Page 14 of A Temptation Too Great (Knights of Purgatory Syndicate #3)

Chapter Ten

Moira

S itting at my desk, I can’t stop thinking about Brody and all he’s done for me. In the last couple of weeks since he showed up at my office, he comes to see me throughout the day, brings me lunch to make sure I eat, and has spent the night with me a couple of times.

We end up making love every time, both of us unable to control ourselves to the point we continually forget to use a condom.

I’m not freaked out anymore, but I still know I have to protect him and Fiona.

His words of love for me and making sure I’m safe all show how much he cares.

Even Niall did the same by putting me up in his building and having his personal assistant check in with me regularly to see if I need anything.

These men care more about my safety than their reputations. It’s more than I’ve ever had before.

When my mam was alive, she cared so much for me.

But then she was gone, and I was left to take care of the house and deal with my da and brother.

She was the epitome of a helicopter mom to me, not to my brother.

She had me in dance, private school, and piano lessons.

She always told me I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up.

She would tell me to love with my whole heart, and that’s what I see Brody doing.

He’s always trying to prove how much he cares.

Looking back down at the file, I’m shocked by what I’m seeing.

There, in black and white, is a possible suspect for my mam’s murder who was brought in for questioning but never arrested.

I flip the pages over to check if the scans have anything on the back.

Sometimes officers write their names or notes there, but there is nothing.

I need the originals, which I know will be impossible for me to get.

Something about all this doesn’t sit right. I need more information. Now.

Turning to the computer, I type in the suspect’s name.

Multiple infractions pop up. He was arrested numerous times and was not represented by this firm, but very rarely did his arrests land him in court.

That’s either the work of a very good solicitor or a dirty police officer.

I continue to scroll through his file, and everything shows that he was arrested by a couple of different officers, but there is one name mentioned more than the others.

The name causes my stomach to roll. It can’t be possible.

Did Eoin have our mother killed and protect her murderer?

Even if this suspect was an informant, Eoin shouldn’t have protected him and let him go after he murdered our mam.

I can’t question him about this because then he’ll know I’m looking into it.

Every time in the past when I tried to find out about her murder, he’d shut me down.

My mobile phone vibrates across the desk, and I realize it’s my alarm reminding me to leave so I can make it to campus on time for my study group. I managed to work my schedule here around my university classes. There’s even a tuition reimbursement program, which makes affording school easier now.

After grabbing my messenger bag from the drawer and my jacket from the hook, I head to the front desk to let the receptionist know I’m leaving for the day.

She smiles at me, and in her sickly-sweet voice says, “If your friend happens to stop by, I’ll make sure he’s taken care of.”

I stop in my tracks. Leaning over her desk, I get close. Today I’m in chunky boots with just enough heel to let me tower above her. “You make a move on my boyfriend,” I say, voice low and steady, “and I won’t claw your eyes out. I’ll break your nose, then kick your arse.”

Her eyes go wide. She jerks back from the desk with a sharp breath, shock etched across her face.

I straighten, turn, and walk toward the elevator. As the doors slide shut, I catch the fear in her eyes, and I smile.

Brody is rubbing off on me.

The car service is stuck in traffic, backed up behind an accident. I glance at my watch. I’m going to be late.

“Jed, I’ll get out here.”

Before he can stop me, I swing the door open and jump out. He shouts my name, but I’m already moving.

I cut across campus, slipping through alleys, heading straight for the library.

A man in all black with a dark hat pulled low walks past me. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end.

I turn just as a fist comes flying at me. I deflect the blow and drop my bag. My attacker’s face is now masked, with blackout paint around his eyes. He’s tall and wearing gloves. Every inch of him is completely obscured.

He comes at me repeatedly. I counter each move, matching him strike for strike. He’s trained in Taekwondo, like me. Then he does a move I’ve only seen a few people execute, my brother and I among them.

I pause, and the hesitation costs me. He lands a hit.

Everything I’m seeing right now makes me think it’s Eoin fighting me.

