time when I was certain she loved me, too. But you came into the picture, Bruce, and it was as always—the spoils of life to the great laird of the castle! And then there was pity in her eyes when she looked at me. I just hungered from afar, but then…well, she died, and that an act of God. Still, she taught me about women.”

  Jonathan started to pace, getting caught up in the frenzy of his words. “You know, Bruce, I’ve always been a smarter man than y’ve ever given me credit for! I’m the clever one, always have been. You, the great Mac Niall, know how to look up your stock reports! But I can do anything with a computer.” He paused a moment, then continued on. “It wasn’t after the first girl that I thought of what I could do. It was after the second. There were a few times when I thought I might have erred, so there had to be a scapegoat. Actually, it was quite easy. I set these people up to come. Ah, Bruce, the Internet! What an invention. I knew everything about you there was to know, and you can sell anything at all over the Web, that you can. I thought y’d really show yer temper. Who knew? You might ha’ thrown ’em out right on their arses. Then again, they might ha’ been around when the last body was found. The lovely Miss Fraser might ha’ been spared, but now…well, there will be a bit of a mess to clean up here!”

  Bruce locked his jaw, thinking of the dizziness, the darkness that still gripped him. His so-called friend meant to kill them, there, in the forest.

  Jonathan drew a knife from his pocket, smiling. “A law officer, attacked. I did what I had to do!”

  Jonathan hadn’t just resented him, Bruce realized, he had hated him with a pathological conviction for years. The man hadn’t acted in any mad, sudden rage. He had plotted and planned, dreamed of this.

  Bruce flew at him in a desperate tackle, bringing him down hard in the water. But Jonathan had some strength in him. He forced a roll, bringing Bruce beneath him.

  With a cry, Toni threw herself at the man. But he was powerful, and he heard her. Turning, he sent a fist jack knifing out. Toni went flying, falling hard back into the water.

  Bruce saw the knife raised high above him, ready to plunge, and forced his shoulder to twist, throwing the man off. But Jonathan instantly started crawling through the water again, intent on getting the knife into Bruce’s chest. Bruce managed to lash out with a foot, catching him in the ribs.

  He fell back, but was soon up again. Then…absurdly, he stood in the middle of the stream and stared at Bruce, then away, then at Bruce.

  “Hold still, y’bloody bastard!” he roared.

  Incredulous, Bruce stared back.

  Toni was on her rump, edging her way out of the water. “Which one, Jonathan? Which one do you need to kill?” she demanded.

  Bruce glanced quickly and sharply at her. They were both seeing…someone.

  “This one, Jonathan! This one! He’s leaping at you!” Toni cried.

  And to Bruce’s amazement, Jonathan went charging forward, determined to wrestle thin air. He found no hold, barely balanced, and turned again, ready to reach for Toni then, the knife silvery in the green darkness, his intent fierce and brutal.

  It was Bruce’s chance, perhaps his only chance. He gut-tackled the man again, bringing him down hard into the stream. He heard a terrible cracking sound and winced inwardly. They’d struck a rock.

  Beneath him, Jonathan Tavish didn’t move. He knew it had been self-defense, but he had killed the man. There was a terrible emptiness inside.

  He rolled, letting the water of the brook, icy cool and fresh, wash over him. A second later, Toni was by his side, taking his hand. Her eyes, sapphire and glittering with tears of relief, touched his. The death of any man was a tragedy. They both knew it. Yet, they had survived. For her life, he knew, he would have given his own. And for their future, he couldn’t rue the fact that they had both lived.

  Not without help.

  “He was here, right?” he whispered to her hoarsely. “The great MacNiall. He appeared in the forest. Jonathan saw him, too, and didn’t know which of us to kill?”

  She nodded.

  Bruce closed his eyes. “Thank him for me.”

  20

  “It’s still beyond my comprehension,” Bruce said, sitting across from Robert Chamberlain at the coffee shop. “Why? Why would anyone spend a lifetime wanting nothing more than…well, revenge, I guess, for not being born the laird to a castle?”


  “In a way, I can almost feel pity for Jonathan. Whatever his hatreds, real or imagined, they festered in his heart. Along with the sickness that tore into him. Who is to say just what caused what?” Robert asked. “It might have begun with Maggie, and it might have started before she fell in love with you.”

  “She never rejected Jonathan for me. There was never anything between them,” Bruce said, shaking his head.

  Robert sighed. “But he believed she would have loved him if it hadn’t been for you. I’m no psychologist, but when he finally started killing, he might have been looking for women who somewhat resembled Maggie—in the dark, at least. Getting even with her. He chose prostitutes because they can disappear far more easily than your average office worker, wife, mother or schoolgirl. In the main cities, they would just see him for a fairly decent-looking bloke, nothing scraggly or ugly about the man. They wouldn’t hesitate to go with him. Disposing of the bodies in the forest was a way to get to you. Imagine how delighted he must have been, ready to wait and watch, when he snared in that group of Americans—and Thayer. It was nothing for him to slip the money for the payment on their lease into Thayer’s account, and make it look as if Thayer had been the one committing the fraud. He was good with computers. Brilliant. It’s a pity he couldn’t have put it to good use. The fellow is all right, by the way?”

  “Ah, yes, fine. Absolutely fine. Toni was nearly hysterical to reach him, once Jonathan was dead. Then the others arrived, and he was helped out of the woods. And, well, you know the rest.” He grimaced. “Here I am, forty-eight hours later, still barred from my own castle while the forensic teams finish with all their work.”

  “Bruce—”

  “Hey, I was a cop, remember? Take all the time you need to see that everything is processed.” He exhaled with a grimace. “There I was, thinking that Jonathan was incompetent when he was really a master criminal. And I was certain there was something really evil lurking in Thayer Fraser. I’m sure Toni and her friends were just about in terror of poor Eban. I even began to wonder at times if we weren’t looking at another husband-and-wife team of killers. And all along I had inspired this terrible hatred myself.”