She nodded, letting go reluctantly. “I hope you’re right.”
“I’m Laird. I will protect you.” He walked around the table and past the MacKenzies, pushing past the curtain and through the next one into the kitchen.
Mistress Abernathy’s helpers were in the kitchen, sweat dripping off them in the heat of the roaring fire. “Where’s Mistress Abernathy?” Cam asked. “Anyone seen her?”
Heads were shaken. No one had seen her since she’d brought the meat out a few minutes earlier. “We need more ale in there,” he continued. “Someone take it in at once.”
He passed through to the far door and out to the corridor beyond. The air changed. It wasn’t just the drop in temperature from moving away from the kitchen fire. Something wasn’t right.
He knew what had happened before he found her. Down the stairs to the stores the sense of foreboding growing stronger with each step. He drew his sword. The lights had been extinguished. His eyes adjusted quickly and there she was. Her body had fallen in the middle of the room, her head resting too far back against one of the barrels in the corner. It looked as if the blow that killed her had been struck from behind. She’d staggered, one shoe coming loose. A pool of blood soaked the rushes below her head. He put a hand to her neck. Still warm. It had only just happened. Her necklace was missing.
He ran back up the stairs, sticking his head back into the kitchen. “Did anyone come through here but me?”
More head shaking. “None, my Laird,” the spitboy said. “I would have seen them.”
He cursed, ducking back into the corridor. The door to the courtyard that was usually kept locked hung open. He ran through it and into the open. Glancing around him, he saw plenty of people but no sign of whoever did this. It could have been any of them, he realized, feeling his grip on his people slip further. Who would kill the cook and why?
He marched over to the gate. “Shut it and keep it shut,” he said to the guard. “Is that clear?”
“Yes, my Laird,” the man replied, waving up to the tower above. The portcullis began to fall. Cam was already turning away, heading back to the keep. Tor was coming out from the great hall. “Hubert is asking what’s taking so long.”
“Mistress Abernathy is dead,” Cam said.
“What? When?”
“Just now.”
“But how?”
“I dinnae ken.”
“Someone killed her, Tor. We need to shut the castle down until we find out who. No one in or out.”
“Hubert’s not going to be happy. He’ll think it’s a trap.”
“He can think what he likes. For all I know, it was one of his men. No one leaves until we find out who killed her. Is that clear?”
“Yes, my Laird.”
“Her necklace was taken. Find it and you find the killer.”
“It will be done.”
“Take my personal guard and get it done fast. I will keep the MacKenzies happy.”
Tor rushed off to the armory to raise the guard while Cam headed back into the great hall. “What’s this?” Hubert asked as he passed. “The portcullis has been lowered?”
He didn’t miss a trick. Cam reasoned he must have someone watching the courtyard. He couldn’t blame him. He’d have done the same. “I ask for your patience. There has been an incident and we are looking into it. I shall return shortly and you have my word that your freedom will be returned to you.”
“Who are you to trap MacKenzies in your castle?”
“I have no time to bicker. If you wish to question my authority in my own castle, challenge me to fight this minute or hold your peace until I return.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, heading back out into the kitchen. Two of his guard were already questioning the servants. Good. He moved on, passing back down to the stores. Her body remained where he’d found it, Adam standing over her with his Bible in his hand. He turned when he heard Cam descending the stairs. “Tis an awfa business,” Adam said. “I will pray for her soul.”
“I thank you,” Cam replied, kneeling beside her. “I will catch whoever did this to you,” he said quietly, closing her eyes with the flat of his hand. He lifted her head, looking at the back of her skull. “A single blow,” he said, getting to his feet. “Whoever did this worked quickly. We heard nothing.”
“Sound does not carry from down here,” Adam replied. “I heard nothing until you were almost upon me.”
