Irish Crown

by Nashoda Rose

  He shook his head. “He was on the north side of the farm.”

  I slammed my fist into the side of the barn, and the wood splintered. “Jesus Christ. How the fuck did this happen?” But I knew how it happened. Curran had been patient and quiet for a week. He waited until Eva’s friend led him right to her.

  Vic’s cell vibrated and he tapped the screen and put it to his ear. “Deck.”

  We moved back inside where Charlotte still held Maddie, while Ally slowly rubbed the little girl’s back.

  “I need to talk to her, Charlotte,” I said. I didn’t like to question the kid when she was so shaken up, but I had no choice. Eva’s life was on the line. Seth had disappeared once before and I knew he’d do it again and take Eva with him. No way was I letting that happen.

  She nodded and slowly eased Maddie from her tight embrace. “Maddie, do you think you can tell Deaglan what happened?”

  She sniffled and peered at her mom. “Is Bucket okay?”

  Charlotte smoothed her hand over the top of her head. “Yeah, Bucket ran to the stable. He’s okay.”

  Vic had his back to me as he spoke to Deck. I couldn’t hear all of it, but I heard the word interrogate. That’s why Ernie left the sniper alive. For Vic to interrogate—his specialty. If the sniper knew where they were taking Eva, then Vic would get it out of him.

  Charlotte placed Maddie on her feet, but kept her arm around her waist.

  I crouched in front of the little girl and forced a smile. “You okay, Maddie? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

  She shook her head.

  “That’s good, hon.” I took my time, knowing I’d get more from her if she wasn’t scared. “Did they hurt your Aunt Eva?”

  She glanced at her mom, who half-smiled reassuringly before she turned back to me. “She went with the bad men.”

  My heart clenched. “Yeah.” I inhaled a deep, ragged breath. “Did she go through there?” I pointed to the back of the stable. She nodded. “How many bad men were with her?”

  She pursed her quivering lips together. “Two. He called her Evan…glin.” Evangeline. Fuck. Curran came here himself.

  “Okay.” I squeezed her shoulder. “That’s really helpful.” I stood just as Vic pocketed his cell. “Sniper?”

  Vic nodded.

  I peered down at Maddie. “Why don’t you see if your mom can heat up the dog pancakes I made you?”

  I glanced at Charlotte and she nodded. “Come on, care bear. Let’s find Bucket and see if he wants to share your pancake.”

  She scrunched her nose. “What about Aunt Eva?”

  I lightly placed my hand on her head. “I’m going to find her, hon. I promise.”

  Maddie and Charlotte left, but Ally stayed, her eyes shifting between me and Vic. “You’ll get her back, right? You’ll find her?” She choked on a sob. “You saw what he’s capable of. What he will do to her.”

  I clenched my jaw as my stomach churned. I hadn’t. I never looked at the photos because I knew Eva didn’t want me to.

  “We’ll find her,” Vic answered for me. “Stay in the house. We need to use the barn for a while. Do not come out here. Understand?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  I clenched my jaw; hands curling into fists as I watched Ally walk out of the barn.

  Only then did I finally lose it.

  A tidal wave of rage and devastation ripped through me as if I was slowly being pulled through a meat grinder.

  I picked up an old antique chair and threw it. The spindled legs broke off as it hit the side of the barn and fell in to a pile of broken pieces on the floor.

  Eva. “Fuck,” a loud roar escaped my raw throat.

  “Inside.” A hand shoved me in the back, thrusting me forward. Blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back, I tripped over a ledge and landed hard on my knees. A loud, hollow vibration echoed in the room.

  “Get comfortable. You’re gonna be here a while,” Curran’s man said.

  My body jerked at the whoosh then loud clang as if he slammed a heavy metal door.

  A muffled sound escaped my mouth. Muffled because a piece of duct tape covered it. I inhaled through my nose and instantly gagged on the smell of urine and bleach. If I throw up, I’ll suffocate on my own vomit.

  I fell back onto my butt and pulled my knees to my chest. I rubbed at the blindfold using my knee. It wasn’t tight like the coarse ropes cutting into my wrists, and after a few minutes I managed to push it off my head.

