Chapter 48

When Amanda had arrived at Duncan's barge just after dark the previous evening... she'd immediately known he wasn't there. Still... she'd thought of waiting. After all... if he was in Paris as Liam had said... he would return here... Amanda knew him well enough to know that.

Duncan had an attachment to this barge. He had purchased it nearly forty years ago and had often said that it fitted his lifestyle... no matter what the lifestyle he was living at the time was. He'd lived here for a time with Tessa before she'd been killed... but it wasn't Tessa's memory that had made him keep it. In fact... he'd actually sold it once and then re-bought it for substantially more than he'd sold it for.

When it had been damaged in an explosion on board... he'd spent a great deal of money fixing it up again. After the business with Ahriman back in 1998... he'd stripped it down to its bare essentials. Little by little after that... he had slowly added furnishings back in so that now, while it was not quite as it had once been... it was much the same.

Amanda climbed the gangplank onto the deck and considered just leaving him a note while she made another attempt to locate Nick. Perhaps she could get Burt to help her locate him. After all... if Liam was right... Nick was likely in over his head and he didn't know it.

Thoughts of Nick made her think of the woman, Marie-France. Amanda knew nothing about her... or the child immortal with her... but she could definitely see how Nick might be as enamored of her as the woman apparently was with him. She was plain... but also attractive in a soft way... something Amanda most definitely wasn't. Perhaps the French woman was exactly the sort of immortal Nick needed in his life: someone he could protect and feel responsible for. As for the child... Amanda's previous dealings with Kenny had made her wary of children. They weren't really children... those immortals. They were just small and weak. Without help... they did not survive at all. Kenny had because he had learned to be devious. Amanda had no idea how the girl had managed... and she wasn't certain she wanted to find out. The girl had shot her a dark and deadly look... one Amanda had read clearly.

Amanda had reached the deck when she was vaguely aware of someone moving around inside the barge... but there was no buzz... no tingle of an immortal present. Nevertheless, Amanda prepared herself and swept open the door to MacLeod's living quarters.

One look told her the small man rummaging through MacLeod's things had no right to be there. She double-timed across the room and swept the man in a choke-hold against the bar. "Who are you?" she began... then held up his wrist and spat the word, "Watcher!" at him.

The man nodded. "Yeah... I'm MacLeod's... I was just trying to..."

"Joe Dawson is his Watcher and you are not Joe!" Amanda said sharply.

"Dawson's in Seacouver... he was shot," the man managed to get out.

"Shot?" Amanda pulled back. "Is he all right?"

"What do you care?" came the accusation.

"He's a friend. A very good friend." Amanda's words were spoken slowly and deliberately.

The man swallowed and nodded. "You aren't supposed to know about us."

"Well I do... now where's MacLeod?"

"I don't know. He had a visitor a few hours ago... and then they vanished. I was just trying to see if there was anything here that could..."

"Get out!" spat Amanda. "You Watchers are like carrion feeding on us. You have no right to be in here. If you have to follow him... follow him... But stay out of my way!" She pushed him to the steps. He stumbled up them as he left.

Amanda shook for a moment. Her vehemence had surprised her. She adored Joe Dawson... but Watchers in general gave her goose-bumps. She'd almost forgotten about them in her time in Italy. Thinking of them made her wonder about Bella, her housekeeper. But no... Bella had no Watcher tattoo... at least, not on her wrist.

Amanda settled down on Mac's sofa to wait. Her eyes swept over the barge furnishings as she tried to fathom just who MacLeod's visitor might have been. But she saw nothing that helped her decide. Later she'd checked the refrigerator for food and, noticing the amount of beer in there, decided Methos had been here recently. Normally MacLeod didn't keep that much beer around.

But where had MacLeod and Methos, too, apparently gone? Were they searching for the killer as well? Who was his visitor? Someone the Watcher had not recognized... but what could that mean? As night had settled over Paris... Amanda had dozed fitfully.

Sometime during the night she'd awakened with a start. She felt someone coming. "MacLeod!" she called out. Whoever it was halted outside and then began to withdraw. Amanda rose, drawing her blade and crept to the door. By the time she flung it open... no one was there and she could not feel anyone either.

Whoever her shadow was... he was keeping his distance. Amanda was too awake now to go back to sleep... nor did she wish to wait for MacLeod any longer. She hid her sword once more behind her and headed for the Ferrari. It was time to find Nick. Instead of waiting... she would take the active approach and search for both of them. If they were seeking the killer... then sooner of later... they'd all end up in the same area... at least she hoped so. She had driven off the quai and into the center of Paris once more.

***

Standing in his barge... Duncan knew Amanda had been here. He could smell the slight scent of her perfume in the early morning air. And by the disrupted nature of the barge... there had been a struggle... but a struggle with whom? Who had won... and where was Amanda now? Duncan checked to see if she'd left a message... but there was nothing.

Duncan MacLeod felt more alone than he had felt in years. As he contemplated a future without Amanda in it somehow... if not as lover... at least as friend... he felt only a bleakness that robbed him of all zest for life. She made him laugh! She made him enjoy life at times when he'd despaired of continuing. And after Tessa had died, Amanda had returned to him and gently eased him once more into life.

When he'd finally admitted to her how much he loved her... she'd seemed pleased at first... but evidently the thought of really committing to him had frightened her. She'd left... gone back to the states and by the time she had returned to Paris the following year... he'd already left. He'd heard later that she'd vanished soon after that. He'd asked Joe and been told she was in Italy... so he'd waited... wanting her to come to him. Scots pride had stopped him from going after her.

When he'd seen her at that roadhouse tavern... it was as if a wall existed between them... each of them waiting for the other to make the first move to knock it down. And Duncan had wanted to knock it down. Only his urge to get back to Paris and find the killer had deterred him. He'd chosen to take care of business first... find the killer... solve Darius' puzzle... figure out just what it was Methos was hiding and then... and then... Now... he feared he might have waited too long.

If the killer had been here... if he'd taken her... Duncan closed his eyes and felt himself shiver at the thought of her death. His eyes snapped open. Not if he could help it! Standing here would do nothing to help her... Phillip had been right... He needed a plan. He needed help. For once... this was not a job he could do alone. Slowly Duncan climbed out of the barge and onto the deck. He stood watching the birds winging over the Seine and the people passing by on the nearby bridge. He watched as Paris came to life once more around him.

He would find her... He had to find her. Determined... Duncan MacLeod strode from the barge and climbed into his Citroen. He did not care if a Watcher saw him leave. They'd have a hard time following him once he got started. The main thing now was to find her. What was the name of that club she'd owned here? Sanctuary... that was it... He headed for Sanctuary.