Chapter Four
Duncan parked the Thunderbird near the rear entrance to the dojo and got out of the car. The ride to the loft, like the one to the hotel, passed tensely and quietly. Only this time, Duncan's worries had something concrete to focus on. The Immortal at the hotel never offered his own name, nor could Duncan make out the man's signature on the hotel register, but instinct told him that the stranger was the source of Laura and Jonathan's "trouble". The man was obviously lying through his teeth when he claimed to be "just passing through". Duncan saw the hate in his eyes as they fell on the Kesslers. Whatever grudge the man had against them had to be very personal. But what could they have done to him?
He came around the front of the car and opened Laura's door. He didn't like the wild-eyed look she'd been wearing ever since they left the hotel. It reminded him of the look worn by some of the escaped slaves he'd escorted on the Underground Railroad. At least, Duncan thought grimly to himself, they knew why they were being hunted. Laura apparently didn't have a clue, and Duncan didn't know how to tell her. With Jonathan to worry about, not to mention the fear she must have for her own safety, he suspected she might not handle the news well at all.
In spite of that, part of him envied her. His own father died believing Duncan was a creature sent by the devil. Daniel Kessler, well aware that Jonathan would never age, fully accepted the infant as his own, and would no doubt have done the same with Laura after her own first death. That thought gave Duncan pause. Did Daniel Kessler know about Immortals? Laura had said that her father was a friend of Dawson's. Could he have been a Watcher?
Whatever the case, it was a pretty good bet that Daniel Kessler was killed before Laura was. Duncan guessed that the man could have helped Laura out more than anyone else, himself included.
Laura left the dozing Jonathan on the front passenger seat and began helping Duncan pull her belongings out of the trunk. She retrieved the diaper bag, setting it on the ground while he took care of the duffel. She reached for the suitcase next, but when she tugged on the handle, the suitcase wouldn't budge.
"Here, let me get it." Duncan leaned over and dislodged one of the suitcase wheels, which had gotten caught under the rim of the trunk. He removed the suitcase from the trunk, set it on the ground, and pulled the handle up for Laura..
"Thanks," she told him.
"You're welcome."
He observed her as she picked up the diaper bag, and when she looked back up at him, some of the wildness had gone from her eyes, replaced by an expression he couldn't quite decipher. "Mac," she ventured, "can I ask you a really weird question?"
"Go ahead."
"I know Joe'll do all he can to help Jonathan and me, and you're all but bending over backwards for us, but what about Adam? Can we trust him, too?"
Duncan cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
She shrugged. "Well, he doesn't say much. He barely spoke a word to me back at the bar."
"It just takes a while to get to know him, that's all," he told her.
"Either that, or he doesn't want people to now him."
Uh-oh. Duncan would have to tread lightly here. "It sounds like you aren't too crazy about him."
"More like the other way around. At least, that's the impression I get."
Laura slung the diaper bag over her left shoulder and went to collect her brother. The moment she gripped the carrier handle, though, Jonathan let out a loud cry which made Duncan jump but had little if any effect on Laura. Gently wiping at the tears welling up in her brother's eyes, Laura said soothingly to him, "Don't worry, honey. I'm just picking you up. That's all."
Watching Jonathan's sister tend to the boy, Duncan didn't at first realize the cause behind it. Now that cause struck him full force. Another Immortal. No, not like this! his mind screamed. Laura's not ready to see it!
His right hand slowly reached in his coat for his katana while he glanced sideways at his charges. Laura had let go of the carrier handle, dropped the diaper bag on the ground, and seized her temples. Her body sagged against the still open passenger door of the car. "Mac," she moaned, "Something's wrong. The dizziness . . . it's back . . ."
Duncan's eyes trained themselves on the source of his awareness, where Methos was at that moment heading around the front corner of the building, pushing the sleeves of his sweatshirt past his elbows.
"Where's Dawson?" Duncan let his right hand drop to his side. He wanted to throttle Methos on the spot for scaring him like that.
"Upstairs. I was watching for your car." Methos nodded toward Laura. "What's with her?"
