Sound asleep, Eoin felt a tug on his arm. He opened his eyes to see his year-old daughter looking at him.
“Buzz,” she said.
“Buzz?”
“Buzz,” she pointed to his phone.
She climbed over him and onto the bed. He held up the covers and she scooted under them.
“Maeve, me love,” he rolled over. “Did you come in here to tell me about the phone?”
Her large blue eyes blinked at him. He gave her his pillow.
“Eoin?” his wife, Delilah, looked up from her pillow.
“Buzz,” Maeve repeated.
“My phone is ringing.”
“You should answer it,” Delilah crossed her eyes and he smiled.
He grabbed his cell phone and puzzled at the number.
“Yeah?” Eoin asked.
“It happened,” a young boy’s voice came over the phone.
“Hector James?” Eoin asked.
“On my ninja phone,” Hector James said. “I got my blue taser from the drawer.”
“Good,” Eoin said. “You’ll be careful.”
“I will,” Hector James said. “And I get to zap her, right?”
“You do,” Eoin said.
“Okay,” Hector James said. “I’m not super scared, but . . . you’ll come like you promised.”
“I’m on my way,” Eoin said.
He got out of bed and began throwing on his clothes.
“What is it?” Delilah, his wife, asked.
His eyes fixed on his daughter, he said, “It’s what we talked about.”
“Should I call 911?” Delilah asked.
“Let me get there first,” Eoin said. “We don’t know what . . .”
Panic gripped him. For the briefest moment, his mind went to the moment his father was dragged from the house and beaten to death on their stoop. He shook the memory from his head.
“You’re going to be okay, right?” Delilah asked.
She got out of bed and hugged him tight.
“If you don’t hear from me in a half hour, call everyone you can think of,” Eoin said. “Start with emergency services and . . . and I . . . and I . . . It’s been really great, all of this.”
He kissed the back of her hand.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
She gave him a puzzled look.
“I couldn’t love you more,” he said.
Eoin kissed her forehead and left the room. He was almost out the door when he heard her yell, “See you in a bit!”
He closed his eyes and hoped that was true.
He jogged down the stairwell from their apartment above the bakery to the street. He zipped into the darkened storefront for a few supplies and then jumped in his car. Somehow, and he would never know how, he met only green lights on his journey across Denver. He pulled up in front of the rooming house in less than fifteen minutes.
He saw Samantha first. He kneeled down and rolled her over. She’d broken open her chin and possibly lost a couple of teeth in her fall. But she was breathing. He dug in his pocket for the tiny bottle of pure bergamot. He put the bottle under her nose.
“Earl Grey tea,” he said into her ear.
Nothing happened.
“Come on Sami, love,” Eoin said. He waved his hand from the bottle to her nose. “Earl Grey tea.”
“Earl Grey tea,” Samantha said.
Her lips moved, but her eyes didn’t open.
“Sami, you have to do better than that,” Eoin said. “Come on back, love. For Art. For your mum. For Alex . . .”
“For tea,” Samantha said and opened her eyes. “Did it happen?”
“I’m afraid so,” Eoin said.
“Art!” Samantha hopped to standing, and then weaved. “Don’t feel great.”
She grabbed her chin. She pulled it away to look at the blood.
“Hurts,” she said through swelling lips.
“You’ve busted your chin,” Eoin said.
“Oh my God, Art!” Samantha said.
“Slowly,” Eoin grabbed her arm. They walked to where Art’s body lay. “Used the new hockey stick. Good girl.”
He dropped to Raz.
“He’s alive,” Eoin looked up at the sky. “Oh thank you, Lord. He’s alive.”
The powerful man lay in a fetal position on his right side. Eoin looked at the wound. His head was bruised, but not bleeding. She’d smacked him with the fat side of the hockey stick blade and not the edge as she was instructed. He only hoped that might have protected him from brain damage.
“Hang in there buddy,” Eoin said in Raz’s ear. “Help’s on the way.”
Eoin jumped up and grabbed Samantha’s arm. Dazed, she was staring at the ground. Eoin leaned over to get right next to her face. He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a little shake.
