Free The Highlander's Hope - A Contemporary Highland Romance by Cali MacKay

being lost, especially when those times were precarious and those taken into her confidence could easily perish?   He doubted it.  She would’ve had some sort of backup.
    Once they finished their meal, he got back to the matter of who’d been snooping around.  “Since that was likely James peeping at the windows, I think it’s time ye told me about him—and what transpired between the two of ye.”
    She let out a huff of annoyance.  “Fine.  He’s a colleague at the university.  We were working together on a research project.”  She sighed and he sensed there was more to the story.
    “So ye fell in love?”  He could see it.  The long hours spent in each other’s company, shared interests.
    “I wouldn’t say that.  In my experience, love is for fairytales and fools—or at the very least, other people.  Just not me.”
    “Have ye ne’er been in love then?”  She shrugged in answer to his question. “I can’t believe it, lass.  Or did some arse break yer heart?”
    “I’ll discuss James, since he’s likely the one snooping around, but I’m not discussing my love life.  Besides, you’d be bored to tears.”
    Bored, eh?  Why did he like that she hadn’t had much of a love life?  “Fine.  James then.”
    “We’re both at the same depart ment, and were collaborating on a project that overlapped.  Long nights comparing notes, and we eventually started dating—until he went and published my research under his name, save for a brief footnote.”  Those last words were spoken through a stiff jaw.
    “Was there no evidence to back up yer claim?”  There had to be a way she could prove the work was hers.
    “There would have been, except that he deleted my files from my laptop and school computer.  With our research overlapping, he had enough informatio n gathered to make a convincing argument.”  She took a deep breath that looked forced and then let it out slowly.
    “He really is a bastard.”  Iain shook his head, annoyed.  What sort of person would do that?  “That he’d go as far as wiping yer files from yer hard drives… And I’m assuming he left behind no clues that it’d been him.”
    “No.  Not that the board really looked too deep when one of their esteemed professors was involved .  He knew exactly what he was doing—likely from the start.”  She bit her lip and then took a long swig from her beer, quiet for a bit before talking again.  “I think that’s the worst part of it.  That he played me for a fool from the very beginning, and I was stupid enough to fall for it.”
    “Ye’re no fool, lass ; just trusting.  Ye thought he’d be a decent guy, when he’s nothing more than an arse.”  Anger bubbled up inside him, that James could make her second-guess herself, and that he’d treat her so poorly.  “Ye said he’s not capable of violence, and yet he’s obviously capable of deception and going through yer computer files.”
    “I know.  I just can’t think of him as violent.”
    “Well, I can.  He obviously cares for nothing but what will benefit him and him alone.  And how did he get access to yer office?  I can’t imagine ye’d leave yer door unlocked.”
    “What does it matter?”
    Annoyance crept into his voice.  “It matters because I need to know exactly how far he’ll go.  If he stole yer keys and had copies made, then that’s a wee bit different to finding yer door open—though not by much.  If he went to those lengths for a bloody research paper, then just think what he’d do to get his hands on a priceless piece like the Hope.”
    “You’re right.”  She closed her eyes, her brow furrowed with worry.  “And the worst part is, if it was him snooping around, then he probably saw all the paintings we’ve pulled out and will know we’re up to something.”
    “ Then our only option is to find the necklace before James has a chance to act.”

 
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
    Cat ignored her nerves as Iain introduced