"Nothing." Laura's response sounded a bit too casual for Duncan's tastes. "I just felt a little lightheaded, that's all. It happened at the hotel, too."
"Lightheaded?" Methos scoffed in disbelief. "I haven't heard that one in a while."
Laura's retort came before Duncan could intervene. "Adam, if I'm supposed to apologize for something, I'd really like to know what it is."
With that, she again reached for her brother and walked over to the rear entrance of the dojo, leaving the larger bags behind. "Help me out with these," Duncan growled softly at Methos.
He made his displeasure abundantly clear, but Methos ignored it. "What exactly happened at the hotel?" he asked Duncan.
"I'll tell you upstairs." Duncan replied tersely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Laura took advantage of Duncan's shower, Duncan wandered around the loft, holding Jonathan in one arm and waving a baby rattle with his free hand. When Laura had fished it out of the diaper bag earlier, she explained that it was her brother's favorite toy, a fact which Duncan found evident in the way the baby continually tried to reach for it, giggling all the while.
Duncan was entertaining his audience, as well. Dawson, who was standing by the kitchen island, leaning on his cane as he watched the spectacle, couldn't help but smile. Methos, too, found the situation quite amusing. Seated on one end of the sofa, beer can in hand and sneakered feet propped up on the coffee table, he saw the whole thing as one big joke.
"Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod: warrior, Immortal . . . and baby-sitter. You know, Joe, I believe it suits him."
"You're right," Dawson had to agree. "He does seem to be enjoying it."
By this time, Duncan and Jonathan were behind the sofa, and Duncan tossed both Methos and Dawson a dark glance. "I'd like to see one of you try keeping him calm. He gets agitated every time he senses another One of Us."
Methos snorted. "You think I've never been around a baby before?"
"Have you?" challenged Duncan.
"Maybe," Methos replied evasively. The older Immortal sat up straight, putting his feet on the floor. "Right now, though, I'd rather hear about the hotel."
Duncan felt no need to beat around the bush. "There was another Immortal in the lobby. He was signing in while we were on our way out."
He ignored Methos' muttered curse, but had to answer Dawson's question: "How did Laura react when she picked up on the guy?"
"She told me she was feeling dizzy." Duncan eyed Dawson. "She didn't have the slightest idea what was happening to her."
Dawson perked up at that observation, and Methos added, rather caustically, "She mentioned something about 'lightheadedness' downstairs, too."
"What was the guy's name?" asked Dawson.
Duncan paused by the corner of the bed closest to the bathroom and eyed Jonathan, who had succeeded in grasping at his target and was now trying to fit the rattle into his mouth. "He didn't tell me. I was hoping you'd be able to find something if I told you what he looks like."
He gave his Watcher the unknown Immortal's description, and Dawson said, "I'll run it through the database. Did he say why he was in town?"
Taking the rattle from Jonathan, Duncan answered, "He said he wasn't in town long."
Suggested Methos, "Maybe he knew beforehand that you'd be there with her."
Duncan met his friend's level gaze. "Don't even go there, Methos."
"Why not?" argued Methos, rising to his feet. "An Immortal you've never seen before suddenly turns up at the very hotel where your damsel in distress is registered, right when she's checking out, and you automatically assume he's after her head."
"And you assume she's after mine," snapped Duncan. "You're jumping to conclusions."
Methos refused to give in. "How else would you explain it?"
"Coincidence." Jonathan had once again drifted off to sleep, and Duncan carefully laid him down on the bed and searched the duffel bag for a baby blanket to cover him. The duffel sat wide open on the trunk at the foot of Duncan's bed, while the diaper bag and suitcase - both closed - and baby carrier lay on the floor next to the trunk. Finding no blanket in the duffel, he turned his attention to the suitcase, unzipped it, and reached inside. He didn't expect his hand to come in contact with a long object having a strangely familiar feel to it, and both Methos and Joe took note of the play of emotions - shock, confusion, and a little bit of dismay - that crossed his features.
"What is it?" inquired Dawson.