“You have to wake up!” Eoin said in an intense whisper. “I cannot do this alone. Wake up! I need that tough lawyer, the Navy officer, the . . .”
A spasm wrenched through Samantha’s body. Her head whipped back. If Eoin hadn’t been holding her arm, she would have fallen back. She closed her eyes.
“I love Earl Grey tea,” Samantha lisped.
When she looked up at Eoin, she was present.
“Get Colin,” Eoin ordered. “Now!”
Samantha nodded and ran to Colin’s front door. Eoin watched her for a second, before going to the basement door. He saw Alex’s body crumpled on the floor outside her office. Hector James was standing by her. Eoin got out his keys.
“Fuck’s sake! That God damned woman changed the locks,” Eoin swore.
“Eoin?” Hector James’s voice came from the other side of the door.
Eoin grimaced at himself for swearing in front of him. He’d never hear the end of it from Cian.
“I’m here, son,” Eoin said. He pressed his face against the glass, and Hector James giggled.
“I can’t let you in,” Hector James said.
“I see that,” Eoin said. “Skanger forgot that I’m a Mac Kinney.”
Eoin pushed Raz’s feet out of the way and kneeled down at the door. He pulled off his gloves and began working on the locks with his pick.
“The skag was a nun when I picked up this habit,” Eoin said to himself.
He got through the lock on the security door with ease. He pulled the door open and looked at the inner door. Someone had taken a propane torch to this lock. Eoin swore. She probably did this to every door. He looked at the door hinges. They had originally been set by the CIA security team. The glass was bullet proof and inset. That glass was not going to be broken. He leaned back on his heels to think.
“What do you need?” Colin asked. He was kneeling near Raz’s head. Samantha threw a heavy wool blanket over Raz’s body.
“No idea,” Eoin said. “The lock is jammed. The door was set by the CIA. I . . . Fuck!”
Eoin shook the door.
“It’s steel,” Colin said. “Listen I’d love to help, but . . .”
Colin gestured down at Raz. Eoin nodded.
“No, no, that’s fine,” Eoin said. “I probably have something in the back of the car.”
Eoin ran to his SUV. He fumbled with his keys before opening the back. A tank of liquid nitrogen sat at a jaunty angle beside the fresh blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and chocolate chips he’d planned to put in the ice cream they were bringing for Thanksgiving. Eoin laughed.
“Thank you Lord,” Eoin said.
He made the sign of the cross. More to comfort himself than anything else, he began saying the rosary in Irish Gaelic.
“Creidim i nDia, an tAthair uilechumhachtach, cruthaitheoir neimhe agus talún . . .”
He grabbed the tank of liquid nitrogen and set it on the ground.
“Agus in Íosa Críost, a aon Mhacsan, ár Tiarna, a ghabhadh ón Spiorad Naomh, a rugadh ó Mhuire Ógh . . .”
Pushing the ice cream supplies out of the way, he dug out the car jack.
“A d'fhulaing páis faoi Phointius Píoláit
, a céasadh ar chrois, a fuair bás agus a adhlacadh . . .”
He stuck the car jack into the back of his pants and picked up the liquid nitrogen tank.
“A chuaigh síos go hIfreann, a d'éirigh an treas lá ó mhairbh, a chuaigh suas ar neamh, atá ina shuí ar dheis Dé . . .”
He walked back to the door as fast as his heavy load would let him.
“An tAthair uilechumhachtach, as sin tiocfaidh sé chun, Breithiúnas a thabhairt ar bheo agus ar mhairbh . . .”
Eoin kneeled down to look at the door. He laughed.
“Creidim sa Spiorad Naomh, sa Naomh-Eaglais chaitliceach . . .”
Colin said something and Eoin looked over his shoulder. Raz’s eyes were open.
“You’d better back up,” Eoin said. “
“Sami?” Colin took one side of Raz and Samantha took the other side. They slid Raz toward the gate and away from the door.
“I gcomaoin na naomh . . .”
Eoin sprayed a slow line of liquid nitrogen. He counted carefully – ten seconds in a spot, move, ten seconds, move.
“I maithiúnas na bpeacaí, in aiséirí na colainne . . .”
He felt movement near him, and Samantha was holding the tubing. Very slowly, they outlined a box in the metal of the door.
