Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

“ W hy Scotland?”

Beth turned to look at the quietest person in the room. She was slightly shocked at Angus’s question.

“Because this is where Mac was from. I wanted to be close to him one last time. I know it’s silly. But I wanted to see where he came from. The bed-and-breakfast was Doug’s idea. I also wanted to see if I could find Mac’s sister. I wanted to bring his ashes back to her, so she could decide where to spread them, or at least let her know his last wishes. I didn’t know if the attorney knew that part or not.”

“Y-you have my uncle’s ashes with you?” Brodie asked, looking at her for the first time in a while.

“Yeah. They are in the bag I have here with me. I couldn’t leave them in the car when I got out to hike. He was the closest thing I had to a father. I wasn’t leaving him behind just because I was lost.”

“Y-you were going to look for my mum?” Brodie asked, looking at her in confusion.

“Yeah, I was. He was still her blood relative. I realized the picture he had on his desk was her and you when you were little. Now and then I would catch him talking to that photo. Even told the picture about me. Said I reminded him of her and the nephew’s stubbornness.” Beth smiled over at Brodie.

“Aye. He always said I had the family stubbornness down pact.”

“Why did he leave? If you and your mom are alive, who did he blame himself for being the only survivor of?”

Beth watched as Brodie looked between the two other men as if weighing what he should or shouldn’t talk about. She was about to let him off the hook when Brodie started talking.”

“I was a teenager when it happened. I didn’t learn much more until I joined myself. My uncle, as you know, was SAS back in the day. He and his team were on a mission, chasing after a known terrorist to the U.K. after a threat was discovered to the crown. They were in an unknown country and in the process of taking the person and his crew down when there was an explosion. They were led into an ambush.”

“Oh, my God!” Beth quietly said, her hands going to her mouth.

“My uncle and two others made it out. They were headed to their extraction point when the other two were gunned down just as their helo arrived. My uncle was the only one who survived that mission. He felt a lot of guilt about that. He suffered some gunshot wounds himself during that mission but still survived.”

“Oh, Mac! That wasn’t his fault!” Beth defended the dead man, fire in her voice.

“He thought it was because he was the intel man on the team. He fielded the information and helped their team leader come up with the plan for the mission.” Brodie advised her, trying to explain what he knew.

“He still couldn’t have known they were walking into an ambush! He’s smart as hell but even the most intelligent man still wouldn’t have known that.” Beth dared the man, nephew or not to speak ill of the man she knew.

“I know that lass. My mum had tried to tell him that for a long time. She was heartbroken when he left the U.K. He did some side work as a mercenary for a few years. We thought when he was done with that he would come home. She would send letters to his employer to get to him only to be told a few years later he was no longer with them and had moved to the U.S., but they didn’t know where.”

“Kentucky. He moved to some backwater town in Kentucky. Started a bar he called “The Ridge” and ran it single handedly. When I came on, he started doing bar food such as burgers, chicken tenders, bar fries and had peanuts for people to snack on. Didn’t take shit from anyone.”

Beth stood up and went back to the window and looked out as the memories assaulted her once more. Now that she had found his nephew, the person he named the bar after, she was once again alone.

As much as she wanted to keep his ashes, she knew she had to let his family take them. Wiping the tears that flowed down her face, she turned back to the room.

“I’ll grab you the ashes. If you can make sure my car starts for me, I’ll get out of your hair. Thank you for sharing your uncle with me for what little bit of time I had him. I’m sorry you didn’t get to know him more as you grew older. I also have a folder that had the clippings that he collected through the years, or letters from someone he kept in touch with. I think he kept tabs on you and knew what you had accomplished in life. I didn’t realize until just now that was you.”

Beth started to walk away until she felt a hand on her arm. She took a deep breath before turning towards the person the hand was attached to.

“We found your car, but it’s not drivable. You hit a tree when you skidded off the road. You’re lucky you’re alive, lass. Not only that, but the roads alone are also undrivable. You have about four feet of snow, and more coming in tonight. I’m sorry lass, but you are stuck here with us for at least the next couple of days.” Brodie advised her calmly, a smile on his lips.

“Oh! Well, damn. I-I didn’t mean to ruin your weekend trip. I’ll do my best to stay out of everyone’s hair.”

Beth felt defeated. Mac would be so disappointed in her right now.

She felt like she did at fifteen and had lost her parents. Alone. Isolated. Unwanted.