by Jane Henry
My heart squeezes. I can’t believe it didn’t even dawn on me to explain anything to them.
“Listen,” I say. “I can’t speak freely here. I don’t know who’s watching or what the plan is, but you have to trust me. Can you trust me?”
Fiona nods first. “Of course. Yes, of course I can trust you.”
Tiernan finally nods, too. “Of course is right,” he says. His jaw hardens. “And we don’t need the McCarthys. We can get by on our own.”
His words make a lump form in my throat. I want to tell them that it’ll be okay, that we can trust them. Instead, I gather up my courage, draw myself up to my full height, and nod. “Aye,” I tell them. “We will get through this. Once we know for sure the O’Gregors aren’t going to hurt us… we’ll regroup. This is part of the plan, though.” I’m afraid if I tell them the plan, we could be overheard.
“What about mum?” Fiona asks. Her normally pretty eyes grow hard when she speaks of her.
“We’ll deal with her. Don’t you worry about her, now, sweetheart.”
She sighs. “I’m going to get Sam’s toys.”
I reach over and ruffle her hair when I get a buzz on my phone.
I see Nolan’s name come up and go to swipe it on.
“I’m getting this stinking trash out,” Tiernan says. He ties up the bag as I open the text.
It isn’t a text but a video. I blink in surprise at first. I can’t comprehend what I’m seeing. It’s Nolan, but he’s tied up and gagged, his head hanging as if he’s passed out, or worse.
The door shuts as Tiernan steps outside.
The words below Nolan’s picture are even worse than the image. Chilling.
Give us your brother or the boyfriend dies.
“Tiernan!” I scream. “No!”
But Tiernan doesn’t come back.
Fiona comes into the kitchen with the baby on her hip, her eyes wide. Her face pales when I show her the text. She looks to the window, but I tell her not to. “Go to your room,” I tell her in a hoarse whisper. “Take the baby and hide in the closet. Go!”
She runs.
I look out the window and my heart pounds.
They were sending out word we’d be back, but I never expected they’d act so soon. Where’s Tiernan?
Why didn’t he come when I called him?
A knock comes at the door. My heart pounds so fast it nearly hurts, the blood rushing to my head making me dizzy. I have to face this problem head on. I can’t run from my fears any longer. The lives of literally everyone in the world who matter to me at all are at stake. I open the door to find Cian standing at the door, his hands shoved in his pockets. It’s odd. Why didn’t he just barge in? Why knock and then enter like this?
“Fancy a visit?” he says, his beady eyes focused on me.
He isn’t alone. Half a dozen other men come in with him.
Where are the others? Nolan said we wouldn’t be alone, that we’d have protection. Are they letting us be taken for a reason? Why did Nolan himself get captured?
“What do you want with me, Cian?” I ask, backing away as if I’m afraid, when what I’m really trying to do is not poke his fucking eyes out.
“Just you,” he says. “You here alone?”
“Of course.”
He rears back and slaps me across the face. Pain explodes across my cheek and my eyes blur with tears. “You fucking lying bitch,” he says. He grabs the back of my head and drags me out, followed by the others. “Your brother came, too, didn’t he?”
If they get Fiona and the baby… my God… what will happen to them?
They have to be safe. I have to trust the McCarthys. Nolan told me they’d be safe.
I’m dragged out of the house and shoved into a car beside Tiernan. I wait for someone to come and help, but no one does. Tiernan’s gagged, so he can’t speak to me. A moment later, I face the same fate. We careen through the streets, my thoughts on Nolan, Fiona, and baby Sam. Would the O’Gregors stoop so low as to take them, too?
It’s a damn good thing I’m gagged. Otherwise, I’d curse these men out and my mouth would get us in trouble again. I recognize where they’re going, where they’re taking us, to the abandoned church I used to visit when I was younger. This feels like a nightmare I can’t wake up from. I want this to end.
