Last Chance (Second Chance Book 3)

by Michelle St. James

  Her mom wiped her free hand on her jeans. “For what?”

  Kate took a deep breath. “For being so hard on you about… everything. Neil and Beth and everything that happened all those years ago, the way you kept it all a secret.” She shook her head. “Turns out, it’s actually kind of hard to give everything to someone.”

  Her mom studied her face. “Recent experience?”

  “You could say that.” Kate hesitated. “It must have been hard for you, giving up so much to stay home, be a mother to us, be a wife to someone like Dad.”

  “Hard isn’t the word I would use.” Her mom wiped the sweat from her brow and took another drink of iced tea. “The choices were mine to make, and I made them. Your father could never have been with a career woman. His own career was too all-encompassing. There wouldn’t have been room for anything else. I knew that going in.”

  “Wasn’t there anything else you wanted?” Kate asked.

  Her mom’s laugh was rueful. “There are always things to want. The world will deliver us an endless supply of dissatisfaction if we let it. I chose you and Aiden and Beth. I chose your dad, who I loved with all my heart.”

  “Then why…?”

  “Did I cheat?” her mom finished.

  Kate nodded.

  “I don’t have an excuse. Not an original one anyway. Your dad was gone a lot. He was preoccupied. I was here with you kids day after day. I got lonely. I got bored. Neil was almost like a facsimile of your dad, except Neil was always around. Even then, when he was still working at WMG, he didn’t put in the hours your dad did.”

  “A cheap facsimile,” Kate said bitterly.

  “I don’t disagree, but humans have never been very good at reasoning through our needs, have we?”

  “Dad was.”

  “Well, that’s because he was terrified,” her mom said.

  Kate did a double take. It was impossible to imagine her dad scared of anything. “Dad? Terrified of what?”

  “Of being wrong, taking a chance with something that really mattered.”

  “But… he took chances all the time. WMG was one giant chance,” Kate said.

  Her mom waved away the statement. “That was just money. Your dad never cared about money.” Kate couldn’t argue the point. Even with her limited knowledge about what went on inside her dad’s head, she’d always known WMG was never about that. “He was scared of the big stuff, the irreplaceable stuff.”

  “Like what?” Kate asked.

  “Like giving too much, getting hurt.” Her mom met her gaze. “Sound familiar?”

  Kate tore at the grass. “So you’re saying it’s DNA.”

  “I have no idea, but I know your dad held himself apart from me for a long time. It’s not an excuse. I cheated, and I had to live with that. But putting distance between us didn’t stop him from getting hurt in the end anyway.”

  “Was Dad different… after? Was it easier for him to let you in then?” Kate almost didn’t want to hear the answer. If it wasn’t and he never changed, that meant there wasn’t much hope for her. And if it was… well, Kate didn’t want to believe it would take something as catastrophic as an affair to get her to fully surrender to her feelings for Declan.

  “Your dad was who he was until the day he died,” her mom said. “But I loved him. We worked together — he tried to open up, I tried to accept him the way he was, to let it be enough.” Her mom set the half empty glass of iced tea down on the grass and pulled on her gardening gloves. “Anyway, I appreciate the apology, but I forgave myself for my mistakes a long time ago, Katie. I hope you can too.”

  16

  “So how does it feel to be an almost-married man?” Ronan asked from across the table in the courtyard.

  Aiden wiped his mouth on his napkin. “It feels good other than the nonstop stress of the wedding.”

  They were eating dinner outside, the big table crowded with Murphys and Walshes — including Beth — even though they’d bought a new, longer table the year before. It was a sign of things to come. There would be another month of dinners in the courtyard and then their Saturday get-togethers would have to move indoors for winter.

  The table groaned with food: the burgers and barbecue chicken Nick had cooked on the grill, corn on the cob, crab legs with lemon and melted butter, and Kate’s famous lobster salad. They’d invited Annie Walsh and Thomas Murphy, the patriarch of the Murphy clan, but both had begged off, citing other plans. Declan couldn’t help wondering if Kate’s mom just wanted her house to herself for a while.

