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“Come, sit Ms Brooks,” Cillian Lennox was a sight to behold. An older more distinguished version of his son, it was easy to see where my grey eyes had received his looks from. The genetic pool with this family was strong. “I’m sorry we had to meet under such unfortunate circumstance.”
Lunch had gone well, and now we were sitting out on the patio. Stryker’s mom had gone out not long after lunch finished and now, we were just waiting on Paige to arrive. Stryker had filled me in a little about who had helped with the clean-up while we waited. I just didn’t understand why the prominent businessman would get his hands dirty for a girl he’d never met.
Sensing I may have been a little scared and nervous, Cillian gave me a small smile. “I understand how hard this may be for you. Taking a life is never an easy decision for anyone even if it is in self-defence.”
“No, it’s not,” I agreed with him. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Catherine Ducane. The shocked look of disbelief before she collapsed. Her limp body surrounded by a growing pool of blood.
“Have you told my son you’re seeing her?” Cillian so poignantly asked. They way he could read me was a little unsettling. “I wish I could tell you that over time the image will fade but that would be lying and I’m not one to sugar coat things.”
“Does it get easier—to deal with I mean?” I needed to know cause the guilt had been eating me up ever since. But it wasn’t the type you would typically feel. I was felt guilty because it had been Logan’s aunt and nothing more.
“That depends, my dear. For some, it’s easy to turn it all off and others well they will be followed by the ghosts until they either learn to deal or they flounder,” He didn’t mince his words when he spoke and I could appreciate that, Cillian looked up as Stryker and Paige walked out to join us. “I will tell you this though iníon-i-dlí, you will never forget your first kill, but Phoenix, she had that gun trained on you first, you have to remember that.”
“I know,” I whispered, playing with an invisible thread on my shirt.It wasn’t lost on me that given the chance I could’ve been the one dead right now or worse. She could have taken me again. I shuddered to think what could have happened after that.
There was something about the way Cillian held himself, the way he spoke that told me I needed to be cautious around him. Here in front of me was a man who would slay demons for you if you asked but double cross him and you’d be the one with a bullet between the eyes.
“Hey Uncle Cill,” Paige bounced over to where we’re sitting and gave Cillian a hug before taking a seat opposite me. “So did I miss anything?”
“No Paige, we were just getting started,” He answered, giving her a tap on the arm. Turning to me he now wore a serious expression. “We need to know what you want to do with the kid at the warehouse?”
“Jesus Dad, I thought you were gonna ease into it, not throw it at her all at once.” Stryker took my hand and squeezed softly. I could see the apology in his eyes. “It’s been a while now, Phee. We can’t keep him there indefinitely.”
“You have a choice to make, Phoenix.” Cillian had become so matter of fact. I knew what they were saying had merit, but that didn’t make it any easier. What they were asking of me was a lot.
“I don’t really have a choice, I have to turn him over to the authorities.” Cillian looked at me puzzled. So I continue. “My father is in jail because of him, I need to free my father.”
“You do have a choice, you can either take care of the problem or we take care of him for you,” Cillian flexed his fingers, he looked right at me. Waiting. “Either way, that kid at the warehouse will be meeting his maker—it’s just a question of at whose hands.”
“My dad is sitting in prison because of this psycho, if we don’t hand him over to the police, how will my dad get out of jail?” I asked, every time I thought about my father it made me angry, I just wanted him out we’d already suffered enough as a family, it was time to start the healing.
“We don’t need him to free your dad, Phee,” [LE6]Stryker got up and knelt down in front of me. The seriousness of the situation showed all over his face. “Kyle doesn’t know how to shut up, we have everything we need to get your dad out of jail on tape.”
“My son is right, Phee. You don’t have to worry about your dad, I’ll have the tapes sent off to the proper people today and he should be out within the next month,” Cillian reaffirmed what Stryker just told me. It made me wonder just how far their reach went. “But you need to understand that we can’t let that kid live. I can’t let him live, not after everything.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t inflict some of my own justice in him Sir, I just think he needs to rot in a cell for the rest of his life with the only company a cell mate nicknamed Cuddle pie and remembering not to pick up the soap in the shower.” I interject, truth was I needed to face Kyle before any other plans were made. Although I did have one question. “If we are here to talk about Kyle, than why did you invite Paige?”
Stryker and his father exchanged a concerned look between them. There was more to this than they were leading on.
“When the guys took Kyle hostage, they noticed that he bore a tattoo.” Cillian’s eyes filled with sorrow as he turned to Paige. “We did some digging into that tattoo. It’s part of the Lords of Salem but only four people have it.”
“Kyle was in Australia at the time as was Max Ducane, leaving two people here, Paige,” It’s Stryker’s turn to look guilty again, what was he hiding. I watched as Paige started to build her walls. “The rest of the puzzle slotted into place last night, thanks to Jonah. Of the two that were left here, one was in prison at the time and the other well I think you can guess who that fucker was.”
“Alexander fucking Ducane.” Cillian said the name that is on all our lips. The utter look of disgust was plain to see. It was quickly becoming evident that there was bad blood between the older generations of the two families. “Don’t worry Paige, we have the family out looking for him.”
“What do you mean you’re looking for him?” I asked in disbelief. Kyle’s father wasn’t only a threat to Paige, and the fact that he was out there god knows where didn’t sit well with me. “You know where he is—either the cabin or their home down the road from Logan’s parents.”
“We already covered those. Seems like both he and Max have gone to ground, especially since Catherine never came home last night and someone tipped them off that we were looking for them.” Stryker filled in the blanks. Never letting go of my hand and keeping a watchful on his cousin. “So far we know they are no longer here in Southport. We have help from Damon; we will find them.”
Looking up at Paige, I don’t miss the tears that threatened to fall. I have never seen her cry before and she didn’t strike me as one to do it freely in front of others. Paige was usually the carefree love everyone type and now she was on the verge of cracking. Or so I thought. Rising from her chair, Paige shook her head before she started for the door.
“Paige, where are you going?” I yelled after her. I didn’t want her doing anything that could end up hurting her. I was so angry at Stryker right now, I thought he would have learnt by now keeping secrets hurt those he loved.
“Going to find the asshole.” She yelled back over her shoulders, the silent goodbye in her eyes told me that I wouldn’t be seeing her for a while. “It’s time to put an end to all this.”
I couldn’t have said it better, I needed my closure too. This family has caused us enough heartache, and now it was time to finish it.
Chapter Forty - Jonah
