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The three of us looked at each other. “Maybe so,” I told her. “Never underestimate good ole country boys. They’ll surprise you every time.”
While the four of us laughed, the utter concern remained on her face. “My father would stop at nothing to ensure my sister and I have a better life after he’s gone. I want to believe that’s why he did this.”
“Why would you think otherwise?” Jack pressed.
“I don’t know,” she half whispered. “Just a sick feeling that continues to be troubling. There’s something that I can’t let go of. My husband was working with my father before his death. Hell, my dad was grooming him to take over the business, something we argued about. And Finn and I never argued about anything. At least not really.”
She had a faraway look in her eyes.
“Are you insinuating that your husband’s death wasn’t an accident?” Jack moved closer, his face becoming pinched.
In an unsettling move, she pressed her hand against his chest. “He left me a note saying he’d done it on purpose for the insurance that I’d gather, but it wasn’t that much. And he was in remission, beating the odds. I never understood why he’d do something so drastic. He loved Aiden. He loved me. Hell, he was feeling good and happy, eager for the possibilities of the future. The doctors were thrilled at his progress. Then he walked in front of a speeding vehicle on purpose? All these years I’ve believed it. I’ve grieved and felt guilty. I haven’t told my family because I can’t stand the fact I couldn’t stop him.”
“What if this started years ago? The push for Madden to take over the world’s offshore rigs.” I was mostly talking out loud, but Foxx immediately walked closer.
“What are you trying to say?” he asked, peering over my shoulder as I shifted to the list of oil rigs I’d created.
“While there are six dummy corporations who’ve purchased these rigs, I’m eighty percent certain they are all owned by the Byrne Crime Syndicate.”
I noticed Rylee had perked up. Now all three of them advanced, peering over my shoulder.
“Shit. A perfect way to launder money,” Jack mused.
“And gain control of a good portion of several countries and their economies. They can’t be working alone.” Foxx was a smart man. He knew his uncle likely had something to do with it.
“Yeah, the Irish mob out of New York.” I waited for the man to explode.
Instead, he sighed. “Yep. I think that’s exactly what’s going on.”
“What does that mean?” Rylee asked, tilting her head.
“It means my father knew his own brother was in the middle of this. I called my uncle Rex, confronting him as you’d done with your father.”
“And?” I was shocked he’d been that bold.
Foxx threw me a look. “He wouldn’t confirm or deny but he did warn me to get the fuck out of Ireland. What does that tell you?”
“Why would your fucking father not tell us what he was leading us into?” Jack’s growl was full of rage.
I couldn’t say I blamed him, for fuck’s sake. Still, pieces weren’t adding up. Not by a long shot.
“I don’t know. Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing for his buddy, but I will have a chat with him.” Foxx returned his attention to the screen, glancing down at me. “How will you know for certain if what you found is accurate?”
“I’ll need to chat with my buddy back home just to be certain. However, I can’t do that until the morning. I already tried. He’s on some work trip with cellular service unavailable.”
“With the storm coming, it’s possible the satellite will be knocked out. It happened all the time.” Rylee’s voice sounded even worse, as if all her hard-core exterior, the armor I’d asked her to let go of had been stripped away instead. Fuck. She seemed so alone and vulnerable. I pushed away from the makeshift desk to stand.
“We’ll figure this all out,” I told her, gently taking her into my arms.
She looked up at me and shook her head. “We need to talk to Declan. We need proof of Madden’s unscrupulous involvement.”
“I assure you, sweetheart. We’ll get the truth out of him. One way or another.”
“You know what?” she asked all of us. “My father mentioned helping out his buddy in the States. That has to mean your father, Foxx. Do you have any idea what that means?”
He cocked his head. “It should be the other way around. Sean saved my father’s life, taking a bullet for him.”
“Maybe they were helping each other,” she mused.
