Page 43 of Taming the Highland Misfits

“An’ ye have built up a’ your businesses in town fae the earnings your men stole for ye?” Finley asked contemptuously.

Alec was stung into anger. “Aye—but dinnae come moanin’ tae me about that! You were one o’ them, or had ye forgotten?”

“I hadnae forgotten,” Finley answered. “An’ I am very, very ashamed o’ that part o’ my life, but that is a’ over now. I mean tae be an honourable man fae now on.”

“An’ ye think ye will escape justice?” Alec asked scathingly. “How many o’ the others dae ye think will tell them your part in a’ this? Ye’ll be hanged!”

“Every single one o’ them, I should think,” Finley replied. “But they can dae what they like. I will hand myself over tae Laird Mullen an’ hope for his mercy, but if I dinnae get it -” He shrugged “- then so be it, but at least I will know I have done my part tae make things right.”

Alec stared at him with undisguised hatred, but Isla was horrified. “You cannot do that, Finley!” she cried. “You are not like these beasts here—you are a good man and I believe in you.”

Alec shrieked with laughter. “You keep tellin’ yourself that, hen,” he said viciously. “You havenae seen what I have seen.”

“Finley has told me about his crimes.” Isla was furious, but steadfast. She knew that Finley had done horrible things, but she preferred to block them out of her thoughts than confront them. There would be plenty of time for that later.

At that moment there was a grunt from Iain, who was blinking and grimacing as he regained consciousness. He gave a long painful groan and tried to move his hands so that he could rub his eyes, but when he found that he was tied to the wooden pillar, he gave a little squeal of fright and indignation.

Isla and Finley watched as he kept tugging on the ropes behind him, but they were strong and unyielding, and eventually he gave up, looking puzzled. He had been concentrating so hard on what he was doing that he had failed to see them or his father, and when he did so, he jumped in fright.

Isla almost laughed at the comically baffled expression on his face; he looked even more repulsive than usual. However, he began to look indignant as he realised that the woman he had planned to marry was now standing staring at him with an expression of utter contempt on her face.

“Isla,” he said irritably, “what is goin’ on here? Get these ropes off me—they are hurtin’ me!”

Isla took three steps towards him, until she was standing right in front of him, and stopped. “No,” she said. The word fell like a hammer blow, and Iain frowned.

“What is goin’ on?” he asked, completely mystified. “Isla, if this is your idea o’ a joke it isnae very funny. Untie me.”

Isla looked down into Iain’s fat face with its blue-veined nose and felt a moment of utter revulsion. Thank heavens her‘engagement’to this creature was done with. She shook her head. “No, Iain.”

Her answer was firm and definite, and the expression of scorn on her face scared him. This was not the Isla he knew, the one he had expected to intimidate into submission. This was a new woman, one whom he feared could read his mind and see his evil intentions.

Iain’s glare of anger now turned to one of fear. He glanced at Finley, but was met by the same expression of stony contempt before he fixed his eyes on Isla again, and now his bewilderment was gone. These two were in league with one another, and he had been manipulated so skilfully that he had not had an inkling of their deception.

“Are ye a’ right, son?” Alec asked Iain. Since they were tied back to back, Iain had had no idea that his father was there, and he jumped, startled.

“Da?” he asked in disbelief. “Is that you?”

“Aye, son.” Alec sounded faintly irritated, even though he was obviously concerned.

“I am fine, Da,” Iain replied. “What did they dae tae ye?”

Alec nodded at Finley. “He beat me up. What about you?”

“Me an’ a’,” Iain confessed, then he looked at the floor, because he did not want to look at Finley.

“Ye know where the gold is,” Alec said dully. “Ye can let us go now.” He was amazed when Finley squatted down in front of him and said again: “no.”

The single word was delivered in a dark menacing growl, and Finley’s brow was shadowing his bright blue eyes in a thunderous frown. “Ye must think I am a complete numpty. Do ye think I want tae commit suicide? Your band o’ thugs would murder me in the time it takes tae say your filthy name. No, you are goin’ naewhere, pal, until I find out what happened tae my mother.”

“She died,” Alec replied, pretending to look mystified.

Finley sighed theatrically, then suddenly grabbed the man by the front of his jacket and pulled his face so close to his own that they were only an inch apart. “Ye are one second away fae gettin’ a broken nose, pal,” he snarled. “So I would start talkin’ if I was you.”

“I know nothin’ about Agnes’s death,'' Alec said, his voice no more than a whimper of fear. “I didnae kill her, an’ I dinnae know who did.”

Finley stood up, looked at Isla then grinned, then he moved around to Iain and knelt in front of him. “On second thoughts,” he said thoughtfully, “this is a really ugly nose. Maybe if I broke this one it would look better.”

Immediately, there was a horrified scream from Alec and a whimper of fear from his son.