Line Of Fire

by KB Winters

  “Let me ask you again,” I said. “How long have you been working for him?”

  Bryan wasn’t an idealist. He was an opportunist. And a coward. Because he, and possibly some of the other brothers, thought me weak and ineffective, it wasn’t all that surprising to see them flock to somebody they thought would be a strong leader. Amon. Emmett had been right all along.

  “Tell me or I swear to God, I’ll blow a hole in the other leg,” I said.

  “A couple of weeks,” Bryan screamed. “I’ve been working for him for a couple of weeks. He promised to make me his number two if I did.”

  “You’re a feckin’ eegit,” Emmett snarled. “You cowardly piece of shite.”

  “Where’s he keeping her?”

  “I don’t fuckin’ know. I don’t know shite. But you gotta get me to the hospital.”

  “You’re gonna bleed out unless you give me something I can use,” I said through gritted teeth.

  He shook his head as tears streamed down his face. “I don’t know anything,” he moaned. “All I was told to do was tell him everything you were up to. C’mon mate, this fuckin’ hurts. I need some help.”

  “How did you report to him?” I asked. “Where?”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes on a burner. Other times, I met him at his place.”

  Bingo. “Where is his place?”

  Bryan shook his head, his misery apparent. “I can’t tell you,” he said. “He’ll kill me.”

  Emmett slapped him in the back of the head. “Wake up, stupid. If you don’t say anything, Aidan’s gonna kill you. You spill your guts, you may just walk out of this with your miserable, worthless skin intact.”

  He sniffed loudly and continued to moan. But then, after a few well-placed fists to his jaw, he spilled his guts and gave us all the information I needed. I had to admit, busting him up a wee bit made the adrenaline flow and there was no stopping me now. I had the address—which was probably where he was keeping Maggie. At least, I hoped it was.

  Emmett motioned for me to join him on the far side of the room. Giving Bryan another look, I walked over to Emmett. He leaned close to me and pitched his voice low so Bryan wouldn’t overhear us.

  “You know you can’t leave him alive,” Emmett said. “You’ll never be able to trust him. And with what he knows about us and the organization, he could be a valuable commodity to somebody.”

  I nodded. “Aye, I already figured that,” I said. “It’s not like he’s loyal to the brotherhood anyway.”

  “Guys,” Bryan called out. “I’m getting lightheaded. I’m losing a lot of blood. Can you get me to the hospital now? Please?”

  “You want me to do it, Aidan?”

  I gave him a pointed look. “Nah, I think I need to take care of it myself.”

  This was my battle, and as acting boss of the O’Brien syndicate, I realized it was my duty to spill a little blood to prove to my soldiers that I was on their side. Besides, Bryan had crossed the wrong fuckin’ O’Brien, and you didn’t fuck with an O’Brien and expect to live to tell about it. I figured out that no matter how clean I wanted my reputation to remain, it simply couldn’t be the case.

  Not this time.

  Emmett nodded and gave me a grim smile. I turned and walked back toward Brian, my stride confident and calculated, letting my anger and rage bubble up within me. I replayed the sound of Amon slapping Maggie and her crying, the sound of her terrified voice in my mind over and over again. By the time I reached Bryan, I was blind with rage.

  He looked at me and knew he wasn’t walking out of that basement. He opened his mouth to say something, to probably beg for his life, but I slid the barrel of the gun into his mouth, and with my rage on a full rolling boil, pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot was muffled and a spray of crimson blood burst out of the back of his head. He slumped forward, completely still. Limp. Dead. No longer a problem.

  Shite. I’d just killed a man, and the weird thing was I didn’t feel one ounce of guilt or remorse.

  Guess I was an O’Brien after all.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Aidan

  “Do you have eyes on him?”

  I held the phone to my ear and leaned back in the seat. I was in a car with Emmett and David, the only two I could trust, a few streets away from Amon’s place, and I had Jason in place, watching him. He was positioned on the rooftop of a building across the street from Amon’s apartment. I checked my watch and saw that it was just after nine—my meeting with Amon was supposed to be at a warehouse in a sketchy part of the city at midnight.

  Obviously, I had something else in mind entirely.

  “Yeah,” Jason replied, “he’s in there. I see your girl, too. Looks like she’s okay.”

  Thank God. The knot in my stomach hadn’t unclenched one bit since I’d heard her on the phone. The sheer terror in her voice was enough to nearly make me come undone. The only thing holding me together right now was knowing she needed me to be at my best. My sharpest. She needed me to keep my shite together long enough to pull her out of that fire.

  “How many are in there with him?”

  “I count three,” he replied.

  So, there were four men we’d have to deal with. I imagined he had more men, probably getting set up at the warehouse to wait for me to show up.

  “Okay, sit tight,” I said. “Let me know if they move.”

  “You got it.”

  I disconnected the call and looked out the window, trying to figure out what to do next.

  “So, what’s the plan, boss?” Emmett asked from the front seat.

  “Still trying to come up with one.”

  “Why don’t we just take ‘em head on?” David asked.

  “Head on?”

  David looked at me in the rearview mirror and nodded. “Just go knock on the door and when they answer, kick it in and plug them all.”

