He looked at Joy, refusing to answer.
Joy frowned at him before responding. “I’m afraid not.”
“What? People’s lives are shattered and no one pays?” She crossed her arms. “How is that fair?”
“It’s not.” He grinned. “One reason I went rogue.”
Holly’s eyes lit with interest. “Rogue?What do you mean? Are you a rogue spirit?”
He laughed. “Hadn’t thought about myself in quite that way, but maybe.”
Joy was studying him far too intently.
He took Holly’s hand. “I think we’ve spent enough time here.”
Holly titled her head back to look at him. “Right now, the future is looking pretty bleak. Any chance there’s something a little happier planned.”
He waved his free hand towardJoy. “That’s her department.”
Joy didn’t miss a beat as she floated to the other side of Holly and took her hand. “I think we can find more than one event in your future that will make you happy.”
“Really? Excellent.”
Joy whisked them upward and back toward Scotland.
As Joy led them on, her mind kept going back to Malcolm’s strange pronouncement. Parts of his background were slowly comingtogether. She’d bet her entire cactus garden that he’d been in law enforcement simply by the way he’d viewed the bank robbery so dispassionately. It was far more than his gender that had him watching as if he were looking for clues.
He was either part of the Police Services of Scotland or from city law enforcement. Maybe detective or even forensics. That’s what made his statement about goingrogue so concerning, but if he was truly dangerous, he wouldn’t be a spirit guide.
“Where are we going?” Holly’s question brought her back to their trip, and she angled them a bit north.
“We’re headed to the city of Inverness.”
“Why?”
“There’s someone you need to see there.”
Holly’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know anyone in Inverness. Is this far in the future?”
“Not that far.” She smiled.“We’re going to a Christmas day gathering.”
Malcolm, who’d been silent since leaving the bank, chose that moment to interject. “When was the last time you were at a Christmas day gathering?”
Holly looked away. “A few years ago, but last year I went to a Christmas Eve party that lasted all night.”
Joy couldn’t let the statement pass. After all, Cameron said not to be subtle. “But you left longbefore midnight.”
“Well, yes. But that was because Cam had promised to come back and see me.”
She caught Malcolm’s raised eyebrows. Cameron visited Holly before and after Holly’s time with her spirit guides? That was unusual. Joy was beginning to feel more confident in Malcolm’s belief that they were all being used, but for what purpose? And what was her role supposed to be? If it was oppositeof her usual role then she had no idea how to proceed, so until they figured it all out, she would stay the course.
She flew them along beautiful Loch Ness as it wound through the stone city. She loved the old feeling of it. Why had she never visited Scotland while she was alive?
Bringing them down to a two-story house in the middle of a row of them lined up along the street, she pulled theminto the downstairs front parlor.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding about this being a gathering. Look at all these people.” Holly let go of their hands and floated to a corner of the room. “It’s beautifully decorated. The tree in the front window has so many handmade ornaments.” She laughed. “One of which is about to go into that toddler’s mouth.”
A young woman scooped up said baby and retrieved theornament before it made it there. “Archie, I told you to move all the ornaments up on the tree,” the woman yelled into the next room as she headed there.