Duncan's hand closed around the object and slowly pulled it free. It must have lain diagonally in the suitcase; otherwise, Laura couldn't have fit it in there. Duncan grasped the hilt of the American Civil War era cavalry saber and slid it from its scabbard. He held the saber up to the light filtering through the window. The gleam of the blade indicated that its owner took very good care of it.
"Oh shit," groaned Joe.
Methos was suddenly standing at Duncan's side, his concentration riveted on the saber. "I hate to say I told you so . . ."
"He's right," said Dawson. "If she has a sword, she probably knows how to use it."
Methos made his next remark to know one in particular. "I wonder if she's used it yet."
Duncan shot him a you're-lucky-I-don't-take-your-head-for-that glare. "Why don't you ask her, then?" he dared the older man.
From Dawson: "Take it easy, Mac."
"Look at the evidence, Joe. She has no explanation for her dizzy spells, she doesn't know why her brother doesn't age . . ."
"Her father was a Watcher," Dawson cut in. "He had to have told her something before he died."
"But not everything," Duncan maintained.
Methos tried to reason with him this time. "Mac . . ."
"I'm telling you," Duncan's desperate assertion cut Methos off, "she's innocent."
"We'll see," commented Methos.
Joe saw Mac's eyes narrow suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?" the Highlander demanded.
"Let's not let on that we found out about her little secret," Methos said, carefully taking the saber off Duncan's hand and putting it in the scabbard. "If she thinks we're not on to her, she might relax and let something slip." Methos placed the saber back in the suitcase and closed the zipper, making the suitcase appear untouched.
"She hasn't got anything to hide," Duncan insisted.
"You sure?" his friend asked.
"Positive."
"I find that hard to believe, even for you." Methos was off on another of his MacLeod-is-too-naive-so-I-have-to-watch-his-back kicks. "Of course, if you are one hundred percent certain of her innocence, feel free to tell her anything you please."
"You're the one who's convinced she's devised this elaborate plan to kill me, even calling in backup to help her out. Why don't you tell her you're on to her?"
Methos softened his tone - a rarity for him. "Trust me on this one, Mac. Laura Kessler is not telling the truth here."
"Who's not telling the truth here?"
Laura's voice gave all three men a start. Duncan and Methos whirled around and saw her standing by the doorway to the bathroom, towel drying her hair. Only Joe had the presence of mind to deduce that Laura hadn't heard much, if any, of the conversation, and therefore meant little by the question. "They're just having an old argument, Laura," he told her.
"Whatever." She continued to dry her hair, apparently not giving the matter another thought.
"Jonathan's asleep," Duncan supplied lamely, attempting to change the subject anyway.
"That's good," Laura said. "He didn't get a wink of sleep the whole way down here." Draping the towel around her neck, Laura approached the bed. She hoisted the suitcase onto the foot of the bed, opened a side pocket which Duncan had failed to notice, and pulled out a light blue fleece blanket, which she tucked around her brother.
Joe took this opportunity to make his excuses. "I'll see you later," he told the group. "I have to get back to the bar and check in that whiskey shipment."
"Joe, wait."
Before Laura had a chance to say more, Dawson was in the elevator and closing the door. She fought back a curse and looked at Duncan. "What do you feel like for dinner?" he asked her casually, trying to diffuse her frustration at not being able to ask Dawson about the progress he made on her problem.
"Anything's fine. I'm not picky." As soon as the words were out, Jonathan let out a small cry. Duncan sucked in a deep breath, waiting for the sensation of another Immortal nearby to hit him, but it never came. Instead, Laura calmly lifted Jonathan into her arms and felt his bottom. "Uh-oh!" she said to him. "You're soaked!" Without batting an eye, she handed her brother to Methos, who stood closest to her. "Here," she said, "hold on to him while I get a fresh diaper and his baby wipes."
"Laura . . ." he began beseechingly.
"Relax, Adam," she instructed him. "You sound like you've never been around a baby before."
While she rummaged around in the diaper bag, Methos gave Duncan a pleading look. Duncan returned it with a smug one that said, "Don't look at me. You're stuck with him."
