“There’s one more option,” he says.“Mrs.Calder.”
“The housekeeper?”
“She’s been here longer than anyone.If anyone knows how to free an old lock, it’s her.”
Isla nods.“Call her.”
Picking up his cell phone, he dials the housekeeper’s line.It rings twice.
“Calder residence.”
“Mrs.Calder, it’s Callum.We’re… indisposed.”
A pause.“Indisposed how?”
“We’re locked in the north wing storage room.”
Another pause.Longer.
“Well,” she says dryly, “that’s unfortunate.”
“Could you bring the master key?”
“I’ll bring the hammer,” she replies.“Be there shortly.”
The line goes dead.
Isla exhales.“I like her.”
“She terrifies me,” Callum admits.
They wait in silence.
Callum watches Isla, how she steadies herself, how she refuses to let grief take over.He realizes something then that unsettles him more than the invoice ever could.
He still loves Keir.
But he no longer trusts him.
The sound of footsteps approaches.Metal scrapes.A sharp crack.
The door swings open, light spilling in.
Mrs.Calder stands there, unimpressed.“Next time,” she says briskly, “leave the archaeology to professionals.”
Callum steps aside to let Isla pass, watching her carefully.
As they leave the room behind, he knows with certainty that nothing they uncovered today will let either of them walk forward unchanged.
And that whatever comes next will ask them to choose between loyalty and truth.
Chapter16
The call comes at the exact moment Isla can no longer pretend she won’t make it.
Late afternoon in Scotland.The sky has that pale, indecisive light that never quite commits to evening this far north.Dinner hour approaching.The hour when people settle into routines and expect answers.
Five hours earlier in Long Island, New York.Isla had loved growing up in Colorado, but when her career took off, her mother moved to Long Island to be closer to her.
