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“How did Bambi end up in Spain with you?”
“Orla died in a car crash when she was eight. The woman didn’t have any other family, so I stepped up after the funeral. Didn’t want to, but I didn’t want her in a kiddie home either. She snuck into my life and made a stillness in the middle of my crazy. Now I love her like she’s my own, Ada. Even though I’ve probably put her in therapy for the next fifty years.”
“That’s if she has fifty more years left,” I say, voicing my worst fears. “You have to help us find her. Please, Viper.”
He scoffs. “And get a bullet in the back from Frankie?”
“He’s reeling and hurting. We’ve been dealing with the death of our son for the last day, and now this? I know you love her, Viper. I can tell. You love her just as much as we do, and for that I thank you with every single part of my heart. You’ve fought like hell for her. Everything you’ve done for her…” I catch myself before I start crying again. “This is why Roisin didn’t leave London with you, isn’t it? She knew O’Sullivan would tear this city apart for her, and in doing so he might uncover the truth. She couldn’t take that risk.” I close my eyes and take a second to fully appreciate her sacrifice. “I think she was trying to tell me in the hospital before she died.”
“Yeah, she said that.”
“You loved her.”
“Nah, I’m not capable of it, Ada.” The conviction in his voice is hard to hear. “For a kid, sure. You can hold things back from them. Shield them from the worst of you. But a woman?” He shakes his head as if that kind of happy ending is so far out of reach for him there’s no point in trying. “I’m too screwed up. O’Sullivan saw to that.”
“Sounds more like a bad commitment issue to me.”
Frankie reappears in the doorway, looking calmer, but tenser. The universe has given our child back to us, and now a monster has taken her away again. “You really love Bambi? Then stop hiding on the wrong side of those bars. She needs you, Viper. She needs all of us. You kept our daughter safe from harm for fourteen years so don’t fucking fail me now.”
* * *
Frankie practically pushesme down the steps outside the police station. Time is ticking for Bambi in all the wrong ways.
“O’Sullivan killed twenty of your men, Viper. I have the rest following up every lead in London.”
“Thiago?” He falls in next to us as he’s pulling out his phone.
I remember what he said about his network of contacts, and I start praying that someonesomewherehas information about her.
“He was shot twice, but he’s still alive. He went looking for her in the carnage. That’s when one of O’Sullivan’s men attacked him.”
“How did he know about her?”
“Silas must have given him the lowdown of our whole outfit, kids included.”
“Maybe.” My footsteps falter as we reach the pavement and Frankie’s head snaps back to me. “Or one of his men could have recognised her when she came to my studio.”
“Those were Semenov’s men, not Irish.” Leaning over to slide a warm hand around the nape of my neck, he kisses me firmly on the mouth. “This isn’t your fault.”
We share a look, our determination to find her reflected in each other’s faces. We mourned our son yesterday. We won’t mourn our daughter.
Viper turns to me as we enter the car park. “What level are you on?”
My reply is drowned out by the scream of an engine as an unmarked white van hurtles up the ramp and accelerates in our direction. Frankie curses as it screeches to a stop alongside us, the side door sliding open to reveal a huge man in black army fatigues.
“Get in.” His voice is clipped. American.Unimpressed.
Frankie steps in front of me with a grimace. “Tell the Devil we’re taking a rain-check on death today, thanks, Grayson. He can come back tomorrow to collect.”
“Are you under the impression he was asking nicely?” comes the icy response. “Best laid plans went to shit, and he wants to know why.”
“I thought Santiago liked spontaneity.”
“Not when it comes to two truckloads of trafficked girls and aBrigazigang that’s about to slip through our fingers. Now, get the fuck in the van, before I lose my temper.”
CHAPTER 39
FRANKIE
