Page 24 of Love Bomb

A couple of hours later it became clear that sleep wasn’t on the agenda for Bain. His mind raced over everything Kade had told him, but he just couldn’t make it add up.

Sure, Rona had come back to town looking different from the girl she’d once been, but she was still the same inside. Wasn’t she? Every instinct he had was telling him that Rona would never do something just for the pay off. There might be other factors influencing her decisions, but money wouldn’t be one of them.

Kade was right about one thing though, she was definitely holding something back. And he didn’t like that one bit. Now, if he could just figure out what it might be.

CHAPTER TWELVE

It quickly became clear that Rona didn’t have the right clothes for breaking and entering. If she approached Bain’s property in a shiny purple coat, everyone would know who broke in. She needed stealth clothes.

Unfortunately, it was Saturday evening in a tiny town, in the middle of nowhere Scotland, which meant she was at least a hundred miles from a late-night store that would stock what she needed. She had no option but to get creative.

“Hey Dougal,” she said as she approached the bar. “Where’s your lost property? I’m missing a hat.”

He smiled with genuine warmth that felt like a hug.

“In the back.” He cocked a thumb toward the staff door. “What are you missing?”

“A black hat,” she said, hoping very much there’d be one in the box—along with a black coat, and black boots in tiny size three.

“I don’t remember you wearing a black hat,” he said.

“It’s a very dark purple.” She pointed behind him. “Through there, you say?”

“Aye, Margaret is back there, she’ll point you in the right direction,” he said of his new wife.

“Thanks.” She rounded the bar quickly, to avoid any further questions, and headed into the inner sanctum.

Sure enough, she found Margaret sitting in an armchair in Dougal’s office, knitting at the speed of light. The older woman owned the town’s wool shop and had taught Rona to knit when she’d been younger.

When Margaret had found out Rona was back in town, she’d come right up to her room and hugged Rona until she could barely breathe.

“It was like losing my daughter,” Margaret had said. “Your parents wouldn’t even pass on our letters to you. Kirsty was so upset. Promise me you’ll see her while you’re here. She always thought of you as a younger sister.” She tugged at one of Rona’s curls. “You even have the same color hair. And you have to meet her daughters. They’re wonderful.”

Rona had promised to visit Margaret’s daughter, and then they’d laughed over old times.

Now, Margaret looked up from her knitting and smiled. “Rona, lovely to see you. Have you come to keep me company while Dougal works?”

“I don’t mind hanging out for a bit,” Rona said honestly. “But I’m here for the lost and found, I need a black hat.”

Margaret pointed to the cardboard box behind the door. “Help yourself. Is it your hat you’re after or are you just hoping you’ll find something that fits?”

“The latter. I’m hoping there’s a black coat in there too.” She pulled out the box, opened the flaps and started digging around inside. “You wouldn’t know anybody with really small feet that’d loan me a pair of black boots, would you?”

It took her a second to realize Margaret had stopped knitting. She glanced over to find she was being studied.

“Going to a funeral?” Margaret said, her eyes narrowing.

“Uh, no. I just need some, uh, darker clothes.” Rona went back to studying the box and hoped that was the end of Margaret’s interest.

No such luck.

“So, you’ll be breaking in somewhere then,” Margaret said firmly. “Who’s the target? Wait. Don’t tell me. It’s got to be Bain. You’re just as daft around that man as you were when he was a boy.”

“I wasn’t daft.” Rona was insulted. “I was a child. Making childish decisions. That’s all.” Like the childish decision to follow Bain around with stars in her eyes.

Margaret considered her. “If it’s not Bain, then it’s the folly, isn’t it? You plan on sabotaging the folly during the night when no one is around to see you do it. How exactly are you going to go about it? I hope you don’t plan on running your wee car into it, in the hopes it will bring the thing down. All that will happen is that you’ll end up in hospital.”

Rona sighed. Margaret was like a dog with a bone. “I’m not going to ram the folly. I’m breaking into Bain’s lab, looking for…” Yeah, nothing came to mind.