Trace continued, “I oughta shoot you, that’s for sure. Gallivanting all over the world with my daughter in tow, making her party to your schemes and scams. Accused of murder! My Emma. And don’t think I don’t know that the two of you have had supper before you said Grace.”
Logan choked on his whiskey at that.
Trace didn’t even pause. “Then you don’t bother to tell her you’re about to kick the bucket until she’s gone and fallen in love with you. Nope, a bullet is too good for such a selfish bastard.” He glanced over at Luke. “Does Texas still castrate criminals?”
“Can’t say we ever did.”
“Hmm. We could start. At the very least you need to be locked away in Huntsville.” Trace looked at his lawman son-in-law. “Why haven’t you arrested him?”
“Jake wants to buy him a pardon from the governor.”
“No one is buying me anything.” Dair banged his fist on the table. “You know what, old man? You’re right, and nothing you can say will make me feel any worse than I already do. You said your piece, so leave me the hell alone. All of you.”
“Fuck that,” Jake said. “I’m your friend.”
“And I’m the law in this town,” Luke added. “You’re a wanted man, and for Emma’s sake I’m not going to arrest you, but I’m not letting you ride off into the sunset, either.”
“You should have the surgery, Dair,” Jake stated.
“Easy for you to say,” Dair exploded. He whirled on Logan. “Tell him, Grey. Tell him about Jimbo.”
Logan winced. “Dair…”
“Boy at the orphanage with us. His father dumped him on Nana Nellie one day. Horse had kicked him in the head. He couldn’t talk, couldn’t walk, couldn’t eat. Nana had to do everything for him. He was fourteen years old and she changed his goddamned diapers. She worked herself to the bone. Damn near killed herself. Even Nana Nellie was glad the day poor Jimbo caught the croup and died, and she suffered with guilt for it for years afterward. I will
not,
by God, put Emma in that position.”
Trace pursed his lips and nodded. “Have to say I respect you for that. Can’t say I blame you for not wanting to get your head cut open, either. That’s awful personal. It’d take a lot of guts for a man to literally put his life in a stranger’s hands that way and you apparently don’t have the balls for it.”
“Goddammit!” Dair snapped.
“Of course, it’s not like you have much control the way things are,” Trace continued. “I mean, you have something growing in your head right now, and it could turn you into droolin’ fool without a surgeon’s knife ever gettin’ near you.”
Dair betrayed the slightest of shudders at that. It was his biggest fear, one he never verbalized and rarely acknowledged to himself.
Trace drummed his fingers on the table, his brow furrowed in thought. “I’m confused though. My Emma is one smart woman. She probably has more sense than anyone I know and better instincts than anyone, save my Jenny. Why the hell she would pick you to love is beyond me. But she did and there it is. And as much as I hate to admit it, you seem to care about her, too. You just need to wake up and realize it before it’s too late.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you had better figure out a way to make it right with her. Have the surgery or not. That’s your choice and it’s one I don’t envy. But if you really love her, you’d best make the most of the time you have left.”
“Enough, McBride. Hate me all you want, but you have no right to question my love for her.”
“I have every right. I was there when she was born. I walked her down the aisle to marry Casey. I stood beside her the day she buried him. Do you think I relish the thought of going through that kind of hell again? But I’ll have to, won’t I? Because she’ll be left alone again with no more than a memory. As much as it pains me to admit it, I’m not sure Emma will recover this time.” He paused, sipped his drink, then said harshly, “She’ll never risk her heart a third time. She’ll just bury it with you.”
Dair closed his eyes and shuddered. “I have to hope you’re wrong. If you’d seen Nana Nellie with Jimbo…better a broken heart than a broken back.”
“Broken hearts can kill a person, too,” Luke observed. “Seems to me you’re missing something when you go to chewing on this. What if the surgery cured you, MacRae? It doesn’t have to end badly, you know.”
“He has a point,” Jake agreed. “Dammit, Dair. Can’t you just think about it? Let Daggett contact the surgeon he knows. Find out more about it before you dismiss it entirely.”
Dair shot a look at Logan. “What about you? Aren’t you going to chastise me, too?”
“I can tell that you’ve already made up your mind. Stubborn as always. No sense trying to change what’s carved in rock.”
