A Time & Place for Every Laird by Angeline Fortin (ebook reader TXT) 📕

“No? Then what brings you to Scotland?Vacation?” she asked. “Because I’m sure it can’t be anythingelse.”

“You do think this false naïveté ishumorous, don’t you?” he asked rhetorically. “No, your trip throughcustoms raised a red flag on my notifications, so I thought to comeand see what you were about for myself. I was surprised to learnthat you’d moved out of your townhouse in Spokane.”

She had packed Matt’s things carefully intoa box with Hugh at her side but had taped that last box shut withno guilt. Perhaps one day she might bring one or two of those itemsout once again but Claire had learned that life was for the living.She had promised herself once that she would mourn her husband forthe rest of her life but it had taken recent events and even PhilJameson himself to make her realize that her own life hadn’tended.

When her parents and brothers and evenRobert and Sue had come to help them pack her belongings away intostorage, only one of them knew that Hugh Urquhart wasn’t the onlyone who should be thanked for drawing her from the darkness thathad enveloped her.

“I guess I should have sent a note, but, youknow, a little bird told me that you had been demoted and put ondesk duty so I didn’t think you’d mind if I carried on without yourokay.” From everything Danny had been able to dig up for her, sheknew that Jameson had been officially reprimanded for the excessiveand borderline illegal measures he had taken during the search forboth Hugh and the Native American escapee. “How did you even comeacross me here so conveniently? There are a thousand places I couldhave been today.”

Jameson only frowned, ignoring the taunt,and stared across the field, taking in the competition on thefield. “You are still a difficult woman to run to ground.Thankfully, your new neighbors knew where you had done thisweekend. Tell me, which one is he?”

“Can’t you guess?” She waved her hand at thefield of men dressed in kilts. “They all look alike, don’t they? Soyou tell me. Which one is your savage?”

“Shall I bring them all in, then?”

“Call me a skeptic but I don’t think the NSAhas that kind of power over here, even if you were still on thecase … oh, that’s right. The case is closed, isn’t it? Yes, I knowthat and more,” Claire went on boldly, refusing to let Jameson’sappearance fluster her. There was little chance that his superiorshad endorsed his search for her, which meant that Jameson had takenup a personal vendetta against Hugh. “Even if you still had theauthority, how would you explain yourself? Explain who you werelooking for?”

“I could just take in the first undocumentedhighlander I come across.”

A slow smile curled her lip. “You dothat.”

He turned to look at her with a furrowedbrow that spoke clearly of his frustration. “He’s not what youthink, Mrs. Manning.”

“So you’ve said a dozen times, but let’sagree to disagree, all right?” she said. “There is no threatofficially or unofficially any longer. Your director saw to that,didn’t he? Stop wasting more taxpayer money … or your own, sinceI’d be willing to bet that your director doesn’t know you’re here.Should we call and ask?”

Jameson just frowned and shook his head. “Ican’t leave, knowing what I know. You wouldn’t either, if youknew.”

“I’ve read the files and can even readbetween the lines, Phil.”

“Then you know he’s not human.”

“He’s incredibly human,” Claire whispered,turning her head as Hugh’s warm laughter joined that of the othermen in kilts, pretenders to the Highland legacy. He belonged here.This wasn’t his home but it was the closest he would ever have. Sherefused to let Jameson ruin that for him. “You’re a fool to pursuethis, Phil, and you’re even crazier if you think that a littleworld politics is all that would blow up if the magnitude of whatFielding did got loose. You should consider yourselves lucky tohave gotten off with just a slap on the hand … so far, of course.Could be worse for you if it all somehow managed to get out … andit will if you don’t leave it alone. What would Nichols say, withhis impending retirement and all?”

“Still trying to blackmail me?”

“Merely attempting to make you see that youare jumping at shadows. Stop trying to pretend that you know morethan the scientists, Phil. If there was any real danger to theworld at large, as you seem to think, Fielding’s entire officewould have been sealed off as a biohazard right from the beginning;did you ever think of that? Just be glad your moneymaker is stillintact and everything that resulted from it has been deemedsafe.”

Hugh’s biceps bulged against the shortsleeves of the T-shirt he wore with his kilt as he lifted the heavyweight once again and flung it over his head with an audible grunt.Up it went over the high bar again, embedding itself with a solidthud into the moist ground of the field. The crowd roared andClaire joined them in their applause as Hugh’s gaze once againsearched her out, eager to share his triumph at the accomplishment,but the brash smile slipped away when he saw the man at her side,and a frown took its place as he turned in her direction.

Claire shook her head with a glower of herown but Hugh kept coming. “By the way, it’s not Mrs. Manning anylonger. It’s Mrs. Urquhart. I remarried recently. I thought withyour connections, you would have known.”

Jameson gaped. “To the savage?”

“No, to that wonderful Scottish man who youmissed meeting a few months ago when you ran into his fist. He’s acommodities trader in Inverness. That’s why I’m here, actually …not here as in these games but here in Scotland. I moved here withhim.” She continued as Hugh neared, aware that the NSA agent wasstill staring at her in astonishment, “You’re not going to findwhat you’re looking for here. Go home, Phil. Find another hobbybefore I have you arrested for stalking me.”

Hugh jogged up to them and slipped an armaround Claire’s waist before transforming his scowl into a politelyinquiring look. “Who’s this, Sorcha?”

“This is Special Agent Phil Jameson from theNational