Highlander's Challenge (3 page)

"Your turn," Jenny said.

Blinking away the irritating memories, Tuck turned to the fountain, not bothering to make a wish. Wishes never came true. Only hard work got a person what they wanted. Her accomplishments, her performance, gained her the respect and acceptance she needed. Not throwing pennies into fountains and wishing for the impossible. Flipping the coin from her fingers, the sunlight flashed against the copper, catching her eye. Even if wishes did come true, she didn't know how to make one anymore. The coin plunked into the water, sending out subtle ripples. Hypnotized, her eyes followed the growing circles as her heart whispered its most secret desire. Jenny's soft gasp and the scuffle of shoes against stone jerked her head around. The man she'd watched so closely stood by her client, one hand gripping her arm, the other holding a gun at her side.

"Don't do anything stupid. I don't want to hurt her, but I will if I have to," he said quietly.

"You'll be dead if you do," Tuck said coolly. Damn it! How could she be so careless? Her job was to protect Jenny, not be her schoolyard playmate.

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Highlander's Challenge

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He smiled faintly, but as their gazes met and held for several interminable seconds, he knew she meant business. His smile fell. "I'm taking her with me. I'll contact you later at your hotel."

"The hell you will," she mumbled as he took a step away. Tuck lunged for his gun, succeeding in knocking it from his hand without it going off while shoving Jenny to safety. Grappling with the cretin's thick arm, she used his own bulk to keep him off balance.

In a rather loud professorial voice, Jenny moved dangerously close to the man quoting verbatim the many laws he'd broken and what his punishment would be.

"Get back," Tuck snapped. "I have it under control!" Or so she thought.

Using his mass and muscle, and nearly breaking his own arm to free himself from her hold, the gorilla reared back, knocking her off balance. She caught herself on the edge of the fountain and quickly snagged him by the back of his jacket before he could get away. But Jenny decided to help, blast her luck.

Her thin little arms flailing, her voice shrieking, she leapt onto the man's back. "How dare you hurt my friend!" The gorilla swirled around to shake Jenny off, sending her legs careening into Tuck's chest.

Flying backward into the fountain, the image of Jenny pounding the man over the head with her purse was engraved in Tuck's mind.

The mouse that roared, she thought, as her butt landed in the chilly water and her head connected with stone, sending 22

Highlander's Challenge

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stars shooting across her line of vision. 23

Highlander's Challenge

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Tuck shook her head, determined to clear the fog blinding her. She had to stop the kidnapper. Her job, her future, and possibly Jenny's life was on the line.

Pulling herself up onto her elbows, she noticed two things. There was earth beneath her hands, not stone and water, and there was no sound other than the birds and the wind in the trees. In a flash, she was on her feet and standing in the middle of a small field.

No castle, no tourists ... and no Jenny.

"What the hell?" She spun around and regretted it as the world swayed. Clamping her eyes closed, she fingered the lump on the back of her head. Hissing through her teeth at the pain, she surmised she'd been knocked out and dumped in the woods by the kidnapper.

"But I could've sworn I never lost consciousness." Yet, what other explanation was there?

She shoved up her sleeve, revealing her watch. "Hmm, the time is right." Her gaze shifted to the date. The digital readout had gone wacko. It had jumped back a couple of months and the year was nonsense.

"Nineteen hundred?" She growled softly. "So much for being water resistant." Which meant the time might be wrong as well. Still that didn't explain how she'd ended up in the middle of nowhere. They'd made one heck of a scene beside the fountain. The creep couldn't have carried her and Jenny off without someone calling the cops. He must have had accomplices.

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The thought of Jenny in that cretin's hands churned her stomach.

"No," she snarled. She'd never lost a client, and she wasn't about to start now. She didn't know for a fact that she'd failed in protecting Jenny. She might very well be safe.

"But if she's safe, then what am I doing here?" There was no way to determine what happened without the facts, but the only one that made any sense was her first assumption. The kidnappers dumped her here after snatching her client.

And all too easily.