Disgust laced Jake’s voice. “Now, there’s a good friend.”
“Would you do it?” Logan fired back.
Jake was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t just throw a chance into the discard pile without a second thought. Think about it, Dair. Mull the idea over. That won’t hurt anything, will it?”
Dair had had enough. “Can’t a man drink in peace in this town?”
“Not in this family,” Luke observed dryly.
“I’m not family.”
“You’re my family,” Jake declared. “You’ve been my brother for a lot of years already, MacRae, and now we up and fall in love with sisters. If that doesn’t make us family, I don’t know what does. Since we’re being honest here, I have to tell you I’m pissed as hell that you didn’t confide in me. That’s no way to treat family.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want…this.”
Jake arched a brow. “This?”
Pity. Pressure. Dair just shook his head and stared into his drink.
Emma, I’m so damned sorry.
Trace drained his drink, then poured another. “So, it’s decided. He’ll mull it over. In the meantime, how about you tell us where we’re headed?”
“Pardon me?” Dair set down his glass.
“Where do we start the treasure hunt?” At Dair’s blank look, he added, “You didn’t think we’d let you go without us, did you? The good news is we hadn’t finished unpacking from the aborted Scotland trip yet, so it’s a simple thing to load up and go.”
“This isn’t your concern.”
“Sure it is. Like I told your knuckleheaded friend who is now my knuckleheaded son-in-law a few weeks back, I’ve battled this bad luck business off and on for a good part of my life, and though it took a bit of convincing, I believe in the Curse of Clan McBride. Bottom line is that a decade ago some spooky gal gave my girls their necklaces and my family has been riding the bad luck merry-go-round ever since. If I’m seeing an opportunity to climb off the ride, I’m darn sure going to make certain the McBrides take it.”
It took all Dair’s control not to take a swing at Emma’s father. “Haven’t you listened to a word I said? I’m not Emma’s vigilant and true love. I can’t be.”
Logan studied his fingernails. “He thinks once he’s dead, she’ll fall for me, and Emma and I will be the ones to finally break the curse. Tried to tell him she wouldn’t go for it, but…well…the man is sick. Guess we have to make allowances for blatant stupidity.”
The other men simply stared at Dair. Then Luke asked, “That brain tumor must be parked on top of your good sense, huh?”
“Dumb as a box of rocks. My girls sure know how to pick ’em.” Trace drummed his fingers against the table. “So, what’s the schedule? We catching the six o’clock train?”
Dair pounded the table with his fist. “Listen to me. We are not doing anything. Logan and I are going after a killer.”
“And the knuckleheads and I are going with you.”
Dair drained his whiskey, poured another, and drained it. Jake shook his head. “Do yourself a favor, MacRae, and don’t try to fight it. He’s as stubborn as a two-headed mule.”
“Emma gets it from you, then.”
Luke sighed. “Maribeth is a chip off the old block.”
“Kat is her daddy through and through,” Jake added with a grimace.
“It makes a man proud to turn out such fine women,” Trace said with a grin. “So, tell us more about this killer. From what I gather from what Emma said, he’s evil, cunning, and invisible as a ghost. How do you expect to find him?’
“By finding the Sisters’ Prize. If I do that, then I expect he’ll find me.”
“He has a good head start on you,” Jake observed. “Maybe he’s already found it.”
“Perhaps.” Dair toyed with his glass. “If that’s the case, I expect I’ll find signs of it. With any luck I’ll be able to track him from those.”
“Luck?” Trace scoffed. “I hope you have a backup plan. Remember who you’re dealing with.”
“The Bad Luck Brides,” Luke clarified.
At that, a frightening thought occurred. “They’re not coming along!”
“No!” said Trace.
“Absolutely not,” added Luke.
“Over my dead body,” Jake declared.
Logan lifted his glass in a toast. “Gentlemen, to hopeless causes.”
East Texas
T
HE PUNGENT SCENT OF PINE
swirled in the evening breeze as Hamish Campbell stepped from the cover of the forest and approached the dilapidated cabin. His shoulders were slumped, his footsteps weary following another day of fruitless searching.
He hadn’t expected it to be this difficult. He’d thought the engravings on the necklace would point the way. So far, he’d found nothing but disappointment.