  “You make it sound so simple,” I said with a laugh.

  “You know, it sounds crazy,” Emmett said, “but it just might work. I mean, you showing up at his place is probably the last thing he’s expecting. He thinks he’s got you over a barrel. His guard might be down just enough that we can get the drop on this asshole.”

  I looked at the two men in the front seat. They knew about these things better than I did. My area of expertise was in the courtroom, not drawing up battle plans for gangland fights. These two had been in the life forever and undoubtedly knew more than I did. I knew I’d be wise to heed their advice.

  “You really think it’ll work?” I asked.

  “I think it might,” David said. “It may be the best shot we have to punch this guy’s clock. He gets you in a fight on his terms and he’ll have the upper hand. But he won’t be expecting us to show up here, which may give us an edge.”

  I scratched my chin and let it all run through my mind. It sounded insane. Marching straight into his place and shooting him down seemed like the pinnacle of crazy. But then again, what they were saying wasn’t without some logic behind it. If I did what he wanted and met him at the warehouse, I was fighting on his terms. By taking the fight to him—in his own apartment—I’d be taking some of that control back.

  It wasn’t much, but it might be enough.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do it.”

  We got out of the car and double checked all of our weapons. We were locked and loaded. I punched in Jason’s number and held the phone to my ear.

  “Bell.”

  “We’re heading into his place,” I said. “Keep an eye on things and let me know if the situation changes at all.”

  “You got it,” he said. “I’ve got your back.”

  “Thanks, Jason.”

  I disconnected the call and dropped my phone into my pocket. I looked from Emmett to David and then back at Emmett again. Nervous energy battered my guts, but I knew this had to be done.

  “You ready, boss?” David asked.

  “About as ready as I’m going to be.”

  We walked a couple
of blocks and found ourselves in front of Amon’s building. We walked toward the front doors like we belonged there, and the doorman—a younger kid who looked bored out of his skull—held it open without a question and without so much as looking up at us. Given what we were about to do, I considered that a lucky break. David pressed some cash into the kid’s hand, and we continued through the lobby.

  I cast my eyes around and noticed there were a few video cameras mounted to the walls. We were going to have to find a way to make those recordings disappear. The last thing I could afford was to be caught on tape.

  “I know a guy who works for the security company,” David said, as if reading my mind. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to be a problem.”

  We took the elevator up to the fourteenth floor and stepped off. David and Emmett walked in front of me as we headed down the hallway toward Amon’s door.

  “You stay out of sight for a minute,” Emmett said. “Let us get our foot in the door before you do anything.”

  I nodded but remained silent. I didn’t trust myself to speak because the knots in my stomach were tightening and I was sure my voice would crack if I said a word. My palms were damp, and under my jacket, I felt beads of sweat rolling down my back.

  We arrived at the door, and Emmett motioned for me to step to the side so that only he and David would be visible through the peephole. I stepped out of sight as David rapped on the door. A long moment later, I heard a muffled voice through the door.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Amon’s man asked.

  “Tell Flannigan we’ve got some information about Aidan he’s going to want to hear,” Emmett said. “It’s about his little pow-wow tonight.”

  David cut a nervous glance over at me as they waited. And waited. A full two minutes later, I heard the locks on the door disengaging. I slid my gun out of the holster on my belt and tightened my grip on it. The door opened and in one smooth motion, David raised his weapon and fired. His weapon was outfitted with a silencer, so it was barely louder than a muffled cough.

  The body hadn’t even hit the floor yet, and they were moving inside. I followed them through the door, closing and locking it behind me. I quickly turned and followed them down the hallway toward the living room.

  The look of surprise registered on the faces of Amon’s guards a split second before they both reached for their weapons. Emmett and David were raising their own guns when both of Amon’s men jerked forward. Their eyes widened in surprise and a moment later, both men pitched forward, falling onto the ground with a dull thud. Blooms of red seeped through the material covering both men’s backs. They lay completely still as pools of crimson spread out beneath them.

  I looked at the tall, floor-to-ceiling windows behind them and saw two holes in the glass. Jason. Damn, he was badass. From across the street, he’d put two perfectly placed shots in Amon’s men. Apparently, expert marksmanship was one of those things in his skill set. Clearly, I was going to have to pay him a fat bonus for the assist.

  Sitting in his chair, Amon laughed heartily and began to clap his hands. “Well done, brother. Well done. I have to say, I didn’t see that coming.”

  I looked over at Maggie and though her eyes were wide and her face was streaked with tears, other than a bruise on her cheek from where Amon had hit her, she looked okay. I let out a sigh of relief and sent up a silent prayer of thanks.

  I walked over to her and helped get her to her feet. A pair of plastic zip ties bound her hands, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out a knife and cut her free. I held her face in my hands, and her eyes fell shut as she reveled in the comfort of my safety. I delicately traced my thumb over that feckin’ bruise, and the sigh that fell from my lips—satisfied that she was safe—was only comforting for a moment. I released her from my hold, and she turned around and walked over to Amon, standing over him. He looked back at her, a bemused look on his face.

  “You son of a bitch,” she snarled as she reared back and punched him hard in the face.

