The Curse of Clan Ross by L. L. Muir Read Free Book Online

last thing she wanted, she now felt the same about walking out the door.
    Loretta and Lorraine stood together now, arm in arm, and faced Laird Ross with that scary set of smiles that would forever give Jilly the chills. She almost pitied the man.
    “In exchange for allowing ye to leave, ladies, ye will be expected to give yer word that ye will not reveal what I have told ye here this night.”
    Silly man. He obviously wasn’t familiar with the smell of a Muir rat. If he were, he would have already called for help.

CHAPTER FIVE
    “Absolutely not. No. Absolutely no. Uh, uh.”
    Jilly did pity him. Surely Quinn was trying to sound commanding, but he was doing a better impression of a Monty Python player.
    “I’m afraid you have no choice, Laird Ross.”
    Lorraine dressed the poor fellow down like he was still in grade school, back in the day when a teacher could blister a kid’s butt and he’d be the one in trouble with his parents.  
    “Yes, sir. Why, even our Jillian here would spill your story to the American tabloids and then where would you be?” Loretta said with feigned concern.
    “Actually, if the story made it to our tabloids it would probably double his business,” Jilly felt her duty to point out.
    The denim-thighed Highlander did not look relieved.
    “I don’t think that’s what he’s worried about.” Lorraine gave him a knowing smile, which he returned with a glare. “Are you, Quinn?”
    “That’s ‘Mr. Ross’ to you, madam,” he ground out.
    Oh, he was wishing he’d called for help, all right. Jilly could see it in his eyes. She’d felt that way herself only moments ago, in the dark hallway when she’d realized she hadn’t been the first to be bested by the Muirs. It gave her and the handsome man something in common—members of The Victims of the Muirs Club, the VMC for short.
    She wondered if he considered her one of the instigators, but then, he trained his frown only on Lorraine and Loretta. He hardly noticed she was there.
    Lorraine finally looked at Jilly. “The Rosses have been telling this tale for centuries, dear. If word got out, they wouldn’t get credit for making up a good story—”
    “They’d be famous liars,” finished Loretta, now wearing a knowing look of her own.
    “Ye’d take the honor of Clan Ross and toss it to the dogs?  Spiteful women, indeed.”
    Lorraine and Loretta smiled on, unaffected.
    “Lead the way to the tomb, sir.” Lorraine offered her flashlight to the Scotsman who briskly stood, snatched the light from her hand and stomped from the hall.
    The Muir sisters followed in a hasty parade and Jilly was left with nothing but the smell of their perfume to lead her way.
    #  #  #
    Twenty minutes later, Jilly was pulled up into Isobelle Ross’s tomb—essentially a large stone jewelry box—and Jilly felt quite like Jillianna Jones as she pushed drapes of spider webs and dust aside to make space for herself. With the opening directly centered in the floor of the oblong structure, there was barely enough clearance for the four of them to stand without falling back through the hole.
    It surprised Jilly not to be in the throes of a panic attack in such cramped quarters. Perhaps it was the excitement of the moment, or the renewed hope that she may well be able to save the star-crossed lovers, that kept her from freaking out. If they did find remnants of a skeleton in there, however, all bets were off.
    “Ye’ll not be takin’ it out of this tomb, ladies.” His jaw was set as he stared at Lorraine over the one beam of light he shined on the ceiling.
    “Agreed,” said the sisters, in stereo.
    Jilly knew this was no time to request a history lesson, but she couldn’t help it. “Why did Isobelle not suffocate, Mr. Ross?” she asked.
    “The mortar and things have settled a bit since it was built, aye?  Sealed it a bit tighter than it was when the stones were set. Montgomery could only leave a crevice or two what with The Kirk’s men watchin’