Duncan parked the Thunderbird near the rear entrance to the dojo and got out of the car. The ride to the loft, like the one to the hotel, passed tensely and quietly. Only this time, Duncan's worries had something concrete to focus on. The Immortal at the hotel never offered his own name, nor could Duncan make out the man's signature on the hotel register, but instinct told him that the stranger was the source of Laura and Jonathan's "trouble". The man was obviously lying through his teeth when he claimed to be "just passing through". Duncan saw the hate in his eyes as they fell on the Kesslers. Whatever grudge the man had against them had to be very personal. But what could they have done to him?
He came around the front of the car and opened Laura's door. He didn't like the wild-eyed look she'd been wearing ever since they left the hotel. It reminded him of the look worn by some of the escaped slaves he'd escorted on the Underground Railroad. At least, Duncan thought grimly to himself, they knew why they were being hunted. Laura apparently didn't have a clue, and Duncan didn't know how to tell her. With Jonathan to worry about, not to mention the fear she must have for her own safety, he suspected she might not handle the news well at all.
In spite of that, part of him envied her. His own father died believing Duncan was a creature sent by the devil. Daniel Kessler, well aware that Jonathan would never age, fully accepted the infant as his own, and would no doubt have done the same with Laura after her own first death. That thought gave Duncan pause. Did Daniel Kessler know about Immortals? Laura had said that her father was a friend of Dawson's. Could he have been a Watcher?
Whatever the case, it was a pretty good bet that Daniel Kessler was killed before Laura was. Duncan guessed that the man could have helped Laura out more than anyone else, himself included.
Laura left the dozing Jonathan on the front passenger seat and began helping Duncan pull her belongings out of the trunk. She retrieved the diaper bag, setting it on the ground while he took care of the duffel. She reached for the suitcase next, but when she tugged on the handle, the suitcase wouldn't budge.
"Here, let me get it." Duncan leaned over and dislodged one of the suitcase wheels, which had gotten caught under the rim of the trunk. He removed the suitcase from the trunk, set it on the ground, and pulled the handle up for Laura..
"Thanks," she told him.
"You're welcome."
He observed her as she picked up the diaper bag, and when she looked back up at him, some of the wildness had gone from her eyes, replaced by an expression he couldn't quite decipher. "Mac," she ventured, "can I ask you a really weird question?"
"Go ahead."
"I know Joe'll do all he can to help Jonathan and me, and you're all but bending over backwards for us, but what about Adam? Can we trust him, too?"
Duncan cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
She shrugged. "Well, he doesn't say much. He barely spoke a word to me back at the bar."
"It just takes a while to get to know him, that's all," he told her.
"Either that, or he doesn't want people to now him."
Uh-oh. Duncan would have to tread lightly here. "It sounds like you aren't too crazy about him."
"More like the other way around. At least, that's the impression I get."
Laura slung the diaper bag over her left shoulder and went to collect her brother. The moment she gripped the carrier handle, though, Jonathan let out a loud cry which made Duncan jump but had little if any effect on Laura. Gently wiping at the tears welling up in her brother's eyes, Laura said soothingly to him, "Don't worry, honey. I'm just picking you up. That's all."
Watching Jonathan's sister tend to the boy, Duncan didn't at first realize the cause behind it. Now that cause struck him full force. Another Immortal. No, not like this! his mind screamed. Laura's not ready to see it!
His right hand slowly reached in his coat for his katana while he glanced sideways at his charges. Laura had let go of the carrier handle, dropped the diaper bag on the ground, and seized her temples. Her body sagged against the still open passenger door of the car. "Mac," she moaned, "Something's wrong. The dizziness . . . it's back . . ."
Duncan's eyes trained themselves on the source of his awareness, where Methos was at that moment heading around the front corner of the building, pushing the sleeves of his sweatshirt past his elbows.
"Where's Dawson?" Duncan let his right hand drop to his side. He wanted to throttle Methos on the spot for scaring him like that.
"Upstairs. I was watching for your car." Methos nodded toward Laura. "What's with her?"
