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Doing as told, he faced a thickset, middle-aged man with brown hair streaked with gray. He had a canny look, sharp features, and a shrewd, hazel gaze.
“Jackie Barr, I assume?” Graeme drawled.
“Aye, and ye be one of them blasted Kendricks.” Jackie shook his head in disgust.
Graeme flashed a smile that was all teeth. “That’s right. And if anything happens to me, my clan will hunt you all down and kill you all in a most unpleasant way.”
“No killin’, Jackie,” protested the big bloke. “Ye promised my mam.”
“I’d like to killye,” Jackie said in a disgusted tone.
“But I’m yer cousin.”
“We canna be killin’ no one, including a Kendrick,” the skinny lad added. “Ye’ll bring the law doon on us.”
“Who cares?” Jackie retorted. “No reason to stay in this bloody country, anyway. I’ll just shoot the bastard and throw him in the loch, and then it’s away, I am.”
“Since there are Kendricks in Scotland, England, Germany, and North America, you’re out of luck, I’m afraid,” Graeme said. “My family will hunt you to the end of the earth.”
“Och, Jackie, that sounds bad,” said the lad.
“Shut yer trap and fetch some rope from the boat,” Jackie snapped.
The lad hobbled around the side of the shed.
The big fellow was now holding a grimy kerchief to his nose. “There’s nae need to snap at poor Dickie. He’s just a lad.”
“And what’s your name?” Graeme asked.
“Don’t tell—” Jackie started.
“Magnus, sir. Magnus Barr.”
“Hello, Magnus. I’m Graeme Kendrick.”
“I’d say pleased to meet ye, but for my nose.”
“Sorry about that. You almost crushed me to death, though.”
Jackie made a disgusted noise. “Magnus, why don’t ye just tell him where we live?”
Magnus frowned. “Ye want me to?”
Jackie shot Graeme a sour look. “Ye see what I have to work with?”
“How sad for you. Still, it’s not exactly a secret that your entire family is involved in this little venture. The villagers certainly know.”
“And they’ll keep their bloody mouths shut, or else,” Jackie growled.
“They’ve already started talking, I’m afraid.”
“Because of that skinnySassenachbitch. She’s the cause of all our trouble.”
Graeme’s mild sense of amusement was instantly snuffed out. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t killyoufor taking those shots at her.”
Jackie snorted. “Och, we were just tryin’ to scare her. I’ll nae be goin’ to the gallows for bloody Musgrave and his kin.”
Magnus heaved a sigh. “But she’s nae one for scarin’.”
