“What’s wrong, Puck? Ye look nervous,” Sean says, pulling up a seat.
“What would I have to be nervous about?” I question with my poker face firmly in play. “Y’ve just confirmed that Cami is alive. And she’s somewhere in Belfast. And I’ll be able to gauge where dependin’ on the time it takes for Grady to call ye. So maybe yer the one who looks nervous now.”
Sean exhales sharply because I’ve just played him at his own game.
He gets up and exits abruptly, leaving us alone with Flynn.
Looking at the clock on the mantel, I estimate it will take roughly thirty minutes to get to Aoife’s from here. That’s how long I have to save my son.
Looking around the room for a weapon, I come up empty. My knife is in my boot, but by the time I reach for it, Hannah will be dead. I didn’t bring my gun because I didn’t want Sean to think I was suspicious. I told myself to humor him for only a little while longer.
How I now regret that.
The silence is deafening. I need to act, and I need to act now.
“You do realize I’m going to kill ye,” I say to Flynn who snickers.
“I’m pretty sure I’m the one holdin’ the gun.”
“Not for long,” I reply with a shrug. “Ye think he gives a fuck about ye? Yer ten a penny.”
“Ye don’t know what yer talkin’ about. Sean has looked after my family.”
“Yeah, well, we are his family, and I can tell ye this, he doesn’t care a thing about it. Y’ll just be another arsehole who fell victim to Sean Kelly. Run while y’ve still got the chance because if Sean doesn’t kill you…I promise ya this; I will.”
My reverse psychology is working as I’ve planted the seed of doubt, and I can see it growing.
“I’m not here to offer ye an ultimatum. I’m givin’ ye a choice to walk away while ye still can. You and Grady. Call him right now and let him know, if he comes back here, I’ll kill him too. And ye know I’m not bluffin’.”
The gun trembles in Flynn’s hand. “I do that, and who will look after my family?”
“I’ll tell ya what, ya do that, and I’ll look after you and yer family for the duration of yer miserable existence, and then some. All y’ve got to do is call Grady and tell him to keep drivin’.”
“I want half a million. And yer castle.”
A bargaining man is a man who can be bought. I didn’t expect it to be that easy, however.
“All right. It’s yours.”
“And Grady gets the same.”
“I don’t know how yer goin’ to split the castle, but fine, consider it done.” At this point, I’d give him my right kidney if he asked.
No surprise, greed is the motivator behind Flynn, and when he reaches into his pocket, I nod at Ethan. This will be okay. It has to be.
He presses the phone to his ear, gun still aimed at Hannah’s temple. “Where are you?”
I can’t hear what Grady has said but I am ready to take Flynn down if I have to. There is no way Grady can pass on to Sean that Cami isn’t at Aoife’s. But when Flynn appears surprised, I wonder if I’m too late.
Sean appears a few moments later, stopping when he notices something is amiss. Flynn quickly pockets his phone.
“Who was on the phone?”
“It was Grady. He was callin’ to tell me the news.”
“Is that so? And what did he tell ye?”
Ethan subtly gestures with his chin that he can take Flynn.
I shake my head. Not yet.
“That she’s where she’s supposed to be.”
I don’t know if he’s lying. I don’t know if my proposal was enough to convince him to lie. What I do know is this has bought us some time.
“Aye, he phoned me too.”
He did? What in the ever-living fuck is going on?
I can’t show relief, however. “And where is she supposed to be exactly?”
Sean snickers, gesturing Flynn is to give Sean his gun. He does.
A relieved gasp escapes Hannah as she scampers away.
“What were ye talkin’ ’bout?” Sean asks me.
“Ach, ya know, the weather, and who’s hookin’ up on Love Island.”
I need to hide under my sarcasm because I have no idea what’s going on.
“Somethin’ isn’t right,” Sean says, eyeing us closely.
“You can say that again,” I reply, keeping my calm. “Things haven’t been right in a very long time.”
“What were ya really talkin’ ’bout?”
I have no idea where he’s going with this, but it’s either my arse or Flynn’s, and Flynn knows it.
“He tried to—”
Before Flynn has a chance to tell Sean the truth, I snatch the gun from Sean. “Yer men don’t know the first thing about loyalty.”
Ethan seizes Hannah and cradles her into his chest so she doesn’t have to witness me shooting Flynn right between the eyes. He drops to the floor with a hollowed thud.
I casually pass the gun back to Sean. “Sorry, I think that’s gonna stain yer rug.”
I’ve caught Sean off guard, who simply stares at Flynn, bleeding out on the brown carpet.
“If yer done playin’ happy families, I’m takin’ Hannah and Ethan home.”
Sean doesn’t know how to react because, on the surface, nothing is amiss. But things are far from perfect—for him. He’ll never know what Flynn was going to say, which appeared to be a lot. That’s why I killed him.
I can’t allow anyone to fuck this up for us—including me.
“Flynn propositioned me,” I say, as Sean won’t let us leave without an explanation. “He offered to do ye in…for a measly half a million. Didn’t seem he valued yer life too much. I would have offered at least a million.”
“Ye expect me to believe that?”
Laughing, I gesture to Hannah and Ethan we’re leaving. “I don’t care what ye believe. I just did ye a favor. I kept to my word of servin’ ye like the good wee dog that I am. Killin’ ye doesn’t get me back Cami. So it looks like we’re stuck with one another until we both get what we want.”
Sean doesn’t know what to believe because my reasoning makes sense. Babydoll is at Aoife’s, and my behavior hasn’t been any different. But he senses something is wrong.
“I’ll be watchin’ youse,” he warns, annoyed he lost this fight.
“Seems ye should be watchin’ yer boys, do ye not think?” I leave him with that psychological mind fuck because two can play this game.
We don’t run to my truck. We calmly walk because we know Sean meant it. Until Liam is dead and his drugs are stolen, we will be under surveillance twenty-four-seven.
I start the engine, and the moment I pull out onto the road, a sigh of relief escapes all three of us.
“What’s going on?” Ethan asks, turning to look at me from the passenger seat. “Is Cami really at Aoife’s?”
“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “But I’m not waitin’ around to find out.”
I’ve never been on higher alert than I am right now. If this fails, we will all pay, which is why we cannot.