Chapter 7

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Richie looked more confused than Duncan had ever seen him before. "I mean, I only left you guys alone for like 20 minutes. What the heck happened in here?"

Celeste and Duncan both looked at him and then back to each other. Neither wanting to be the first to speak, neither knowing what to say to explain the situation. Celeste looked around the room, again trying to find an escape route. Finding nothing, her gaze came to a rest on the chess game that had been scattered on the floor during her fall.

Richie followed her gaze and shook his head, "Ok, so witch one of you is the sore loser?"

Duncan let out a little laugh. Leave it to Richie to find the humor in any situation. Someone had to break the silence, Mac decided to be the one to do it. "Boy, that pizza smells good." He walked over and pulled a slice from the box. "I need to run an errand. I'll be back in about an hour." He grabbed a long trench coat from the back of the leather recliner and walked over to Richie. "Keep an eye on her." Then in a much quieter voice, "We need to talk about your friend. Find out as much as you can about her."

Richie wasn't sure how to respond to that. Was Mac interested in her and wanted to know more, or was there something he wasn't telling him. "Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to Dawson." Not another word was spoken before MacLeod was out the door.

Richie just watch him leave before he said another word. Looking over to Celeste he gave her a confused grin. "So, what did you do to my friend?"

Celeste just shook her head. For the first time that evening her mind was not on keeping her own secret. "Richie, who is that guy?"

"He's the father I never had. He's a great guy and I trust him with my life. Why, you like him?" He looked hopeful.

"I'm really not sure what to think. He's different. I guess I just want to know if you are safe here?"

"Oh, yeah. I am totally safe. Why wouldn't I be?" Richie now knew something bad had happened while he was gone. Something that Celeste shouldn't have seen. But not knowing what that was or how Macleod had explained it to her, he had no idea what else to say. "Tell me what happened. I mean, obviously something crazy went down."

The woman frowned. "It all happened so fast, I'm not even sure. Some lunatic crashed through the door, threatened your friend and then jumped out the window and took off."

"That's it? Nothing else?" Richie knew she was holding back. These was no way that MacLeod would have been caught off guard. He knew his friend too well. His sword would have been drawn and he would be prepared to defend himself and anyone else that had been there.

"No, nothing else. Look, I'm going home. I'm still shaken up and I just need some time to calm down."

"Yeah, of course. I'll go with you. I'm sure you don't want to be alone." Richie offered, wanting to find out more.

"Actually, I do want to be alone. I hope you understand." She almost looked sad to leave him there alone, but Richie also saw her relief when he agreed to her request. In fact, she seemed to be in a hurry to leave once she knew Richie wasn't going to try to stop her.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow after class, right?" Richie looked hopeful.

"Um, yeah. See you tomorrow." She picked up her backpack again and walked to the door as quickly as she could without it looking as if she was running.

Meanwhile

Joe Dawson pushed the glass across the counter right into Duncan MacLeod's hand. Duncan sipped at it slowly.

"Ok, so what's bothering you?" Joe and Duncan had become friends despite the rocky start to their relationship. MacLeod didn't always have a reason when he went to visit Joe at his bar, but judging by the look on his face, today was not one of those visits.

"Joe, have you ever heard of an immortal without our mental connection?"

Joe looked a little confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, an immortal who others can't sense?" Duncan looked down at his drink and took another sip.

"No, as far as I know, there is no such thing. It would make the game unfair. How could you defend yourself if you don't know another immortal is close by? I just don't see how that could be possible"

"Neither do I, but that doesn't change the fact that she is sitting in my living room right now."

Joe shook his head again. "No, no way. What makes you think she's an immortal if you can't feel her?"

"Because, she had a gash in her forehead that healed up perfectly right in front of me." MacLeod took another sip before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"I'll try to see what I can find out, but don't get your hopes up. If there was an immortal out there like that, it would be big news. We'd all know about it."

"Or, no one would know about it," Duncan added.

Joe frowned, "What do you know about her?"

"Not much. Richie met her at the university. Her name is Celeste. She claims she is 28 years old, but says she doesn't know how old she really is. She gave no indication that she could feel me or Richie, and to be honest, she didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about when I asked her if she could sense me. She seemed like she didn't know anything about immortals, just thought she was different. I don't think it was an act, but that doesn't mean it wasn't."

"I dunno Mac. Sounds like a scam to me. I'd watch my back if I were you. And tell Richie the same. Speaking of Richie, does he know anything about this?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it yet. I really think he would have said something to me if he knew she was immortal."

"Ok, just so I have this strait, you can't feel her, she can't feel you, Richie seems to be in the same boat, and she heals like an immortal. You're sure about this MacLeod?"

"Yes Joe. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure."

"Well, I'll look into it. Talk to Richie and find out what he knows, even if it's nothing unusual. Anything about her background would be helpful ." Joe didn't look too confident as he watched his friend get up and walk toward the door. "Hey Mac."

"Yeah Joe."

"Watch your head, will ya."

Duncan gave him a half smile, "Always do."