We’re taken out roughly, dragged along, and brought into the side door of the old church. This isn’t the place it was in its heyday, long since abandoned and left to ruin. The stained glass windows are brilliant against the streams of moonlight, even as the rest of the church has fallen into a state of disrepair. And somehow, some way, the colors that fall on the ground before us give me hope, like the stripes of a rainbow after a rainstorm.
I can do this.
I have to trust the McCarthys.
They promised me protection and now I have to trust they’ll give us just that.
But I’ve never trusted anyone in my life before. I don’t know how to trust. The only way I’ve ever brought myself out of my misery was with my own two hands, and now… now I’m being forced to do something I’ve never done before.
But I can do this.
I think of Fiona and baby Sam, smiling and laughing in the garden with Maeve. The way Tiernan came alive with the men of The Clan, how he took up the challenges they presented him and gave it his all. They did it, damn it. They faced their fears and trusted. So now, I have to do the same.
We’re brought into a room, and few words are spoken. Cian looks like he’s lowest on the totem pole here, thank fucking God, because he takes orders from all the others. He jeers at me when I’m dragged forward and placed on a burgundy carpet before an old, dusty altar.
“Take her gag off,” a cold voice says. I look up to see a man I don’t recognize. He’s tall and thin like Cian, so close in resemblance it’s uncanny, but much older. They’re related, then?
They take my gag off and shove me to the floor so I can’t get up.
“Bring him in, then?” Cian asks.
“Aye.”
The older man with the cold black eyes lights up a smoke and eyes me. “So you’re the pretty little bitch who likes to interfere with mafia, eh?”
Cian brings in Nolan. Relief and pain flood me at the sight of him.
I look at Nolan, and I’m grateful to see there’s no serious signs of assault. His jaw is tight and his body rigid as they drag him in, as if he’s prepared to spring from these snares at the very first chance he can. He hasn’t been weakened at all. They’ve underestimated him. His eyes meet mine across the wooden benches between us and he gives me a smile and a wink, so quick I wonder at first if I imagined it.
“Answer me, woman,” the older man says.
“I’m the reporter, yes,” I tell him. “Thought that much was clear.”
“You watch your tongue, or the boyfriend gets hurt.” To demonstrate, he turns to the side and kicks Nolan’s shin. To Nolan’s credit, he only hisses and winces, but he doesn’t cry out. I can’t hold it together though. Inside, I’m screaming.
I love that man. I love that fierce, loyal, beautiful man, and it kills me to see him at their mercy.
“Take off his gag as well.” He nods to Tiernan.
When Tiernan’s gag lies on the floor, he glares at Cian. “I gave you what you want,” he says. “You have no quarrel with me. What have we done to you?”
The old man shrugs. “Your sister doesn’t know to leave well enough alone,” he says. “Brings her arsehole boyfriend in here to show off his muscles, mmm? Beats up one of my own. Takes the lot of you away? Our best runner, traitor to the McCarthys?”
Nolan looks to Tiernan. “Ignore him, Tiernan,” he says. “And remember what we talked about. Remember what we practiced.”
What the hell?
Tiernan and Nolan look at each other. Tiernan nods, and Nolan begins to count. I decide to distract the others.
“You know you’re a fool to be doing this to us,” I say to the man in charge. “And you also kn
ow that Cian’s a lying sneak, don’t you?” My words might get me injured, but I’ll survive.
“You bitch,” Cian says, raising a hand to strike me at the very same time Nolan yells to Tiernan.
“Three!”
Tiernan knifes up and grabs Cian around the neck. He drags him to the ground and incapacitates him in seconds, using the skills he’s learned from Nolan and Lachlan to defend himself and overpower Cian. Nolan kicks his foot out, and the man beside him trips. Others arrive, Carson and Lachlan. Nolan’s ropes are cut, gun shots ring out, but they’ve planned this.
I feel like I need to fight, as if I should defend myself, but I’m mesmerized by the way they orchestrate this. The way they move as one is like a well-oiled machine.