"Nothing." Laura's response sounded a bit too casual for Duncan's tastes. "I just felt a little lightheaded, that's all. It happened at the hotel, too."
"Lightheaded?" Methos scoffed in disbelief. "I haven't heard that one in a while."
Laura's retort came before Duncan could intervene. "Adam, if I'm supposed to apologize for something, I'd really like to know what it is."
With that, she again reached for her brother and walked over to the rear entrance of the dojo, leaving the larger bags behind. "Help me out with these," Duncan growled softly at Methos.
He made his displeasure abundantly clear, but Methos ignored it. "What exactly happened at the hotel?" he asked Duncan.
"I'll tell you upstairs." Duncan replied tersely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Laura took advantage of Duncan's shower, Duncan wandered around the loft, holding Jonathan in one arm and waving a baby rattle with his free hand. When Laura had fished it out of the diaper bag earlier, she explained that it was her brother's favorite toy, a fact which Duncan found evident in the way the baby continually tried to reach for it, giggling all the while.
Duncan was entertaining his audience, as well. Dawson, who was standing by the kitchen island, leaning on his cane as he watched the spectacle, couldn't help but smile. Methos, too, found the situation quite amusing. Seated on one end of the sofa, beer can in hand and sneakered feet propped up on the coffee table, he saw the whole thing as one big joke.
"Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod: warrior, Immortal . . . and baby-sitter. You know, Joe, I believe it suits him."
"You're right," Dawson had to agree. "He does seem to be enjoying it."
By this time, Duncan and Jonathan were behind the sofa, and Duncan tossed both Methos and Dawson a dark glance. "I'd like to see one of you try keeping him calm. He gets agitated every time he senses another One of Us."
Methos snorted. "You think I've never been around a baby before?"
"Have you?" challenged Duncan.
"Maybe," Methos replied evasively. The older Immortal sat up straight, putting his feet on the floor. "Right now, though, I'd rather hear about the hotel."
Duncan felt no need to beat around the bush. "There was another Immortal in the lobby. He was signing in while we were on our way out."
He ignored Methos' muttered curse, but had to answer Dawson's question: "How did Laura react when she picked up on the guy?"
"She told me she was feeling dizzy." Duncan eyed Dawson. "She didn't have the slightest idea what was happening to her."
Dawson perked up at that observation, and Methos added, rather caustically, "She mentioned something about 'lightheadedness' downstairs, too."
"What was the guy's name?" asked Dawson.
Duncan paused by the corner of the bed closest to the bathroom and eyed Jonathan, who had succeeded in grasping at his target and was now trying to fit the rattle into his mouth. "He didn't tell me. I was hoping you'd be able to find something if I told you what he looks like."
He gave his Watcher the unknown Immortal's description, and Dawson said, "I'll run it through the database. Did he say why he was in town?"
Taking the rattle from Jonathan, Duncan answered, "He said he wasn't in town long."
Suggested Methos, "Maybe he knew beforehand that you'd be there with her."
Duncan met his friend's level gaze. "Don't even go there, Methos."
"Why not?" argued Methos, rising to his feet. "An Immortal you've never seen before suddenly turns up at the very hotel where your damsel in distress is registered, right when she's checking out, and you automatically assume he's after her head."
"And you assume she's after mine," snapped Duncan. "You're jumping to conclusions."
Methos refused to give in. "How else would you explain it?"
"Coincidence." Jonathan had once again drifted off to sleep, and Duncan carefully laid him down on the bed and searched the duffel bag for a baby blanket to cover him. The duffel sat wide open on the trunk at the foot of Duncan's bed, while the diaper bag and suitcase - both closed - and baby carrier lay on the floor next to the trunk. Finding no blanket in the duffel, he turned his attention to the suitcase, unzipped it, and reached inside. He didn't expect his hand to come in contact with a long object having a strangely familiar feel to it, and both Methos and Joe took note of the play of emotions - shock, confusion, and a little bit of dismay - that crossed his features.
"What is it?" inquired Dawson.
