Page 39 of Dark Succession (The O’Malleys #1)

T he phone ringing brought Teague out of a delicious dream about being wrapped around Callie.

He opened his eyes and smiled because the dream wasn’t far off from reality.

She was curled up against his side, her head pillowed on his shoulder.

He touched her hair, smoothing it back, marveling that she was his wife.

It had been an impulsive move, but he didn’t regret it in the least.

The phone rang again, snapping him out of it. He reached blindly for the nightstand and answered without looking at the screen. “What?”

“Where the hell are you?”

Aiden. He almost snapped that it was none of his brother’s fucking business, but the panic in Aiden’s tone gave him pause. “My apartment. What’s going on?”

“Get your ass back here now. Carrigan’s gone.”

For one breathless moment, Teague thought he meant dead. Then the actual words penetrated through the fear. “Gone.”

“That fucking piece of shit Halloran has her.” Aiden paused, and when he spoke again, he sounded forcibly less panicked. “He said we have twenty-four hours to turn over Brendan Halloran’s murderer, or they’ll kill her like they killed Devlin.”

Teague sat up. His first instinct was to deny that James would go to those lengths, especially when he knew Teague was already looking for the woman who shot Brendan.

But, as much as he wanted to like James, he couldn’t trust the man with his sister’s life.

The years had a way of changing people. He hadn’t expected the Hallorans to gun down Devlin.

He couldn’t afford to underestimate them again.

“I have some leads.” He slipped out of bed and yanked on his pants.

“What?”

“You might be totally okay with putting our family in jeopardy in a grab for power, but I’m not.

I started looking into Brendan’s death as soon as I saw which way the wind was blowing.

” He stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.

“I know it’s a woman. She was dressed as a dancer, but none of the other girls in the club knew her. ”

“That’s not enough.”

“No shit.” He closed his eyes. “Devlin…” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “Devlin managed to get his hands on security tapes from the gas station across from the back entrance. I haven’t had a chance to look at them—”

“Bring them. We’ll look at them together. ”

Teague released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

He hadn’t wanted to touch those tapes. Not alone.

They felt like his last link to Devlin. It was a stupid feeling.

His brother’s life was about more than just computer work.

But it was the last thing he’d done before he died.

The wound was too new, too raw, for Teague to be able to poke at it without hurting.

But he could do it with Aiden.

“Okay.” Teague never thought he’d stand with his older brother after learning Aiden wanted this goddamn war.

The time for finger-pointing and the blame game was over.

They’d both lost a brother. It didn’t make what Aiden did right, but there was only one man who ordered that hit.

Halloran. He might as well have pulled the trigger himself.

It didn’t matter if it had been James or Victor or even that little shit Ricky.

That hit wouldn’t have gone down if one of them hadn’t given the go-ahead.

“Aiden…” It was harder than it should have been to say what he needed to say. “This isn’t your fault. I know I said it was, but—”

“Teague.”

He stopped. “Yeah?”

“As much as I appreciate the thought, it’s not up to you to absolve me of this.

It’s not something anyone can.” The guilt was so thick in Aiden’s voice, it was hard to make out his words.

Teague wanted to comfort him. He wanted to say that it was bullshit and that Aiden couldn’t have known what would happen.

He didn’t.

Because his brother was right. Aiden had known the risks in putting Teague forward as a candidate to marry Callie, and he’d still gone ahead with the plan.

Maybe their father had been the deciding factor, but Aiden had supported him.

He bore the guilt for that. Hell, they all bore guilt over this.

If Teague had been faster with the investigation, maybe he could have stopped them from killing Devlin.

If Aiden hadn’t helped orchestrate an O’Malley-Sheridan alliance…

If anyone had stopped to think that Victor Halloran might not take the insult lying down… If, if, if…

No one could go back in time and save Devlin, no matter how much they all wanted to.

But they could save Carrigan.

“I’ll be home in twenty.”

“Good.”

Teague hung up and turned to find Callie standing in the doorway to the bedroom, dressed in only his sheet. The concern on her face said she’d heard enough to be worried. “What’s going on?”

