Geordie was standing guard outside the door to Evina’s room as requested. But there were so many people around him it was hard to tell at first.
“Get on with ye,” the Maclean growled as he led Conran through the group. “Surely ye’ve all got work to do. Get to it. Me daughter’s fine and there’s nothing more to see here.”
The crowd dispersed quickly, everyone heading for the stairs, and Geordie nodded in greeting. He also raised an eyebrow at the fact that they’d come from behind the crowd rather than out of Evina’s room, but Conran didn’t explain. He merely nodded at his brother in response and followed Fearghas Maclean into Evina’s room. Aulay stood in the open entrance to the passage when they entered.
Conran acknowledged him with a glance and then peered around the room. Everything looked just as it had when last he saw it. As with the Maclean’s room, there were just the chests, and under the bed to check. They made quick work of it.
“Rory and I’ll move down the passage to the next entrance,” Aulay said once they’d finished. He then slid away from the entrance as the Maclean started to close and lock it. That done, they moved on to the next room, nodding at Geordie again in passing.
After a quick search of Gavin’s room, where Saidh and Greer were staying, they were moving on to Conran’s own room. He didn’t even have a chest though, so it was a quick check under the bed and they were done.
Conran had entered each room with his hand on his sword, ready to draw it if needed, but as they approached the room Rory and Alick had been given, he unsheathed it altogether to hold it at the ready.
“Aye, I’m getting a little tense meself,” the Maclean said quietly.
“Trouble?” Geordie asked, approaching.
“The bastard has to be in one of these last two rooms,” Fearghas explained solemnly.
“This room,” Conran corrected him, and then pointed out, “Aulay and Jetta are staying in the last room, and Greer, Saidh, Jetta and Tildy took Evina there while we searched the passages. There is no way he would go there. That leaves only this room for him to hide in.”
“Well, hell,” the Maclean muttered, and reached for his own sword even as Geordie did.
“Ready?” Conran asked once they all had weapons in hand.
“Aye,” Geordie said quietly.
“Open it,” the Maclean growled.
Nodding, Conran tightened his grip on his sword and thrust the door open with his free hand. The three of them then lunged through together, swords raised and eyes wild as they searched the . . . empty room.
Feeling a little foolish, Conran lowered his sword and grimaced at the other two men.
“No chests,” the Maclean pointed out. “Yer brothers only brought bags with them.”
Conran merely nodded and moved to look under the bed. He did it from several feet away though, just to be safe. But it was a wasted effort. This room too was empty. Getting back to his feet, he glanced to the other two men and shook his head.
“Well, hell,” Fearghas muttered, and slid his sword back into its sheath. Frowning, he glanced toward the fireplace, and then toward Geordie. Seeing that Conran’s brother had walked back to stand in the doorway and peer out into the hall at something, the Maclean quickly walked over to the fireplace and turned the torch holder next to it.
Aulay appeared at once when a section of wall slid silently inward. He opened his mouth to speak, but when the Maclean put a finger to his lips in a motion to be quiet, and then waved him in, he merely raised his eyebrows and led Rory to the center of the room. His brothers were then good enough to keep their backs to Evina’s father, allowing him to lock down the passage without witnesses.
“I gather ye did no find the man?” Aulay said once the Maclean had closed and locked the passage and moved to join them.
Conran saw Geordie glance over his shoulder with surprise at Aulay’s question, but merely shook his head. “And Greer, Alick and the women are in the last room so the attacker can’t be there.”
“Where the devil did the bastard go?” Fearghas asked with frustration. “He could no’ have slid past us on the steps, ’tis too narrow. He should have been in the passage or the rooms. Unless . . .” He turned to Geordie. “No one came out into the hall?”
Conran nodded in appreciation when Geordie stepped back into the room and closed the door before speaking. The Maclean was so upset he’d started talking about the passage with the door wide open. Not that it mattered, he supposed. Everyone probably understood there were passages in the keep now.
“No’ that I saw,” Geordie answered, and then pointed out, “But there were a lot of people in the hall, and someone could have slipped out of one of the rooms and joined the others without me noticing.”
“Ye’d have noticed,” Conran said with certainty. “Filthy and with matted hair, he’d have stood out among the others.”
“Aye,” the Maclean muttered, and glanced to Aulay and Rory. “And ye’re sure he didn’t get past the two o’ you?”
Both men shook their heads, but Rory added, “There is no way he could have slid past us in the passage we took. There simply wasn’t room,” Rory said with certainty. “Ye’re sure he wasn’t in any of the bedchambers?”
“Positive,” Conran assured him.
“Did ye check the chests in each room thoroughly?” Aulay asked, his gaze narrowing.
“Aye,” Conran assured him. “We took out clothes and linens or whatever was in them.”
“So, he isn’t in the passages, or the rooms,” Aulay murmured, and then frowned. “He didn’t just disappear into thin air. We’ve missed something.”
“Aye,” Conran agreed. “But what?”
Aulay shook his head, obviously not coming up with anything either.
“Conran.”
“Hmm.” He glanced to Rory absently, his mind on Tildy’s description of the man who had tried to drown Evina. While everyone at Maclean was well-kempt, it occurred to him that he had seen someone with matted hair and filthy ratty clothes since coming to Maclean, but—
“Ye’re bleeding.”
“What?” Conran asked with surprise, his attention captured. Raising his eyebrows, he glanced down at himself, but didn’t see any blood.
“Yer head,” Aulay growled as Rory crossed the room to get a better look at him.
“Oh.” Conran shrugged that concern away. He’d noted that as he’d searched the laird’s room. He’d felt something drip down his cheek as he’d bent to look under the bed, and had wiped it away with the back of a hand. There had been blood on his hand afterward, but it hadn’t seemed a lot, so he hadn’t worried overmuch about it.
“Ye’ve a nasty knot and gash,” Rory announced, clasping his chin and the back of his head to tilt him this way and that as he squinted at his scalp.
“‘Twill go nicely with the other two bumps I got ere arriving here,” Conran said dryly, tugging his head free of his brother’s hold. “’Tis fine. There did no’ appear to be much blood when I wiped it away.”
“How are ye feeling?” Rory asked, frowning at the wound on his head. “Any dizziness? Is yer vision all right? Nausea? Confusion? Headache?”