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It all hits me at once.
The lies, the pain, the anger.
The lies, the pain, the anger.
Thelies, thepain, theanger.
Douglas. Aimee. Connor. Bella. Eda.
It feels like my head might split in two. The sheer pain of it all. I can hear myself sobbing as if I were somewhere in the next room.
Instead of turning back to her, I float further away. Seeing how far I can get from the names and feelings that have cut through my mind like a knife. Seeing how they connect and interweave with each other. Each stroke of the knife feels more and more distant.
In this ruthless world, the line between friend and foe is as thin as a whisper, and I’ve become ensnared in its twisted web of deceit. Numb now to the spectrum of emotion that once dominated my mind.
I reach for the bag.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Arnie
Kate insists on driving, contending that one of the Duffys’ cars will be more discreet. As we pull up in an unfamiliar part of town, I close my eyes, preparing myself for what I might need to do.
Despite Aimee’s insistence that I try to get some sleep, it never came. Instead, I spent several hours staring at the ceiling of one of their guest rooms, running over the plan in my head over and over. Thinking through every possibility and how I would get myself out of it.More importantly, how I would get Roisin out of it.
By the time Kate came to knock on my door, it must have been twenty-four hours since I last slept. Back when Roisin was safely in my arms.
The tiredness weighs on me heavily as the car comes to a stop. But it’s not like this is the first time I’ve had to work like this. If anything, the paranoia that comes with my sleep deprivation makes me more wired.
“We’re on foot from here,” Kate murmurs as she kills the engine.
I don’t bother telling her that I know that already - instead, we both get out of the car, and I join her at the boot.
Our equipment is already packed into duffel bags, and we both make quick work of concealing as much as we can on our persons. As I slip a knife into my boot, the unfamiliar weight jars me a little. I can’t help but miss the silver heirloom I gave to Roisin.
“You ready?”
I turn to Kate with determination. “Let’s get her back.”
The walk over to the Romero compound is quiet and tense. Every car that passes in the distance sets me on edge as we climb over the wall of a back alley and scale the side of an abandoned garage. Lying on the roof gives us the best view of the compound’s exterior with the most cover.
“Seems your suspicions were right,” Kate comments bitterly as we observe the guards walking the perimeter, dressed head to toe in black.
“Did Ray find anything?” I ask as I mentally begin charting their patterns.
“Nothing we didn’t already know before,” Kate replies. “TheBlack Coatsare a mercenary unit imported from overseas. Ray couldn’t find anything linking them to Padraic, but that’s not to say he’s not working with them behind the scenes.”
I nod as I take the information in. “So it’s possible that he’s loaning them out to the cartel?”
“Or Eda has hired them independently, and Padraic has nothing to do with this,” Kate speculates. “Either way, someone’s wracked up a pretty big bill. How many do you think there are?”
“Twenty-seven,” I reply immediately. “Twenty-eight in fifteen seconds when that guy walks out those doors.”
Kate’s eyebrow shoots up as she focuses on where I’m pointing. Like clockwork, a man exits the patio door as I predicted.
“Well, shit,” Kate huffs under her breath and begins readjusting her equipment.
I check mine over too. “What do you think?”
