Stolen (Wild Mountain Scots, #3)

Driven purely by adrenaline, I delivered Rory to Inverness Hospital, Gabe still at the controls while I watched over my lass. As was common in rescues, our patient closed her eyes and zoned out, though her vitals were fine and pain managed with help of the medic who’d joined us from the police response.

Her left arm had a bad break.

Worse than I wanted to tell her.

She needed that arm for her work, and no small part of my panic was for her state of mind when she realised she’d be out of action, likely for months.

Gabe brought us down on the helicopter landing pad, and a team of hospital staff met us.

I had reports to make, police to talk to, a team to debrief with, but I stuck close to Rory’s side.

After a quick assessment, she was whisked into emergency surgery.

Leaving me to pace the halls.

Elise and Cameron arrived a while later. Gabe had taken the heli back to the hangar, enabling Cameron to bring his fiancée in to see her sister.

In hushed tones, I updated a teary-eyed Elise, then the three of us waited. I continued my pacing.

The events of the past few hours felt like a dream, a nightmare.

She’d been taken.

Hurt.

“I blame myself,” I said into the quiet of the corridor, even the clump of my boots too loud. “Things were tense between us. If I’d been the friend she needed, she might have called me before meeting with that fucking wannabe gangster.”

“I’m her sister, and she didn’t tell me.”

I met Elise’s gaze.

“How do you think I feel about that?” she continued. “All our conversations in the past weeks have been about my wedding. I feel like such an asshole.”

“You’re not.”

She tilted her head. “And you are probably everything she needs. Which I bet is why she was scared to talk to you.”

I growled and spun away, my frustration taking over.

“Maddock, go grab yourself a coffee. Take a minute to clear your head,” Cameron ordered.

I dug my fingers into my hair. “What if they bring her out?”

“She’ll go into recovery first. If the doctor has an update, we’ll call ye back. Ye won’t miss anything.”

Both of them watched me with sympathy. They couldn’t know the depths my connection to Rory had reached. Though my behaviour now no doubt gave that up.

Awareness spread of how pathetic I must seem. Begrudgingly, I turned on my heel and stalked for the exit.

In the café, I nursed a coffee and tried to calm my speeding heart.

My phone rang, and I jumped to snatch it up.

It was Ma. Anyone else, I likely wouldn’t have answered, but I accepted the call.

“Maddock, we heard about the rescue. Is your girlfriend okay?”

I almost laughed, but tension held me tight. “Nice fishing, Ma, but Rory’s not my girlfriend.” No matter how desperately I wished that to be different. “She’s in surgery now. It was…intense reaching her in time.”

My mother blew out a breath. “Do you want to come here? I’ll make you a late dinner.”

When we were kids, my hard-working businesswoman mother had been a member of the mountain rescue crew herself. But after my brother and I signed up, she quit, claiming it stressed her out too much to see us in action.

Max. My mind leapt to my forgotten twin.

“Thanks, but I’ll be here for a while. Have ye heard from Max?”

“He’s not come home so far this evening. Should I be worried?”

I swore and palmed my forehead. “Ye know I had his bike fixed? I bought the part from a friend, but it turns out he was dodgy. Earlier, the police came to the estate to talk to me about stolen goods. Max went with them instead of me so I could go on the rescue.”

Ma muttered a string of swear words. “You two. Always with the self-sacrifice. Is he pretending to be you?”

“Maybe. I’ll handle it. I just need to make sure Rory is okay first.” Then I clocked what she said. “What do you mean by always with the self-sacrifice?”

She grumbled some more then got to the point. “When you were tiny, Max was the first to do everything. First born, first to walk, talk, and run. I witnessed the second he realised that it made you feel bad. Even as a toddler, he waited for you to catch up before he showed me what he could do. Then in more recent years, I’ve watched you excel, but only in specific areas. It was like you have this mindset that you’re allowed to be good at one thing, and not everything.”

“I had no idea,” I mumbled.

But Ma wasn’t done. “Which reminds me of something. Over Christmas, your uncle Gordain mentioned he’d offered you a management role, but you turned him down flat.”

I lifted a tired shoulder in a shrug, not that she could see. “It involves contract management. I don’t know enough about that.”

She uttered a sound of disbelief. “You took a degree which incorporated this.”

“Aye, but I’ve never done it.”

“You’re not meant to be an expert right away. Read your notes and find a starting place. Then ask for help. You have your very own expert in contract negotiations on tap in me. I know my son. You can do this job standing on your head and still get your go-faster kicks. So now I’m wondering.”

A picture took shape in my weary brain, one where I limited myself for reasons I’d never seen clearly. “Ye think I don’t want the job because it levels me up more above Max?”

“Perhaps. Was there another reason?”

“I’ve been considering taking my skills to the US.” I could blame exhaustion, but my conviction to be with Rory was only getting stronger.

My mother sucked in a breath. “Would that be to live in California alongside the woman who isn’t your girlfriend?”

“Stop reading me like a book.”

“Sorry, but no can do. It’s impossible to switch off motherly instincts, even if you’ve been taller than me for the best part of a decade.” She hesitated. “Are you really intending to leave Scotland?”

“No clue. Listen, I’ve got to go. Love ye.”

She released me, and I took a final sip of my lukewarm coffee. A quick text to Max brought no reply, so I left the café and returned to Elise and Cameron.

Rory was still in surgery, so there was nothing I could do but wait.