by Rye Hart
He shrugged. “Nothin' really,” he said. “I was just thinkin' I can see why you got yourself so wrapped up in this bitch. She's fine.”
I took a step forward, my fists clenching at my sides. Killian's goons all stepped up, all of them glaring at me, daring me to do something. Killian looked at me for a long moment and nodded. He turned and moved so fast, it took me a minute to process what had just happened. The crack of Killian's hand meeting Rory's face was loud and echoed around the concrete room. Rory tumbled off the table, a thin rivulet of blood running from the corner of his mouth. He scrambled to his feet, holding his hand over his bloody mouth, glaring balefully at Killian.
Killian stepped forward, looming over Rory. “I told you that you were not to lay a single hand on her,” he said. “Were my instructions in any way unclear?”
Rory looked away and shook his head but said nothing.
“We'll discuss this further later, Rory,” he said. “Right now, there is business at hand. Leave us.”
Rory looked at Killian like he'd slapped him again. Killian just glared at him, and Rory backed down, of course. His head hanging low, obviously pissed about being excluded, he marched out of the room, casting dark, hateful looks at me the whole way. He slammed the door dramatically behind him, leaving me trapped in a room with Killian and his men.
Killian turned to Kara, giving her a small smile. “I apologize for the coarse treatment my brother inflicted upon you,” he said. “I was very clear that – ”
“Fuck off,” Kara snapped at him.
A dark look crossed Killian's face and there was a brief moment where I thought he might hit her. I didn't know what I'd do if I did, but I wouldn't let it stand. Thankfully though, he quickly composed himself and turned away from her, facing me.
“Where is Jack?” he asked. “I recall specifically telling you to bring the child.”
“Yeah, I changed that plan,” I said.
“That wasn't smart, Declan.”
I shrugged. “You spent most of my life telling me I was an idiot,” I said. “Guess I just proved you right.”
A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Declan, you're making it very hard for me to trust you,” he said. “And if I can't trust you, I can't have you be a part of this family.”
“That's fine,” I said. “Just give me Kara and we'll leave you be. I didn't want to be part of this family anyway.”
“But, you are part of this family,” he said. “You can't simply just walk away from it like that.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said softly. “I know that now.”
I looked into Kara's eyes and saw the confusion in them. I wanted to tell her it was all going to work out and that we'd be fine, but of course, I couldn't. I couldn't ease her mind by letting her in on my plan. Hell, I had no idea if my plan was even going to work.
I gave her my most earnest look, begging her with my eyes to trust me.
“So, since you have hidden your son from me,” Killian said. “And you're standing before me empty handed, what is it you want?”
I let out a long breath. “You let Kara go,” I said, “and I'll come work for you. No conditions, no strings attached. I'll work for you, doing whatever you need done. And in exchange for my work, you let her go, and you clear her father's debt. In other words, you get the fuck out of her life and leave her alone. Forever.”
“Declan, no – ”
“It's okay, Kara,” I said. “I got this.”
Killian clasped his hands behind his back and paced around the room, looking from me to Kara and back again, a bemused little smirk on his face.
“That ship has already sailed, brother,” he said.
I cocked my head and looked at him. “What do you mean?”
Killian glanced at his watch. “Well, it seems that Kara's debt – ”
“Her father's debt,” I corrected him.
“Of course,” he replied. “It seems her father's debt is being squared up. She'll be free to go soon. So, what else do you have for me?”
“Squared up?” I asked and looked over at Kara, who shrugged. “By who?”
“You'll see in a few minutes,” he replied. “Anyway, I was actually thinking that these issues that exist between us can be settled by you working for me, just as you said – with no conditions or strings attached.”
“And what do I get out of that deal?” I asked.
“Well, you get to live for one thing,” he replied. “That, in and of itself, should be worth quite a lot. Don't you think? But, just to sweeten the pot, you will also stand to make a lot of money. You will be able to provide very well for your son – and Kara if she chooses to be with you.”
“Yeah, and all I have to do is kill people for you.”
He shrugged. “That's a rarity, brother,” he said. “But yes, that is an unfortunate reality of our business from time to time.”
Kara was shaking her head, her eyes fixed on mine. “Don't do it, Declan,” she said. “It's not worth it. You're better than that. Better than them.”
Killian turned to her, a cruel little smile on his lips. “The other option is death,” he says. “My brother disrespected me. Deeply. I don't take that lightly. Most men, I would have killed already had they disrespected me the way my brother has. But, I'm giving him a chance to redeem himself. To set this right.”
Kara wasn’t listening to him though. She wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes remained fixed on me. They shimmered with tears and she was pleading with me to not do what Killian wanted me to do.
I knew if I gave in to him, started doing the work he wanted me to do, I would lose myself. If I became Killian's hitman, my soul would forever be damaged. Sullied. I knew I wouldn't be the same man ever again.
The door to the room opened and I turned, looking at the newcomers, confusion crossing my face. There were four large, burly men wearing dirty jeans and leather biker kuttes. They all had scraggly hair and had a hard edge about them. These were men for whom, violence was a way of life, you could tell. You could see it in their eyes and in the way they carried themselves.
