She sucked in a breath. ‘But someone else.’
‘Yep.’ I watched Ramsay’s companion stare at the phone. He was obviously trying to work out how someone who had a hot-pink mobile had managed to best him. Sucks to him.
‘He wasn’t working for me, Tegs. I told you, I’m not in that business any more. After what happened with you, I decided it was time to retire for good.’
‘I’m sure I could persuade you to do one or two more jobs for me. They wouldn’t take long.’
The nameless human stopped caring about the colour of my phone and suddenly paled. He swung alarmed eyes towards Ramsay who looked away, his jaw set.
‘Er…’ Chandra paused. ‘Is that really you, Tegs?’
‘Ramsay is here with a friend,’ I told her. ‘Human but looks kind of like a troll. Heavy brow, wiry hair, bad skin.’ I looked him over. ‘Wearing a silver necklace with a tooth on it.’
‘Smack.’
I frowned. ‘Smack who?’
‘That’s his name.’
‘Ah.’ I raised my eyebrows at him. He was frozen, not even blinking. Somehow I didn’t think the innocent puppy-dog look was going to work for him here. ‘You must know where he’s from.’
‘Little town north of Inverness. Some godforsaken hole with nothing more than a post box and a pub to commend it.’
‘And he has family there?’
‘Tegs, you’re not really suggesting…’
‘The Bull!’ he burst out. ‘It was the Bull who hired us!’
Ramsay sighed loudly in disgust.
‘Never mind, Chandra,’ I said. ‘Talk to you later.’ She murmured back, obviously confused. I’d explain later. I hung up and crossed my arms. ‘What were your instructions?’ I asked.
‘To retrieve his daughter.’
At his words, Tipsania flung her head up and stared at him with a haunted expression. Her hand curled round her own throat.
‘And do what?’
He sighed. ‘Bring her back to him. That’s all.’
I shook my head. ‘No, it’s not.’
His nostrils flared. ‘We were to dispatch the old woman too.’
‘Dispatch?’ Taylor growled.
‘Send her to Sidhe hell,’ Ramsay said, unhelpfully. He received a kick for his effort. This time I didn’t complain.
‘That’s not all, though, is it?’
‘We were to get rid of as many MacQuarrie Sidhe as possible.’
There was an audible gasp from the others around me. My chest tightened. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘She asked why!’ Angus spat.
