He slapped her.
Laird struggled to get free as his wife was being abused by the lunatic. If he could get his hands free, he still had his gun.
“I want that ring, and I’ll find it. Once you’re gone, Carman will tell me where it is. She tells us who to kill.”
She looked around.
He was alone.
Quinn Murray was insane. That was crystal clear.
“Carman protects us. She’s been a part of our pagan family for a long time. We worship her.”
She wanted to puke.
“We take a few hearts, make a few offerings, and all is good in the world. Over the years, it had been easy. People leave Adare, and we leave the bodies where Carman wants. That house is a cemetery.”
Oh, she was aware. Only, she wasn’t telling him anything. No freaking way.
“What do you want with us?”
Laird reached for her mind. ‘My gun. It’s still at my side. The safety is off. Point and keep pulling the trigger.’
She heard him.
“You two will be the final ones. He’s not as important as you are,” he said, smiling.
“I’m not Polly! I’m Brianna. You’re insane!”
He slapped her so hard, her head nearly spun off her shoulders. It did allow her to move closer to her husband.
She’d take a million slaps to save them.
‘I love you,’ she whispered to him.
Laird knew how screwed they were.
Brianna heard Avalon in their linked minds. They were coming. She just needed to stall.
But how?
Then she went with her gut. Brianna had a feeling, and she hoped it played out.
“We found your wife, Quinn, and once they find out we’re missing, they will come for you.”
He laughed.
“Oh, you found Aine, did ye?” he asked, smiling at her. “She was useless. I just needed her to have a child for me. I plan on following in Lawrence’s footsteps. When my Mary is old enough, she shall be mine.”
This proved how sick he was. First, incest, and second, he didn’t realize that he wanted to mimic Lawrence, and not his real bloodline.
“You leave Mary alone! She’s only a child,” Brianna stated. For that little girl, she’d fight him.
He laughed.
“Let us go, Quinn. You need to let us go. He’s Garda. If you kill him, you’re screwed.”
His laughter only grew.
“Oh, Polly, I’m not going to kill him,” Quinn said. “I have a helper.”
He whistled.
Mary came out of the back and she was covered in blood. It made Brianna gasp.
“Hi, mum,” she said, smiling at her. “I really wanted to keep you. I asked him to keep you for me. Maybe I’ll keep your body in my room. I can read to you, and we can cuddle.”
Brianna slid back, trying to evade her.
Mary had blood on her face, coating her teeth, and she looked horrible.
“Mary, what are you doing?”
She laughed in her sing-song child’s voice. “You could have been my new mum. You are part of our family, but then you went and married him. History is repeating itself.”
Laird tried to put his body in front of her.
“Here, Mary, you can take a few whacks at the detective. Make her watch, my love. Make her see what the inside of him looks like!”
Mary took the knife.
“You let her practice on all of them. You made her into a monster. She’s not even eleven!”
“My angel is good at killing. She’s one of the bloodline. Marissa O’Sullivan was a wicked witch, and so is my Mary.”
The young girl licked the blade.
“Time to die,” she said, raising it above her head.
Brianna watched her husband close his eyes. She heard him whisper through her mind his goodbyes.
That’s when she had to move.
As Mary moved closer, she kicked her with all of her might, shoving her back. Brianna tore open Laird’s jacket, and with her good arm, she pulled the gun.
Quinn howled in anger as his precious daughter hit the floor. She began pulling the trigger, and the bullets tore into the child.
He grabbed the knife and picked it up.
Brianna kept firing, but he wouldn’t stop.
As the knife came down, she did the only thing she could. Brianna threw her body over her husband.
And prayed.
When they pulled up to the house, they saw Laird’s sleek ride. They raced for the house just in time to hear gunshots ringing out.
Lucian pulled a gun he’d taken from the house, and he tossed it to Jagger, who raced toward the sound.
There were more gun shots as the team hustled down the stairs.
Then one final one.
As they reached the basement floor, Jagger was standing over the couple.
On the floor was Mary Murray, riddled with bullets, and beside her was Quinn Murray with one through his head.
“Are you okay?” Nate asked, rushing toward Jagger and the couple on the floor.
Brianna was borderline hysterical.
Nate pulled Laird’s gag from his mouth, and the injured woman crawled into his body.
“Shhhh, A grá, we’re fine. We’re okay,” he said, as Jagger cut his restraints.
“What happened?” Nate asked.
“We got here, and they shoved us down the stairs,” Laird said, cradling his wife. “She has to go to the hospital. She fell pretty hard, and her arm is broken.”
Brianna wouldn’t let go of him.
Avalon walked down. “There are two more dead upstairs.”
“Yeah, they killed Brian and William. They lured us here, and then they were killed.”
Avalon touched Brianna’s shoulder. The woman looked over at her.
“I heard you the entire time,” Brianna said. “You were with me.”
Avalon smiled. “I told you that I would be.”
“My baby…”
Avalon touched her midsection. “She’s tiny, and as healthy as a horse.”
