Chapter Four

Heather

 

Killian jumped backward, flattening himself against the shed and blending into the shadows.

 

“Were you followed?”

 

I looked around. “No, I don’t think so. Besides, that was probably just a trash can lid or something.”

 

“Okay, okay,” he said, digging around in his pockets, his breathing erratic. He pulled something from his pocket and pointed it at me.

 

I flinched away from him before I realized it wasn’t a knife or a gun. It was a cell phone.

 

“It’s a burner phone. My number is programmed into it. I know your dad keeps a pretty close eye on you, so I thought it might be safer for you if you had a secret way to contact me.”

 

“And this is just in case I need anything?” I asked, holding the phone gingerly between my fingers as if it were a bomb.

 

“Yes,” he said, nodding. “And no. I mean, yes, you should call me if you ever need anything, but the phone is also part of the mission.”

 

“Mission?”

 

I held the phone away from me, back towards Killian. I hadn’t signed up for a mission. My mission was to figure out a way to convince my dad to let me keep my baby and figure out how to be a single mom. I didn’t need another mission.

 

“I didn’t kill my brother,” he said.

 

“I know!” I said, probably a little too loud, annoyed with the circular nature of the conversation. I’d already told him I believed him, so I didn’t understand why he couldn’t let it go.

 

“But somebody did,” he said, his eyebrows raising, begging me to get his point. “And I think that somebody lives in this compound.”

 

My arm dropped to my side. Realization flooded through me. “Really?”

 

“Yes. Your dad says I told him the exchange was canceled and not to bother showing up, but that’s not true. I never sent that message, but someone did. It only makes sense that it would be someone inside the compound, and I need you to try and help me figure out who.”

 

I didn’t have a response. For some reason, that thought had never crossed my mind. Everyone was saying Killian killed Niall, so the question for me has been whether that was true or not. I hadn’t considered other possibilities. I hadn’t considered that the real killer could be living within the gates of the compound.

 

“Do you think it’s safe here?” I asked, my hand resting on my stomach again.

 

Killian stepped forward and placed a hand on my bare shoulder. “I’m not sure, but that’s why you have the burner phone. If you ever don’t feel safe or you hear anything suspicious, or you just need someone to talk to, you can call me. I will be here in a second to protect you if I need to be, even if I have to shoot my way through the front gates.” He smiled down at me, his teeth shining white in the moonlight. “Okay?”

 

I smiled back and nodded.

 

“Great. I know it’s a lot to ask, but you’re kind of the only person I can trust right now. Please call me if you need anything. I’ll be in touch soon. Be careful.”

 

With that, he darted towards the fence and disappeared behind the loose board. I was left comprehending whether that had all really just happened. The conversation, the mission, his hand on my shoulder. Every time I began to lose my grip on reality, I squeezed the phone, reminding myself that he was real. I had someone to count on. I had someone I could go to when life felt overwhelming and unbearable.

 

To be honest, everything had felt overwhelming and unbearable recently. I found out I was pregnant, then Niall died, and then I was tasked with trying to hunt down his killer. How had my life come to this? How had I ended up the main character in an action movie?

 

I thought back and realized it all started when Niall and I first snuck into that closet. If we hadn’t done that, I never would have gotten pregnant, and I would be back at the wake right now, probably hammered drunk and grinding on one of the Murphy boys whenever my dad wasn’t paying attention.

 

For the hundredth time that day, my hand gravitated towards my stomach. But if we hadn’t snuck into that closet, I also wouldn’t be pregnant. Was that even a possibility anymore? Was there an alternate me out there who didn’t have a tiny embryo growing inside of them? That idea felt more impossible than all of the impossible things that had happened to me in the last week.

 

No, regardless of how messy everything had gotten and how much messier it was going to get, things happened just the way they were supposed to. I had to believe that, otherwise my world would come crashing down.

 

I rounded the corner of the shed and found the sidewalk again, continuing on my walk as if I had never stopped to talk with Killian. The only proof of him was the small flip phone I’d shoved into my cleavage since my dress didn’t have any pockets.

 

I was only a couple hundred feet from the shed when I heard someone running up behind me, their footsteps heavy on the cement. Panic clenched my muscles and set my heart racing, but I whirled around, fist raised to defend myself.

 

“Whoa there.”

 

It was Caleb. He slowed to a walk and put his hands up, pretending to shield himself. “Fists of fury, why don’t you put those weapons away?”

 

“Sorry,” I said, relaxing my body, taking a deep breath. “You scared me.”

 

“Why?” He laughed. “You expecting someone?”

 

My heart jumped into my throat, but I tried to sound casual. “No, but no one ever expects a murderer or a rapist.”

 

He raised a finger into the air, a laugh in his voice. “True. So, what are you doing out here?”

 

“Just getting some fresh air.”

 

This was true. Along with having a clandestine meeting with Killian about my secret pregnancy and planning to hunt for his brother’s murderer, I was breathing lots of fresh air.

 

“What are you doing out here?”

 

“I was looking for you, actually.”

 

“Really?” I asked.

 

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

 

I laughed, but the truth was that I was surprised. Caleb had rarely taken an interest in me. We’d been in the same building all day—at the church and then the conference room—but we hadn’t spoken once. We went days without speaking, despite living down the hall from one another.

 

We were close as kids, but once he became an enforcer, that had pretty much taken over his life. He was constantly working, practicing at the gun range, lifting weights, or hiding out in his room. So, the idea that he not only noticed my absence but had then cared enough to leave the party and come looking for me had taken me a bit by surprise.

 

“With one of our own betraying Niall, you can never be too safe. I don’t think you should be out walking after dark by yourself. Even in the compound. Besides, this part of the compound has poor security and bad lighting. You should stay in the more populated areas.”

 

“We don’t know that it was one of our own who betrayed Niall,” I said, and then immediately wished I could take it back.

 

Caleb shot me a strange, sharp look, suspicion written across his brow. “Yeah, and I don’t know for sure that jumping off of the roof would kill me, but I have a pretty good idea. Killian is the only viable suspect.”

 

I nodded, wanting to shut down this discussion before I raised too much suspicion. “You’re right. I guess it is just hard to believe someone could be capable of hurting their own sibling.”

 

Caleb looked away, but I could see the worry lines wrinkling his forehead. “Let’s just get back to the wake.”

 

“Yes,” I said, relieved at the thought of once again blending in with the crowd of people, not being Caleb’s main focus, “let’s.”