[17]

Haley stepped out of the hospital and into the sun. She lifted her face toward it and paused a moment to soak in the warmth. It wasn’t blistering hot yet and it felt good to be outside. Christina had to make a stop on the way out, so Haley stayed behind the large pillar out of sight of the road.

Steven joined her and crossed his arms. “When are you going to tell me about the handler?”

Haley narrowed her eyes. “He was a player. He told me he loved me and that I was special, while he was loving several other special someones.” She shrugged. “That’s pretty much it.”

And she really didn’t want to talk about it.

“Jerk,” Steven said.

“In a word. He gave me a ring, a very pretty one, and said he wanted to marry me one day. Little did I know he was passing out those rings like they were candy.”

Steven winced. She drew in a breath at the memories. Then smiled.

“Why are you smiling?”

“When I told him I never wanted to see him again, he asked for the ring back.”

“And?”

“I laughed and told him to go find it. I’d given it to one of the homeless women who hung around the local park sometimes. She cried.”

“Oh wow. Bet that went over well.”

“Hmm. I thought about flushing it down the toilet, but figured that wouldn’t help anyone. At least Kristy could sell it.”

“You knew her? The homeless woman?”

“Yes. And I knew she worked when she could and had two children she was desperate to regain custody of.”

“Did she?”

Haley shook her head. “But she’s completed all the requirements, has a steady job, a clean apartment, and it’s looking better for her every day.”

The look in his eyes made her want to squirm.

“Don’t.”

His brows rose. “What?”

“Look at me that way.”

“What way?”

“Like I’m some kind of superhero or something. It’s . . . weird.”

He laughed. A sound of pure pleasure that made her cheeks heat even further. He kept his eyes locked on hers even as his laughter faded. Haley caught her breath and let him study her while she did the same to him. His eyes dropped to her lips, then bounced away.

Christina joined them. Her gaze flitted between the two and she raised a brow.

Steven cleared his throat. “You think Belinda will stand her ground and refuse to let him come back?”

Christina scoffed. “Not likely. Something will happen. Money will get too tight and he’ll promise to be her knight in shining armor. She’ll give him another chance.”

Haley hoped not. “Guess time will tell.”

“What now?” Steven asked.

“I want to focus on the case in Ireland,” Haley said. “And that means talking to my grandfather some more.”

Steven nodded. “Get some more information from him. A list of people from twenty-five years ago that we can look into.” He paused. “It won’t be easy.”

Haley gave him a faint smile. “I don’t know how to do easy.”

“I’m learning that about you.”

She gave him a light punch on the arm and he fake-flinched.

He blew out a slow breath. “It’s time for me to head to my parents’ house. My father has a doctor’s appointment in about an hour and I promised to go with him.”

Haley frowned. “Is he all right?”

“No. He has cancer.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry.”

“I am too.”

She reached for his strong hand and squeezed his fingers. “I’ll be praying for him.”

He looked away and cleared his throat. “Thanks.”

“And thank you again for taking care of the mattress and glass door. That was extremely kind. And thoughtful.”

He ducked his head and she thought his cheeks reddened a bit. “It was just a couple of phone calls.”

“I can pay you—”

He held up a hand and met her gaze. “I did it because I wanted to.”

She studied him a moment longer. “Very well then, I’ll just say thanks again.” She turned to Christina. “Ready to roll?”

“Whenever you are.”

Haley pushed away from the pillar. She and Christina headed back toward the parking garage, and Steven took off for his vehicle that he’d left parked in one of the police parking spots.

Haley kept a vigilant eye out for Richie—or one of his goons. She didn’t trust him enough not to ambush her or send someone to do it for him. “You see anything suspicious?” she asked Christina.

“No. You?”

“Nothing so far. Does he still have someone watching him?”

“Yes, I’m sure Quinn has someone assigned to him.”

“Then he won’t try anything during the day where there are witnesses. He’ll be sneaky.”

Like break into her home in the dark and shoot at the lumps in her bed? Yeah. Probably. Only that still niggled at her. All she could think was “too professional.”

When they reached her Hummer, Haley paused and pulled a small mirror from her pocket. Christina did the same and grinned at her.

“Great minds and all that,” Haley murmured.

“Exactly.” Christina covered the front and the passenger side of the car while Haley examined the driver’s side and the back.

“I’m clear over here,” Christina said.

“Me too.” Haley opened the driver’s door and climbed behind the wheel. Christina joined her and Haley backed from the parking spot. “What made you join the agency?”

