After parking the Indian back in its space behind a locked steel gate in the underground garage, Dougal takes my hand, walking to the lift doors, strolling along like we’re two young lovers on our first date. I find myself resting my head on his shoulder as the lift swoops up to the top floor.
“You know lass, that I will never be able to think about fish and chips now without gettin’ a massive stonner, right?” He kisses me, gripping my hair hard.
I’m still giggling when the doors open and Cameron and Cormac are standing in the entryway, looking thunderous.
“What’s happened?” Dougal instantly switched to his cold, focused side.
“Our docks in Tobermory were firebombed tonight,” Cormac growls, “the bastards also hit the two strip clubs in Edinburgh.”
“Shite,” Dougal breathes, “who did we lose?”
“Three men at the docks, a couple more are pretty bad off, they may not make it,” Cameron says, running his hand through his hair. “We got lucky at the clubs, the girls were all getting ready in the back and the explosions were both by the bars in front. One of the bouncers caught them and got shot in the head.”
“Ya didn’t pick up,” Cormac snaps, “we thought they’d gotten you too. There’s a reason we always answer our phones.”
I’m thinking about our moment on the bike and feeling horrible. Was that when they tried to reach him?
“I'm sorry,” Dougal sighs, “where do ya’ want me, Tobermory?”
Cormac shakes his head. “I already have men on it. The chatter Ian’s seeing on the dark web is makin’ it look like there are multiple contracts out on the clan, so we have to brace for more hits.” He hesitates, “Isla, there was a break-in at one of the Blackwood warehouses, they took a huge shipment of guns before torching the place.”
“Our Greenock location?” I groan.
“I believe so. Whoever this is has stopped pretending to make it look like we’re attacking each other. I know ya’ want to call your father, but I need your help.”
“Of course. What can I do?”
“After Dougal’s braggin’ I know what an excellent shot ya’ are. We need to gather the families at the estate. We’ll have plenty of guards, but I’ll feel better knowing you and Mala are the…” he hesitates, “the last line of defense.”
“If you think that where you need me most, I’m there,” I say immediately. Papa and Gavin have a huge security contingent, and I know how precious their families are to these men.
“Pack an overnight bag,” Dougal says, kissing my forehead, “I’ll take you over to the estate.” He hands me his phone with a smile and heads into his office to talk strategy with his brothers.
Tucking the phone under my chin as I throw some things into a backpack, I call Papa.
“Isla, love?” He answers on the second ring.
“Aye, Papa. I heard about the hit on our weapons facility. Did any of our people get hurt?”
“Four,” he says, his voice heavy with grief. “The bastards tied them up in the warehouse and left them there to burn.”
“Fecking sons of bitches!” I moan, slumping on the bed. “How bad is it?”
“They took fifty percent of our weapons stock. We can’t fulfill all the orders we have coming in for the next sixty days. They knew just where to hit to hurt us the worst.”
“The MacTavish’s were hit pretty badly, too. All their dock holdings just outside Glasgow and two of their clubs. Have ya’ called in support from the Conti’s yet?”
“Aye. Good first test of the alliance, eh?” He chuckles, but he sounds exhausted.
“Where’s Gavin? Is he all right?”
“He’s down at the warehouse, fending off the police from the SPA Arson Team,” he snarls. “They were notified by an anonymous source that something ‘untoward’ was goin’ on.”
“We still have Niles Murray in our pocket in that department?” I ask.
“Aye, and he just got promoted to Head Investigator,” Papa agrees. “We’ve spoken already, he’s heading down to the scene.”
“Fortunate, that. Papa, I have to go, alright? I’ll get a phone from Dougal and check in every few hours.”
