Page 13

Chapter Thirteen

I waved Mara and Jasper over. They took one look at Abigail and asked, “What happened?” at the same time.

“Tommy’s gone,” I said. “Where was he last seen?”

“In the carriage house where we are staying. Elizabeth had been looking after him, but she was needed in the kitchen. There was a problem with the prep for tomorrow.” She hiccupped a sob. Abigail had been through so much, but I’d never seen her cry. My heart twisted in my chest. “She left him playing his video games and was only gone for a half hour. When she came back …

“If he’s out in this weather …”

I pulled her into my arms and squeezed hard. “He’s a smart young man,” I said. “We’ll find him. Take a deep breath. Did you check the garden where he made a home for the lamb?”

She nodded.

“Did you tell Ewan?” Mara asked.

“No one can find him,” she said.

“That’s good, right?” Jasper asked. “Ewan is probably looking after him somewhere.”

“I’ve looked everywhere they might be for hours,” she said.

What if they were in trouble? I didn’t voice my fears. Calm heads were needed.

“How about Henry?”

“He and the other officer are checking the outbuildings near the house. The snow—there isn’t much use looking outside. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left his care to someone else. He’s my responsibility.”

My stomach roiled with nerves. I loved Tommy and Abigail. They’d become family to me.

I forced myself to be calm. “Stop. You deserve a break now and again. And Elizabeth is great with him. You know that. Tommy’s probably off doing something he believes to be very important.”

Normally, that would mean he’d been in the garden. Flowers were his biggest passion. That, and animals.

“Right. Abigail, it could be you just missed each other. Maybe he went to check on the lamb, and you passed each other without realizing it. Go check the carriage house again.

“Jasper, you and Mara check the garages connected to the castle. I’ll check the garden and the kitchen again.”

“You need to rest and get off that leg,” Abigail said.

“I’m fine.” Crazy how adrenaline hid pain, and it coursed through my system. “Tommy is family. We will find him.”

Abigail’s eyes filled with tears.

“Time for that later.” I patted her cheek. “Let’s get on with it.”

The staff in the kitchen repeated what they’d said to Abigail, although they mentioned Elizabeth was beside herself. They’d all been searching downstairs.

I checked in the room where Jasper had been working on the pastries and cakes. The damage that had been done to the top layers had already been fixed. Jasper was a wonder when it came to baked goods and patisserie.

I shut the door to the room tightly.

Right. Moving on.

I headed out to the garden. I used the cane as I walked through the paths. The snow still fell heavily on the domed roof, and I prayed he wasn’t outside anywhere.

Something or someone moved near the pen where the small lamb was kept.

“Tommy? Is that you?”

Eerie silence greeted me.

“It’s okay, I’m not upset,” I said. “But Abigail is worried about you. We need to get you back to the carriage house.

Most of the lighting was on the footpath and the area where the pen had been made was in the dark.

Great.

The last time I’d been out here and there was a noise, someone had tossed a gargoyle at me.

At least I had a cane and was out of range for the remaining gargoyles.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I turned on its flashlight. Nothing was in the pen.

Okay, Tommy had to be with the lamb somewhere.

The heavy snow on the dome made it darker than the other night. Some of it had started sticking to the glass. My earlier accident made the beautiful garden creepier.

Tommy didn’t always respond to verbal cues, so it was necessary to check every path. When I neared the balcony on the far right, I glanced up. No noises up there, but I was wary of going too close. I used my phone to check the area.

There were no movements or sound. I cut through the middle and did the next path. By the time I was finished, my calf muscle was tight against my jeans, having swollen twice it’s normal size. I went back in through the kitchen, so I didn’t have to worry about the balcony.

Most of the staff was off searching.

“Any luck?” one of the dishwashers asked. “I canna help look now, but will when my shift is done.” She was young and wore her dreads piled on top of her head.

“Thank you. We may take you up on that if we don’t find him sooner.”

“He makes me laugh,” she said. “He’s a sweet boy.”

“He is.” My estimation of her character was rather high. Not everyone appreciated people who are neuro-diverse. Tommy was exceptional and we had to find him.

