“Later,” Caleb said quietly. “I can see you’re revving up to mount a vigorous campaign to save the world, but that’s not first on our agenda.”

“Of course it is. We owe MacDuff for all the damage done to his property. We not only need to help with the repairs, but I told you what I’d discovered about what lies beneath that MacClaren painting. There’s a good chance that if we follow those instructions, we’ll be able to give MacDuff the real treasure that would pay for those castle repairs a hundred times over.”

“Later,” Caleb repeated. “I see where you’re going and that was my first reaction, too. But I decided it’s the wrong time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We’ve just blown Bohdan and his soldiers to hell and back. To do it, we’ve spun that tall tale about the fake treasure, and that story is going to not only be told but retold by every crook and con man in the business. Plus on the other side, it will be bragged about by MI6 agents who helped take down Bohdan’s forces. It might have been the big lie, but it will be absolutely notorious for months. Which means that these Highlands are going to get plenty of visitors who want to see if that bogus story might actually be true. At least until word finally gets around that it’s completely bullshit. We need to wait to go looking in the correct direction for the treasure until we’re not stumbling over all the treasure hunter wannabes.”

She could understand the logic of what he was saying, but she was disappointed. “And when will that be?”

He shrugged. “If we’re lucky, a few months. It will start when MacDuff returns the treasure he lent me to the bank. Which will be today. Then we wait and see.”

“I want to tell MacDuff right away.”

“I know you do. But you know MacDuff will be curious and want to go hunting for it. That’s his nature. And it’s not as if he doesn’t have money to burn to keep on with the repairs.” His voice lowered persuasively. “Look, I’ll send Rodland to take care of MacDuff’s Run for the next few weeks or months. Whichever you prefer. He’ll do a superb job and keep us informed about all of MacDuff’s decisions.”

“Maybe. But that’s not what I want to do. And you’re being entirely too controlling.”