Cian reaches for me, but Tiernan’s got him. Another one of his cronies tries to get me, but I roll to avoid him, get to my feet, and give him a swift, hard kick between the legs. I nail him straight in the bollox. He howls with rage and comes after me again, but Nolan’s got him. I cringe as he grabs him by the shoulders, drags him down, and knees his belly before he shoves him to the ground and grabs a gun. He points it at his head. Carson’s got the older man in the same position.
“We don’t want war, lads,” Nolan says, panting from the exertion. The Clan has the others subdued, Cian still in Tiernan’s grip. “We do want your undivided attention.”
The older man glares but he can’t move. Carson’s got a gun trained on him and Tiernan’s beside him, ready to throw down if he needs to.
“The Hurston family is under our protection,” Nolan begins. “We’re aware Tiernan was a runner for you. We’ve questioned him at length, and believe what he says is true. He has proof he cut ties with you a week ago, told you he wouldn’t be working for you anymore, and he’s under no obligation to fulfill any more contracted work.”
“Aye,” the older man says. “’Tis true. Now prove to us he isn’t a spy.”
“Can’t do that,” Nolan says. “Though it should be noted we didn’t even know he worked for you until we’d already taken him into our protection.”
The man shakes his head, and my belly clenches with apprehension. “Doesn’t matter. You know what Clan law states. If we have reason to believe he’s a spy, his life is forfeit.”
A chill runs down my spine as I watch, first one then the other.
“They’re both spies,” the man says. “And you know it. The lass does nothing but dig up dirt on the mob and publicize it. She demonizes you. We’re next.”
Nolan stands to his full height and glares. “And you’re responsible for the death of both of her parents. You’ve left four children orphaned. And you know what clan law says about that.”
Wait. What?
Orphaned?
Does Nolan know something I don’t?
It’s hard to breathe, suddenly, like someone’s pulled the plug on the air in my lungs and it’s all whooshing out of me. I’m not sad. I’m not angry. I think I might be in a state of shock.
The O’Gregors look at each other, and the leader nods. “Aye,” he says with a sigh. “I’ll have it on record I did not authorize the death of their mother.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Nolan counters. “You know the law. You orphaned the boy with no proof. You have nothing on him that says he was a spy, nothing at all. You killed his father when he worked for you, never informed him, then your men killed his mother.”
The man’s jaw tightens but he nods. “I know what happened.”
“Then tell them,” Nolan says. “Tell them what Clan law states.”
“Bloody hell,” Cian mutters, but the older man curses.
“Shut it, Cian. Was your fault their mum died and you know it.”
Tiernan meets my eyes across the rows of benches.
If she’s gone… we’re free.
Where does this leave us? Where do we go next? I have no idea.
“Means we let you go,” the man says. “We can’t hold you in any way. Under normal circumstances, Clan law states we owe you restitution.” He faces Nolan. “But this isn’t free and clear,” he says. “Normally, a wrongful death means restitution in full, but with the mitigating circumstances we can cut a deal. Their father deserved the death he had. We’ve no proof Tiernan betrayed us, and their mother’s death was on us.”
He stands to his full height, and he’s intimidating as hell. “But I want them gone. Their entire fucking family. We’ll pay minimum restitution for the death of their mother, under the condition that not a fucking one of them ever comes back here.”
Nolan’s eyes narrow. “They leave,” the man says. “Their entire family gets off this land. They never return to Stone City. If they do, our vows not to hurt them are null and void.”
“Done,” Nolan says.
I open my mouth to protest, because I don’t think it fair they make this deal without any consent from me or Tiernan, but Nolan shoots me a look so fierce I immediately clam up.
Right now, maybe it’s best I stay out of Clan business for once.
Nolan holds Cian up by the shirt. “It’s a deal, under one condition of my own,” he says. He gives Cian a shake, like he’s a naughty boy and he’s caught him stealing from his candy shop. “This man ever comes near my woman again, his life is mine.”
The older man’s eyes zone in on Cian. “Done.”
Nolan drops Cian to the ground. He hangs his head and doesn’t protest. He knows he’s lost this battle.
