He had almost completely forgotten that tingling feeling in his belly he used to get around a pretty girl. But he sensed that his feelings for Ashley were more than lust. He felt the urge to protect her, to take her in his arms, and to never let her go. Whatever Cathal and his crew were going to do, he would stop them, he decided. He hoped Blair and Payton would show up soon.
Ashley wiped away a tear, took a deep breath, and started to talk. “I am Sam’s cousin, but I still don’t see what that has to do with anything?”
“It’s simple: you are both Camerons. That means your ancestors are from Scotland and—ach, forget it. Whatever it means,” he whispered, “I promise, I’ll protect you.”
Ashley furrowed her brow and smiled at him timidly.
“Thank you,” she whispered back. “Are they going to try to get Sam tomorrow?” It was clear that she was worried about her cousin.
He nodded. But he mouthed, “Not if I can help it.” And he gave her a wink.
Slowly Sean could understand why Payton was so desperate. He himself felt more alive next to this pretty young woman than he’d felt for nearly three hundred years.
Looking both relieved and exhausted, Ashley shut her eyes and fell asleep a short time later. Sean lay down next to her, and tried to go to sleep, too, but his newfound feelings kept him up. Carefully, so as not to wake her, he wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger and enjoyed the warm, electric feeling. He had a feeling this was going to be a long night.
“Alasdair Buchanan?” Kim wasn’t panicked anymore, but she sounded irritated instead.
“Yes, the Scottish man who tried to kill me.”
“Are you sure?” She shook her head as if to clear it. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Ashley’s missing. I still think we should call the police.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I could hardly think straight: Alasdair had followed me… Did Payton know? Was he maybe nearby, too? My heart felt a tiny glimmer of hope.
“We can’t call the police. They’d never believe us,” I told Kim. “They’d think we were drunk teenagers. ‘Yes, officer, immortal Scots that want to kidnap and kill us because of an ancient feud.’ I can’t imagine them taking that call too seriously. Let’s wait to hear from Justin, and then we’ll see what to do.”
Just at that moment, Justin burst into the house, panting heavily. He needed a moment to catch his breath before he could tell us anything.
“Did you find them?” Kim asked.
“Sort of. I followed them onto Kings Highway. They were going faster than me, and I was trying to make sure they didn’t notice me, but I saw them turn south onto Dupont. But by the time I made the turn, I couldn’t see them anymore. I’m sorry I lost them.” He looked from side to side. “Where are the police?”
“Sam doesn’t want to call the cops!”
“What? Ashley has been kidnapped! Who knows what they’re going to do to her!”
“Just listen to me!” I tried to get them both to pay close attention to what I had to say. “I know the kidnappers. And I think I know what they want. The thing with Ashley must be a mistake. I think they meant to take me.”
“What do you mean? What do they want from you?” Justin looked confused.
“It’s a really long story. I can’t tell you everything now, but you have to trust me.”
“So what do you suggest?” Kim asked, getting right to the point.
“Let’s go back to Dupont and look for the van,” I said. “There isn’t really anything else we can do. But if I’m right, we won’t need to find these guys. They will find us.”
“That’s not very comforting,” Kim said.
“Kim is right,” Justin said. “We should at least call Ryan.”
“Ryan? What does he have to do with this?”
“His dad is a cop—and he collects guns. Maybe he could snag something out of his dad’s cabinet and supply us with some actual firepower?”
“Great, now we’re stealing guns?” I said. “I really don’t think we need to drag him into this.”
But Justin was already dialing Ryan’s number.
“Look, Sam. If you’re not willing to call the police, I at least want to get some help. I don’t think I could take those two guys on my own. And unarmed.”
Reluctantly, I had to admit he was right. Only too vividly could I remember how serious the fight between Payton and Alasdair had been. And Alasdair had another distinct advantage over Justin: he was immortal.
“Just please tell him to keep his dad out of this. That would be the last thing we need.”