Where would he take the lamb?

I’d have expected to find him sleeping outside with the poor animal.

My knee gave out, and I grabbed the wall before I fell. I’d probably been putting more weight on the side that had been dislocated, because the other side hurt worse.

At the very least, I needed something to take for the pain. I’d ice it later. Making the trek down the long hall, was like one of those movies where it looked longer than it was.

A door slammed, and the muscles in my shoulders tightened. Slowly, I made my way down the hall.

There was shouting behind one of the doors.

“You need to keep your wits about you,” said a male voice. “If you ruin this for me, I will never forgive you.”

I couldn’t hear the other person in the room.

“Right, well drinking so much you’re off your face isn’t helping.”

I leaned in to put my ear nearer the door.

“I’ve done everything for you,” a woman said. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “If it weren’t for me, nothing would have been done.”

“What are you doing?” Ewan’s voice boomed behind me.

I jumped and then screamed. To top it off, I fell forward, and was only saved from slamming into the wood floor by his quick hands.

He grabbed the waist of my jeans and pulled me into his hard chest.

The door flew open, and Angie’s current stepmom stood there. “Is everything all right? I heard a scream.”

Ewan cleared his throat but didn’t let go of me.

“The doc lost her footing. You aren’t supposed to be walking around on that leg,” he chastised.

I sighed.

He was helping me to save face.

“It’s for a good reason,” I said. “Tommy is missing.”

“Tommy?” she asked.

“He’s young and neuro-divergent,” I said, as if that explained everything.

She cocked her head. “I haven’t seen any children around here at all,” she said. “Let me know if I can help.”

Before I could figure out a way to ask who was in the room with her, she stepped in and then closed the door.

Odd there was man in there, since Angie’s dad hadn’t made it up before the storm.

Who could it be?

Before I could tell Ewan to knock on the door, he heaved me over his shoulder like a fireman, my butt in the air.

“I’d complain and beg you to put me down, but my knee is killing me,” I said.

“Did you mean what you said about Tommy?”

“Yes. Abigail has been looking for hours and hasn’t been able to find him. The lamb is also gone.”

“Blimey,” he said. “We need to put together a search party.”

“I’ve tried. Abigail is retracing her steps, and Jasper, Henry, and Mara are helping as well. I think your other officers are searching the castle.”

“Why wasn’t someone with him?” His voice had an edge. He cared for Tommy and Abigail every bit as much as I did.

“Elizabeth was called to the kitchen. She thought he’d be fine with his video games for a few minutes. When she returned, he was gone.”

“Who called her to the kitchen?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“She’s overseeing the house, but I’ve arranged for her main job to be looking after Tommy. He’s comfortable with her, and Abigail needs a break.”

“I agree. She never complains, but she deserves a life.”

“Exactly. I want her to have a life and to meet people her age. I’d hoped being in a social setting would help.

“Bugger all. She’ll be upset.”

I smiled. A bear of a man, he had a good heart.

We reached the door, and a large wail came from inside my room.

“Stay,” Ewan ordered, as he leaned me against the wall.

Then he burst through the door, and the wails grew louder.

“Get away from him,” Ewan growled.

What was going on?

I used the last of my strength, and the cane, to hurl myself into the room.

The low lamplight made it difficult to see all the players. Tommy held the lamb in his arms near the fireplace. On the other side of the room, Ewan had Caleb, Damien’s brother, against the wall, his forearm on Caleb’s throat. The other man grew pale.

“I wasn’t hurting him,” Caleb spit out through gasping breath.

“What are you doing in here?” Ewan’s anger was palpable. He didn’t let the man down.

“If you remove your arm from his throat, it may be easier for him to speak,” I offered softly.

“If he drops the candlestick he threatened Tommy with, I’ll consider it.”

The silver candlestick hit the wood floor.

“Stay,” Ewan said fiercely to the other man. “Doc, check on Tommy.”

The young man whimpered near the fireplace.

I limped around the sofa and coffee table. Standing a few feet away, I forced a smile on my face.

“You’re safe, Tommy. Everything is okay.”