“You know you’ve got a spy among you, McCarthy?” the old man says.
Nolan looks at him sharply.
“Watch your back, son,” he says.
Nolan looks at me, Tiernan, and his brothers. “Let’s go.”
“You have one hour,” the old man says.
“Won’t need more than ten minutes,” Nolan mutters. He reaches for my hand. I don’t know how to respond.
Where do we go now? I have to pack their things up and leave. Where will we go? Do I even want to take his hand?
I don’t know what he thinks of me, what he thinks of us. My family. Does he trust us? Does he think we’re spies?
There’s too much to process, too much on my mind.
Tiernan’s talking to the men behind us, and Nolan’s got my hand.
“Keep your head down,” he says. “And I’m sorry.”
I blink. Why’s he apologizing?
“No talking right now, Sheena. Let’s get you home so you can leave.”
You.
Not us. Not we. You.
Me, Tiernan, Fiona, and Sam.
Why does that make me feel bereft?
I walk in a stupor beside him. I feel like I need a stiff drink, followed by several days of uninterrupted sleep.
“Fiona,” I say, my heart leaping into my throat. “Where is she? Is she okay?”
“Lach’s with her,” Nolan says. “She’s fine.”
When we get back to the house, Lachlan’s at the door, standing sentry. His weapon’s drawn, and the look in his eyes is so intimidating, it makes me momentarily pleased he’s on my side.
Nolan fills him in, talking all kinds of guy speak that I don’t even understand. I catch words like, “restitution,” “code,” “blowback,” and “amnesty.” And for the first time… after literal years of watching them, of observing and spying and gathering intel, I understand.
They live and die by a code that bears them up, a code deeply embedded in centuries of tradition in the land of the Irish. Though their mob has only been around for half a century, their family hearkens back to the days of Vikings and Celts. I’ve seen how they behave. I’ve seen how they treat each other, and I know now.
They aren’t just reckless criminals who wreak havoc. They don’t just think they’re above the law. They’re a brotherhood of loyal men who’ll do anything for each other and for the ones they love.
The ones they love.
How I wish I knew we were in that category.
I take Fiona and Sam, one in each arm, and hug them to me.
“We’ll say goodbye to this home,” I tell them. “And we’ll do our best to make our own.”
Chapter 19
Nolan
I know the lass is traumatized. Hell, I don’t fucking blame her. She’s been through hell and back, and no one deserves to find out their mother’s been killed in the middle of a battle for their own life.
We can’t talk now, though. We’re moving as quickly as we can. We’ve been given an hour to get them out of here, and goddammit, I’m doing my best to ensure that’s exactly what happens.
Being told to leave here is the best possible solution.
We pack them up, but take hardly anything. I’m glad to leave this fucking house, and I imagine they feel the same.
Sheena won’t look at me, but I don’t give it a second thought. Not at first, anyway. She’s got to be under enormous stress and after what just happened. I imagine she’s just doing what she has to, like I am.
Tiernan takes baby Sam and fills a flimsy plastic grocery sack with a few things.
“Anything else you need?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. It saddens me that the boy has nothing of importance at all to him, nothing that matters. I don’t own many things myself, but I’ve a few items that do matter to me.
Lachlan helps Fiona. She’s taken a liking to him from the beginning, I’ve noted, and guess she must trust him. Could be because he’s the youngest of all, the one with the most boyish temperament. She has a few more things than Tiernan does, but still, her items are few, a little notebook, and a box tied with string she tucks under her arm. Lachlan takes the rest of her things and helps her carry them.
Sheena takes nothing. She scowls at the house as we go to leave and mutters under her breath, “Good fucking riddance.”
I can’t talk to her now. We’re moving them out of here and back to our home temporarily until we find another place for them to live. I have to fill Keenan and the rest of the men in, and we need to ensure that everything we’ve recorded tonight with the O’Gregors will be fulfilled.
We drive back to Ballyhock in silence. Sheena and me, that is. Sam coos and fusses a bit until Tiernan finally snaps, “Will you be quiet already?”