Roderick's Purpose - Ellie St. Clair Page 0,11

something more. Some underlying … tension.”

Roderick knew exactly what it was. The woman stirred something inside him, and he wanted her with an intensity he could not describe. And yet in the same breath, she drove him mad with her stoic silence, her resistance to his charms, and by the very fact that she was everything he stood against. Not that he was going to tell his brother any of that.

Angus McLaren walked into the room after them, shutting the door between the outer room and where the woman — Gwen, he reminded himself — sat waiting.

McLaren crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Roderick with a bit of animosity, but said not a word. “What do you think?” He looked back and forth between the brothers, although Roderick had a feeling he was more interested in what Callum had to say than himself. McLaren respected Callum, and Roderick knew one of the reasons McLaren tolerated him was because of his brother.

“I think we should make the deal,” said Callum. “If her father is dying — and we know she likely isn’t lying about that, as we have the man in custody and we have been told that he is clearly not well — then why not capture the remainder of the gang if we can? So she returns to Scotland. I’m sure she willna get far thieving on her own, and it would look in bad form to hang a woman who looks as she does.”

McLaren nodded thoughtfully. “What is to say once we release her she won’t go back on her word and remain here?”

“She wants to go back,” Roderick said, interjecting, and McLaren gave him a withering gaze as if admonishing him for interrupting. “She does — she said so herself. ’Tis why she robbed the Bay in the first place, to make passage home. The only downside I see is that it will be a slight cost to pay for the travel, but it will be well worth the trouble if we capture the rest of them.”

McLaren stood and began pacing the room, rubbing his chin. He finally stopped and looked at them both. “Very well. We’ll do it. We’ll make the deal, but we will have to ensure she makes good on her promise and travels home to Scotland.”

“How do you determine we do that?” asked Callum.

“We send someone with them.”

“Send an officer overseas?” Roderick asked, shocked at McLaren’s words. He didn’t think it was something that could be done. They wouldn’t have jurisdiction past their own territory, so why would they do so?

“Aye,” said McLaren, nodding. “’Tis not exactly something that would be… approved, so we must be careful. Perhaps we have an officer return to his home for a visit, and that officer just happens to be traveling on the same ship.”

He looked at the brothers, apparently seeing their shock. McLaren shrugged. “I’ve been chasing this gang for years. I’ll do what I have to in order to see that they do not continue to create discord on my land.”

Roderick smiled, enjoying the fact that McLaren was willing to break the rules this time in order to get what he wanted. This was the way Roderick liked to operate.

“Who are you going to send?” Callum asked with a bit of hesitation, and Roderick knew what he was afraid of. Callum had a wife and child he would not want to leave, and yet, he was McLaren’s most trusted officer.

“I was hoping you would go,” said McLaren, confirming what both brothers had guessed. “Your family is still in Scotland. You could make the case you are going to visit. I’m sure you have one sibling or other getting married or having a child you must see.”

Callum’s face fell. “My wife is with child,” he said softly. “She is not due for some time, but all the same I shouldna like to leave her.”

McLaren sighed. “I understand that, McDougall, but when ye agreed to this job, you agreed to —”

“I’ll do it.”

Both heads swiveled toward him, and Roderick cringed at the words that had come out of his mouth. He had hated being on the boat, the rough waters causing some queasiness, the confined cabins making him yearn for the open air. While he missed home, he also wasn’t thrilled about facing his father, as he had not left on the best of terms. And— most of all — he truly wanted to avoid spending any more time with the hellion who caused all