“What are you saying?” Samantha held her jaw.
“Rosary,” Eoin said.
“Where are you?” Samantha’s voice was slurred.
“Agus sa bheatha shíoraí. Áméin,” Eoin said. “Just finished the Apostle’s Creed. Ready? Cover your eyes.”
She turned her back, and Eoin looked away. He tapped the tire iron to the door. Tap, tap, tap.
“Our Father in my head,” Eoin said.
Samantha nodded. She was saying the prayer in her head too.
Eoin fell backward onto the cold sidewalk. He raised his knees. With as much force as he could muster, he slammed his feet into the square. The first layer of steel cracked and broke inward.
“One down,” Eoin said.
“Eoin?” There was a little knock. Hector James’s voice came from the other side of the door. “She’s waking up.”
“You know what to do,” Eoin said as he sprayed a line of liquid nitrogen on the diagonal bar in the center of the secure door. “Use it again.”
They heard another pair of feet run down the stairs. Eoin tapped at the inner bar and it cracked.
“What are you doing?” Hermes’s voice came through the door. “Uh oh.”
Eoin sprayed another line of liquid nitrogen around the bottom of the diagonal bar.
“Hermes is here,” Hector James said.
Eoin tapped the bottom line of liquid nitrogen. Samantha grabbed it and yanked on it. The bar broke.
“You have to get back from the door,” Eoin said. He started to spray the inner steel panel of the door.
“Ok,” Hector James said. “Hermes got his taser.”
“Good,” Eoin said. The liquid nitrogen tank sputtered. “Oh Lord, please don’t let this run out.”
“It’s the moisture,” Colin pointed to the nozzle. Snow and ice had crusted on the tip.
“Crap,” Eoin tapped the nozzle on the ground. When most of the ice had broken off, he sprayed another box in the steel. He heard a sound.
“Can you look?” Eoin asked.
Samantha got up to look through the window.
“Hermes is jumping up and down,” Samantha said.
“It’s the tasers,” Eoin lay back again. He hit the panel with his feet, and it moved. “Alex gave those to them. They’ve not used them on other people before.”
He kicked the panel again, and it broke free. He took off his scarf and covered the jagged edges of the metal opening. Without hesitation, he pushed himself through the hole. He got stuck around the middle.
“Fuck’s sake!” he swore. “You’re a Mac Kinney. Get yourself through the fucking door.”
He felt Samantha pushing on his behind. He pulled with his arms until he was through the hole. He ran down the stairs. After their big celebration, the boys looked at him with wide, frightened eyes.
Alex was crumpled in the doorway. She looked as if she had been tossed there by a brutal wind. He bent down. She was breathing. Dried blood marked where the knife had gone right through her shirt and body armor. There was a small puddle of blood around her, but it looked like the anticoagulant must have done the trick.
“Is she alive?” Samantha appeared at his side.
“How . . . ?” Eoin asked.
“I’m smaller than you,” Samantha said.
Eoin nodded.
“She’s alive, but just barely,” Eoin said. “I need to check Neev and look for Steven, Wyatt, and Max.”
“I’ll stay with Alex,” Samantha said. “But you’ll have to unlock the door so that Colin can get in.”
“Won’t do us any good if any one of these mind controls goes off the rails,” Eoin said. “Can you find Pershing? He’s down here somewhere.”
Samantha nodded and ran into the basement. He sent a worried look in her direction and went to check Neev. The boys had tasered his sister-in-law into unconsciousness. Eoin spied Alex’s handgun just under her armoire. He grabbed it, checked that the safety was on, and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Is she going to be all right?” Hermes asked.
“I believe so,” Eoin checked her pulse. “Yes, she’ll be fine. Now, I need you to do me a really big favor.”
Eoin opened the bottom drawer to Alex’s armoire and took out a pair of handcuffs. He cuffed Neev’s hands behind her back.
“What can we do?” Hector James asked.
“Go find Mr. Wyatt and Mr. Max,” Eoin said. “Just find them.”
“Should we bring . . . ?” Hermes held up his green taser.
“Will you taser your brother?” Eoin asked.
Hermes shook his head.
