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They’d been a family. They should have been there for each other—when they were needed and even when they weren’t. That was love. Not running away because something hurt too much.
“I understand,” Marty said when she didn’t answer. “But there’s one thing you need to know. This Liam—” He jerked his head at the door. “He doesn’t exist.”
Kris laughed. “Yeah, he’s a ghost.”
“A ghost? Well, maybe if you’re thinking spook…” He frowned. “But he’s Scottish, so I’m not sure what they call them here.”
Kris would have laughed again, except he appeared to be serious. “What the hell, Marty? You saw him. You shoved him. He’s solid. He’s real.”
For an instant Marty stared at her, obviously confused. “Of course he’s real.”
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“Then what are you talking about?”
“There’s no record of him. No passport, no license. He’s off the grid. When you said ‘spook,’ I thought, CIA, yeah that would make sense. But being Scottish—”
“Hold on. I had the same problem when I got here. His name’s actually William. A lot of the locals call him Billy.”
“What does he do for a living?”
“He … uh…” Kris frowned. “Protects the loch.” Or the monster. Maybe both.
“Like a park ranger?”
“Sure,” Kris agreed.
Marty didn’t appear convinced.
“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time now, Marty. I travel. I meet people. I make decisions on their characters. I trust Liam.”
Strangely, even though she knew Liam was lying, she did trust him. More than she’d ever trusted anyone else. And she didn’t know why.
“Okay.” Marty glanced at the window, which was still pretty dark. “I should let you rest.”
“You’re leaving?” Her voice sounded bereft, and she wanted to take the words back. Especially when Marty gently set his hand on her shoulder. She must have sounded pathetic.
“Just to The Clansman. I really can’t leave until I find out what’s going on here and get it taken care of. Man or monster? It’s gotta be one or the other.”
“Or both,” she murmured.
“Yeah. But until I know what needs killing, I won’t know who to call to kill it.”
“You won’t call Edward regardless?”
“Jäger-Suchers only kill monsters. They’re very picky about that.”
“So if we have a serial killer…” And Kris was almost certain they did. “You’ll just leave it to the locals?”
“Uh—” Marty glanced toward the door as if he wanted to be anywhere but there. “There are certain cases where I call in someone who eliminates the problem without any need for legal mumbo jumbo.”
“I’m not following.”
“No long-drawn-out trials. No extradition hang-ups. Bad guy just—” Marty wrapped his hands around his own throat and made a choking sound.
Kris’s mouth dropped open. “You hire a contract killer?”
“Problem solver,” he corrected, dropping his arms. “One call, that’s all.”
