A Time & Place for Every Laird by Angeline Fortin (reading comprehension books .txt) 📗

known who he was or leave any fingerprints. A car passed themby then, the driver looking on curiously, and with a glance at herwatch, Claire knew that they didn’t have long before the street wasfilled with rush-hour traffic.

“Let’s just leave him and gae.” Hugh pulledthe unconscious agent into the gap between the two buildings,hiding him from view of passersby, and urged Claire into motion.She turned to walk away then but had an idea and hurried back tothe agent. Pulling the large handheld radio from his belt andfinding his cell phone in his jacket pocket, she used her shirt towipe her prints away before dropping both into the sewer runoffdrain.

Hugh took Claire by the hand, pulling heralong as he strode briskly away from the scene.

“That should buy us some more time, sincehe’ll have to find a phone before he can call it in,” she said,almost at a run to keep up with Hugh’s long strides.

“Good lass,” he said but was frowningfiercely. She could tell that his mind was working on a solution.“Is there some place we can gae?”

“My brother Ryan’s office is not far fromhere.” Hugh nodded and released her hand.

“Gae then, walk quickly,” he said, givingher a nudge forward. “I will follow once I make certain the othersare nae following.”

“No!” Claire protested. “Come with me.”

Hugh shook his head. “I will follow ye,lass, but I will nae walk wi’ ye. I will nae give them proof thatwe are together where they mayhap hae none. Now, gae!” He gave hera push and Claire went reluctantly. “Faster, lass!” he urged. “Thisis nae time to dawdle.”

Resisting the childish urge to stick hertongue out at him, Claire hitched her purse over her shoulder andbegan to walk with purpose to the south. It was four o’clock andthe streets were filling with cars and pedestrians, a crowd thatwould only thicken in the next hour or more. It would be good forthem to have bodies to lose themselves among, but would Hugh beable to track her movements through them?

Her weak estimate of “not far” was closer toa mile, and Claire reached her brother’s office building twentyminutes later, worrying that Hugh had not been able to follow andwas even now wandering lost on the streets of Seattle, worryingover how close the agent had come to getting her, and worrying thatthey would find her again.

Time ticked slowly away as she paced thelobby restively.

When Hugh did walk in the door almost tenminutes later, Claire’s relief knew no bounds. She ran to him,flinging her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tightly ashe gathered her up in his powerful embrace. She kissed his cheek,nose, and mouth frantically before Hugh caught her head in his bighand and took her lips in a more ardent kiss as he lifted her toher toes and then off her feet before they finally eased apart. “Ishould gae away more often,” he said with a grin.

“You should never leave me at all!” Clairecountered. “I just worry then worry some more. As long as you’rewith me, I don’t worry at all.”

His eyes were dark with concern at herwords. Not for the danger they had faced or the unknown awaitingthem together, but for her alone. “Surely ye can see that I can naelonger be wi’ ye, lass,” he paused with a sigh as he eased her backonto her own feet. “They hae nae way of identifying me, nae way taeknow for certain who I am. I can slip away, disappear, and I shoulddo so now while they hae no evidence linking us together.”

Claire shook her head vehemently in denial.“No, Hugh! I promised to help you get back to Scotland. You justasked me to go with you!”

“That isnae my priority any longer. Mypriority is ye and yer safety. I thought I had tae be at yer sideto protect ye against the danger I wrought, but now I can see thatI am jeopardizing yer safety every moment I am wi’ ye. We need taepart now before they hae proof that ye aided in my escape,” heinsisted.

“We don’t know that they don’t, Hugh,” shesaid stubbornly. “They could have a mountain of proof that we don’tknow about! It would be better if both of us got away, right?”

Hugh’s nostrils flared and his brows drewtogether as they did when he was getting angry, but Claire juststared back until his head was shaking once again. “Nae, ’tis toomuch tae ask of ye any longer. Too much risk and too much for yetae deal wi’.”

Her eyes widened at that. “You think I can’thandle it?”

“Lass, yer scared already,” he pointed out,using—perhaps deliberately—the word that had offended him so whenshe had used it days before.

Claire bristled. Perhapsshe was a little concerned, but given thecircumstances, she thought it was completely reasonable. And itwasn’t like she was so lost to her nerves that she couldn’t behelpful to him. “You were right. It is a horrid word. I am notscared, Hugh. I am rightly and justifiably concerned for yourwellbeing.”

“And I am concerned for yers.”

The harsh bite of the words gave Clairepause. She looked up at him curiously, aware that his arms stillbound her tightly against him. His expression was dark,uncompromising. It told her clearly that he wouldn’t relent now ifhe thought he was doing what was best for her. Hugh would sacrificeany chance he had to escape the country to spare her. He wouldfight for her. Claire’s heart skipped a beat, then warmed. Well,Hugh might not believe it but there was a fighter in her aswell.

“It is too dangerous, lass. Surely ye cansee that now?”

“No, you need me.”

“Cannae ye hae the faith that I might beable tae make my own way?”

“I do believe you could,” she said. “I justdon’t think you should.”

“Well then, yer wrong aboot that.”

With a nod and a bright smile, Clairestepped away and played the age-old game of pretending to hear onlywhat one wanted to hear. “You’re absolutely right. So we’re agreedthen? We stick together.”

“That is nae what I said!” he protestedhoarsely. “We part ways now.”

“Right, we stay together.”

“Sorcha! Dinnae be mad!”

Claire just smiled serenely and pecked himlightly on