we can decipher the location, if anything still exists,” Elaine said.
Ian looked at his desk as if he was deep in thought. “I’m not sure.”
“What are you thinking?” Cearnach asked.
“Did they ask you to share what you knew about the treasure without coming to Scotland?” Ian asked Elaine.
“Yes. But I wouldn’t tell them what I knew, assuming they’d find the goods and cut me out of them entirely.”
“Are you certain?” Ian asked.
She frowned at him. “Of course, I’m certain. They were all a bunch of pirates.”
“Nay, lass, that’s not what I mean,” Ian said gently. “Are you certain that Kilpatrick was only interested in the information about the treasure? If you had given it to him over the phone and not bothered to come to Scotland, would he have been satisfied?”
“What are you saying?” Elaine asked. “That they wanted me just as much as they wanted the goods?”
“Aye, that’s what I’m thinking. Though it could very well be that it’s just your information they want.”
But from the tone of Ian’s voice, that wasn’t what she thought he meant at all.
Chapter 22
As they sat in Ian’s solar discussing the reasons why Robert Kilpatrick wanted Elaine in Scotland so badly, Cearnach asked her, “Could it be that your kin wanted to get hold of your properties because they are profitable?”
“It’s possible that’s what this is all about.” She sighed. “I don’t wish to delay this any further. I want to see the properties,” Elaine told Ian. “I want to see if they might hold the goods my uncles stole from you and just take a look at the places also.”
“I’m certain your cousins would have searched them thoroughly. It appears to me that your uncles used the stolen goods to make sound investments. These, in turn, are now back in MacNeill hands, but are more valuable than the original goods your uncles stole from us,” Cearnach said, as if worried she might be disappointed.
She agreed he might be right. Yet, she wished she could have seen the goods. She envisioned a dragon hoarding its treasure. She had hoped they were more than a few barrels of useless stuff. She’d never realized her uncles had been good at making investments. Her mother and father had been, but she’d always thought of her uncles as the kind of men who lived off of one cache of stolen goods to the next. Never did she imagine that they could have been wealthy landowners.
It saddened her to learn she’d had an older brother, lost to an earlier war, whose death had upset her parents so much that they’d moved to the Americas. Had they worried about losing her, too? Why hadn’t her parents ever told her about him? Or about the other son who died before he was born.
“If you wish to survey your lands, I’ll make the necessary arrangements. You will have a guard force at all times,” Ian said.
She frowned, not wanting to create more work for his clansmen. “Do you believe that’s really necessary?”
“Aye. I don’t know what the McKinleys and Kilpatricks are up to where you’re concerned. You’re one of us now. I won’t permit either you or Cearnach to travel alone until we learn that the treasure doesn’t exist or discover some other reason why Robert is so desperate to see you—alone.”
“I don’t want you or your people to feel put upon.”
Ian and Cearnach gave each other smiles. “The thing of it, lass,” Ian said, “is that we live for adventure, train to fight, and protect. I will have a time choosing some clansmen to accompany you without offending those who are not chosen.”
Elaine smiled at that. Instead of a group of men taking a step backward when asked for volunteers to accompany them, she envisioned kilted warriors, swords in hand, all stepping forward.
“If you’re sure…”
“I am, lass.”
Elaine stood and said to Cearnach. “I want to go on a treasure hunt. The first manor Mr. Hoover mentioned is not too far from here.”
“I’ll send word at once to have a force of men attend you,” Ian said. “As to the keep, it’s about five hours south of Argent Castle. I’ll ask Guthrie, Duncan, and Oran and a few other men to check out the place. The men will be thorough. The renter might be one of your kinsmen, despite what your solicitor said. I didn’t care for his hesitation when he responded after you pointedly asked if the wolf was related to you.”
“Make sure they take notice if the property is