Quinn: A Scottish Outlaw (Highland Outlaws Book 2) by Lily Baldwin Read Free Book Online

across the large, richly appointed room. She threw open the lid of a truck and then flung wide the doors of a large wardrobe and began tossing velvet and silk tunics into the trunk.
    He shook his head in amazement. “What are ye doing?”
    She whirled around. Confusion widening her swollen, red eyes. “I do not know.”
    “Take a deep breath,” he said. Then he reached into her wardrobe and grabbed a mantle. “This is all ye need.”
    She shook her head. “No. I need my son.”
    Quinn nearly dropped the mantle. “Yer son?” Bella had mentioned nothing about a child. “Where is he?”
    She crossed the room and opened a door, which led to the room next to hers. Inside a woman sat in a wooden chair with wide, unblinking eyes, a stiff back and her hands pressed over her ears.
    Without a word to the woman, Catarina rushed to the cradle and scooped a baby into her arms. “I am ready,” she said, turning to Quinn.
    Quinn raked his hand through his hair as he stared dumbfounded at a tiny baby only weeks old. How were they going to run with an infant? Pushing aside his shock and doubt, he turned to the woman. Her fear was palpable. He needed her help and quickly. “What is yer name?” he said.
    “E…Elizabeth,” she stammered in reply.
    “Elizabeth,” he said gently. “We need extra linens.”
    She jumped to her feet and opened a chest and took out a neat stack and handed them to Quinn.
    “Thank ye,” he said. Then he grabbed a blanket from the cradle and opened it up on Elizabeth’s narrow bed, laying the cloths in the center. “What’s in there,” he said to her, pointing to a cupboard.
    “My clothes and things,” Elizabeth said quickly.
    He nodded and swung open the door and grabbed the simplest kirtle, tunic and slippers in the lot, which he added to the pile in the middle of the blanket. Then he took the four corners of fabric and tied them together into a bundle.
    He led Elizabeth back to her chair and helped her sit. “If ye value yer life at all. Do not leave this room,” he said calmly.
    “Ye have my word,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
    Grabbing the bundle, he turned back to Catarina, who had remained silent, clutching her baby close. “Follow me.” He crossed her large chamber and cracked the door, peering out into the hallway.
    “’Tis empty,” he whispered, glancing back. “Just stay close to me.”
    “Where are we going?” she whispered.
    His eyes looked heavenward for patience, then he pulled the door closed. “We are escaping—with our lives I pray.”
    She swallowed and straightened her shoulders. “There is a hidden passage in the lord’s bedchamber.”
    A jolt of relief shot through him. “Lead on,” he said.
    He followed her to the opposite side of the room and opened a large door that led into a massive chamber. The fire already burned bright in the lord’s hearth and candles were lit along the mantle and tabletops. 
    She froze in the middle of the room, her eyes welling with fresh tears.
    Quinn grabbed her arms, looking her hard in the eye. “Yer husband has no wish for ye to mourn him at present.”
    She nodded and swiped at her eyes. “This way,” she said, walking toward a large tapestry. She pulled the heavy folds back, revealing a narrow door. “It winds down below the kitchens and comes out beyond the outer wall somewhere. Henry told me of its existence after James was born. Supposedly, no one else knows about it. He said I was to take James to safety if the keep were under siege.” Her voice dropped as she peered into the darkness.
    Quinn grabbed a lantern from the large mantle. “Tread carefully,” he said. “These stairs are narrow.”
    She glanced back with a regretful heart at the surrounding warmth and finery. Then, taking a deep breath, she stepped down into the bleak unknown.

Chapter Seven
    Catarina cradled James close. Stale, musky air filled her lungs. Still, she breathed it deeply and evenly, focusing on the rhythmic sound