“Apparently Olivia keeps tabs on the graduates from the academy. My name came up and she asked if I was interested in the Elite Guardians.” She shrugged. “I didn’t have any offers that intrigued me more, so I said yes.”

Interesting answer. She shot a sideways glance at the woman. If Olivia had asked her, she must have exceptional qualifications and skills. Pretty, smart. Deadly. Just like they all were.

Haley drove, her attention focused on the road before and behind her, but was aware that Christina was alert and watchful as well. Thirty minutes later, after a circuitous route to her home and verifying no one was following her, she pulled into her garage and shut the door behind her.

Two police cruisers sat outside her house. As did Maddy’s car. But she hadn’t had a call, so she was going to assume all was okay.

They entered the house and Maddy met them in the kitchen. “Everything is fine here,” she said by way of greeting.

“I figured it would be. Why are the police cars still here?”

“There are different ones coming by at different times. Think they’re taking their breaks here.”

“Nice. I appreciate that.”

“Quinn’s well thought of in the department.” Maddy gave a small smile. “In spite of his rather vociferous personality.”

“Vociferous,” Haley echoed. “Ha. Good word.”

“I thought so.”

“How’s my grandfather?”

“Fine. He’s been dozing. I think the trip was a little harder on him than he wants to admit. He said he had a bit of a headache and was going to try to sleep it off.”

“And his friend? Hugh?”

“Now, he’s a character for sure. He’s locked himself away with a laptop and says he’s working.”

“Working on what?”

“Who knows? Something for your grandfather, I think.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Now that she’d been briefed, she was ready to talk. Part of her longed to spout out the hundreds of questions that swirled in her brain, but the organized, logical part told her to take it one step at a time. One question at a time.

Maddy stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Steven seems to be a good guy.”

“He does, doesn’t he?”

“He also seems to be quite interested in you.”

Haley gave her a small smile “Are you playing big sister to the guy?”

“Quinn likes him.”

“I like him too,” Haley said and kept her gaze steady on her friend and coworker.

Maddy held her eyes a moment longer. “Then that’s good enough for me.”

She left Christina and Maddy talking in the kitchen and went to find Ian Burke. She didn’t have to go far and her heart softened when she found him stretched out in her favorite recliner, the television remote resting near his right hand. A baseball game played on the screen, but he had the sound on mute. He looked so natural there, so comfortable. “Grand?”

His eyes flickered open and she nearly gasped at the love that flooded his face and poured from his eyes. “Ail—Haley.”

She took his gnarled hand. “You can call me Aileen if it makes you happy.”

“The happiest.”

“All right then.”

He lowered the footrest and she sat on the love seat opposite him.

“Could we talk?”

“Of course.” He cleared his throat and took a sip of the water from the glass sitting on the end table. “What do you need to know?”

She rubbed a hand across her face, then rose to grab the laptop she’d left sitting on the end of the couch. She returned to the love seat and opened the device. “I need you to give me a list of names of people from twenty-five years ago who might’ve held a grudge against you.” She absently noted how easy it was to slip into the brogue with him. Hearing it roll off his tongue seemed to bring it out of her.

“It’s a long list.”

“It’s okay.”

Her grandfather reached out to touch an aged hand to hers. “You look like your mother, to be sure.”

“I do. Duncan showed me her picture.”

He fell silent a moment, then cleared his throat and removed his touch. “Well, I suppose we should start with Desmond O’Reilly.”

“Why him?”

“His family started a shipping business shortly after my father did. They were competitors. Then one day, one of my father’s ships was sunk by pirates and all the cargo was lost. Three men died. The others managed to wait for rescue by holding onto debris from the ship.”

“That’s awful.”

“Truly. My father swore it was one of O’Reilly’s sons who was responsible for the deed—whether doing it himself or hiring someone to do it—and thus the feud was born.”

“Lasting up until the attack on your—our—home?”

“Lasting up until this very day. Although I haven’t had much to do with it lately. But twenty-five years ago, shortly before the attack, I outbid two competitors on a major contract. O’Reilly’s Shipping and Shaughnessy Shipping. This corporation decided to go with us for all of their transport. From the gossip that managed to filter down, neither Shaughnessy nor O’Reilly were happy. In fact, O’Reilly was furious, but angry enough to kill my family?” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t have guessed it, but who knows? Then again, the gang symbols left on the walls in the castle say Shaughnessy and their shady connections were involved.” He spread his hands and shook his head. “Nothing was ever proven one way or the other.”