  The relief didn’t last when I realized I was just as blinded with it off. My prison was pitch dark, except for a hairline fracture of light where the man had sealed the door shut.

  I shuffled on my butt like a caterpillar the few feet toward it. Pressing my nose to the crack, I inhaled several breaths before trying to peer outside.

  Nothing. I couldn’t see anything except sunlight. But that meant I wasn’t in a building.

  I leaned against the door, and slowly, my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  It was only about eight feet wide and equally as tall. I couldn’t see the far end, but the walls were metal. The ceiling was metal. The door was metal.

  That’s when panic slammed into me, and my stomach dropped. I swallowed several times to keep the threatening bile from rising.

  I was in a shipping container. They’d locked me in a shipping container.

  I screamed. Or at least tried to scream, but the sound was a low, muffled moan. Not that it stopped me. I screamed and banged my body against the heavy metal door.

  Logically, I knew it wouldn’t do any good, but logic had spiraled into a dark murky hole.

  I continually thrust my body against the side of the container and screamed until my throat was so raw it no longer emitted any sound.

  Suffocating heat blanketed my body, and sweat dripped down the side of my face. My chest heaved as I sucked in deep breaths through my nose before I finally collapsed to the hard, unforgiving floor.

  Where was I? Was the container on a ship? Or maybe it was an abandoned container in the middle of a field somewhere? God, I could be anywhere. The only thing I knew was we’d been in the car for several hours before they locked me in here.

  I drew my knees up to my chest and laid my forehead on them. My arms were cramped and my fingers numb as I sat with my back against the door and waited. I didn’t know what I waited for. Death? Did he plan to leave me here to die a slow agonizing death?

  Why? Why would Curran do this? Why didn’t he just kill me? What did he want? Revenge for putting him in jail? Or was he using me to lure Deaglan into a trap?

  Deaglan. God, Deaglan. I’d tried not to think of him, but as the hours passed, sitting alone in the darkness, I couldn’t stop it.

  He’d done everything to protect me. Everything.

  He carried so much guilt over being unable to protect his mom, and now… now he’d blame himself for me being taken.

  I sucked in a gulp of air through my nostrils as I swallowed back the threatening tears. I wouldn’t cry. I refused to cry. I swore Curran would never make me cry again.

  I’d fight. And I’d survive. No matter what he did to me, I’d never give up.

  I stiffened at the sound of a clink of the latch lifting on the door. I pressed my back against the wall and pushed upward to scramble to my feet.

  A scattering of pins and needles erupted in my legs and butt from sitting huddled in a ball for so long

  The rusted hinges creaked as the door opened. The sunlight blinded me and I squinted against it. There was a sliver of hope that it was Deaglan. That he’d found me.

  But that hope was crushed as my eyes adjusted to the light. My blood curdled and stomach coiled.

  “Shall we get reacquainted, my love?”

  “Where did he take her?” I ground out.

  Blood dripped from his broken nose and spilled onto his shirt. “Please, I don’t know anything.”

  “Bullshit.” I ploughed my fist into his jaw and sent him flying through the air and cra
shing into a pile of old dusty furniture.

  I strode toward him, my control on edge. Rage tempting me to crack. Daring me to lose all the control and sanity I’d gained back.

  Twenty-two minutes we’d interrogated this asshole and he refused to talk. But his shifting eyes, quick breaths, and jumpiness told me he was near to breaking.

  I leaned over and grabbed the guy by his black tee and yanked him from the rubble.

  Sweat dripped from the sniper’s pulsing temples. His beady blue eyes jerked from me to Vic and back again.

  We didn’t tie him up. I wanted to hit the bastard when he had the chance to hit me back. And he’d tried. For the first ten minutes, he’d fought me, but not any longer. Now he was begging me to stop.

  I stepped closer to him and heard the clang of his teeth as he clenched his jaw, as if bracing for a hit again. “Did your boss tell you what I used to do?” The sniper rapidly blinked. “Ever hear of the death cages, asshole?”

  He swallowed and jerked his head side to side.

