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9
Kate lookedup as Ronan came into the great room. “Good morning! Or should I say goodafternoon?”
He yawned and stretched. “Morning. I didn’t mean to sleep solate.”
“I’m sure you’ve had a long few days,” shesaid.
He’d arrived at the house the night before, after passing Jóhanna Leifsson's car off to Declan and Nick via the cameras they’d set up on the road. Less than an hour later, Declan and Nick had returned with the news they’d been waiting to confirm: Neil was here, in Iceland, just a few milesaway.
It was still ashock.
“Funny how sitting and walking can be so exhausting,” Ronan said referring to the hours he’d spent staking out Gunnar Ármannsson’s apartment in Reykjavík and tailing Jóhanna Leifsson through the city’s streets. “I take it there’scoffee?”
“In the kitchen,” Kate said. “Want to sit on the deck? I could use abreak.”
She’d already participated in an early morning meeting with her staff back in Boston, reviewed the marketing budgets for the coming month, and sent several emails regarding recent focus groups on new design directions for WMG’s magazine division. Plus, she hadn’t been able to be outside when she’d been in the house alone. Now that Ronan was there, she couldn’t imagine Declan objecting to coffee on thedeck.
“Sure.” He opened a couple of cupboards, looking for coffee mugs, then pushed a cup under the high-end espresso machine in the kitchen. “Dec alreadyout?”
She nodded and shut her computer. “He left first thing. Nick’sasleep.”
Now that they’d confirmed Neil was at the house, they didn’t want to risk him leaving. Nick and Declan had decided to take alternating shifts watching the camera feeds on the road leading to the house, with Nick taking the first overnight shift and Declan relieving him in themorning.
They would rotate Ronan in while they organized a plan for going in to getNeil.
“Stakeouts suck,” Ronan said, pulling his steaming cup out from under the machine. “Amazing how hard it is just to bestill.”
She stood and picked up her cup, then opened the door leading to the deck. “I can onlyimagine.”
Ronan’s eyes were pulled to the view beyond the deck. “Wow.”
It had been dark when he’d arrived the night before. Now the sun cast hazy light on the yellow grass covering the hill that led to the water, a blanket of mist unfurling as far as the eye couldsee.
“Gorgeous right?” She inhaled the clean air, glad to be out of the house. She checked the lounge chairs on the deck for dew, then settled into one of them when she realized the sun had burned itoff.
“It’s incredible.” He took the chair next to hers, leaned back with a sigh, and took a drink of his coffee. “Must have been lonely here for youthough.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” she said. “Declan didn’t want me outside, which I understand, but at least I had the view, and I could open the doors on the deck for some fresh air when I neededit.”
“I guess there are worse places to be trapped,” Ronansaid.
She smiled. “Definitely.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them looking out over the fields and sea, before Ronan spokeagain.
“You really don’t think Beth is there? With Neil?” heasked.
“I really don’t,” she said. “Beth isn’t exactly known for keeping quiet. If she’d been in the house, I think Declan and Nick would have picked her up on thebug.”
“Still no guarantee though. Jóhanna Leifsson was only inside the house for a few minutes,” Ronansaid.
“That’s true. I just don’t think she’s there. I wish she was.” Every day without news of Beth was an exercise in worry and frustration. Kate wanted her found, wanted to know she was safe in spite of everything, but just as badly, she wanted to ask the questions that had been burning in her mind since she’d discovered Beth was working withNeil.
Did you know he was going to have our father killed?Important because in every way that mattered, Mac Walsh had been a father not just to Aiden and Kate, but to Beth as well. How could Beth conspire to killhim?
How could you do this to our family? How could you plot against us? And why? For money?Beth always needed money, but she hadn’t exactly been living large in her apartment downtown. Kate had never seen her in designer anything, had never seen her make a single lavishpurchase.
So if not money,why?