Haley typed a note to investigate the O’Reilly and Shaughnessy families. “What about your staff or the people close to you?”

He shook his head. “Oh no. They were vetted before they were hired. I trust them with my life.”

“So you have the same staff now that you had back then?”

“Just Hugh is still with me. I still live in that drafty old castle because it’s home, but three-quarters of it is closed off and shut down. I just live in a very small part of it.”

“So does Hugh do all the cooking and cleaning?”

“Oh goodness no. I have a cleaning lady who comes in twice a week and a part-time cook who comes four hours a day to prepare food. I generally eat a rather large breakfast and lunch, but have leftovers for dinner. Hugh prepares that for me.”

“And Hugh lives in the castle with you.”

“He does. His wife and son passed many years ago. I saw how lonely he was—mostly because I was, too—and asked him if he’d like a room. He took it and has been like a son or a younger brother to me ever since. He’s twenty years younger than I, you know. Just about the same age as my actual brother, Niall.”

Haley nodded, typed in all of the names and shut the laptop. “You’ve both suffered much loss, so much tragedy.”

“It’s been our life, our cross to bear, it has. There have been some wonderful moments in there, lovely memories, but the loss, the pain.” He ran a shaky hand over his eyes. “Indeed it’s been almost too much to bear.”

“I’m sorry.”

He wiped a stray tear.

“Thank you,” she said. “You’ve given me much to work with.”

“Better luck to you than those before you.”

Steven tucked the blanket around his father and sat on the couch beside him. His father took his hand. “Thank you, son.”

“Of course.”

He seemed so frail, so old. Anger gripped him. At fifty-seven years old, his father should be enjoying life. Fishing, traveling, bugging him about grandchildren. Not battling a deadly disease. “Where’s Mom?”

“She had an errand to run. I told her I would be fine for the two hours she’d be gone. And I could always call you or 911 if I needed to.” He glanced at the clock. “She should be back any minute now.”

Steven bit his lip on the words that wanted to roll out. He knew his father was right, but he didn’t like the idea of him being left alone.

“My numbers were better today.”

“I know.” And they were. It was slightly encouraging, but Steven refused to hope too much.

“I feel a bit better too.”

He squeezed his father’s fingers. “I’m glad to hear that, Dad.”

“How’s the job going?”

“Busy. Always something going on, a case to solve, a criminal to catch.”

“And you’re good at that job. Just like your mother was.”

Steven looked away, his heart catching at the praise. He never tired of hearing that his dad was proud of him. “Yeah. I used to love listening to her stories about catching the bad guys. Sure did motivate me to go into law enforcement.”

“And Michael was the other thing, wasn’t he?”

“He was.” But he didn’t want to talk about Michael.

“Your mother has a big heart, you know?”

Steven frowned. “I know. What makes you bring that up?”

His father sighed. “She has the ability to do things I’m not sure I can but know that I must.”

“Dad? You’re talking in riddles. You okay?”

His father gave a low chuckle. “I just have a lot of time to think these days.”

“I know.”

“You’d be surprised at what I think about.”

“You want to tell me?”

His father squeezed his hand. “Maybe. Right now, I’m still processing a lot of things. Like what happened to Michael.”

“Don’t dwell on that. I can’t.”

“I don’t dwell, I think.”

“Well, it’s not going to get you anywhere. If it won’t bring him back, it’s not worth thinking about.” He knew he sounded abrupt and borderline rude, but he really didn’t want to have this conversation.

“Have you met any nice girls?” A change in subject. His dad wasn’t without mercy.

“I’ve met a lot of nice girls.”

“Come on, boy. You know what I mean. Any women you’re interested in?”

Haley’s pretty face flashed immediately into his mind. “Yes. One,” he said quietly. No sense in denying it.

His father stilled. “Really? That wasn’t the answer I was expecting.”

Steven let out a low laugh. “I know. It’s a recent thing.”

He told his father a little about the bodyguard who’d captured his interest and then the conversation moved to small talk until his father finally fell asleep sitting up, his head resting comfortably on the cushion behind him. Steven rose and checked his phone. He’d missed a call from Quinn about three minutes ago. He walked into the kitchen so he wouldn’t disturb his father and dialed his partner’s number.

Quinn picked up. “Hello?”

“Sorry I missed you. I was helping with my dad.”

“It’s fine. I just wanted you to know we think we might have found Carter James.”