  My brows lifted. “No? It’s a fight to the death.” He licked the blood from his upper lip that had dripped from his nose. “Slow. Painful. Agonizing, really. And I was exceptional at killing my opponents with my bare hands. I enjoyed dragging it out until my opponent begged me for mercy.” I paused, letting him digest the idea. I nodded to Vic. “But if you don’t beg, I’ll let Vic have you.”

  The sniper’s eyes briefly flickered to Vic, who stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest while leaning against a wood post in the barn.

  “Vic’s specialty is extracting information. I’m pretty sure I don’t have to give you details as to what that means?”

  I lifted my brows, and the sniper spoke for the first time. “No.”

  The guy looked barely twenty, which was to our advantage. The younger they were, the easier it was to get them to give us the information we needed. His loyalty was not yet cemented to Curran, or as he likely knew him, Seth.

  “Where are they taking her?”

  The sniper sniffed and his wide nostrils flared. His brows twitched, likely in pain from his shattered nose. He’d have a hell of a lot more shattered if I didn’t get answers.

  His gaze flicked again to Vic before he said, “He’ll cut me up alive and sell me for parts.”

  “And what makes you think I’ll be any nicer?”

  He swallowed, and his head dropped. “Seth doesn’t trust anyone. I swear, he doesn’t tells us shit… but I heard he’s leaving.”

  “No shit, asshole. Where’s he going?”

  He shook his head. “I swear, I don’t know. Please.”

  I nodded to Vic, and he slowly walked toward us.

  His eyes widened and body trembled. “His cargo ship. I don’t know if that’s where he’ll take her, but containers were being loaded today.” My blood ran cold. “He puts…. he puts people in them.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Vic and he already had his cell out and to his ear. “Shipping yard. Port Authority. He’s leaving on the cargo ship.”

  “What else?” I demanded.

  “Yellow. He usually puts them in the yellow containers.”

  I turned and stormed out of the barn.

  My breath locked in my throat as Curran stepped inside the container. My eyes shifted to the open doorway. To the possibility of freedom, but it was quickly eradicated when my eyes hit the two men standing guard outside.

  I noticed the other containers, which meant I wasn’t in the middle of a field somewhere. I could make a run for it. But a bullet was far faster than my trembling legs, and with my hands tied behind my back, it was unlikely I’d make it past Curran.

  He approached me and I shifted back a step.

  He scowled, brows lowering over his eyes. He moved quickly, snagging my arm before I could back up any farther.

  He reached out to touch my face and I jerked my head away from him. “Don’t be stupid,” he growled, fingers biting into my arm.

  My chest heaved and the duct tape over my mouth bubbled in and out.

  He reached for my face again, and this time I stayed still. His fingers picked at the edge of the tape on my right cheek, then he yanked it off so fast it felt as if I had been slapped in the face with a wet rag.

  I grit my teeth to swallow the hiss of pain.

  Curran released me. “My apologies for the rather crude accommodations.”

  I spit in his face.

  The saliva slid down his cheek, then dripped off the edge of his jaw. He clucked his tongue and shook his head as he used his thumb to wipe it away.

  “I should’ve known you wouldn’t behave.” His voice was calm and smooth, yet underneath it was fingernails scratching a chalkboard.

  “This is me behaving,” I retorted. I was well aware of what this man was capable of, but there wasn’t a chance I’d cower in front of him again. Not now. Not ever.

  A slow grin formed. “You’re going to need that strength where you’re going.” I kept my face expressionless, but I bit the insides of my cheeks so hard I tasted iron. “But first, we have things to discuss.”

  Hiding my fear failed as my stomach clenched and my eyes widened. I wasn’t sure what he meant exactly, but it was the spark in his eyes that had my insides curdling.

  He chuckled. Then, like a snake lashing out, he grabbed the back of my head and his fingers closed in the strands of my hair. He jerked, cranking my neck back.

  This time I couldn’t stop the gasp of pain.

  “Do I have your full attention?”

  “Yes,” I hissed.

  He jerked again, and I bit my tongue to stop the threatening scream. “Drop the attitude,” he barked.

