He smiled. “I agree. Lila is a dear friend you completely trust and who would never betray you.”
“I concur, my lord,” Lila said with a smile to Dawn.
Cree took Dawn’s hand, then turned to Lila. “We will disturb you no more.”
Once outside the cottage, Cree gave the women permission to return inside. They hurried past him bobbing their heads.
Kirk stepped forward. “Anything we can help with?”
“Not at the moment, but I would appreciate it if you stand ready to help if necessary.”
“We are at your disposal,” Kirk said with a nod. He then turned to Dawn. “I hope we can talk again soon.”
She smiled and nodded, and Kirk and Torr wisely took their leave.
“Well done,” Sloan said, “Am I to be dismissed with bullshit so easily.”
“As if I ever could,” Cree said with a slight grin. “We have an important matter to discuss.”
Sloan nodded and walked along with them to Dawn’s cottage. Not a word was spoken until they were inside, then Cree reiterated what Dawn had told him.
“I can have one of our trackers see if they can pick up any trail,” Sloan said.
“Also post more guards but where they can’t be seen and tell the men not to speak of it to anyone.”
“You’re letting the McCluskys think you trust them and would count on them for help, but you have no such intentions of doing so, do you?” Sloan asked.
Cree shook his head. “I do not know if it is a coincidence that someone breaks into the keep around the same time the McCluskys arrive or if their intentions are far different than they have led me to believe.”
“You must recall that Lucerne had just returned from outside when we entered the Great Hall. She was still wearing her cloak. And she certainly made it known that she didn’t want Dawn around and doing away with you after you’re wed and taking a potion to prevent you from getting her with child would make certain that you have no heir, leaving her to wed again. And perhaps she already has someone more to her liking in mind. Maybe it’s her lover who broke in the keep and hid in her room. She’s conniving enough for such a scheme.”
“Wasn’t her room checked?”
“I believe so, but I cannot say for certain since I was not there. Perhaps she refused the men entrance claiming that she would never do anything as improper as allowing a man in her bed chamber and they like fools believed her.”
“And what of Bree?” Cree asked. “Couldn’t it just as well be her? After all she did poison food intended for Dawn.”
“Only because Lucerne threatened her.”
Dawn listened to the exchange between the two men with interest and concern. Much of it confirmed what Flanna or Dorrie had told her, though this news about Bree was new. Old Mary had cautioned her well about trusting no one and now she saw why. Bree could be involved in this, though Lucerne did seem like the most likely person. Though they both were forgetting one important thing and she intended to remind them.
She gestured as if shooting a bow and pointed to Cree and demonstrated how he had flung her to the ground shielding her with his body.
Cree nodded. “Yes, I did…” He shook his head. “You’re reminding me that the threats on your life started before anyone had arrived here. Lucerne and Bree had only learned of your existence when they arrived here.”
“You think that a woman in the village may be involved in this?” Sloan asked shaking his head. “But who?”
“The one thing that will solve this mystery is to find out why someone wants Dawn dead. Once we do that I think other questions will be more easily answered,” Cree said.
Dawn reminded, with a gesture, that she was unimportant.
“Evidently, you’re important to someone, though I’d say it appears that you’re more a threat to someone,” Sloan said.
“Sloan’s right,” Cree agreed. “And since the person wants you dead, it would seem that the threat is of great importance.” He turned to Sloan. “Go see that the extra guards are posted immediately and get the trackers on that trail. I’ll be with you shortly.”
Sloan nodded and looked to Dawn before he turned to leave. “Do not worry. You are well protected.”
Dawn smiled, nodded, and patted her chest in thanks.
“You’re easier and easier to understand each day.” Sloan grinned. “When you go slow that is.”
Dawn’s smiled widened, though it faded after the door closed behind Sloan and she turned to face Cree. His face was set in a scowl that warned he was about to chastise her. And thinking back on her actions, she could see that she had been foolish for entering the keep. She could have had the guard fetch Cree for her but fear for his life had taken precedence over comportment. And she had no intentions of being reprimanded for trying to protect the man she loved.