“Good,” Ben said through the phone. “Be ready. I’ll pick you up at eight.”
She hung up and turned around to find Ulrik gone, the bottle of Dreagan whisky barely touched. Laura looked around the pub, but he was nowhere to be found.
It was a pity. He appeared as though he needed a friend. Yet there had been something dark inside him. Maybe that’s what Charon had seen.
Thirty minutes later, Laura turned over the bar to the next bartender. She used to dread having to cover for them because it required her to interact with people, but she’d come to really enjoy it.
She made her way to the door that separated the stairs leading up to the second floor from the bar and slipped inside. The door closed behind her, shutting out the music of the pub as if a switch had been thrown.
For just a moment she paused, and couldn’t help but think of Ulrik. He shouldn’t take up so much of her thoughts. People came in and out of the pub all the time. So what was it about this man that made her dwell on him?
He was good looking if one liked the dark, moody, broody type that could either be a good guy or a bad guy. She suspected Ulrik was leaning toward the bad part.
Laura sighed and started up the stairs. Her heels clicked softly upon the wood, her hand sliding along the banister as it had done countless times.
When she reached the top and found Charon standing at the sliding glass door looking out at the forest, she knew something bothered him.
She glimpsed a half-empty bottle of Dreagan on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Care for a glass?” Charon asked without turning around.
“Not particularly. What’s bothering you?”
He shrugged, not looking at her. “I find it odd that after a year Dreagan finally decided to see us.”
“We proved how well the pub is doing. Even in such a small village as Ferness.”
Charon gave a soft snort. “What if it’s more than that?”
“What do you mean?”
He turned toward her. As he did, the fingers he had stuck in the front pocket of his jeans moved to his chest and rubbed. Laura didn’t think he even realized what he was doing, but it was a telling sign. One he did often of late.
“There are bad men out in this world, Laura.”
“I know.”
“You think you know,” he said and took a drink of the whisky.
She perched on the arm of the couch. “Then tell me what it is I don’t know.”
He laughed, the sound holding no humor. “What would you say if I told you there were men trying to take over the world?”
“I’d tell you it’s been happening since the beginning of time. How many kings killed and went to war just to take over more land? I could name ten right off the top of my head.”
His lips thinned. “Aye, you’re right.”
He was going to let it go, but she wasn’t. She knew there was something he was trying to tell her without actually telling her. Could this be what had been bothering him these last few weeks?
“Tell me,” she urged. “You meant something else. Tell me what you mean.”
“I can no’.” The words were spoken softly, harshly.
Laura licked her lips and stood. “If you don’t mean kings and leaders of nations, do you mean men closer to home? Say, as in Scotland?”
The tightening of his fingers on the crystal glass was all the answer she needed.
“You may not like to flaunt your power and presence around Ferness, but you have it, Charon. Use it to destroy whoever this is.”
“Power,” he repeated with a derisive snort. “Let’s hope I can get to him before he comes here.”
“Here?” At his wince, Laura knew he’d accidentally let the last part slip. “I don’t want whoever this is here. Let me help.”
She wasn’t sure why she offered. She wasn’t a fighter and only knew basic moves of self-defense, but Ferness was her home now, and she didn’t want it destroyed.
Plus she wanted to help Charon any way she could.
His dark eyes hardened. “Nay. Doona dig more into this. You’ll only get hurt.”
Unease rippled through her at his words. It was obvious he knew much more than he was ever going to tell her. But there was no way she would allow him to get harmed. He was important to Ferness, important to so many people in the area.
And he was important to her.
She would do whatever it took to make sure he won against this unknown foe.
CHAPTER SIX
Charon hid his smile as he drove along the road to Dreagan. He’d been in a morose mood when he first mentioned she should come with him, but the more he thought about it, the more sound a decision it was.
If he had to leave Ferness, his businesses would be in capable hands with Laura. All he’d worked for would be looked after. He didn’t want to leave his home, but already some of them knew too much about him being a Warrior. He was just looking after his interests.