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“What?” Jack huffed.
“It’s true. We’ve been working to try and gather incriminating evidence against Madden Byrne and his family for crimes committed in several countries, including the United States. While I’m not privy to go into details, I can tell you that we were close to having enough evidence, something that hasn’t happened before in countless years and after several tries. Madden was always one step ahead of every law enforcement agency. However, your interference has caused a rift in the situation. So has Mrs. Donnelly’s. Her confrontation with Madden has placed the entire operation in jeopardy.”
“Stop blaming her for your fuckups,” I hissed.
“If any of this bullshit is true,” Jack said gruffly as he walked closer, the weapon his held still pointed between the man’s eyes, “then why the fuck does it seem like you’re leaving all the fun? You a coward or something?”
Declan exhaled and rubbed his jaw before snatching his credentials back into his hand and turning his head toward Jack. “Because I was recalled. It would seem my cover was blown. I really would prefer to make it back to my family alive.”
What he’d shown us and said was completely unexpected.
But I believed him.
“I’ll need to check this out,” I told him.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” Hudson piped in.
I glanced in his direction. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means, my buddy, the one working for the DEA? He mentioned he suspected there was an operative working in the country to try and hunt and secure an arrest against Madden. I laughed it off since I was here in the middle of the nightmare.”
“DEA?” Declan snorted. “They’ve been chomping at the bit to get their hands on this man for years.”
“Because the oil rigs will be used for drop-off points given their almost impossible to reach locations and as the perfect method of laundering money. Right?” I threw out, mostly to see his reaction.
As he’d done before, he opened his eyes wide. “How the fuck did you know that? Who the hell are you people?”
“We’re asking the questions,” Hudson growled in a deeper voice than I was used to. “What the hell do Sean O’Rourke and Axel Banning have to do with any of this?”
Declan narrowed his eyes the moment I bristled. It would seem my buddy had been holding back on me. I tried to keep a straight face, but I was beginning to realize that sometimes blood wasn’t thicker than a pact made between friends.
Including Axel and Sean.
My father had once mentioned in passing, never to confirm what he’d said, that he and Sean had made a pact with two other men in their unit that through thick and thin, blood and violence, right and wrong, they would be there for each other. I wanted to be furious with my father, never talking to him again for placing our lives in such a precarious position, but he’d trusted me with this mission, one that he wouldn’t have been effective on.
“Sean and Axel are innocent, being used as pawns in this game the CIA and this Irish law enforcement agency are playing. Right?” It was a well-informed guess in my opinion.
Declan didn’t seem to want to be forthcoming, so I decided to help him make up his mind, taking two long strides, wrapping one hand around his throat and pressing the barrel of my gun against his temple.
“Don’t fuckin’ make me pull the trigger. I’ll do it without hesitation and dump your sorry ass lying body into the Celtic Sea. Without feeling a second of guilt. Do you hear me, buddy?”
Declan was a smart man, slowly lifting his arms in surrender. “I hear you, Foxx, but I don’t think you want to do that. You and your friends will spend the rest of your life in prison for killing a member of the CIA.”
“As if we give a shit,” Jack snarled.
“Speak,” I demanded.
“I can’t confirm or deny but let’s just say Mr. O’Rourke knew who I was.”
That told me everything I needed to know. Well, almost.
“What about Conor McCarthy?” I threw out.
Declan laughed. “Conor is working with Madden. He infiltrated the operation months before I came on board. He was the man responsible for sabotaging the equipment. It took me a while to figure that out. He’s already been rounded up, his attempt to escape failing. We think he was also the one who blew my cover.”
“How did Finn Donnelly fit into all of this?” I pressed, certain I had an idea.
Declan was more shocked than ever at the mention of the name, his mouth slightly opening. “Why would you bring up Rylee’s dead husband?”