It was tempting to tell her that nothing was wrong and keep her from worrying, but she deserved to know. She was as much a part of this as he was. “Carrigan’s been taken by the Hallorans.”

She went pale. “Have they…?”

“She’s alive.” Aiden hadn’t said what kind of condition she was in, and Teague had been afraid to ask.

He knew, as well as the next man, the reputation the Hallorans had.

The thought of his sister in their hands…

Fuck. He’d failed Devlin. He wouldn’t fail Carrigan. “I’m going to save her. I have to.”

Callie nodded. “Of course. If they haven’t… They must want something.”

“The identity of Brendan’s killer.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “They gave us twenty-four hours to do damn near the impossible.”

If anything, she got paler. “So if you find his killer, it will put a stop to this?”

“That’s what they claim. I don’t know if I believe them, but I’ll do whatever it takes to save Carrigan.”

She crossed to him and wrapped her arms around him. “She’ll be safe, Teague. I promise.”

They seemed to be making a whole hell of a lot of promises that neither one of them was capable of keeping. That didn’t stop him from hugging her close and kissing her forehead. “I’ve got to go.”

“I understand. Go. I’ll shower and call a cab.”

She started to step back, but he wasn’t ready to let go of her yet.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that if he walked away now, it would be the last time he ever saw her.

Teague grimaced. All the bad shit that had happened lately was skewing his perspective.

Callie would go back to the Sheridan residence, where she was as safe as she could be.

He cupped her face. “Don’t make any stops along the way. ”

Her smile was as bittersweet as the feeling taking up residence in his chest. “Go take care of your family, Teague. I’ll do what I have to.”

He kissed her. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Definitely.”

He walked back into the bedroom, threw on a shirt, and grabbed his keys. “Call me when you get home safely.”

“I will.”

There was something off in her tone. He hesitated, searching her face, but all he saw was a soul-dragging sadness that mirrored what he’d felt for the last twenty- four hours.

A small voice warned that this was a mistake, that he should drive her home himself, but with the clock ticking down, he couldn’t afford the wasted time.

No matter how much he wanted to. “Be safe.” He kissed her one last time and walked out the door.

Callie took her time dressing. She moved on autopilot as she called a cab and waited for it to arrive. All the while her thoughts circled in upon themselves. She kept coming back to one hard truth.

I am the only one who can save her .

If she turned herself in, it would put a stop to everything.

No one else in Teague’s family would be hurt.

He’d never be put in a position where he had to choose between her and them.

Callie climbed into the cab and closed her eyes as it lurched into motion.

It might kill her father to lose her. That was one of the many factors that had bought her silence on this.

But Papa’s feelings weren’t enough to hold her back now.

There were too many people at risk. What was one life when weighed against five? Or ten? Or twenty? Not enough.

Not even when it was hers.

“Ma’am?”

She opened her eyes to find the cabbie parked out in front of her house.

She must be more out of it than she’d thought, because time wasn’t passing correctly.

She paid him and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

The air was clean and brisk and made her think of home.

This was the house she’d grown up in. All her good memories were rooted here, and no small amount of bad ones, too .

And this was the last time she’d walk through the door.

It was tempting to get back in the cab and go straight to the Hallorans.

Too tempting. She couldn’t do it, though.

She’d been a coward this entire time. If she was going to step up, she was going to do it right.

She would say her good-byes. She would face the firing squad wearing something other than the clothes she’d had on yesterday.

And she would do it with her spine straight and head held high.

It took entirely too little time to shower and change, but she refused to linger in her room.

If she stopped moving, she’d falter, and that was unacceptable.

She made her way down to her father’s office, mentally preparing herself and going over what she’d say.

She was so focused on the impending confrontation that it took longer than she’d like to admit to realize the room was empty.

There was no time to search for Papa.

She sighed and circled around the desk to write him a note. The pen was heavy in her hand, but she forced the words out. They weren’t the right ones, but there were no right words for this situation.