Brianna kissed her. “Thank you. You changed fate.”
Avalon laughed. “I didn’t do this. He was going to die. YOU changed fate. You wrote your own ending, and it’s not done. It’s just beginning.”
She left it at that.
“Will you come to the hospital with me?” she asked.
Avalon took her hand. “I will. The team can head home. I’ll be there for you, Brianna. Remember what I said. You have a family.”
Laird swung her up. “In my phone is Jack’s number. Call him. Tell him what happened, and that the FBI was wrong. It was one of our own. Tell him we need a cleanup crew. He’ll get it.”
Nate could do that.
“We’ll stay and make sure this is okay,” he offered.
“Thank you.”
Laird carried her up the stairs.
“Jagger, drive them to the hospital.”
He saluted and followed them out. When he was gone, Nate stared down at their bodies.
“Sick, huh?” Luke asked.
“He destroyed that child’s life. That’s not a good thing. May he burn in hell.”
Luke looked at him. “You don’t believe in religion.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, blame it on Ireland. This place…”
“Sucks,” stated Maura.
“Blows,” Luke offered.
“Is a fucking travesty,” Lucian added. “I have a yard full of bodies! I own a freaking graveyard.”
Nate laughed his ass off.
“What do we do next?” Luke asked, as they waited for the man to call Laird’s boss.
“The only thing we can.”
“And that is?” Maura asked.
“I have to find a way to get Laird to give up his job and to join us. They’re having my daughter-in-law,” he said, finally getting what Avalon meant when he said they had to write their own fate. She didn’t mean the killer part.
She meant th
e part about staying or possibly joining them.
Yeah, he had work to do.
He headed out, dialing Jack.
The team watched him.
“Is he freaking serious? Who would join this clusterfuck?” Maura asked.
Lucian raised his hand.
Luke too.
“Well, you guys are bat shit insane. Let’s clean this mess up. I want a nap. I really hate this freaking country. It’s pretty, but it’s insane. No one believes in ghosts.”
They stared at her.
Was she serious? After everything they’d seen, and experienced, and she could say that?
“Shut up,” Maura ordered. “This Phoenix File?” she began.
“What?” Luke asked.
“It’s classified.”
Yeah, this time, they left it at that.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
One Hour Later
Bishop had tucked Roxy into bed. The woman looked exhausted, and it was getting dark. She was going to do what Jagger and Maura always did.
Patrol.
The house had been quiet, but she couldn’t find Molly, and that was weird.
The dog was under her feet the whole last hour, but now…
Nothing.
Heading into the kitchen, she saw the big pile of fur lying in the pantry on the floor.
“Sleeping? You’re a shitty guard dog, Molly. We girls are supposed to stick together,” she said, heading into the room.
Molly was breathing, but normally, she’d wake when you went near her.
This time, she didn’t.
It looked like she’d been…drugged.
Bishop heard a sound behind her, and when she turned, there were two men there. She immediately began fighting for her life. She swung out, kicking the one in the gut, and then began fighting with the one still on his feet.
He punched her in the face, and then pulled out a baseball bat.
When she went down, she fought to get back up.
The one she’d sucker punched gave her a shot to the ribs, and then kicked her in the face.
Bishop went down again, but this time, she couldn’t get up. The man with the bat hit her across her shoulder, and then once in the head.
She stopped moving, and they stopped hitting her.
“Get Roxanne. Silas wants her now. We have to get her to the plane. She’s heading home.”
When they ran out, Bishop opened her eyes. She could barely move. She had broken a lot of bones—or at least it felt like it.
With bloody fingers, she reached for her phone. It slid toward her on the floor. They didn’t take it, and that proved one thing.
They were idiots.
She pushed one button, and prayed.
“Baby, what’s up?” Lucian asked.
She wheezed into the phone. “House breeched. They have Roxy. I’m down. Help, Lucian.”
Suddenly, there were footsteps. The man with the bat came in, and he saw her with her phone.
He crushed it beneath his boot as the other restrained Roxy.
“You cunt!” he said, before punching her in the face again. There was the sick sound of bone.
Roxy screamed.
Bishop, this time, went out.
“We have to go! She called them! Hustle!”
Roxy fought for her life. She fought for the life of her child. The entire time, she prayed Bishop was okay.
She prayed for Jagger.
When they threw her into the trunk, she screamed bloody murder. It was drowned out as they flew out of there.
Roxy was scared.
And most of all, she was pissed.
Silas Reed may have killed Bishop.
She knew one thing.
He was a dead man.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
When he got the call, he was sick. His wife didn’t sound right. The team dropped everything and raced back to the house. They didn’t call Jagger.
No one could do it.
When they arrived, they raced into the house to find Bishop in a puddle of her own blood.
“Jesus!” Lucian whispered, as he dropped to his knees. She was wheezing, and Molly was covered in her blood from lying beside her.
