Countdown - Iris Johansen [108]
“Not if we can work a deal with Reilly,” Jane said. “If we can’t find a way to get that bastard, we’ll bargain. And I don’t care about your fine, great castle, MacDuff.”
“You don’t have to,” MacDuff said. “I care enough for all of us.” He nodded at Mario coming down the steps. “And here’s your scholar who wants to be a superhero. I’m tempted to just squeeze the information out of him and leave him here. And you can’t tell me you don’t feel the same way, Trevor.”
“It occurred to me,” Trevor said. “But he has a mission, and it would take time to shake him up enough to—”
“No,” Jane said.
MacDuff shrugged. “It appears that’s the end of it for now. But there will be more opportunities later if he’s a problem.” He turned away and entered the stable. “Tell him to get his ass moving if he’s coming with us, Trevor. Come along, Jock.”
Jane nodded quickly at Mario before hurrying after MacDuff and Jock as they strode down the stall-lined corridor. “Where are we going?”
“Angus’s place,” Jock said. “Isn’t that right?”
“Aye,” MacDuff said. “And a fine cozy place it is.” He went in the third stall from the end. “If you don’t mind mud and the stink of mold.” He moved a tackle box and three saddles to open a dirt-encrusted trapdoor. “Though in the old days the stink would have been considerably more disgusting. Angus made sure no one wanted to mess around in here. There was always a layer of manure covering the floor.”
“And where does this door lead?” Trevor had caught up with them and was peering down into the darkness. “Stairs . . .”
“Yes, they wind down at an angle and reach the bottom of the cliff where it meets the sea.” MacDuff opened a box beside the trapdoor and grabbed a flashlight from the several the box contained. “Everyone take a flashlight. There are no lights, and the stairs curve too much to rely on a leader with one flashlight. You’d round a curve and find yourself in the dark, and those steps are wet and slippery as glass.” But MacDuff was negotiating the winding stairs surely, quickly. “Be careful or you’ll end up with a broken head. My great-grandfather got a little tipsy one night and took a fall that laid him up for two years. He almost died before he crawled back up the stairs to the stable.”
“No one was with him?”
“Of course not. Angus’s passage is the family secret, passed on from father to son. Angus built it at the same time he built the castle. It was to be an escape hatch that led to the sea, and there’s another passage that doubles back to the hill outside the gates that would let him get behind an attacking army. He lived in perilous times and always wanted to be prepared.”
“That was centuries ago.” Lord, the steps were slippery, Jane thought as she balanced herself by holding on to the curving wall. They seemed to lead down and down. . . . “And you’re telling me that no one else knew about it?”
“There’s such a thing as honor. We were all bound not to tell anyone outside the immediate family. In later years it wasn’t so crucial, but we’re a family who believes in tradition.”
“It appears Jock knew about it.”
“He didn’t until I brought him back from Colorado. And Jock would rather die than tell anything I don’t want him to. Two yards and veer left. That’s where it branches off and becomes a tunnel leading to the hills.”
She dimly saw the branch off to the right as she veered left as he’d told her. “How much farther?”
“Not far. The steps get steeper here as they approach the surf. Be careful.”
“And what are we going to do when we reach the sea?” Trevor asked. “Swim?”
“Actually, Angus was strong enough to swim the four miles around the headland, but his descendants weren’t quite that Spartan. There’s a motorboat in a camouflaged boat deck at the foot of the steps. We’ll use oars, not the motor, and if we keep close to the cliffs, we should be able to reach a safe distance in twenty minutes.”
“And what then?” Trevor asked.
“I shouldn’t have to do everything for you,” MacDuff said.