  Amon’s face barely moved, although the crack of flesh meeting flesh echoed around the spartanly furnished room. Satisfied with her shot, Maggie stepped back to me, and I pulled her into a tight embrace. David and Emmett continued to stand with their guns trained on Amon.

  “This is all very touching,” Amon sneered, “but can we get on with this?”

  I kissed her on the forehead and stepped in front of Maggie, David and Emmett flanking me. “In a hurry to die, are ya?”

  “Not particularly, no,” he said. “Though, you lads seem incredibly keen to do it, so there’s not much I can do about it, is there? You outwitted me. Bully for you.”

  “David, can you please take Maggie down to the car?”

  “You got it.”

  She looked at me over her shoulder as David escorted her out of the apartment. I gave her a small smile and felt my heart lighten, knowing she was safe. When they’d gone, I stepped forward, keeping the image of the bruise on Maggie’s face fresh in my mind. I let the hatred I had for this man flow through me and fill me up.

  “Last words?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Not really. Color me surprised, though, that you can do this to your own brother.”

  “You’re not my brother,” I hissed. “You’re not my family.”

  He smirked. “DNA would say otherwise, I fear, mate.”

  “It takes more than DNA to make you family,” I said and raised my gun.

  I had a moment of hesitation as I looked down into Amon’s eyes. He was smiling at me as if he knew I’d have a crisis of conscience about executing him. He didn’t think I’d be able to pull the trigger and would have to rely on somebody else to do my dirty work.

  But then, he didn’t really know me at all.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t let him. I squeezed the trigger once, then twice, and then a third time for good measure. His head snapped backward, an explosion of blood and brain matter hitting the windows behind him. He slumped back where he sat, his head falling back before his entire body slid out of the chair and joined his men on the ground.

  It was over. Maggie was safe, Amon was dead, and it was all over.

  “You okay?”

  I shook my head, trying to clear out the cobwebs that came out of nowhere to clog up my mind. I looked over at Emmett who was looking back at me with an expression of concern on his face.

  “Aidan?” he asked. “You okay?”

  I cleared my throat and looked at the pistol in my hand like it was a coiled snake, ready to strike. The smell of gunpowder was still thick in the air, and when I looked at Amon’s body, it was with a sense of satisfaction. My reaction to committing cold-blooded murder wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. In a lot of ways, I felt justified. Even righteous.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “I’m—fine. I’m actually fine.”

  Emmett patted me on the back. “I knew you would be.”

  He pulled out his cell phone and called on our guys to come clean up the mess. The place obviously needed to be sanitized. Amon wasn’t somebody who was going to be missed by anybody, but it wasn’t necessary to leave evidence of this massacre behind. It would lead to too many questions—questions I didn’t want to answer.

  Finished with his phone call, Emmett and I walked out into the cool, Chicago night. I’d always loved my city and for some reason, as we walked back toward the car, I realized I’d never felt like such a real part of it. Not until now.

  Having just betrayed every oath I’d ever taken by committing a murder, I wasn’t sure what that said about me. I was changing. I was evolving. Becoming something different. I wasn’t sure who or what I’d be when this transformation was complete, but for the first time, I knew I was going to be okay with it.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Maggie

  I knew what Aidan had done. Having me escorted down to the car didn’t change the fact that I knew he’d killed a man. But what I hoped he understood was that I didn’t care. That I applauded him f
or doing it. Amon was a bad guy, and given what I’d heard when he was holding me captive, he had no plans to let me go. He was going to kill Aidan and whoever showed up with him, and keep me as his personal sex toy.

  At least until he tired of me. After that, I had no idea what he was going to do with me.

  But Aidan had made sure he didn’t get the chance. He saved me. It was strange, but I’d never felt more love for somebody than I did for Aiden—killer or not.

  I knew he was a good man with a good heart. He proved that time and time again in the courtroom, and now in the bloody streets of Chicago. After he came outside, we’d got in the car and left and wound up at his place. Doors locked. Lights on. Security outside. Tony and the other security guy hadn’t been around lately and I didn’t know if that was Aiden’s doing or Amon’s. Aiden said if Tony had been a two-faced gobshite with him, he probably was with Amon as well. If Tony was lying face down in Lake Michigan, more power to him.

  Aiden sat on the couch beside me with his phone in his hand. He looked at me and then back at the phone.

  “What do you think?” he asked me.

  I shrugged. “Not my call to make, baby. You’re the one this is going to impact the most.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Are you having second thoughts?”

  He looked at me and for the first time, I saw uncertainty in his eyes. All this time, he’d been so focused and intent on the fact that he was going to clear Flynn’s name and turn over control of the syndicate to him. And yet, with all of that now in sight, I could see he was hesitant.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I think my biggest fear is not having the choice. What if he says no to returning?”

  “What if he says yes?” I answered his question with another question. “Are you sure you want to give up the thug life and go back to being a boring old lawyer?”

  He smiled and leaned over, kissing me on the forehead. “You sure you want to be with a boring old lawyer?”

  “I just want to be with you,” I said. “I honestly couldn’t care less if you’re a lawyer, the head of the O’Brien syndicate, or both. You’re all I care about, Aidan.”