“Nooo.” He sniffed. Standing next to the fireplace he rocked back and forth.

“No one will hurt you. I promise. See, Ewan’s here.”

He continued rocking back and forth. “Noooo,” he cried out again.

“That cry—that’s why I came in,” said Caleb. “I heard someone cry out like they were hurt. I thought the killer was after him.”

I didn’t believe anything that came out of Caleb’s mouth. He was too smooth and not at all the type to be heroic.

“Really?” I asked.

His eyes widened.

“I haven’t known you long, but ‘heroic’ is not how I’d describe you.”

“Harsh,” Caleb said. “Even I will stop for a crying child.”

“Didn’t cry. I’m not a baby. He came in to hurt us,” Tommy said. He was nearly six feet, and nineteen years old.

“You’re an adult,” I said. “We believe you.”

“You can’t believe that—he’s not right in the head.”

Ewan pressured the man’s neck with his forearm again. “That boy is smarter than you and me put together. You’ll not speak ill of him again.” The rumble of fury in Ewan’s voice sent goose bumps down my arms.

Tommy whimpered again.

“Ewan, it might be best to remove Caleb from the room so I can find out why Tommy is here. Also, send someone to find Abigail.

“I couldn’t find her,” Ewan said. “I tried.”

I had to set my curiosity aside, because I too wanted to know what Caleb was doing in Mara’s and my room. But Tommy needed me more.

Ewan shoved the other man out of the room.

When they left, I turned on a few more lights, to better assess the situation.

“Bad man.” Tommy continued rocking.

“He’s gone. He won’t hurt you or your friend. I’m going to sit down on the sofa. When you are ready, why don’t you sit down as well.”

I sat down and waited. Pushing him to explain would set him off. For the most part, he was even-tempered and calm. But like many neuro-divergent humans, small things or anything outside his routine might set him off.

“Sick,” he said.

“You are sick?”

“Noooo.”

I glanced at the animal in his arm. “The lamb?”

“Yes. Sick in his pen.”

“And you brought him here, looking for me?”

“He’s sick.”

It would do no good to explain that I was not a vet. There wasn’t one around. Ewan would know much more about what to do with a sick lamb than I.

“Tommy, I’ll need to examine him. I need a towel from the loo.” I would have grabbed it, but my knee throbbed.

Carrying the lamb, he did as I asked.

After he handed me the towel, I spread it on the sofa beside me.

“Put it him down on his side.”

The animal was either tired or lethargic, as it didn’t seem to care.

After giving it a cursory exam to look for any external injuries, I leaned over to sniff. The smell of sick was evident.

A tiny lamb living on mother’s milk was much like a human baby. If he’d ingested something that wasn’t normal, it could have adverse effects. I needed Ewan’s help. Or the help of one of his herders. But I couldn’t leave, nor could I send Tommy out in search of them.

“When the lamb was in the kitchen, did it eat any of the cake it knocked over?”

Tommy sat there for a minute, petting the lamb’s head. He wasn’t one for quick answers when asked a direct question.

That wasn’t such a bad thing. More than once in my life, I wished I’d been more careful with the words I’d said.

“Yes. Icing fell. But not much.”

“Right. And the sick in the pen. Was it a lot or a little?”

We sat for more than minute.

“Little,” he said.

“Okay, I think he’s fine. My guess—and it is a guess, because we need to speak to one of the shepherds—it’s one of two things. The small amount of sugar from the icing may have made him sick. Or we need to adjust the formula you’re feeding him.”

A tear slid down Tommy’s cheek.

Those who believed people who are neuro-divergent didn’t have emotions were wrong. Tommy was one of the brightest and most sensitive souls I’d ever met.

The door slid open, and Abigail, Mara, and Jasper came in slowly. Ewan must have warned them Tommy was upset.

“Tommy,” Abigail said gently, “I’ve been worried.”

He looked up and made eye contact with her, something he didn’t do often. “The baby is sick,” he said.

The anguish in his tone was enough to make my heart a bit squishy.

“Right, Doc?”