I turned and saw Kara's eyes widen. They were almost cartoonish, they were so big. Her lips trembled, and tears rolled down her smooth cheeks.
“Y – you came for me,” she said softly. “You came for me, Dad.”
He looked at her, giving her a small smile. “Of course I did,” he said. “You're my daughter.”
“Michael Boyer,” Killian said, a wide greasy smile on his face. “So good to see you. Though, I didn't expect you to bring your friends with you.”
The man stepped forward, a scowl on his face and murder in his eyes. The tension in the room ratcheted up a thousand-fold. All of these large men, all rough, all used to violence gathered in one room. Yeah, this was going to get ugly. I just knew it.
“You're holding my girl,” he snarled. “You threatened her.”
“Yes, because you owe me money,” Killian said. “Coarse, disagreeable measures that would not have needed to be taken had you simply paid your debts.”
“Yeah, well shit got fucked up,” he said. “What can I say?”
“Well, you can start by telling me that shit has been unfucked up,” Killian replied. “And that you have my money.”
I edged my way toward Kara, doing my best to move slowly and not draw attention to myself. While the two little armies – Irish mobsters and bikers – were squared off, each trying to out-macho the other and not paying attention to me, I had a small window. One I intended to exploit.
Getting behind the chair she was tied to, I motioned for her to remain silent as I knelt down and went to work on the knots holding Kara's hands bound behind her.
“I don't have your money,” Kara's father said.
“Well, that's most unfortunate,” Killian replied. “For you and for your daughter. See, I don't take kindly to people who default on their obligations.”
“Yeah, you can go fuck yourself and your obligations,” Boyer snapped. “I'm taking
my daughter the fuck out of here and there ain't shit you can do about it.”
“Oh no?” Killian asked, his tone growing colder and harder.
I knew that tone of voice and knew things were about to come to a head. Shit was about to go sideways and get nasty. I couldn't get the knots undone – not in the few seconds I had before chaos erupted, so I slipped the knife out of my pocket and started to saw through the ropes.
“No,” Boyer snapped back. “I don't give in to two-bit punks like you. You and your fuckin' goon squad here don't scare me and my boys.”
“That's a shame, because we should,” Killian said. “I don't know why, but I thought you were smarter than that, Michael.”
My knife finally sliced through the last of the ropes and Kara was free. She slipped out of the chair and wrapped her arms around me.
“We need to get out of here,” I whispered. “Help is coming, but I don't know if they'll get here in time because shit is about to get really bad.”
“Help is coming? Who?” she asked. “What did you do, Declan?”
I looked at the two sides facing off and heard a low groan escape me as I watched all of them draw guns. They all stared hard at each other, no man wanting to die, but every man willing to pull the trigger.
“You and your men should probably leave now,” Killian said, his voice low and menacing. “Before anybody gets hurt.”
Nobody moved a muscle. I didn't even think anybody had blinked since the guns were drawn. Everybody was waiting for somebody else to make the first move. I figured that every man in that room was smart enough to know that once the bullets started flying, the chances of any of them getting out alive was pretty minimal.
“Doesn't have to go down this way,” Boyer said. “Just give me what's mine and we call it even.”
“But, we're not even,” he said. “There would still be the debt you have incurred.”
“I'll get it to you,” Boyer said, his gun pointed straight at Killian's face. “I pay my debts. Just give me some time.”
“You've had more than enough time,” Killian snapped. “I'm tired of waiting.”
“Well, get used to is son,” he said. “Life is all about waiting.”
There was a long moment of strained silence. The tension was so thick I could feel it pressing down on me. The two sides hadn't moved a muscle. It looked like a goddamn western. Then, all hell broke loose.
A dozen men, at least, wearing black masks, helmets, and black body armor, carrying assault rifles stormed into the room. The air was filled with shouting voices, most of them screaming “Police! Get down on the floor!”
I pulled Kara closer to me and backed us up against a wall, waiting for the inevitable. Shots rang out, thunderous in such a small, confined space. Kara screamed and buried her face in my chest, her hands clamped over her ears. I felt her trembling, so I pulled her to me even tighter.
The air was filled with smoke and the smell of cordite. The shooting lasted just a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Through the haze of the smoke, I saw bodies on the floor – and hoped one of them was Killian.
When the smoke finally lifted, I saw that one of Michael's men and two of Killian's men were dead on the floor, pools of blood spreading out from beneath them, their eyes open wide, fixed, and unfocused, seeing nothing but the great beyond at that point. Everybody else who'd been holding a gun in that room was down on their knees, their hands on top of their heads – including Michael and Killian.
A tall, wide black man with a Kevlar vest over a button-down shirt and tie stepped over to us. He smiled down at me. I looked up at him and smirked.
“Shit, took you long enough,” I said. “If you'd waited any longer, we all could've been killed.” said.
“We like to make a dramatic entrance. Draw out the suspense,” the man laughed. “What can I say?
Kara looked at me, confusion painting her face.
“This is Detective Dan Burroughs,” I said. “An old friend of mine.”
“An old friend?”
I nodded. “We played ball together back in high school,” I said. “And for some reason, he decided to become a cop.”