Duncan's hand closed around the object and slowly pulled it free. It must have lain diagonally in the suitcase; otherwise, Laura couldn't have fit it in there. Duncan grasped the hilt of the American Civil War era cavalry saber and slid it from its scabbard. He held the saber up to the light filtering through the window. The gleam of the blade indicated that its owner took very good care of it.
"Oh shit," groaned Joe.
Methos was suddenly standing at Duncan's side, his concentration riveted on the saber. "I hate to say I told you so . . ."
"He's right," said Dawson. "If she has a sword, she probably knows how to use it."
Methos made his next remark to know one in particular. "I wonder if she's used it yet."
Duncan shot him a you're-lucky-I-don't-take-your-head-for-that glare. "Why don't you ask her, then?" he dared the older man.
From Dawson: "Take it easy, Mac."
"Look at the evidence, Joe. She has no explanation for her dizzy spells, she doesn't know why her brother doesn't age . . ."
"Her father was a Watcher," Dawson cut in. "He had to have told her something before he died."
"But not everything," Duncan maintained.
Methos tried to reason with him this time. "Mac . . ."
"I'm telling you," Duncan's desperate assertion cut Methos off, "she's innocent."
"We'll see," commented Methos.
Joe saw Mac's eyes narrow suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?" the Highlander demanded.
"Let's not let on that we found out about her little secret," Methos said, carefully taking the saber off Duncan's hand and putting it in the scabbard. "If she thinks we're not on to her, she might relax and let something slip." Methos placed the saber back in the suitcase and closed the zipper, making the suitcase appear untouched.
"She hasn't got anything to hide," Duncan insisted.
"You sure?" his friend asked.
"Positive."
"I find that hard to believe, even for you." Methos was off on another of his MacLeod-is-too-naive-so-I-have-to-watch-his-back kicks. "Of course, if you are one hundred percent certain of her innocence, feel free to tell her anything you please."
"You're the one who's convinced she's devised this elaborate plan to kill me, even calling in backup to help her out. Why don't you tell her you're on to her?"
Methos softened his tone - a rarity for him. "Trust me on this one, Mac. Laura Kessler is not telling the truth here."
"Who's not telling the truth here?"
Laura's voice gave all three men a start. Duncan and Methos whirled around and saw her standing by the doorway to the bathroom, towel drying her hair. Only Joe had the presence of mind to deduce that Laura hadn't heard much, if any, of the conversation, and therefore meant little by the question. "They're just having an old argument, Laura," he told her.
"Whatever." She continued to dry her hair, apparently not giving the matter another thought.
"Jonathan's asleep," Duncan supplied lamely, attempting to change the subject anyway.
"That's good," Laura said. "He didn't get a wink of sleep the whole way down here." Draping the towel around her neck, Laura approached the bed. She hoisted the suitcase onto the foot of the bed, opened a side pocket which Duncan had failed to notice, and pulled out a light blue fleece blanket, which she tucked around her brother.
Joe took this opportunity to make his excuses. "I'll see you later," he told the group. "I have to get back to the bar and check in that whiskey shipment."
"Joe, wait."
Before Laura had a chance to say more, Dawson was in the elevator and closing the door. She fought back a curse and looked at Duncan. "What do you feel like for dinner?" he asked her casually, trying to diffuse her frustration at not being able to ask Dawson about the progress he made on her problem.
"Anything's fine. I'm not picky." As soon as the words were out, Jonathan let out a small cry. Duncan sucked in a deep breath, waiting for the sensation of another Immortal nearby to hit him, but it never came. Instead, Laura calmly lifted Jonathan into her arms and felt his bottom. "Uh-oh!" she said to him. "You're soaked!" Without batting an eye, she handed her brother to Methos, who stood closest to her. "Here," she said, "hold on to him while I get a fresh diaper and his baby wipes."
"Laura . . ." he began beseechingly.
"Relax, Adam," she instructed him. "You sound like you've never been around a baby before."
While she rummaged around in the diaper bag, Methos gave Duncan a pleading look. Duncan returned it with a smug one that said, "Don't look at me. You're stuck with him."