  “You’re a fucking coward. A pathetic, repulsive monster and Deaglan and his friends are going to hunt you down like an animal and kill you.”

  He nodded. “Yes, they’ve caused me a few difficulties, but I’m a very patient man. Evangeline. Very patient. I could’ve taken you a year ago, but I was waiting until I had my business back up and running. You fucking Deaglan Kane forced me to change plans. Do you know he is the reason I had to change my identity? Relentless bastard. You fucking him really screwed things up, Evangeline. And now I have to reinvent myself again. But, at least I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that he’ll never have you.”

  I fought. I couldn’t help it. My insides exploded into a war of emotions. Anger. Fear. Devastation. Strands of hair ripped from my scalp, and I barely noticed as I tore at the bonds on my wrists and flailed against his vicious hold.

  I wanted to hurt him. Kill him. .

  His grip on my hair released, and his palm wailed across my cheek so hard it sent me crashing to the unforgiving floor on my side.

  I lay stunned for a second as my head throbbed and my cheek stung.

  Black suit pants appeared in front of me, and I flung my hair out of my face as I sat up to face him.

  He crouched, shaking his head. “It seems we’ve been here before, haven’t we? Now, I’ve asked you politely to behave. I won’t again.” He propped his arms on his thighs, hands clasped between them. “I’d like to be able to have a polite conversation with you, Evangeline. Is that too much to ask?”

  I glared, refusing to say anything because what came out of my mouth wasn’t going to be polite.

  “It was unfortunate you parted your creamy white thighs for that man. I may have kept you for myself.”

  Despite knowing it was better to stay silent, the words tumbled out. “You can kill me. Rape me. Torture me, but I will never regret being with him.”

  His fist snapped out and punched me in the jaw. A jarring vibration tore through my head as the impact sent me crashing to my chest on the floor again.

  “Please be polite, Evangeline,” he said.

  Blood pooled in my mouth and I spat onto the floor. I sat up again, refusing to cower in front of this monster.

  “I had no intention of selling you. Even after you had me thrown in prison. I don’t normally lose control
like I did with you, and it was a mistake. A mistake that almost ruined me.”

  Shivers raked my body.

  He lowered his voice, tipping closer. “I had plans for us, dearest Evangeline.” He reached in his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a square, blue velvet box.

  My lips parts and eyes widened.

  “You see, we were going to be married.” God, he was delusional if he thought I’d ever marry him. He opened the box and held it in front of me. Inside was a stunning pear-shaped diamond with a white gold ring. “I had this made for you. Fourteen-karat white gold and a four-carat diamond.”

  I jerked when he snapped the velvet box closed.

  “You would’ve made me a fine wife, Evangeline.” He paused, his eyes roaming the length of me. “But you couldn’t learn to behave.”

  “I’d rather be sold to the highest bidder than ever be your wife,” I spat.

  He nodded. “Ah, yes, there is that option. But now that I have you again, I haven’t decided yet.” His weight shifted as he straightened. “We will see once we arrive at our destination. That’s if you survive the trip. Unfortunately, many don’t. It’s far, and with the sweltering heat in here…” he ran the tips of his fingers down the wall. “It’s an excruciating journey. Or, so I’m told.”

  “He’s going to kill you,” I grit out.

  He laughed. “Deaglan Kane. Yes. I have no doubt he will spend his life trying to find you.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. He won’t stop until he finds you. No matter what your name is.”

  It’s what Deaglan does. He finds people.

  He’ll find Curran. It may be hours, days, months, or years. But one day he’ll find him.

  And I had no doubt he’d kill him.

  There was a good possibility I’d die in this tin can, but I’d have some satisfaction knowing that one day Deaglan would find Curran and end him.

  Deaglan was relentless, stubborn, and determined. He wasn’t a man to give up. Curran knew that and it was why he’d changed his identity once already.

  “We’ll see. Where we’re going has never been breached. Not once. Even I don’t know where it’s located yet. They tell me where to send their merchandise, and then they disappear.” His voice lowered. “You, Evangeline, will disappear.”