I watch Ailsa as we talk. “The stories seem as if they’re drawn out of real life. Like someone's watching us, spying even.”
“Did you read them yourself?” he asks. “Or do you think the girls are just seeing things?”
Ailsa drops something to the ground, and quickly picks it up, but doesn’t leave the room. She grabs a broom and begins to sweep almost frantically. I wonder if she’s the guilty one.
“I’d look into that, Leith, for sure,” Lachlan says. “I know how important anonymity is to you, and how much you risk if even one person comes to know who you are or anything private.”
“Aye, for sure.”
I mean to question Ailsa later. In fact, I’ll question all the staff.
“I did come here for a reason, boys,” Lachlan says. “There are a few things I need to discuss with you.”
I lean back in my chair. “Before you do, has anyone seen Dad today?”
Mac frowns. “I did earlier, but he was doing very poorly. He went back to bed for a bit. Had the shakes, couldn't stop it. Mum went in to look at him and she said that he's doing fine, but needs a bit more rest. Seems that he hasn't been sleeping well overnight.”
“Understood. I’ll check on him later.”
“Me as well,” Tate says.
Lachlan sobers. “So you’ve taken the leadership position full throttle?”
“Aye. Dad isn’t in a position to take it anymore.”
“Doesn’t stop him from having an opinion or two,” Mac mutters, and the rest of us nod in solidarity. Truth is, as the youngest of the sons, he gets more flack from Dad than the rest of us. But I want to change the subject.
“Why did you come, then, Lach?”
Lachlan puts his mug on the table and leans back in his chair. “Tully came to visit the last time he came to Scotland, no?”
I nod. “Aye, he did.” Tully is one of the older men of the McCarthy Clan, and he comes from time to time on an errand from Ballyhock as well.
“On his way home, he stopped by Inverness, wanted to get something at one of the shops for his McKenna. Saw something unusual.”
I sit up straighter, paying attention. Curious what this is.
“You’ve got a row with the Aitkens, don’t you?”
“Row’s a mild way to put it,” I mutter. “They’re the fucking bane of our existence. Rivals to the core.”
“Aye,” Tate mutters. “We fucked ‘em up anonymously recently, wanted them to have to watch their fucking backs.”
“Heard about that,” Lachlan says. “But Tully says he heard one of them talking about your family. Thought they were just talking rubbish to be arseholes, so he didn’t think anything of it until he heard about what happened here recently.”
I feel the skin prickle at the back of my neck, and bile rise in my throat.
“How so?”
Lachlan winces. “I feel like a bloody snitch, but I’d want to know if I were you, given how ruthless the damn Aitkens are.”
“What’d they say?”
“They totally fucking set up Paisley. Pretended there was a bloke interested in her, he was working for the Aitkens.” He goes on to explain how they used Paisley’s supposed “boyfriend” to fuck her up.
I growl, eager to get back into town. “We can pay those boys another visit, can’t we?” I ask Tate and Mac.
“We can bloody go now,” Mac says.