I deflect another strike, but I’m weak, still reeling from the massive hit to my chest. And then it clicks. There’s only one way I’m going to get out of this. I have to change it up. This is exactly why I’ve been studying other fighting techniques—to be ready for a moment like this.

As he comes at me again, I shift tactics. I deflect using my Krav Maga training, drive a strike into his ribs, then sweep his leg out from under him. He groans and hits the ground.

I need to know if it’s him. I reach for the mask, but he strikes first. I stumble back, and he jumps up, pinning me against the wall.

I steady my breathing, letting my body go slack to throw him off.

Then I move. I bring my arm over his, slamming it down to break his hold.

I deliver an elbow to his throat and slam my palm in his ear.

He cries out and falls back.

That’s when I remember the most important lesson I learned in Krav Maga training. Don’t linger. Get away.

I take off running, screaming for help at the top of my lungs.

Two of Niall’s guards round the corner and rush past me toward the alley. Then I see Niall. He takes me in his arms. That’s when I collapse, and pain explodes through my body.

“Feck, mo stóirín, your driver wasn’t supposed to let you out of his sight. Brody is going to kill him. Come.”

Niall helps me to his car. I’m out of breath, and every inhale sends a sharp pain through my chest, making me cry out.

“Hospital. Now,” Niall tells the driver, and I can’t help the fear that overwhelms me.

“I think it was Eoin. He fought like him. He didn’t say much, but when he did, I’m sure it was his voice. Promise me, Niall, if it’s him, I get to speak to him before your men do anything. He might have had something to do with my mam’s murder. Please, Niall. Promise me.”

Tears stream down my face as the car slows. When we pull up to the emergency room, Arianna rushes out.

I turn to Niall. “I need Brody.”

“I’ll get a message to him, but he had something to do this evening. That’s why my men and I were keeping an eye on you.”

I remember Brody mentioning a meeting at the harbor when he came by for lunch. I knew not to ask for details. Now I wish I had, because I’m scared. And I need him.

Ari accompanies me to the back while Niall is told to wait in the lobby. I’m shaking the further I get away from my protection.

I lie down on the bed and cry when they’re finished examining me. Brody would have been here if I hadn’t run from him. He would have been here if I had told him I loved him back.

My mam’s words roll through my mind. Love with your whole heart.

“Ms. Kelly, we need to talk,” a doctor says as he steps through the curtain.

Brody

The boat rocks beneath my feet, and I widen my stance to steady myself against the waves.

Looking back at Belfast in the distance, it’s just a faint line of lights as night washes over the town.

I wonder what my girl is doing, then shake it off as I hear the man mumble against the gag forced into his mouth.

His eyes are bulging from their sockets as he looks at Carson, Seamus, and me.

We’re about an hour out of Belfast, anchored in the middle of the North Channel, far off the ferry routes, in the middle of nowhere.

We’ve been sitting here for thirty minutes, letting the idiot go into full-on panic mode.

He’ll open up after watching us move around the boat, preparing to get rid of him.

There is a cinder block with chains attached he keeps glancing at.

A saw sits on a table as Seamus organizes other torture devices around it.

The blowtorch is one of my personal favorites.

I’m sure I’ll be using that tonight. Seamus has his long knives strapped to his back and another to his hip.

The idiot is watching him with worry in his eyes. Normally, I’d agree with the idiot and think Seamus was the most dangerous man on the boat, but he doesn’t know I hold that title tonight. I’m the vengeance my girl needs. She wouldn’t be able to do this, and it needs to be done.

For six years this idiot has gotten away with murder.

Tonight, he will meet his maker. But before he does, he’s going to tell me why he killed her.

According to what Lex uncovered, this idiot had only committed petty crimes and some armed robbery.

Never had he killed until that night. She was his first and only.

It’s finally time when he frantically turns to all of us as Carson pushes the cinder block closer to him. The idiot hasn’t figured out yet that he’s already chained to the block.

“I’ll chum the water.” Carson’s deep voice breaks the quiet, and that’s when the idiot starts screaming, his cries muffled from the gag.

I approach him and punch him hard in the stomach. He’s not very big. Maybe five seven, five eight at the most. He’s thinner than he was when he killed Moira’s mam.