I repeated what I’d said to Tommy. “Can someone find Ewan or one of the herders?”

“On it,” Jasper said, as if he were grateful to find something to do. Our favorite baker was every bit as emotional as Tommy.

By the time Ewan reappeared, Abigail had found hot chocolate for her brother, ice for my leg, and some pain meds.

“The wee one needs hydration,” he said. “I’ll help you, Tommy.”

“Did Caleb say anything?”

“No. He claims he heard Tommy wailing. Henry’s watching him. Don’t worry.”

“He wanted to hurt us,” Tommy said.

“Were you crying before he came in?” I asked.

There was a long pause. Direct questions were difficult for Tommy. If you asked him to do something, and were clear with instructions, he had no problem. But answering questions was more difficult. It took longer because of the way he processed information.

“No. We were quiet. The bad man came in and went through Doctor’s things. I protected the baby.”

Ah. The scene became clearer in my mind.

“You did a great job.” I patted the lamb. “I’m with Tommy. We must look at ulterior motives.”

“Let me get him and the lamb settled,” Ewan said. “Lock the door after me.”

Abigail followed him out. I had a feeling she’d be sticking like glue to her brother.

“So much drama,” Mara said. She sat on the other end of the sofa and put her feet up. “I’m not going to lie. My heart has been in my throat the last hour. I’ve been so worried about Tommy. He’s such a great kid, and all sorts of horrible things have been running through my head. I didn’t realize how much I care about him until tonight.

“Abigail was so calm with him. She has a world of patience.”

“She’s had many years learning how his mind works. If she came in overly emotional, it would have set him off. And recriminations and blame don’t work with him.”

“I could learn a lot from her,” Mara said.

“I have already. Those tear-stained cheeks earlier were the most emotion I’ve ever seen from her. She’s made of calm.”

“So, I heard bits about Caleb. What happened?”

I shook my head. “I walked in a bit after Ewan. From what I saw, he’d been brandishing the candlestick at Tommy and the lamb.”

“That guy is such a creep.”

“Agreed.”

“Do you think he came in to kill Tommy because he may have seen something? Or do one of us in?”

“Do you mean me?”

She shrugged. “You are the one with the flying gargoyles. But who knows?”

“What if he was after something?” I asked. “Maybe he thought we had evidence in here?”

“Like what happened in the dungeon?” she asked.

I half expected to hear Ewan say, “Wine cellar.”

“Maybe. If he’s the killer that makes sense. No matter what he says, it’s suspicious that he was in here. Do you remember seeing him at the gift-giving ceremony?”

“Only at the beginning,” she said. “I heard him say he needed the loo, but I don’t remember seeing him after that.”

“An excuse to go exploring, I bet.”

I shifted my calf to fit better on the ice Abigail and Mara had put down for me. It was uncomfortable but necessary to get the swelling down. “There are so many rooms in this place. If he’d been searching for our room …”

“It would have taken him a while. Maybe he wasn’t after Tommy. Like you said, it could have been evidence he was after,” she said.

“I need to talk to him,” I said.

She snorted. “This is one time you can trust Ewan to take care of things. Besides, your calf is the size of a small flowerpot.”

“There is that. Maybe tomorrow. Caleb’s afraid of Ewan, though, and has a disdain for the police. Maybe he’ll talk to me. I may need your help talking to him tomorrow. My guess is Ewan has decided he’s the culprit. Henry will probably be put on guard for him.”

She pursed her lips. “Abigail may be a better choice in that respect.”

“You’ve noticed?”

“That Henry is googly-eyed over her? Yes. Who could miss it?”

I told her about his bringing baked goods to us at the practice. “But she’s clueless,” I said. “Did you notice how gentle he was with Tommy the other day? He’s a good one. I’m no pro at relationships, but I’m not sure she’s aware he even likes her.”

“Well, we may have to help them out a bit.”

“Yes. But first, we must solve a murder. Let’s come up with a plan to get Caleb alone.” I steepled my fingers.

All I had to do was get him to admit to either being the killer or working with the person determined to destroy my friend’s wedding.

“I know exactly what to do.”