Hawk scowled. 'I hate this case. We should have held out for a bigger bonus.'
'Right,' said Fisher.
They both shut up and saved their breath for the stairs.
Chapter Seven
Death of a Lonely Man
For a time there was nothing but chaos and bedlam in the library as everyone
shouted at everyone else. Alistair finally got the floor by shouting the loudest
and glaring down anyone who tried to object. He stared grimly about him as the
noise gradually subsided and a sullen silence fell across the room. Jamie and
David had their swords in their hands, and looked dangerously eager to use them.
Arthur was clumsily trying to comfort Holly, who was clearly only putting up
with him to keep him calm. Katrina had retreated to the fireplace, and was
glaring suspiciously out at the room, gripping the heavy iron poker with both
hands. Robbie Brennan had thrown aside his short-sword and taken down his old
claymore from its plaque on the wall, hefting the great length of blade with
professional skill. Marc was still kneeling beside the fallen butler, apparently
unable to believe the man was really dead. Alistair looked unhurriedly about
him.
'There's no need to get yourselves in such a panic; it'll take us a while to get
the door open, but the freak can't get out of the Tower. The wards are still in
place, remember? He's still here somewhere, hiding with the girl. If he hasn't
killed her already. Finding him isn't going to be easy; the Gods know there are
enough bolt-holes and hiding places he could crawl into. But wherever he's gone
to ground, we can't just go chasing after him. The cornered rat is always the
most dangerous. And knowing Richard, I wouldn't put it past him to have set up
some very nasty booby traps for us to walk into. So, we'll go after him, but
we'll do it in a sensible, professional way, checking each floor room by room
and watching our backs at all times. Anyone have any problems with that?'
Marc rose slowly to his feet. 'We have to kill him. That's all that matters.'
Holly sat down suddenly, her hands folded in her lap like a child's. 'I can't
believe that all this time Richard was the freak. I liked him.'
'So did I,' said Alistair. 'But I didn't let that blind me to his constant lying
and evasions. Richard is the freak. Holly; don't doubt it for a minute.'
'Of course he's the freak,' said Jamie impatiently. 'He ran when we challenged
him, didn't he? If he wasn't guilty, why did he run?'
'But then why did Isobel go with him?' said Holly. 'She swore he wasn't the
freak.'
'He'd probably been messing with her mind for so long she no longer knew what
was true and what wasn't,' said Brennan.
'Then why did Richard take her with him?' insisted Holly.
'Food,' said Alistair. 'He's woken up and remembered who he is, and he's
hungry.'
'If we're to have any chance of saving her, we've got to get moving,' said
Jamie.
'Of course,' said Alistair. 'But we're not all going. Too large a group would
just slow us down, and I don't want anyone with us who can't look after
themselves in a crisis. The two ladies will stay here, of course, so someone
will have to stay with them, to protect them. Any volunteers?'
Holly looked immediately at David, but he shook his head. 'I've got to go with
them. They're going to need my sword. Arthur will stay with you, won't you,
Arthur?'
'Of course,' said Arthur. 'I'll keep you safe, Holly. I know how to use a sword.
I'll die before I'd let anyone hurt you.'
Holly didn't even look at him; her gaze was fixed accusingly on David. Marc
cleared his throat.
'I'll stay. I'm not much good with a sword, but given time I think I can build a
bloody good barricade against that door.'
Alistair nodded to him curtly. 'I take it the rest of you are with me?'
'Damn right,' said Brennan. He was standing straighter than usual, and he held
himself with a brisk, professional manner that made him look twenty years
younger. 'The freak has to pay for Greaves's death. Greaves wasn't the easiest
of people to get along with, but he was still a good man, for all that. We were
never friends, but I would have trusted him with my life and my honor. He didn't
deserve to die like that. I'm going to find the freak and cut him into bloody
pieces.'
'We won't find him by standing around here talking about it!' said Jamie. 'The
freak's caused my Family enough heartbreak. It's time to put an end to him.
We're going, Alistair; right now.'
Alistair bowed slightly. 'You are the MacNeil. Just give me a moment to force
the door open, and we'll be on our way.'
Jamie hefted his sword. 'I want him dead, Alistair. No mercy and no quarter. I
want him dead.'
Hawk and Fisher finally staggered to a halt somewhere on the third floor and
leaned against a wall, heads bowed, fighting for breath. Fisher wiped the sweat
from her face with her sleeve, and looked back the way they'd come. The corridor
was quiet and deserted, the shadows undisturbed. She looked down at her bare
feet, and winced. She'd kicked off her fashionable shoes some time back, so that
she could run faster, and the cold from the bare stone floor had nipped
unmercifully at her feet. Hawk reached up and took out his glass eye, sighed
with relief, and dropped the eye into his pocket. The ache in his face
immediately began to subside. All in the bloody mind… He looked down at the
dueling sword in his hand, sheathed it and sniffed disdainfully.
'If I'd had my axe, I'd never have run. I'd have stood my ground and chopped
them all up like firewood. I mean, running from odds like that… If this ever
gets out, we'll never live it down.'
Fisher shook her head slowly. 'We can't fight them, Hawk; they're just innocent
bystanders. They don't understand what's going on here.'
'I'm not so sure I do anymore,' said Hawk. 'This case has got completely out of
hand. Look, there's no point in going any further. The only place above this is
the battlements, and there's not enough room to manoeuvre up there. We're safe
enough here, for the time being. It'll take the others a while before they can
get this far, so let's use that time to get some hard thinking done. We ought to
be able to figure out who the freak is by now.'
Fisher looked at him. 'And what makes you think they're going to listen to us?
More than likely they'll cut us down on sight.'
'We'll just have to make them listen.'
'In that case, I want a sword. I can be much more convincing with a sword in my
hand.'
Hawk looked at her, amused. 'I thought we weren't supposed to hurt them because
