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

and Sorcha said at the sametime, but for different reasons. Understanding his question, shelooked at him worriedly, and explained. “It means that the police,the authorities, are looking for my car. How did you find that out,Danny?”

“Oh, I was doing a littlelight reading into that Fielding’s project and found out any numberof interesting facts, including exactly why the NSA is involved.”Danny wove through the traffic, turning on to side street afterside street to avoid the rush hour traffic with all the skill of alifelong resident. “Got the name of one NSA Special Agent PhilJameson and poked around in his files a little as well. Lo andbehold, it is you the NSA is looking for, Claire. Not Hugh, as you said before.Why is that, do you suppose?”

“They’re idiots?”

“Beside the point,” Danny said but didn’tpush the issue. “Anyway, I saw a report that says they spotted youon a traffic cam not far from here last week.”

Chewing on her lip, as she tended to whenworried, Sorcha looked at Hugh steadily for several long moments.He could see her thinking, plotting, planning, but he was doingsome thinking of his own. “Is it only yer sister they search for,Danny?”

Danny met his eyes in the rearview mirror.“Who else would they be looking for? Hugh Urquhart, perhaps? Yourname is nowhere in the files. But it wouldn’t be, would it?”

“Nae, it wouldnae.”

“Because they aren’t looking for you at all,or they don’t really know who they are looking for?” her brotherasked perceptively.

“Danny!” Sorcha protested, but Hugh took herhand and squeezed it comfortingly.

“Dinnae fash yerself, lass,” he said calmly.“Yer brother isnae looking for an answer from ye. I would wagerthat he already knows all, perhaps more than we do.”

Hugh met Danny’s gaze once more and theyoung man nodded. “You are pretty smart for a ‘bloody,unintelligible savage of unknown origins given to rage and violenceat the smallest provocation.’ I’m thinking they didn’t mean bloodythe way the Brits do. Had them fooled, didn’t you?”

“Nae really,” Hugh shrugged, for he was allthat and more while imprisoned. He had tried to kill them, he hadraged against his imprisonment, and he had threatened to dismemberthem limb by limb even if they hadn’t understood his words. “Whendid ye figure it out?”

“Suspected something was amiss when youlooked at my setup as if you’d never seen a computer before … orwas it the pizza?” Danny said. “Knew for sure when I read thefiles.”

Hugh nodded. He had known from the moment hehad met Sorcha’s brother that he was a sly one. Danny O’Biernetruly was a bit of a mastermind and would have made a troublesomeadversary, but he would be an even greater asset if he were toassist them. “I appreciate yer silence on the matter.”

“Oh, don’t get too excited,” Dannycautioned. “I haven’t decided if I trust you enough yet to keepthat silence.”

The warning didn’t concern Hugh. There wasno doubt in his mind that Danny would do anything to protect hissister, even if it meant extending his trust to Hugh bynecessity.

“So what now?” Sorcha asked worriedly andslanted a glance at Hugh, whispering, “I knew I shouldn’t have lefthim those reports.”

“You sound like you’d be surprised if Ioffered my help,” Danny said over his shoulder as he turned intothe parking lot next to his warehouse. “Even knowing my feelings ongovernment oversight. Shame on you. Besides, you’re my favoritesister. Why wouldn’t I help?”

Sorcha sighed and shook her head as if shewould never understand this brother of hers. She accepted Hugh’sassistance out of the van and went to her brother, giving him asoft peck on the cheek. “Only sister,” she whispered. “Thank you,Danny.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said and waved forthem to follow him inside.

“Okay, here we go.” Danny rocked back in hischair and gestured to the bank of monitors. “May I present Mr.Rupert Waldroup. Environmental consultant. Resident of Inverness.Age thirty-four … sorry if I overshot, man. I had to take aballpark guess. Nothing personal.”

“No offense taken. It was a good guess.”

Sorcha looked at him in surprise. “I can’tbelieve I never asked. How old are you?” Hugh tilted his headtoward the monitor and raised a brow. “How old are ye?”

“Twenty-nine.”

“So she says,” Danny interjected. “Seems tome you’ve been stuck there for a while.”

“Don’t pay attention to him. I’m not one ofthose women who hit twenty-nine and stopped counting.”

Sorcha was studying the information on thescreen, and Hugh studied her in turn, trying to see something hemight have missed. It was surprising to discover that Sorcha wasnearly thirty. She certainly did not appear so old to him. Her skinwas fresh and unlined, her magnificent body firm and youthful.Naturally most women of his time did not “exercise,” as Sorcha did,but all had used any means to retain their appearance of youth withnot half her success. At Frederick’s court, many would have pursuedthe young widowed beauty, begged her to become their lover.

A quick calculation told him that Sorcha hadbeen widowed at twenty-six, and he wondered how long she had beenmarried. Had she married young? Given the many young, unescortedwomen he had seen on his two excursions into Seattle, Hugh didn’tbelieve that was the case, but he was reluctant to raise any topicthat referred to her lost husband again.

Her blatant elation when Hugh had arrived ather brother’s office building had been all for him, her kiss hisonly. In that moment, Sorcha had belonged to him, and Hugh hadsavored the moment. He wanted more, so much more. Even when he wassure he would have to let her go, he only wanted her more.

Hugh unconsciously reached out and placed apossessive hand at the small of her back. She looked up at thegentle pressure and smiled, leaning into him before turning back toher brother.

“So this is the temporaryguy you made up for us?”

Danny snorted at that. “Even with myexcellent imagination, I couldn’t come up with a name like that.No, Rupert Waldroup, poor guy, already exists in the records.Arrived in Vancouver from Glasgow last Thursday. His blog says he’sthere on business for the next two weeks or so, traveling allthrough British Columbia and Alberta.”

“But that’s Hugh’s picture,” Sorcha said,pointing