I need a break. I need to clear the air. I’m sort of glad I didn’t go with the girls, for I’m glad for the break from all people of the Clan.
My phone rings and I shove it in my pocket. I’m going for a walk in the garden. Maybe I’ll go even further.
Lachlan’s standing in the foyer of the mansion, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Hey there, Mary,” he says absentmindedly.
“I’m not Mary,” I say with a smile. “It’s McKenna.”
His head snaps up and he blinks. “Jesus, it is you. I’m sorry, we were up all night with the baby. Just couldn’t get him to sleep at all.” He frowns. “Sometimes the resemblance between you and Mary’s disconcerting.”
“Aye, I suppose.” I feel grumpy even with him. If I have to hear one more person tell me Mary looks like me… “Oh, no worries.” I give him a forced smile, and he steps aside.
“You didn’t join the girls in town, then?”
I shake my head.
“You heading outside?”
“Aye.” Honest to God, if I get one more question…
I exit the house and walk toward the gate. Many members of the Clan find their peace at the water’s edge, where the waves lap on shore and or crash against the roughly-hewn rocks. I found it there with Tully the other day. I’ve never ventured there alone.
I walk quickly, for any moment, Tully will get off the phone and realize I’m gone.
Will he come for me? I hope he does. A part of me even hopes he’s rough with me again, that he drags me back in and claims me as his.
Claimed.
Sometimes we just want someone to come to us. Sometimes, we just want to know we matter. And here, I’m misplaced and out of sorts, my mind a jumble of thoughts and confusion.
I walk out the door and head to the water.
* * *
Chapter 15
Tully
“We found something out that may be of interest to you,” Keenan says.
“Aye?”
“Aye. You know when we interrogated the men from the school, one got away?”
I grunt in response.
“Well, the one who got away is none other than Patrick.”
Why does that name ring a bell?
“Who’s that?”
“Tully, he’s McKenna’s ex-boyfriend.”
A chill comes over me. Why would McKenna’s ex-boyfriend be anywhere near us? I want her with me. I want to protect her. But she keeps pushing me away.
Give her time, Maeve said. But I don’t want to. I want to make sure she’s safe. We might be oil and fucking water together, but we understand each other.
“Where is he?”
“No one knows.”
“Jesus Christ, Keenan. Why did you let the girls go shopping?” I don’t like questioning my Chief, and I rarely do it, but this time it can’t be helped. Thank God I didn’t allow her to go. She’s pissed at me, but I don’t regret it. “If he’s at large…”
“They have a guard. I try to keep things at an even keel, Tully, you know that. I can’t very well lock them up, can I?”
It’s fucking tempting.
I blow out a breath and run my hands through my hair. “Suppose not. But I didn’t let her go.”
“Didn’t you? I swear I just saw her leaving.”
What?
I open the door to find the living room empty. “McKenna?”
She isn’t here.
Fuck.
“I have to go,” I tell Keenan.
“Did she leave without your permission?”
“She fucking did. I have to go.”
I hang up the phone and call her, but it immediately goes to voicemail. Bloody hell.
“Help! Someone help! Keenan, anybody!” My body stills when I hear the sound of someone shouting from outside my room. It isn’t McKenna’s voice, though.
I race to the top of the stairs to find Megan standing in the middle of the foyer. Her wide, terrified eyes meet mine, as Lachlan and Keenan come running from various parts of the house. It’s unlike her to be dramatic.
“What is it, Megan? Didn’t you go with the girls?” Keenan asks.
She shakes her head. “Changed my mind and decided to stay home, but just now I got a text from Fiona.”
Lachlan’s body goes rigid. “Fiona? What is it?”
“Says she tried to call you, couldn’t get through to your phone, Lachlan.”
He scowls, taking his phone out of his pocket. “Christ, I was in the basement a few minutes ago. What’d Fiona say?”
She swallows hard. “Said they’re being followed, and there’s no guard.”
Keenan curses. “Bloody hell, where’s their guard?”
“Said they had one and they’re gone now.”
Lachlan’s already pushing open the front door.
“Wait, Lach.” Thankfully, he looks up at me when I call. “Listen, brother. You know we can’t just run off like that. We need to come up with a plan.”
Lachlan glares. “Where’s McKenna, then, Tully?”
“I have no bloody idea.”
Keenan’s cursing and pacing, trying to ring their guard.
“Call Fiona back,” he snaps at Megan. With trembling fingers, she dials.
“Fiona, where are you?”
She’s blocking her ear so she can focus and relay the message to us.