“No,ye can’t,” I interrupted in a harsher tone than intended, shutting her upinstantly, and I rubbed my fingertips against my forehead while silentlycursing myself for being such a prick. And right after she had defended me,nonetheless.
Clearingher throat, she turned to the window and looked out with a blank stare. “Um,so—”
“I’man arsehole,” I said abruptly, glancing in her direction as we turned a cornerontoGlaswellStreet.
“No,you’re not. You—”
“No,but I am. It’s one reason why I’m divorced, and I’mfairlycertainit’s the reason the other men in the officedinnaecare for me much. I’m an egotistical, arrogant prick, and Ihavnaegot much patience for insolence and stupidity. But thatdoesnaegive me the right to be a bastard. Especially to those whodinnaedeserve it. So, I apologize, and if ever in our time together ye find I’msteppin’ over the line, I want ye to saysomethin’. All right?”
Rosiesquinted her eyes and shook her head. “I never thought you were—”
“Justtell me ye will saysomethin’.”
Shenodded slowly. “Okay. I will.”
“Good,”I replied, satisfied, as I parked the car in front of The Whispering Crow.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ROSIE
“First,”Alec said, as he collected his things from inside the car, “I’mgoin’ into the inn andmakin’sure nobody else has entered that room since we were last here. Then, we’resurveyin’ the streets for any pubs with large frontwindows.”
“Really?”TJ groaned. “It’sfreakin’ Scotland. There are pubseverywhere.”
“Aye,”Alec agreed. “Fifteen on these two streets alone, in fact.”
“Oh,awesome. So, you’re saying it’s going to take forever. Cool.”
“Itprobably would take forever, if every one of them had a large window in thefront. Buty’knowwhat,laddie?”
“What?”
“I’llbet ye not all of them do.”
Itwas something else, to watch the two of them butt heads, and it was anotherthing entirely to find that Alec was just as quick as my son. He didn’t bowunder the pressure of his insults and instead fired back with a speed I envied.I wished I could be more like that, and I wished his fatherwas,too. Maybe we’d have better luck in keeping his attitude in check if we were.
“Shouldwe split up, then?” TJ asked, crossing his arms and regarding Alec with alittle more respect than attitude.
“Absolutelynot.”
“Whynot? We’ll cover more ground that way.”
Aleclowered his brows, asserting his authority, and said, “I am notgonnalet either of ye wander the streets alone whensomeone out there isfollowin’ ye. The last thing Ineed is for one of ye to end up dead.”
TJchuckled quietly and muttered, “Then, maybe you should go alone, then.”
“You’renot being funny, TJ,” I scolded.
“I’mnot the one who has to worry,laddie,” Alec said. “Ihave years oftrainin’ to protect me. What doyouhave?”
Thepissing contest between them was quickly growing old, and with an impatientsigh, I said, “It’s quicker for us to just drive around to the different pubs,anyway. It’ll eat through your gas, but it’s better than getting out andwalking around in this.” I glanced out the window at the downpour, pummelingagainst the car roof.
“Agreed,”Alec grunted, pulling out his umbrella. “Now, both of ye stay right here. Lockthe doors. I’ll just be a moment.”
Heleft, and I immediately locked the car doors. The heavy patter of raindropsoverpowered the sound of his radio, and not wanting to hear the rain, I turnedup the volume. I recognized the song, one sung by Dermot Kennedy, and realizingall at once how exhausted I really was, my eyelids drifted shut without mypermission to enjoy the song.
Ilet the lyrics take me away, the haunting melody and sultry voice, and I sawGracie, looking just as she always had. Her smiling face looked out at me fromfar away, soaliveand jubilant. Then, she began togracefully move toward me, as if she were floating on air. Slowly, so slowly,she came closer, closer, closer, until her nose was nearly touching mine, andthen I saw the greenish color of her skin. The cracks in her parched lips. Thedry, thinning straw that was once her beautiful hair. Her smile was gone,replaced with a frozen expression of horror, and amidst the melody carried byDermot Kennedy’s voice, I heard the sickening crack of Gracie’s jaw, as itpried itself open in a soundless scream.
