AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She looked away, thinking about my question, nodding a few seconds later. “You are right. Unless you had a connection to Christine, which I didn’t discover. The truth is that I’m being used as a puppet. The person leaving the notes is using the fearthat almost crippled me years ago against me since I didn’t react as they thought I would.”
“That’s entirely possible, but I will discover if Damien has returned to town. As I said, anyone can be found for the right amount of money and depending on the people you know.”
“I’ll give you everything I have on the monster. What happens if he’s here?” She fisted her hand, her resolve increasing once again.
“Then I’ll handle the situation as necessary.” I noticed the look in her eyes changed, as if she was more than resigned to the fact it was entirely possible her boss wasn’t the mentor she’d thought of the woman as being. But there was more. An entirely different resignation that troubled me.
“You know, I’ve seen terrible things in my life because of the work I do. I always believed I was helping people, protecting the innocent while condemning those who didn’t deserve salvation. I prided myself on being one of the good guys, a champion. I’ve seen bloody, violent images that left me haunted to this day, robbing me of sleep and in some ways, a tiny bit of my sanity. But because I was doing so for all the right reasons, I forged on through the muck and blood, to keep making a difference. When I lost that case with Damien, I was certain I couldn’t do it any longer. If Christine is using that horror so many people went through, I will stop at nothing to destroy her. And her friends. If she dared to take my goodness, my promise made to this community to line her pockets, she will pay the ultimate price. And if she dared to put you in the middle, a man I care for, then I’m not certain what I will do.”
“I’ll be happy to help you do that,cherie. And what if Damien is walking the streets of Louisville?”
She slowly lifted her gaze once again, a strange and very telling look crossing her lovely face. “Then do what you need to do. Do what I think you’ve very good at doing. Eliminate the problem.”
“Let me just say one more time that I don’t like this shit whatsoever.”
“Duly noted, Michael. I’m not fond of being falsely accused of a crime I didn’t commit either but we all must learn to work with the cards that have been dealt.” As I climbed out of the rental SUV, I immediately buttoned my jacket. As with every other town it seemed within the United States, there were areas more heavily concentrated with nationalities. Russian. Italian. Chinese. Mexican. It all depended on who settled where.
This was an Irish mecca nestled on a few streets in Louisville where the Irish pubs and bakeries outnumbered anything else. There was event quaint Irish music coming from one of the businesses already and it was barely after one in the afternoon. The scent of fresh baked soda breads immediately made my mouth water. But I wasn’t here to be entertained or for delicious food.
I had one thing in mind, making an alliance with Liam O’Connor. Given everything that I’d learned from the lovely creature who’d remained nestled against my side all night long, I needed to ensure that someone in this town had my back. While the concept might seem foreign to some, even outlandish, it was a good decision. As long as Liam understood I had nothing to do with his brother’s and sister-in-law’s murders.
At this point, I found the entire situation fascinating, including the possibility that several highly respected women were in charge of putting something like what Sedona described together. Was it possible? Absolutely. And in doing so, they could rule with an entirely different iron fist. I had to admire their chutzpa, but they had no understanding that Liam would never allow that to happen right under his nose.
That was my bargaining chip, something I’d yet to do in my career. However, I’d allowed myself to walk into the middle of a nightmare. In providing details to the new Irish leader regarding the situation, I hoped to form a formal alliance. Perhaps at some point it could turn lucrative.
The first thing was to determine who’d really killed Ronan and Fiona. The discovery would allow Liam to burn down the city if he wanted while I got back to business as usual. Somewhere along the way, we could parlay our two fortunes into making even more money, as well as connecting a virtual highway between our countries. In turn, working together would increase our power and keep this kind of bullshit from ever happening again.
That was the initial plan anyway, something I’d thought about several times during the course of a sleepless night. Part of that had also been about ensuring Sedona’s protection. I’d been right about the recent walk through of her shrubs by an unwanted visitor, which meant that she hadn’t been seeing or hearing things. The fact she was being watched, maybe hunted unnerved the fuck out of me. Would her boss go to that extreme or was there more than one damning situation going on?
My plans afterwards were likely to change from the original thought. It would seem returning to Montreal might be in mybest interest, even if that would list me as a fugitive. However, the outcome of the trial had already been decided.
What I’d yet to ascertain was who had tipped off the person in charge of the manipulation in the first place. In my mind, it could only be one person. Sean. I’d called my brother to handle leaning on the family to try to find out. There could be no one else. In my mind, Callahan’s son had been pissed off about what had occurred between us and had done something stupid.
Something he would soon regret.
“I hear what you’re saying, boss, and I appreciate your confidence, but I’d like to get back to Montreal in one piece. I promised my girlfriend as much.”
“I assure you that Liam won’t do something stupid after he hears what I have to say.”
“I hope you’re right cause there ain’t a person on the street who isn’t glaring at us like we just stole their puppy dog.”
The man had a fascinating way with words. “Just keep an eye out for any issues but do not engage in a conversation or be goaded into an act of aggression. Do you understand me?”
“You know how to take the fun out of everything.”
Chuckling, I flipped through the file of information I’d amassed. Liam deserved to know exactly what he was dealing with. The details and photographs could speak for themselves as an icebreaker. At least the restaurant the man had chosen was crowded, which was meant to ease my concern I wouldn’t make it out of the meeting alive or to prevent me from doing anything rash now that I could jeopardize innocent lives.
The space reminded me of the Irish pub owned by the Callahans in Montreal.
“What happens after the meeting?”
“Did you find a place for rent?”
“Not yet.” Michael looked sheepish, as if I’d be angry.
“Then it’s final. We’re returning to Montreal.”
“With or without a guest?”