Steven straightened. “Where? Is he alive?”

“He is. Barely. I asked a buddy of mine with a search and rescue K-9 to drive the route Carter would have taken to get to Greenville. Told him to let Scout see if he could find anything. It was slow going, but he found him about three hours into the search. Looks like Carter was carjacked at a gas station on I-26. That’s just speculation, though, and I hate speculation.”

“Sounds like an educated guess to me.” He heard the door shut and recognized his mother’s footsteps as she came from the garage, through the mudroom, and into the kitchen. She kissed him on the cheek, then walked into the den to check on his father.

“Educated guess. Okay, we’ll go with that,” Quinn said. “Anyway, Carter was dumped in a field behind the gas station. He’s got some serious head trauma and a bullet wound in his back. Poor guy wouldn’t have made it much longer.”

Steven grimaced. “Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s at the hospital, I take it?”

“He’s there and in surgery. I’m supposed to get a call when he’s conscious and can talk. Once they dig out the bullet, ballistics will compare it with the one the ME dug out of our John Doe from the trunk. I’m hazarding another educated guess that the two bullets match.”

“I’d say that’s a safe guess. I’m just praying the guy makes it. If he does, maybe he can tell us who did this. Did you let his wife know?”

“Yes. She’s on her way here as we speak.”

“Good.”

Steven ran a hand through his hair. “So who was the guy in his trunk? Any progress on IDing him?”

“Nothing yet. And it’s not like we can post pictures of him on the news to see if anyone knows him.”

“Yeah.”

Steven’s phone beeped. He glanced at the screen. A text from Haley. “Hey, I’ve got to go.”

“Later.” Quinn hung up and Steven pulled up the text.

Haley

Meet me at Starbucks on Two Notch in 30? That’s the good part of Two Notch just in case you’ve forgotten there is such a thing.

Then she’d sent him the address to map. He typed back.

I’ll be there.

Steven went to find his mother. His heart nearly stopped when he located her in the guest room sitting on the floor. “Mom? What are you doing?”

She looked up, tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. She gave him a wobbly smile. “Remembering.”

He swallowed. “Why? When it hurts so much?”

She bit her lip and looked back down at the photo album. An 8 × 10 of a twelve-year-old Michael grinned up from the page. She used a finger to trace his face. “Because he existed. He had dreams and was so full of life.” She gave a tiny shrug. “He deserves to be remembered.”

Steven closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t want to remember,” he whispered hoarsely.

“I know. And that’s okay. That’s your way of dealing with it.”

“It’s been twelve years, Mom. It shouldn’t still hurt this bad.” He slid down to sit on the floor beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He felt the prick of tears behind his eyes but refused to let them surface. “You know, I have a friend. Well, a coworker. No . . . a friend.” He dropped his head with a low half laugh, half groan, then lifted his eyes to meet hers again. “Well, whatever she is, she just discovered that she was presumed dead twenty-five years ago. A few months ago, her grandfather found out she was alive and well. He just flew in from Ireland to see her.”

“Oh, how wonderful. The joy he must be feeling. What a reunion.”

“I used to dream about that,” Steven whispered.

“What?”

“About waking up to see Michael at the foot of my bed with that stupid gorilla mask on. I used to beg God to bring him back to us. Because he’s God, right? He could do that. He could undo everything that had been done without even blinking an eye, right?”

His mother didn’t answer, but he felt the shudder ripple through her.

“Anyway,” he said. “When I saw Haley’s grandfather hug her for the first time in twenty-five years, you know what I felt?”

She sniffed and swiped a tear. “You were jealous.”

“Exactly. I so wanted that to be Michael and me.”

His mother shut the album. “The man who hit him is up for parole.”

Everything in Steven froze. A minute passed before he could get his throat to work. “He didn’t hit him, he killed him.” She didn’t respond. “When is the hearing?” he asked.

“A week from tomorrow.”

He gaped. “Why didn’t I know about this?”

“I don’t know. I got the notice a while ago. They might have sent the information to your Chicago address.”

“Probably. So why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to bring it up yet. I’ve been . . . praying about it. A lot.”

He snorted. “Nothing to pray about. I’ll be there. He’s not getting out.”

“Steven—” She stopped, then patted his hand. “Come on. Help me up.” He did and she squeezed his fingers. “I love you, Steven.”

“I know you do, Mom. I love you too.” He kissed her cheek, then went to find his keys. Meeting Haley was suddenly the one thing he wanted to do more than anything.