“Bish, baby, wake up,” he said, tears filling his eyes. His wife was a battered mess. Her face was busted open, her mouth was cut, and she’d begun swelling.
Nate pulled out his phone, and he called for an ambulance. Bishop needed medical help, and fast. He could hear her collapsed lung.
Bishop struggled to open her eyes. They were already swelling shut.
“Who did this to you?” Lucian asked, afraid to move her. Her breathing didn’t sound good at all.
“Silas sent goons. Two. Plane. Hurry.”
Lucian waved them off. “Take Maura! Get to Roxy!”
There was only one air strip in that area.
“He’ll take her out at the same place I leave my jet! Kill him for me!”
Luke stayed with Lucian.
“Hey, Bish, you look like shit,” Luke stated, holding her hand.
Tears filled her eyes. “I tried. I tried to save her for him. They were too strong.”
No one was going to blame Bishop. She’d sacrificed herself to keep Roxy safe.
“We’ll get you fixed up,” Lucian said. “And then I’m going to find Silas and kill him. He’s dead.”
Bishop began coughing up blood.
“Do it for me. He destroyed me,” she whispered.
Right before she passed out.
Jagger got the call.
The second he did, his heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn’t believe it.
“Where? I’ll be there.”
“I need your gun,” he said to the detective. He knew the man took it from the scene. “They took my wife.”
Laird handed it over without a second thought. “Be safe!” he said, as Jagger raced out.
In the car, he drove like a maniac, passing cars and hauling ass. When he saw the landing strip up ahead, the jet was already starting to move.
Jagger jumped from the SUV, trying to take a shot at it, hoping by some miracle, he could stop it.
When that wouldn’t work, he began running for it, trying to get to the door.
From the window, he could see Roxy.
She was screaming for him, banging on the windows, and crying. His heart thundered.
His wife!
God!
He had to get his wife.
Behind her in the next window, there was a smiling Silas, and he saluted him.
The jet picked up speed, and Jagger couldn’t get her.
He screamed in anger as the jet taxied and lifted from the ground.
He watched it circle away. In the air, he watched his wife and unborn child being taken from him. It made it hard to breathe, hard to focus, and hard to go on without her.
His wife.
His child.
As the team arrived, they found him there—on his knees, staring off into the distance.
Maura dropped beside him and he looked over at her. She could see the pain.
“Silas took my wife,” he said, his voice cold and angry. “I’m going to cut out his heart myself,” he said. “He stole mine. It’s only fair.”
Nate knelt beside him. “We get the manifest, and we’ll find out where he is. Once we get Bishop back in one piece, we go after her. We’ll get Roxy back,” he said.
“How bad is Bishop?” he asked, trying to be calm. She’d failed at watching Roxy. He’d trusted her, and she failed.
“She’s bad, Jagger,” Maura said, knowing what he was thinking. “He destroyed her.”
His heart skipped.
“Jesus,” he said, scrubbing his hands over his face.
“He’s a dead man.”
Oh, they were aware. Silas had crossed a major line, and Jagger was gunning for him, and now so was Lucian Monroe.
“We’ll take him down,” Maura said. “If they don’t want to help, I’ll help you,�
� she offered.
Nate cleared his throat. “I’m in.”
That helped.
Jagger was only calm for one reason.
Silas wouldn’t hurt Roxy. He loved his granddaughter, but he was insane. The man had to have some mental issues. No sane person pulled shit like this.
That was his only saving grace.
Jagger stood. “This isn’t over,” he stated.
Nate and Maura flanked him as they headed for the hanger. They didn’t doubt it was just beginning.
“When we find him, we’ll help,” Maura stated.
Nate already had a plan.
“We’re going old school. We’re going to extricate Roxy, take care of the bad guy, and make Silas Reed pay.”
They each dropped their arms over his shoulders.
The team was going to do what they did best. Hunt, locate, and save.
Then they were going to give the mob man wannabe something he’d never forget.
They were going to fuck him up—Michael O’Banion style.
Epilogue
That Flight
R oxy was horrified. Her grandfather had lost his damn mind, and she could tell it was only going to get worse. He was babbling about something, and he wasn’t making any sense.
Worse?
He’d chained her hands and feet like some animal.
This wasn’t the man she’d once loved. This was someone she didn’t recognize, and that scared her.
“You had Bishop hurt!” she said, glaring at him. “You took me from my husband! This is kidnapping.”
“This is me taking care of my grandchild and great grandchild. You don’t know what you’re doing,” he stated.
“I know I’m not staying with you.”
“Roxanne, don’t be petulant. I raised you better than that,” he said.
“But Bishop…”
“I told them to handle it. I’m not responsible for what they did to her. They acted on their own accord.”
She knew what that meant.
Lucian and her husband would be gunning for him.
“If she dies…”
“It had to happen to get my child safe. My poor, sweet, child. I let you make so many mistakes,” he said, staring at her. “You married that man, and he raped your child.”
Oracle Haunting (The Phoenix Files Book 4) Page 41