'Could she have gone back home?'
'I stopped by my keep to get something I knew would please my wife. I sure as thunder would have noticed if she'd been there.'
'I'm so sorry, Connor,' Jamie said. She sat down at the table and buried her face in her hands. 'I should have been watching her. I did look in every morning before I went downstairs, and I thought she was in the bed. It was too early to wake her up, and I didn't get back to the keep until late that night. I looked in her room again and thought she was sleeping. I should have pulled the covers back, and if I hadn't been so weary I would have noticed.'
'Didn't one of the servants go into her room?' Connor asked.
'I told everyone not to bother her. Dear God, I don't even know how long she's been gone. I'm so sorry.'
'Alec, take your wife to bed,' Connor ordered. He followed his brother to the table and pulled the chair back so Jamie could get up.
'None of this is your fault, Jamie.'
Alec lifted her into his arms. 'You haven't had any sleep at all in the past week, have you?'
'I've been busy taking care of the wounded, Alec. I can sleep tomorrow. I have to find Brenna before…'
'Connor and I will find her. You're going to bed.'
She was too tired to argue with him and knew she wasn't going to be very helpful anyway. She was having difficulty holding on to more than one thought at a time now. She put her head down on his shoulder. 'I love you, Alec. What will you do to find her?'
'We'll start by tearing this keep apart. I'm not convinced she's gone.'
Alec stopped in front of Quinlan and ordered him to keep Connor inside the hall until he came back, then carried his wife up to their bedroom.
'Don't forget to let the children know you're home,' Jamie said. 'And, Alec? I need to have you in our bed again. Will you wake me when you come in?'
She fell asleep before he could answer her. He removed her clothes, tucked the covers around her, kissed her forehead, and went back downstairs.
He and Connor personally went through every room in the keep. They extended their search, and when at last they reached the drawbridge, they were both convinced she had left.
Connor felt they had wasted their time. His anger quickly turned to panic.
'You know what her chances of surviving are outside the keep,' Connor said. 'She won't survive if she's alone, Alec. She…'
'She will survive,' Alec snapped. 'And you will soon be useless to me if you continue to think such thoughts.'
By the time they returned to the hall, Connor was so scared, he couldn't think. He stormed about the room while he tried to figure out where she could have gone.
'Did you question all the men you left behind?'
'They were questioned, but not by me,' Alec answered. 'I've sent word for two of the men to return from sentry duty, and they will be here an hour after sunlight tomorrow.'
'Tell me where they are,' Connor demanded. 'I'll go to them now.'
'No.'
Alec knew his brother well and was ready when Connor tried to leave. He blocked him with his arms.
'I'm going to order ten men to guard the doors in the event you try to leave during the night. Accept the fact that you aren't going anywhere until we figure out exactly where she is. The moon isn't providing sufficient light tonight, and you'll end up killing yourself and your horse if you leave here. You're going to be reasonable.'
'You don't understand. I have to find her. She doesn't have a destination in mind.'
'What does that mean?'
'Brenna only wants to get away from me. She blames me for not protecting her from Raen. I should have been there. I should have known… If anything happens to her, if I can't get to her before…'
'We'll find her,' his brother insisted.
He and Quinlan stayed with Connor until the middle of the night. Alec went upstairs to sleep for an hour.
Connor wanted to begin questioning the men now, but Quinlan refused. 'It would take us at least an hour to find all of them, and all have been told by their commander to be here at dawn. I know you won't sleep, but at least sit down, Connor. I know what you're going through. In your place, I would be raging inside too, but it's important that you stay clearheaded so you can find her.'
Connor knew he was right. It was impossible to close his eyes, but he did eventually sit down. Quinlan fell asleep in one of the chairs near the entrance. Connor ordered him to go upstairs and sleep in one of the bedrooms. His friend didn't want to leave, of course, but as soon as the suggestion was given as an order, he was forced to obey.
For the rest of the night, Connor sat alone at the table in the darkness, waiting for dawn to arrive. He pictured every possible horror that could happen to his gentle wife until his mind rebelled and he simply couldn't take any more.
It was the longest night of his life.
The following day wasn't much better. He and Alec took turns questioning every soldier who had been left behind to guard their laird's fortress. No one knew anything that could help them.
Connor was going to leave for home to question his own people in the hope that Brenna might have said something to one of the servants that would help him find her, and as impatient as he was to get going, he also wanted to hear what each Kincaid soldier had to say.
The soldiers in charge of the drawbridge entered the hall just as Quinlan stepped forward to offer a suggestion. 'Could she have gone to Faith?'
Connor rejected the possibility. 'She didn't know her sister was in any danger. By the way, where did you put Faith, Alec?'
His brother didn't know what he was talking about. Quinlan explained while Connor continued to pace about the room.
Jamie came into the hall and sat at the table to listen to what the soldiers told her husband.
'Of course Brenna knew. I would know if anything happened to my sister. How she found out isn't important now. Oh, Lord, the medallion,' Jamie cried out. She ran over to Connor. 'I thought she lost it, but when the priest gave it back to her, he told me it had never been lost at all. Don't you understand? Brenna must have sent Father Sinclair to her sister. She gave him the medallion to show Faith so she would know she was to do whatever the priest instructed her to do. I knew Brenna was clever, but this amazes me. I know I wouldn't have thought of it.'
Alec questioned his men then, a strenuous undertaking because of Connor's ranting and raving, and in little time at all they knew how Brenna'd managed to leave.
Only one priest was reported coming inside the keep under Douglas's watch, but two priests had left when Niell was in charge.
Connor weighed the damnation of his soul for eternity against the temporary pleasure he would get if he throttled a man of the cloth.
'With your permission, Laird?' Niell asked.
'What is it?'
'I don't think the priest knew she was following him. He went out first, riding his speckled gelding, and pulling the reins of a packhorse behind him. The second priest walked well behind the horses.'
'And you didn't think this was peculiar behavior?' Alec roared.
'He was small, Laird. I thought he was yet to be ordained and that he was required to walk as penance.'
'Now all we have to do is find out where the priest was going,' Alec said.
'Dunkady Abbey,' Jamie blurted out.
'You're certain?' Connor asked.
'Yes,' she answered.
'If he was telling the truth,' her husband said.