“I’m going to remove your gag. If you scream, I’ll shoot you in the knee.” I pull my gun from my back holster, and the idiot nods vigorously. As soon as the gag is out of his mouth, he takes a deep breath.

“I didn’t do it. I don’t know why the Beast would send his men after me. I’ve only been back in town a couple weeks for my da’s funeral.”

I set the gun down on the table beside me and smack him, open-handed. “The Beast didn’t send me. Do you know who I am?” He nods his head. “How about him?” I point to Seamus.

“He’s the Bogeyman.”

Seamus grumbles as he steps closer, pulling out one of his blades. “Answer his fecking questions, or I’ll slice you open.”

“Sir.” The idiot turns back to me, and just for taking his eyes off me, I slap him again. His head whips to the side, and I smile. My leather glove leaves a bright red mark on his face.

“Why did you kill Mrs. Kelly?” I demand, and he starts shaking and pisses himself.

“I d-don’t know w-who you’re talking about.” He shakes his head.

Without missing a beat, I pick up my gun and shoot him in the knee. He screams and looks around, hoping someone will save him, but it’s too late for him.

“Don’t fecking lie to me. We have video proof it was you. Why did they let you go?”

“That video was destroyed. Kelly made sure it was gone.”

“Kelly? Which one?” God, I hope he’s wrong, but I know he’s not. One of the Kelly men killed Moira’s mam.

“Eoin. The young one. The older one had no idea. Now please let me go. I know I broke the rules and came back, but my da was dying. Tell Kelly I won’t say anything to anyone else,” he pleads.

This fecking idiot thinks we’re in bed with Kelly.

I shake my head as I exchange the gun for the blowtorch. His eyes bulge more, and he starts screaming. I switch it on and hold it to his bare feet.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me. He wouldn’t. He just said she found out something he didn’t want her to know. She also learned he’s a serial killer. He’s the one killing all the streetwalkers.” The idiot continues to cry, and I pull the torch away.

When he passes out, I turn to Seamus, who grabs a bucket, drops it over the side of the boat, and hauls it back up full. Without a word, he dumps the cold water over the idiot’s head.

“Why?” I demand as I click on the torch and move it across his chest. His shirt melts over his skin, and he screams in agony. I stop and raise an eyebrow, waiting.

“As she died, she told me she would make sure her daughter was safe from him. That’s all she said. I don’t know anything more. Please don’t kill me.”

I stand back and consider her final words. Could they mean Eoin isn’t her biological brother? Is there something I’m missing?

I don’t think twice about my next actions. I need to get back to Belfast and figure this out. I grab my gun and shoot him between the eyes. He’s dead before I turn around.

Seamus shakes his head. “You didn’t let me or Carson have any fun.”

“We need to get to Lex, and I need to check on Moira. Something feels off.” I felt it just before we started torturing him. There’s something not right.

The three of us dump the body off the back of the boat, leaving him to the water. If he’s ever found, none of us will be implicated. The gun won’t trace back to me. Nothing we used tonight will, not even the cinder block. That was paid for with Eoin Kelly’s credit card.

I pick up my mobile, but there’s no signal this far out. As Carson drives us back, I keep glancing down at the screen, then back toward the horizon as Belfast grows closer.

Finally, it rings.

“Where are you?” My father’s voice is frantic.

“Feck,” I roar into the phone. “Is she okay?”

“She’s alive, but she took off. Someone attacked her. We got her to the hospital, but she slipped out the back.”

“Get Arianna to tell you where she is. Have Lex run a search.”

“He tried, but it was a shift change. Several people left through the same exit. Lex said she must have had her head covered, concealing her identity. Arianna won’t tell me anything.

Just said to give her time.” He pauses, and I know there’s more.

“She thinks it was her brother. He broke her nose, and she probably has a fractured rib or two.”

“Bloody hell. I’m heading to the warehouse, then I’ll head that way.”

“Okay.” He hangs up.

We dock after cleaning the boat, then each of us takes a different route to the warehouse. Seamus heads to the compound instead, to update Aidan and check if they need anything there.