  “I thought you hired a wedding planner,” Alexa asked Aiden. “That really good one that was featured in the Globe.”

  “I loved that feature!” Elise said, tucking a strand of long blond hair behind her ear. “The pictures were dreamy.”

  Declan was happy to see Elise’s eyes take on the shine of excitement. She’d been in therapy ever since MIS had rescued her from Manifest, and while she seemed okay most of the time, working at a boutique downtown and attending night classes, Declan wondered if she was really okay.

  She and Nick had become close, but Nick never talked about his private conversations with Elise. That was the thing about Nick: he had a stick up his ass when it came to following the rules, but it had worked for Declan as often as it worked against him so he couldn’t really complain.

  If he needed to tell someone a secret, Nick was at the top of the list.

  Aiden laughed. “Oh, we hired a wedding planner, but apparently that doesn’t mean you don’t have to make a million decisions.”

  “Isn’t it fun though?” Julia asked. “I mean, stressful for sure, I remember that part, but kind of fun too?”

  “It has been,” Aiden said, “but with Miguel gone, I’m drowning in musical options and seating plans. He’s helping from afar, but it’s not the same.”

  “Wedding planning by video conference doesn’t sound as fun,” Alexa said. “But I’m excited to see how it all turns out. Are you nervous?”

  Aiden grinned. “Not even a little.”

  It was a happy topic of conversation. Aiden and Miguel were in love and getting married, starting their lives together. But all Declan could think about was the fact that Connor Ferguson was out there, ticking names off his list of loose ends. Beth had done his dirty work for him with Neil, but Connor had undoubtedly been behind the murder of Jimmy Ryan.

  Who else was on his list? Declan had to think Beth was at the top, one reason he’d been worried about Beth moving into the big house with Kate and Griff. It wasn’t something he could say — hey, do you think your sister could stay somewhere else so if someone tries to kill her you’re not caught in the crossfire? — but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about it.

  Did Kate rank on Ferguson’s list? How about Griffin? Or Aiden? Declan looked around the table. It stood to reason he, Ronan, and Nick might be targets. They’d been nosing around Neil’s plans for WMG for over a year.

  But was Alexa on the list because of her relationship with Nick and her work at MIS? What about Julia and John Thomas? Was Ferguson cold-blooded enough to come for the whole family?

  He thought about the firebomb that had been thrown through the window when they’d gone after Frederick Walker, the man who’d hit Alexa in the car accident that had almost killed her, the man whose father had paid off key people in the Boston Police Department to close the investigation.

  They’d amped up the house’s security system after that, but the Molotov cocktail had been a warning. Declan knew a security system was no match for an enemy who really wanted you dead. They couldn’t afford to think any one of them was safe until Ferguson was out of the picture.

  Ronan had posted two men across the street from the house as a precaution — the best they could do given the fact that Julia and Alexa refused to have armed guards in the house — but there were other ways in if someone really wanted in.

  “Can I have cookies now?” Griffin asked, his face smeared with barbecue sauce.

  “Coo
kies?” Kate feigned confusion, her eyes scanning the empty plates and platters on the table. “I don’t see any cookies.”

  “Cookies!” John Thomas said, stretching out his hand.

  “They’re in the kitchen!” Griff protested. “I saw them!”

  Declan laughed, grateful for the distraction, the reminder that it was all for them. All the worry, all the planning and precautions. “Your mom’s trying to pull one over on you. I saw them too.”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Way to sell me out.” She looked at Griffin. “You can have cookies if Aunt Julia says it’s okay for John Thomas too.”

  Julia rose to her feet but Ronan stood and held up a hand. “You sit.” He pulled John Thomas from the high chair, then scooped Griff, shrieking with joy, out of his chair. “I’ll take care of these little cookie monsters.”

  He disappeared into the kitchen and Julia reached for the wine on the table. “Anybody else?”

  Alexa held up her glass. “Please.”

  “Me too,” Elise said.