He hated Texas. Detested the stifling summer heat. Despised the sorry excuse for shelter this cabin offered. As he climbed the porch steps to the cabin, frustration hummed in his veins. He wanted to throw something, to destroy something, but common sense prevailed. Temper had cost him thirty years ago. He wouldn’t repeat the mistake today.
As it happened each time he walked into the cabin, his gaze fell upon a particular spot in front of the fireplace. He could see it all clearly in his mind’s eye.
Roslin MacRae sat reading a story to her son as Hamish stepped inside the cabin. Startled, she stood up, shoving her son behind her skirts. “You.”
So, so beautiful. “Hello, luv.”
“Get out of my house. Immediately!”
“Now, now, my darling. I’ve only just arrived. I can’t leave yet. Not without what I’ve come for.”
“I’ll kill you before I let you touch me.”
“Such passion. Such life. You stir me, woman. We’ll get to that, but first…I want the Sisters’ Prize.”
Her beautiful eyes momentarily widened with alarm, though she quickly tried to hide her reaction. With that, any doubt Hamish had of the treasure’s existence was laid to rest. He stepped closer, his blood running hot with lust both for treasure and for the treasure’s guardian.
The bitch denied him both. When he attempted to use her son against her, seizing him, placing his hands around the boy’s throat and squeezing, she used the cursed dagger once again. Fate steered its path and the blade sank into his shoulder, rather than his heart as she so obviously intended.
Pain enraged him. Hamish lost his temper and made a foolish mistake. He’d turned the guardian’s dagger upon her and lost his chance at the Prize.
“Until now,” he murmured. True, he’d yet to find the treasure he sought, but he had time. All the time in the world. He’d taken care of the only two people who might have interfered.
The Black Widow and the Highland Riever were certainly in the hands of the Scottish authorities by now.
E
MMA AND
D
AIR BOARDED THE
six o’clock train headed east along with her parents, her sisters, their spouses and children, and Dair’s friend Logan. Tye and Claire cancelled their plans to come along at the last minute when their youngest broke his arm. An hour into the trip, Emma still couldn’t believe she was actually onboard. She’d had absolutely no intention of continuing the search for the Sisters’ Prize. Nevertheless, here she was.
The following day, she had every intention of staying at the hotel in Nacogdoches to help Jenny care for Mari’s and Kat’s children while their mothers accompanied their fathers to the cabin where Dair expected to solve the murder mystery. Instead, she found herself riding a rented horse through the Piney Woods of East Texas.
At least she wasn’t forced to ride with Dair. After a heated discussion amongst everyone but her, he, Jake and Luke had ridden on ahead. They planned to scope out the situation, and, if necessary, deal with the villain long before the women arrived.
Emma and Dair hadn’t spoken since she’d ordered him from Willow Hill the day before. He’d made a halfhearted attempt to approach her once but didn’t persist when she turned away. Her attitude frustrated her sisters, she knew, but Emma didn’t care. Neither did she concern herself over the men’s obvious disgust with Dair’s lack of action. She needed all her energy just to keep moving.
With any luck, this misbegotten adventure would end today. Early this morning, Papa found out some interesting information at the café. It seems that a couple months ago completely out of the blue, the owners of the acreage where Dair once lived received an offer for their land well above market price. The new owner was a Scotsman named Hamish Campbell. He’d made a good impression upon the citizens of Nacogdoches during his bi-weekly supply visits. He claimed to be a poet who sought the peace and privacy of the woods to practice his craft. He’d visited town just last week, and as far as anyone knew, he’d be at his new place today.
The closest Emma and Dair came to communicating was the moment her father uttered Hamish Campbell’s name. Dair’s gaze had flown to hers before he said, “It was his town house I won in a card game. That’s how he stole Emma’s necklace. The house probably had some secrets I didn’t know about. It always did give me some strange feelings.”
“What else do you know about him?” her father had asked.
Dair thought a moment, then responded, “Nothing. Other than that card game, I never had any dealings with him.”
Her sisters, Papa and Logan had spent much of the ride from town speculating on how Campbell might be connected to the Sisters’ Prize. Emma didn’t comment. She couldn’t bring herself to care.
They found Luke posted as lookout at the turnoff to the cabin. “He’s not here,” he told her father when they rode up. “He’s been here recently, however. The place has obviously been searched.”