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“Uncle Sean is comin’ in north from Old Brewery Lane. Meet him there.”
I open the door, but Connor reaches out and grips my arm. “Yer goin’ alone?”
“Aye,” I confirm. “I’m undercover, remember? I can’t exactly have ye taggin’ along.”
“I don’t like this plan.”
“Well, stay in the car then.” I yank my arm out from his grip. I don’t have time for this. I arm myself and open the door.
“Puck!”
He leaps from the car and runs to where I stand. “I’ll come with ye.”
“That’s not happenin’, aul’ lad. I didn’t come this far for you to mess it up.” I slip on my hoodie, positioning it low. “If ye want to help, go find Uncle Sean, will ya.”
“This feels wrong. Ye tell me y’ve killed Hugh and Aidan. No way Brody is coming to Belfast, alone.”
“Uncle Sean has it sorted. It’s an ambush.”
“And yer the bait? Is that it?”
“Sure, this is it,” I reply angrily. “I brought ya here ’cause I wanted ye to see the mess y’ve made. If y’d sorted this years ago, then we wouldn’t be here. But I refuse to let those cunts walk into my country, thinkin’ they can steal from me!
“I may not ’ave yer blood in my veins, but themens killed my mum, and they’re to pay for what they’ve done.”
Connor doesn’t say a word. Maybe he knows this isn’t negotiable.
With a sigh, he nods. “Ye may not be my chile, but y’ll always be a Kelly, Punky.”
This is the first time he’s called me Punky. I don’t know what it means, but I can’t let sentiment get in the way.
“I’ll go to yer uncle. Be careful.”
He turns in the direction of where Uncle Sean will be waiting, but I stop him.
“Here. Take it.” I offer him my gun, but he places a hand over mine.
“Naw, I’ll be fine.”
I don’t insist and watch as he treks through the long grass, knowing this landscape like the back of his hand as this route is his.
Once he disappears, I inhale deeply, needing a second to compose myself. This is it. The moment I’ve been waiting for since I was locked in thon wardrobe and forced to watch my innocence be destroyed.
I walk in the opposite direction of Connor, ready to meet Liam and whoever else he has with him. I want to think it’ll be Brody, but I’m not sure. Either way, a message will be sent to every Doyle left standing—don’t fuck with Puck Kelly. Belfast is mine.
It’s a ten-minute walk which gives me more than enough time to think about what Connor said. If he didn’t put the drugs in the safe, who did?
I refuse to believe it was Babydoll, but when it comes to her, I’ve a bad dose of denial. I know that. But I can’t believe she would plant drugs, only to tell me they’re there. It doesn’t make sense. None of this does.
Connor’s got to be lying. But I don’t think he is. However, when I see a black van ahead, I push away those thoughts and focus.
Liam said he’d be waiting at this precise spot, exactly five minutes before the lorry was headed this way. His knowledge of the driver’s schedule has me guessing Ferris is also in cahoots with the Doyles. Or at the very least, in contact with whoever the rat is.
“This is for you, Ma,” I whisper aloud, adrenaline coursing through me.
When Liam sees me, he waves. I instantly notice the gun concealed in the small of his back. He’s come prepared for bloodshed too it seems.
“Hey,” I say as I step over the banjaxed fence. “You could have told me I had to hike through the wilderness. This place is off the map.”