  Nick was next to chime in. “Me three.”

  “Kate?” Julia asked.

  Kate smiled. “I’m good.”

  She looked tired, her face paler than usual, shadows darkening the skin under her eyes. Her plate was still full, the food moved around but mostly uneaten.

  Declan reached for her hand under the table. She would be the first to admit that being trapped at the Marblehead estate wasn’t exactly a hardship, but Kate Walsh wasn’t meant to be a caged animal, and he knew that’s how she felt. Even her walks on the grounds or in the cove were overseen by one of the two armed guards Declan had posted at the house, although Declan had instructed them to give Kate as much space as possible while also keeping her safe.

  He wished she’d allowed him to post the six men he’d originally planned, but Kate had held the line at two, arguing that having too many strangers roaming the property with guns would scare Griffin.

  He’d relented. There were still two men at the gate. Anyone looking to breach the house would have to get through them first, and that would provide plenty of warning for the two guards inside.

  Ronan returned to the courtyard holding a beer. “I set them down with a plate of cookies and Octonauts. Anybody else want a beer?”

  “I just poured more wine,” Julia said.

  He grinned and bent to kiss the top of her head. “More for me.”

  He moved around to his chair as a voice sounded out from the other side of the gate that separated the courtyard from the street.

  “Hey! It’s me, Clay.”

  Declan scowled and looked from Ronan to Nick. “What’s he doing here?”

  “I tried texting but no one answered,” Clay said from behind the gate.

  Ronan walked over and let Clay in. "We were eating. You hungry?”

  “I’m good.” Clay’s eyes dropped to the beer in Ronan’s hand. “I’d take one of those though.”

  “I’ll get it.” Alexa stood and went into the kitchen.

  “I take it you have news,” Ronan said, leading Clay to the table.

  Declan got one of the extra chairs stacked on the side of the courtyard and everyone shuffled to make room for Clay at the table.

  “I do. Figured you wouldn’t want to wait,” Clay said.

  Alexa returned and handed him a beer.

  “You figured right,” Declan said, hoping they were done with the social niceties. “What have you got?”

  Clay took a drink of the beer. “Ferguson is at his brownstone in Beacon Hill. Turns out he just got back into town from… guess where?”

  “Iceland,” Declan said.

  Clay tipped the beer at him. “Bingo. All above board, strictly business, but pretty coincidental if you ask me.”

  “Two birds, one stone,” Alexa said. Clay looked at her and she continued. “If he went to get rid of Neil, it would also provide an alibi for Jimmy’s murder if it ever came back to him.”

  Nick nodded. “We beat him to it, saved him the trouble.”

  “You mean I beat him to it,” Beth said darkly.

  “What happened was going to happen anyway,” Kate said. “And you gave us most of the information we would have gotten from Neil, assuming he would have given us anything at all.”

  He would have given us everything, Declan thought. Because I would have hurt him until he did.

  He kept silent. Beth felt bad. Kate had forgiven her. Declan had to do the same.

  “What’s it look like at Ferguson’s place?” Declan asked.

  Clay’s expression turned sheepish. “Surprisingly normal actually.”

  “Any signs of a ramp up?” Ronan asked. “Added security? New people in and out?”

  Clay shook his head.

  Julia’s brow furrowed. “I don’t get it. Why take out Jimmy Ryan and call it done? Connor Ferguson can’t be sure Beth knows anything about his partnership with Neil, but it doesn’t seem like he’s in the mood to take chances.”

  Beth stood. “I’ll go check on the kids.”

  “Sorry,” Julia said to Kate when Beth had gone inside.

  “It’s not your fault,” Aiden said. “She’ll have to find a way to live with what she did.”

  Declan squeezed Kate’s hand. She didn’t say anything, but he knew she worried about Beth, knew she was balancing the scales of forgiveness and residual anger. Aiden was just more upfront about his struggle to forgive Beth for what she’d done.

  “So what now?” Nick asked. “Keep eyes and ears on Ferguson? Wait for him to signal he’s getting ready to make a move?”