“Hector James?”
Hector James shook his head.
“Then go,” Eoin said. “But remember . . .”
“Ninja style,” the boys yelled back from the stairs.
“He’s in the laundry,” Samantha ran toward Eoin from the laundry room. “There’s a lot of blood. Alex must have been stabbed there.”
Eoin ran with her to the laundry. Steve Pershing lay where he fell.
“That’s gonna make a nasty bruise,” Eoin said.
He ruffled through his pockets until he came up with a small packet of coffee beans.
“Help me?” Eoin asked Samantha.
She helped him hold up Steve’s head. Eoin opened the pack of coffee beans under Steve’s nose and waited. Eoin moved the coffee back and forth in front of his nose.
“If I open my eyes, I’ll be home,” Steve whispered. “If I open my eyes, I’ll be home. If I open my eyes, I’ll be home.”
“If you open your eyes, you’ll be in Alex’s home,” Eoin said.
Panicked, Steve opened his eyes. He tried to get up, but Samantha held him down.
“Don’t get up,” Eoin said.
“Did I . . . ?” Steve’s eyes welled with tears.
“You did,” Eoin said.
Steve tried to get up again, but Samantha held him down.
“I need to get the door,” Eoin said. “Colin’s outside.”
“What happened?” Steve asked.
“Hector James must have had a nightmare,” Eoin said. “He was . . . brilliant.”
“Oh, thank God,” Steve lay back.
“You didn’t kill her, sir,” Eoin said. “That’s more than any man I’ve ever known. You should be proud. Samantha?”
“I’ll stay,” Samantha’s speech was getting worse as her mouth swelled.
Eoin ran out of the laundry room. He saw a tall, thin man leaning over Alex. The man wore a black hoodie and thick black winter exercise tights. He was breathing hard. Eoin crept up to the man. Eoin had never fired a handgun before, but he would do it to save Alex. He took the handgun out of his pocket.
“I know you’re th
ere,” the man said. “Try not to shoot yourself.”
“I’m going to shoot you,” Eoin said.
The man turned. He grinned at Eoin and went back to cutting through Alex’s T-shirt. He pressed the wound.
“Michael Junior,” Eoin said. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. How’d you get in?”
“I’m kind of a skinny guy,” MJ said. “How did you get through?”
“Hey, I’m not Cian,” Eoin smiled.
“What’s the report?” MJ asked.
“Pershing’s in the laundry,” Eoin said. “Looks like he fought with Alex. Neev’s in the office. The boys tasered her a couple times. I put the handcuffs on.”
“Max? Wyatt?” MJ asked.
“I sent the boys to find them,” Eoin said.
“Troy?”
“Hector James said that Neev drugged him,” Eoin said. “He thought his father was alive, but he couldn’t wake him.”
“Do you know where he is?” MJ asked.
“Chair upstairs,” Eoin said. “I need to . . .”
Eoin pointed to the door.
“Go ahead,” MJ said as he set up an IV on Alex.
Eoin jogged up the half-flight and kneeled down. He had no idea if he’d be able to turn the lock on this side with it melted on the other side.
He wasn’t able to. He leaned through the hole.
“It’s a no go,” Eoin said to Colin.
“It’s all right,” Colin said. “The Feebs are here. They’ve called for a hydraulic cutter.”
Eoin nodded.
“Eoin!” the boys called him from inside the house.
“You going up?” MJ said from the basement.
“I am,” Eoin said.
“Here.” MJ threw him a couple packets of sleeping salts. “If those don’t work, slap him between the shoulder blades. If he’s not breathing, call for me. I’ll hear you.”
Eoin ran up the stairs to the first floor. He turned the corner and ran to the dining room. The boys were standing around their father. Troy seemed asleep in his reclining chair.
“Is he dead?” Hermes asked.
“No,” Hector James said. “He’s not dead. Look. You can see his heart beat right here.”
Hector James pointed to Troy’s neck and Hermes leaned closer to look.
“I called him and he hasn’t moved at all,” Hermes said. “My brother shook him.”
“He’s drugged,” Hector James said.
“He looks like Mommy did when . . . ,” Hermes nodded.
In the Grey Page 30