“Did Lachlan inform the police?”
Lucy shook her head. “He’s pretty irritated with them. They came around a few times this past week to interview members and informed Lachlan they were out of leads. He’s supposed to tell them if anything else happens, but—”
“He thinks he’s more competent than the cops?” I sneered. Arrogant asshole.
“No.” Lucy grinned. “I think he thinks you’re more competent because you have a reason to be invested in it. That’s why I hoped you might have figured something out by now. Don’t tell Lachlan, but it’s why I’m sticking around. I’m supposed to be in the South of France with this guy I’m casually seeing, but I didn’t want to leave Lachlan, or Eredine, for that matter, in the middle of all this.”
The thought of Lucy taking off disappointed me. While we’d only known each other a week, I’d miss her if she left. She was the opposite of everything I thought a famous actor would be in real life. Down-to-earth, funny, considerate. Plus, she was the most confident woman I’d ever met, and while some might think her arrogant, I found it refreshing how much she owned the fact she thought she was the shit. More people should be like Lucy.
But I didn’t want her to feel unsafe. “I don’t think Eredine or Adair would want you to put off plans for them.”
“That’s what friends do.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “Besides, wouldn’t you miss me?”
I chuckled. “I would, actually. I don’t have a lot of female friends back home. My closest friend is married to my old partner.”
“Your cop partner?”
“Yeah. We drifted apart when I gave up the job, but we’re still good friends. The job kind of became my life, though, so I don’t have friends outside of it.”
“Well, you have me and Eredine now. And I’m not going anywhere. Sex with a guy in the South of France is easy to come by. Friends I actually connect with? Not so much. Which is why I’m staying, even though”—a cloud darkened her eyes—“this person is starting to give me the willies. Not knowing what’s going to happen next … especially since it looks like it’s someone close to Lachlan.”
Protectiveness surged inside me at her display of vulnerability. “Lucy, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her expression lightened. “I believe you.”
“And I promise, I’m constantly thinking about this case. I will figure out who is behind it.” At the moment, I was leaning toward McCulloch and his granddaughter, Sarah. They seemed the most obvious choice. Occam’s razor: the answer that requires the fewest assumptions is usually correct. “How much do you know about Sarah McCulloch?”
Lucy braced against the hood of the SUV, seemingly as uncaring as me about the drizzle dampening our respective hairdos. “The housemaid. I mean … housekeeper.” She grimaced. “Lachlan admonishes me for calling them housemaids.” Her voice lowered to a gruff brogue. “They’re housekeepers, Lucy. How many times do I have to remind you that you can’t call them maids?”
Smirking at her impression, I nodded. “Yeah, the housekeeper.”
Lucy gave me a look. “I’d say you’re on the right path if that’s the way you’re thinking. She has a serious thing for Lachlan.”
“How serious?”
“Like every time I’m with him and turn around in that castle, she’s scurrying out of sight like she was watching us. She blushes and stammers around him, all googly-eyed and adoring.”
I grunted at the idea of anyone acting that way around Adair.
Lucy chuckled, apparently reading me like a book. “You don’t like him, huh?”
“I’m not going to disparage your friend.”
“But …?”
I couldn’t help myself. “He gives off this vibe like he thinks he’s better than me.” I winced, hating how juvenile I sounded. “It’s … I’m not good with people who lord their superiority over others. Considering I’m pretty epic, I take offense to someone thinking I’m not good enough.” Beneath my bravado, there was that kid who’d been abandoned by her father, who worried that maybe she wasn’t good enough.
“Girl, you are epic, and I love that you know it.” Lucy pushed off the hood and gave me a coaxing smile. “So few of us are brave enough to admit our awesomeness out loud. But be nice to Lachlan. He’s my friend, and my friends should be treated well.”
Hearing the edge of admonishment in her voice, I looked away.
Lucy prompted, “I take it Lachlan told you that he and I …”
I shifted uncomfortably, hoping me knowing wasn’t a problem between us.
“I get that for this case, you had to ask him about past relationships with anyone on the estate. Easy to work that one out, and I am more than a pretty face.”
I turned back to her. “I know that.”
The teasing sparkle was gone from Lucy’s eyes. “It was strictly casual, my thing with Lachlan. Great sex with someone I felt safe with. But not at any point did I let my emotional guard down because I knew I’d get hurt. When he suggested we end things, it surprised me how relieved I was.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
She snorted. “Because one, I don’t want you thinking I’m moping after him and leaving dead deer carcasses in my wake.”
“Fair enough.” I chuckled.
“And two, it wouldn’t surprise me if his inability to let someone in, truly in, is why he’s in this mess. Lachlan is charismatic, kind, and patient—”
The huff of disbelief burst out of me before I could stop it.
Thankfully, Lucy just laughed. “He is. And if you aren’t smart, like me, a person could find themselves longing for something they can’t have, reading him wrong, thinking there’s more between them than there is, and getting pretty pissed about it when Lachlan doesn’t fulfill the fantasy they’ve created in their heads.”
I edged closer to her. “You think this is a scorned lover?”
“Or someone who wants to be his lover.” Her expression was pointed.
Sarah McCulloch.
It was about time I found a way to talk to the young housekeeper so I could get a sense of her myself.
With the promise of seeing one another tomorrow for another MMA lesson with Eredine, Lucy and I parted, she to the estate and I into a quick shower before my daily drive to Inverness. The shower stall in the trailer was so narrow, I banged my elbows against the walls every time I turned. Trying not to remember the luxurious bathroom I’d spotted in Lachlan’s suite days ago, I hurried through the routine I usually enjoyed and reminded myself the trailer was temporary.
Mac told me not to come to the hospital until tomorrow for his discharge because it was a two-hour round trip. But I had to see him every day.
My worry compelled me to see for myself he was alive and well and healing.
Somehow I’d managed to avoid Lachlan, not just at the hospital but at the estate, these last few days too. Lucy had shown me around Ardnoch Castle and Estate, giving me a real tour of the place. It teemed with luxury. The wine cellar in the basement seemed to go on forever, and the Michelin Star restaurant was run by Arrochar’s boyfriend chef, Guy, whom I had yet to meet. And five minutes from the castle, two larch-clad contemporary buildings, designed by Thane Adair, housed a spa and salon (Lucy explained Lachlan had hired professionals from all over the globe to run it) and a state-of-the-art gym. There were a couple of boxing bags inside the gym that I eyed longingly. I had one in my apartment at home, and a workout on it was a great stress reliever. Finally, the heated indoor pool made a person want to dive right in.