  “No way,” Declan said. “We don’t know what his plans are for WMG, and once he pulls the trigger, there will be too much press to make a move.”

  He didn’t say the other thing stoking his need for justice: that Ferguson had killed Mac Walsh, had taken him from Kate and Griffin, had enlisted someone close to them to turn traitor.

  Neil might have made the deal with Jimmy Ryan. He might have pulled the strings with Beth. But he’d been a puppet too, and the man holding the strings had been Connor Ferguson.

  He had to pay, like all evil men had to pay.

  “He’s right,” Ronan said. “If we wait, we accept that we may never get him. A hostile takeover of WMG by a high-profile figure like Ferguson will get wall-to-wall coverage. He might as well be living under a spotlight after that. We won’t be able to get within ten feet of him without getting caught. It’s now or never.”

  “Then it’s now,” Declan said.

  “We’ll pay you,” Aiden said. “Ferguson was a few steps removed from the hiring of Jimmy Ryan. I know it’s not a risk you’d normally take.”

  “We don’t want your money. This is about family.” Declan looked from Aiden to Ronan to Nick, silently daring his brothers to object. They were getting further and further from MIS’ mission of meting out justice in only clear-cut cases, cases where the law had already tried and failed.

  He didn’t care. Not when it came to Kate and Griff, just like Ronan hadn’t cared when it came to Julia and Elise and Nick hadn’t cared when it came to Alexa.

  Justice was justice. Declan would save the existential questions for later.

  Ronan looked from Aiden to Kate. “And this is what you want? Because you can’t come back from it, and it’s not always as satisfying as you think it’s going to be.”

  “It’s not about satisfaction,” Kate said. “It’s about what’s right.”

  “The law would disagree.” Alexa spoke softly. “I’m not saying I disagree, just playing devil’s advocate in the interest of full disclosure.”

  “I don’t care about the law right now,” Kate said. “Connor Ferguson killed my father, and he did it for business. If we let the law handle it, he’ll never pay, not with Jimmy Ryan dead.”

  Jimmy Ryan had been the link between Neil and Ferguson. The Feds might be able to work with the FEC to run down insider trading violations, but Jimmy’s death had put a nail in the coffin of any hope Ferguson w
ould pay for Mac’s murder.

  “I agree,” Aiden said. “But I know you’re taking a risk, that this isn’t normally how you do business, which is why I’m offering to pay your fee.”

  “Any move against your family is a move against ours.” Ronan’s blue eyes were cold. “This one’s on the house.”

  “So we take Ferguson at the brownstone,” Nick said. “Nice and quiet, before he can move on WMG.”

  Declan nodded. He didn’t care how they did it. All that mattered was that Declan’s face was the last one Ferguson saw, that Ferguson knew he was paying for what he’d done to Kate, that he would never be able to hurt her — never be able to take anything from her — again.

  17

  Kate sat on one of the lounge chairs on the terrace, wrapped in a blanket and staring out over the emptiness beyond the cliff. The cloud cover was thick, completely blocking out the moon. Below the waves crashed against the rocks and rushed onto the beach.

  Somewhere out on the lawn, two men patrolled the property, but she couldn’t see a thing beyond the lights ringing the patio.

  The door opened behind her and she turned to see Beth, stepping onto the patio in sweats, a hoodie, and Ugg boots.

  She rubbed her arms and tucked her chin into her sweatshirt. “What are you doing out here? That storm is coming in fast.”

  “Just needed some fresh air,” Kate said. Beth took a seat next to her. “You don’t have to stay. It’s freezing.”

  “I’ve got a long sleeve shirt and a sweater on under this,” Beth said. “I forgot how cold it gets up here.”

  Kate returned her eyes to the void beyond the cliff. “And it’s only October.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Beth said.

  For once, the silence that settled between them wasn’t awkward. It had only been a week since they’d both moved back into the big house on Marblehead, but the tension that had been baked into their relationship for as long as Kate could remember had suddenly dissipated.