“Good thing I did,” Burroughs laughed. “Otherwise, you would've been in a whole world of shit today.”
“That's true,” I said. “And I appreciate you pulling my ass out of the fire.
Burroughs nodded and sighed. “I hate to do it, man.”
I gave him a rueful grin. “I get it. Don't worry about it. It's the deal I made.”
Kara looked at me, panic flashing through her eyes. “Deal? What deal, Declan?” she asked, her voice colored with worry. “What are you talking about?”
I took her hand and held it tight. “On my way back here, I called Dan,” I said. “Told him everything – including the fact that I was an accessory to your kidnapping. Told him about this meet. Didn't know your dad was going to be here though. I'm sorry about that.”
She shook her head and cast a look over at her father, who was being cuffed as we spoke. He looked at her, giving her a tight smile. I took Kara's face in my hands and kissed her, hoping she felt every ounce of love and passion I felt for her. Slowly, I pulled away and got to my feet. I held my hands out and Dan put a pair of cuffs on me.
“It's all going to be okay, Kara,” I said. “I promise. Now, go see your father. He did come all the way down here to save you, after all.”
She was torn. Conflicted. I could see it in her eyes. He'd abandoned her. But, he'd also showed up to save her, and put his own life on the line to do it. She looked at me again, tears streaming down her cheeks unchecked.
“I'm okay,” I said. “This is all going to work out. Don't you worry. Now, go see to your father.”
I let Dan lead me out of the room and out of the pub, to the waiting squad car that would take me down to the jail. I'd rolled the dice by agreeing to work with the cops on this. I'd held up my end of the bargain, now I was left to hope they'd hold up their end.
~ooo000ooo~
“Nine months?” I asked. “Seriously?”
My attorney, a public defender who looked like a kid fresh out of law school shrugged. “That's what the DA is offering,” he said. “It's a gift, Declan. You should take it.”
I leaned back in my seat and took Kara's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. I knew I was going to have to do a little time. After all, I'd been an accessory to kidnapping. I just hadn't thought it would be nine months.
“I helped them roll up a major organized crime family,” I said. “I thought that would have warranted a little consideration.”
“That is consideration,” he said. “Accessory to kidnapping will usually land you in jail for five or more years.”
“But, I'm not pressing charges against him,” Kara said.
“Doesn't matter,” the lawyer responded. “The DA can make a case with or without your cooperation.”
I looked at Kara. “We knew I was going to have to do some time.”
A tear raced down her cheek as she looked at me. I reached out and gently wiped it away.
“You did nothing wrong,” she said. “You did the right thing. And this is how they repay you?”
I shrugged. “I did do something wrong though, baby,” I said. “I should have called the cops from the jump. I never should have played a part in keeping you hostage.”
“You didn't,” she cried as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I did,” I said. “And now, I have to pay the piper. I have to accept responsibility for my own actions. It's something I want Jack to learn as he grows up. It's important he learn that.”
She nodded. “He will,” she said.
“Charlotte said she can take care of him while I'm away – ”
Kara shook her head quickly. “No,” she said. “Jack will stay with me. I'll care for him.”
Hearing the resolve in her voice moved me. She really did care about him – and I knew she really did care about me. I was excited for our future
together – it was just going to have to wait a little bit.
“If you accept this deal,” the lawyer said, “with good behavior, you're likely going to get out in three or four months.”
I nodded. “I can do that standing on my head.”
Kara smirked. “Yeah, well, don't,” she said. “Don't do anything that will draw attention to yourself in there. Just keep your head down and your eye on the calendar. And then get your ass back to me.”
“I'll do that,” I say.
We stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, so much emotion passing between us without either of us having to say a single word. It was nice being so comfortable with somebody. Being so open and free with them. It's not like anything I've ever had before, but it was something I was rapidly growing addicted to.
I lived my life never knowing what tomorrow was going to bring. I was the ultimate, “live in the moment,” kind of guy. But, when I looked into Kara's eyes, although I still wanted to live in the moment, I also wanted to plan for a future. One that included Kara and Jack.
“You had better be on your absolute best behavior. I want you home in three months. I want you home in time to see... ”
Her voice trailed off and a look of fear passed through her eyes. When she looked at me again, her expression was uncertain. She was afraid of something, but what?
“What is it, Kara?” I asked.
She let out a long breath. “I want you home in time to see the birth of your second child.”
I looked at her wide-eyed, utterly dumbfounded. Had I just heard her correctly? Was this some sort of a joke?
“Second child?” I asked.
She nodded, but it was hesitant. Scared. “Yes,” she said softly. “I'm pregnant.”
My mind and heart were caught up in a swirling torrent of conflicting emotions. Fear. Terror. Joy. Elation.
“Are you serious?” I asked softly.
She nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “I found out literally an hour before Rory showed up and took me.”
I ran a hand through my hair and blew out a long breath, trying to get ahold of my thoughts and emotions – and wasn't having much luck. I was scared about the idea of having a second child, knowing I didn't even know how I was going to take care of the first. At the same time though, the idea of having a child with Kara thrilled me more than I could even express in that moment.