Her jaw clenched as she bit back the bile rising in her throat. She needed to act, not stand around like a fresh recruit speculating.

Snatching her cell phone from her pocket, she flipped open the cover and cursed. No signal. Shoving it back into place, she felt her ID, still secure inside her vest. She leaned over and yanked up her pant leg, exposing her knife safely sheathed around her calf.

"Interesting." She slowly straightened, her mind racing over the facts.

Although her phone was useless, she was still alive and armed. They could've easily killed her without anyone being the wiser in such an isolated area. Either the kidnappers weren't too bright, or they really didn't want to hurt anyone, which led her to believe Jenny was still alive. Knowing that Raghnall Castle sat on the east side of the island, she pulled her knife from its sheath and verified the direction with the compass built into the butt of the hilt. 25

Highlander's Challenge

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Raghnall Castle was the only place she could go, the only place she could start her search for the vermin who'd kidnapped Jenny.

She slid her knife back into place, jerked up the zipper on her thick down vest and headed off through the woods as she popped a Gummy Bear into her mouth. The icy wind whipped at her cheeks and ears. The temperature had dropped considerably since they'd started out that morning. That in conjunction with her wet butt, the lump on the back of her head, and the knot of anxiety growing in her stomach put her in a foul mood.

"I will not fail," she grumbled, tugging her cap low over her ears and shoving her hair beneath.

Laughter, men's laughter echoed through the trees and she froze. She couldn't be that lucky. The bozos who snagged Jenny had to have more sense than to hang around where they'd dumped her untied and unguarded.

Pinpointing the men's location, she eased in their direction and came across a rutted, muddy road. Crouching down amid the late afternoon shadows at the edge of the woods, she waited for them to come fully into view as she listened to their conversation. She refused to make any more mistakes.

"I say you shall be bloody miserable," one man said, his English accent thick but refined. An unexpected change from the Scottish lilt she'd been hearing for the last few weeks.

"'Tis the next step, mon," the other replied. As one of them laughed, she caught her first glimpse of the Englishman. Her mouth fell open, then snapped shut with a soft click.

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Highlander's Challenge

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Riding a white stallion, his black leather boots shone to perfection where they sat firmly in the stirrups. His brocade doublet of deep blue was decorated with gold trim and ties and fit his broad torso snugly. A riding cape cast off one shoulder and draped the horse's hindquarters. The sun glinted off his fair hair, pleasantly disheveled by the wind. His charismatic smile made her suck in a breath. He looked and sounded like he'd walked right out of a fairytale.

"If Jenny could see this guy she'd bust a gut," she whispered to herself. He fit perfectly into one of her silly stories, but even Tuck had to admit he was more than easy on the eyes.

Her brow furrowed as she studied him. What was he doing wearing that getup?

"You plan and plan, my friend, but 'tis a waste of time. When will you learn you cannot control your destiny?" the Englishman asked, glancing at the man riding alongside him. Her eyes followed his and there they stayed. Tuck swallowed hard as her knees gave out, and she tipped forward in the brush. Barely catching herself with her hands before she landed on her face, she mouthed a curse but didn't tear her gaze away from the dark haired giant. He was amazing. A breathy sigh slipped from her lips, something she never did where men were concerned. Why expel the energy on being attracted? They were never attracted to her. But with this man she couldn't help herself. She examined him from the tips of his leather clad feet, up muscular bare legs, over his woven plaid wrapped around his waist, to his midnight hair stirring over his massive shoulders. 27

Highlander's Challenge

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The rough angles of his face, almost hidden by several days'

growth, gave him a menacing air. He wasn't pretty like his English friend, but unbelievably striking.
Now—that—is a man
.

His dark brows pinched together at the sound of his friend's laughter, his thick full lips pulled into a grim frown.

"You are one tae talk. Whether I wed the lass or no, 'tis nothing compared tae what you've done." The Englishman's smile faded, and he shot him a dark look.

A smile, if it could be called that, it was so dour, eased over the burly Scot's face. "You canna deny you left your homeland tae avoid the destiny your father laid out before you."

