“I know, and it sucks,” he said roughly. He made a step toward her then stopped. “You won’t let me go after him and that’s the only way I can take care of it. Which means I have to wait for Palik to find him. Tell me what else I can do.”

She nodded quickly. “I’m not being fair. I just wish Palik would hurry.” She turned and moved toward the wall where Fiona’s portrait hung. She tried to change the subject. “You’ll be glad to know that, as ordered, Rodland tried to keep me entertained on the way here. He almost finished the MacClaren/Fiona story.”

“Almost?”

“I have to read a letter and fill in some blanks.”

“Did you like the way it turned out?”

“I like her, I like him. I found myself rooting for them. But I was frustrated about how the world was treating them until they took their fates into their own hands.”

“That’s the way it sometimes works out. So did they live happily ever after?”

“It wasn’t a fairy tale. I think it turned out to be a murder mystery. But they lived their lives the way they wanted to. I’d bet that they had a good time and a good life and tried not to hurt anyone if they could avoid it.”

“Except for the murder?”

“I’m sure that wasn’t their fault. He was supposed to have been a terrible man.”

He laughed. “I can’t wait until you fill me in on the rest of the tale. But I want you to check out the rest of the castle, so you’ll know that it’s in as good a shape as the gallery. Then we’re supposed to meet MacDuff in the library. Who knows? He might want to hear about Fiona’s murder mystery.”

She shook her head. “I’m not entirely sure it’s a murder mystery. It just makes sense that it might be. I won’t talk to MacDuff until I can tell him more than we know right now. I have to keep my promise.”

“You always do.” He brushed his lips across her temple. “Now let’s look around the castle at all the good things that are still here and then we’ll go talk to MacDuff.”

*  *  *

“You’ve caused a hell of a lot of trouble, Jane.” MacDuff was frowning as they walked into the library an hour later. “You should have come directly back here as soon as you knew the immediate danger was over. It was stupid of you to try tracking that damn sniper. Didn’t you realize that I’d be worried?”