Page 74 of Highland Spy

“Caleb, what are ye doin’ here?” asked Storm, leaning on his staff to keep his weight off his foot. “I thought ye were competin’ in the last event.”

“Forget about that. The competition is over and Clement has won,” he told him. “Is the chronicler dead?” he asked, realizing it was Sorley on the ground.

“Nay,” said Wren, checking for life signs. “But he has lost a lot of blood and is hurt badly. We need to take him to the keep anon.”

“We’ll take him,” offered Hawke. He and Ethan moved forward to carry Sorley inside.

“Who could have done this?” asked the king.

“I dinna ken, but ye are no’ safe,” Storm told him. “Ye will stay inside my solar under guard until we find the person who did this. They might be out to assassinate ye as well.”

“I’ll no’ leave here until we find out what is goin’ on,” said the king, leaving with Storm and some of his guards, heading to the keep.

“Where is Bridget?” asked Caleb, feeling his heart pounding wildly. “Have ye found her?”

“Nay,” said Logan. “No one has seen her since this mornin’. I was told her faither was ill and stayed back in the room today, but she was up on the dais earlier. Before the start of the sword fight, that is.

“Have ye checked with her faither? Mayhap he kens where she is.”

“No’ yet,” said Logan. “There’s been a lot of commotion here as ye can see.”

“Find Jack. Maybe he can help us track her,” said Caleb, running for the keep. He made his way to Bridget’s chamber, bursting inside the room only to find it empty. “Brigham? Are ye here?” he called out, looking around the room and realizing things were spewed about and broken. It looked to him as if there had been a struggle.

“God’s eyes, nay,” he said, searching the room. He found a piece of parchment on the floor and picked it up and read it. It was the same message that Slink had brought him earlier. It was someone saying to meet them in the mews at the start of the sword fight. Could Sorley have threatened to expose Bridget to the king, and they struggled and she killed him? He didn’t think that sounded like Bridget. Plus, where was Brigham? And why were there two of the exact same missives? This had to have something to do with Valan.

Hearing a slight sound at the open door, he spun on his heel and drew his sword.

“Slink,” he said, letting out a breath and resheathing his weapon. “Where have ye been? And by the way, thanks for distractin’ the dogs. I’m sorry I had to ask ye to do that, but we were helpin’ out Clement.” He’d always spoken to the pine marten as if it were a person, and for some reason the animal always seemed to understand him. “What have ye got in yer mouth?” he asked, bending down to take something from him.

He held it up, realizing it was part of someone’s plaid.

“Caleb, I’ve got Jack outside,” said Logan, walking into the room. “Did ye ask Brigham where Bridget is?”

“He’s no’ here,” he said, fingering the piece of plaid, looking at it closely and sniffing it.

“What the hell are ye doin’?”

“I found this missive in the room,” he said, shoving the parchment at Logan. “There was another identical missive that Slink brought me earlier in the barn. And Slink just brought me this piece of plaid.”

“This note sounds threatenin’,” said Logan, reading it quickly. “I wonder if it was for Bridget or Brigham.”

“It doesna matter, because they are both gone and I think Valan has them.”

“Valan?”

“Bridget’s ex-husband.”

“She was married? Who is this man?”

“He’s the man who’s been sabotagin’ the competition.”

“Ye ken he’s the saboteur? How did ye figure it out?”

Caleb trusted his friends, but something made him keep Clement’s secret to himself. “I just ken,” he said. “And this plaid is Bridget’s, I know it. It also smells musty like a cave and has moss and moisture on it.”

“So what are ye sayin’?”

“I’m sayin’ I think she’s in trouble. I plan on doin’ whatever it takes to save her, Logan, because she is the woman I love.”