The pretty one's back stiffened at his words. "My father and I were not of like minds. However, my fate did not include wedding a woman I've never laid eyes on. She could be a shrew for all you know. Some toothless harridan sure to drive you mad."

Tuck shook her head. Men were the same the world over regardless of their shape and size. They all wanted pretty little petite things that would fawn all over them while they played Tarzan. It made her sick to her stomach. Realizing they were obviously part of some reenactment thing, she could be fairly certain they had no part in Jenny's abduction, but she'd keep her wits about her just the same. She stepped out of the brush and onto the road. They both jerked back on the reins, coming to an abrupt halt several feet in front of her. If she thought the frown the 28

Highlander's Challenge

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Scot threw pretty-boy earlier was bad, the one he shot her was deadly. But she held her ground without flinching. She was more than used to glares from men, yet this one had an edge to it, and she found that extremely interesting. She glared back at him and was satisfied when one lone dark brow rose. Apparently the hairy Scot wasn't used to being faced down. Of course his size alone would intimidate anyone who had any sense, but she never backed away from a challenge—ever.

"Do either of you have a cell phone I could borrow?" she asked. "I can't get a signal on mine and it's an emergency." They gave each other a quick glance, then looked her over from head to toe. Something wasn't quite right about these two, she could feel it, but she needed information. "Okay. Then how about giving me some directions to Raghnall Castle?"

The Scot squeezed his muscular legs, urging his horse closer. She cursed her hormones for standing up and taking notice. The fact that he looked too much like the man she'd imagined at Arreyder Castle, with the exception of the beard, didn't help any either.

Telling her libido to take a hike, she took a cautious step back. Being attracted to some wacko doing an imitation of a long dead ancestor was not on her agenda, but she couldn't deny how good it felt to stand before a man who didn't bolt with his tail tucked between his legs from one of her intimidating glowers.

His eyes narrowed to sharp slits. "From where do you hail, lad?"

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Lad? Well, doesn't that just make my damn day
?

Her thick down vest and cable knit sweater more than aptly hid her average sized breasts, and she'd be the first to admit she didn't come anywhere close to what appeared on the cover of Vogue, but his unintentional slight to her womanhood stung just the same.

"Just point the way," she said, not bothering to curb the acidic tone of her voice.

They looked at one another again, then pretty-boy spoke.

"I believe you are somewhat confused, my good fellow. There is no such castle."

With a huff, she shoved her hands in her pockets. "Taking your roles a little too far, aren't you?" She knew, thanks to Jenny, that Raghnall Castle didn't exist until the early nineteenth century and judging by these two throwbacks' clothing, they were doing an earlier imitation of the Isle of Mull inhabitants. But she'd had about all the fun she could stand for one afternoon and shook her head at their bewildered silence.

"Never mind. Forget I asked." She stepped into the brush at the edge of the road, determined to keep on an easterly track well out of sight, but more so because she didn't want to share the road with these two clowns.

Nice legs or not
.

Blast it! She really needed to get a grip and stop taking these mental side roads. Jenny and all her fanciful talks of long dead knights and ancient warriors had warped her brain.

"I knew I should've turned down this job," she grumbled. 30

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"Hold there," the Scot said, his booming voice echoing through the forest.

With a backward wave, she picked up her pace, not willing to waste another minute chatting with them. They'd only manage to get her off track again. She couldn't waste anymore time. Jenny was out there somewhere and it was her job to protect her.

She'd barely made it a few yards before the sound of horse hoofs thumped behind her, snapping twigs and crushing long dead leaves. Spinning around, ready to tell them to beat it, she spied a man crouched on a tree limb above the Highlander. And he didn't look like he was up there admiring the view.

Reflexively, she reached up and snagged the Scot by his belt and jerked him from his horse as the man leapt from the tree. Not sparing a glance at the Scot as he landed at her feet with a grunt, she pivoted to take care of the attacker. He landed awkwardly on the vacant saddle, spooking the horse. Rearing up, the animal tossed him to the ground then bolted away.