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"How's it going?" I ask Munro.
"They've been good wee laddies."
None of those men qualify as "wee," but I don't care what Munro wants to calls them. I sidle up to him and whisper into his ear, "Errol had an errand to run."
Munro still doesn't react in a way that our guests would notice. But he does whisper out of the corner of his mouth, "Watch out for these laddies. They're plotting something."
Yeah, I get that feeling too. The men seem too calm, too accepting of their status as captives. These guys might not seem like geniuses, but even half-wits can sometimes come up with decent schemes. They did manage to track us here, after all.
I sneak the gun out of my waistband and hand it to Munro.
Errol marches into the cavern. "How are our guests doing? Should we serve lunch now? Crab cakes and champagne are on the menu, with a dessert of crème brûlée."
"Shut up, you insufferable moron," Frisk snarls through clenched teeth. "I've had enough of you."
Two of his henchmen swing their arms out, revealing their lack of zip ties, and surge to their feet. One rushes at Errol, while the other slugs Munro in the gut. As Munro struggles to catch his breath, the man who'd punched him races to his buddies and brings out a knife to snap their ties.
I grab a crowbar off the floor and whack it into the man's back.
He whirls around and kicks me in the stomach.
And I fly backward into the deep, dark flooded hole.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Errol
I watch as Ashley falls backward into the pool, but I cannae help her because the bastard who tackled me has pinned me to the wall beside the cavern entrance. I try to knee him in the groin, but I can't move my leg enough to do that. I snarl a slew of Gaelic curses while I bite the tosser's nose and grab his wrist to yank it backward. He shouts and loses his grip on me. I seize the opportunity to ram my knee into his groin, making him wail and stumble backward. With my hands tightly clasped, I slam my joined fists down on the back of his neck.
The bastard crumples to the floor.
I leap over him and dive into the pool.
The murky water makes finding her more difficult.Mhac na galla. If she drowns, I will snap the necks of every one of Frisk's men—then strangle him with my bare hands. My heart pounds so hard and fast that I have trouble focusing, but a dark shape below snares my attention. That must be her. The shape sinks deeper into the water, and I know I might have seconds to catch her before she vanishes into the murk, too deep for me to find her.
Donnae care if I drown. I must save Ashley.
Kicking my feet furiously, I follow the dark shape and draw closer to it with every second. Her body floats limply, her hair fanning out around her head. I stretch an arm out to snag her shirt, but my fingers just miss her. So I kick even harder, knowing I can't hold my breath forever but not giving a damn. I draw closer, closer, and thrust my hand out again. My fingers grasp her upper arm. I tighten my grip and drag her toward me. Once I've got the lass in my arms, I flip over and start paddling madly toward the surface of the pool.
I bob up out of the water with Ashley's head on my shoulder and suck in a deep breath. Munro leans over the pool to help me get the lass onto the floor of the cavern. While I clamber out of the water, my cousin checks Ashley's pulse.
"She's alive," he says.
Then he turns her onto her side and thumps her back. She bursts into a hacking fit, coughing up water at first, and after a moment, she stops hacking. Munro lies her down on her back and moves aside.
I kneel beside Ashley, peeling wet hair away from her eyes.
She gazes at me through half-closed lids and tries to smile, though the expression falters. "Hi."
The single syllable, half-whispered, rushes relief through me so thoroughly that my knees would buckle if I weren't already kneeling. "Welcome back,gràidh. Donnae ever scare me that way again."
"I'll try." She raises a hand to touch my cheek. "Sorry. I should've known better than to try to attack that guy."
"You were very brave. But I'd rather you not try that again."
"Did they escape?"
"No, lass, donnae worry about those bastards." I help her sit up, and fold my arms around her gently. "Just rest, love."
