Page 20

20

FINN

O ur new star witness, Sean McCarty, the only one who can clear Mick's name, lies in the spare bedroom at Ronan's house. Ro insisted I bring him there to have Maeve stitch him up. The bullet wound is only a graze of his esophagus. The man is lucky as hell. A centimeter to the right and he'd have been dead.

I walk toward the room where he rests. Maeve is checking on him, Ronan ready to question the man about everything he's seen and what happened following the incident. I know Sean is scared shitless, and he should be. If he's telling the truth and the Doyles are behind Aiden's death, they won’t stop until he's dead. They've gone to all these lengths to frame Mick for it. They won't hesitate to murder anyone who taints their story, including Sean or Siobhan.

Maeve walks out of the room as I approach the door. She smiles softly at me and sighs. I know she hates this side of the business, how Ronan has her on hand to doctor anyone who gets injured in the course of our work, but we're all thankful we have one of the top surgeons in the city here with us. It beats seeing a veterinarian.

"He's tired," she says softly.

"Did he talk to Ro?" I glance into the room and see Sean laid up on the bed, neck bandaged and eyes closed. Ronan stands over him, scowling with his arms crossed. I can see the tension on his face. We can’t just march this guy into the courthouse and declare the truth. The Doyles would have him killed instantly. Cops would want to question him, and the dirty men on the Doyles’ payroll who work in the justice system or at the Garda station would take him out.

"He's weak, but he did tell Ronan he saw it all." Maeve touches my arm and dips her head as she walks away. My phone buzzes and I pull it out to check it as I walk in, and I see it's a text from Siobhan. She's supposed to be in court right now, but the message seems urgent. She's requesting some security after days of not speaking to me.

"How is he?" I ask Ronan, and my oldest brother looks at me with anger in his eyes.

After hiding in those woods for ninety minutes, praying to God in heaven that those fools wouldn’t find us, Ronan and a horde of our men stormed the place and chased them off. Luckily for us, no one lost their life on our side, but there were a few Doyles down. They didn't bother to clean the mess. Our primary objective was to get McCarty back here to safety.

"He's alive and he's talking." He walks around the foot of the bed, grabs me by the elbow, and walks me out of the room. "Is she on our side now?" he asks, referring to Siobhan.

"Yeah, I think so." My gut tells me if she's asking for security that something has happened to help reveal the truth to her. She hates that I exposed that crooked judge for who he really is, but sometimes the truth hurts. "She's asking me to find her security. I think she's ready to play hardball."

"Not a moment too soon." Ro pulls the door shut after we leave the room and glares up the hallway into the darkness. "Don't mess this up, Finn. If Mick goes down, we'll all go down, one by one." His eyes are hardened steel.

I know what I have to do. I've known from the beginning and it's working out in ways I never foresaw. Mick will walk. I'll make sure of that. And one way or another, Siobhan will be mine. I won't let her slip away.

"I'm gonna run."

"Finish this now. Get Mick out of there and let's put the real man behind bars. I have a feeling a war is brewing. We'll need everyone to fight this when it blows." His statement adds pressure to me, but I'm aware of how truthful it is. When the Doyles find out we have a man who can put their asset behind bars, they'll come looking for trouble. And something tells me that now that Ronan knows who killed Aiden, he may strike first anyway.

I grab Noah and Patrick, two of my best men, and head toward Siobhan's house. I'm well aware that the Doyles have had someone tailing me, though I'm not sure for how long. It's the only way they'd have known where Sean was, and I led them right to him. We were lucky to make it out with barely a scratch, but I can't be too careful now.

"Noah, you drive," I tell him as we climb in the car. I sit in back where I can message Siobhan to let her know we're coming, and Patrick joins Noah up front. They'll be her personal bodyguards until this is all over, which will allow me to continue to work on things elsewhere while being assured she's safe. Her safety, above all else, is my main priority. I need her to damn well realize it.

My phone buzzes with an incoming call just as Noah pulls away from the curb. I see that it's her, and I send up a silent prayer of thanks before answering. "Siobhán."

"Finn," she says between ragged breaths. "I need help…”

“I know, baby. I’m on the way. Tell me what happened.” She sounds frantic and scared. I picture her pulling her hair, twirling it around a finger. She’s not cut out for this shit and she went at it with both barrels blazing. McVeigh should’ve known better than to give her this case.

Siobhan starts by telling me she confronted the judge about dropping charges for Mick, and before she can finish, Noah makes the car swerve. I hear gunshots, and I duck as the back windscreen is shattered.

“What the feck?” I gasp, dropping the phone. I instinctively reach for my gun holstered on my hip, and Noah’s evasive maneuvers buy us a few minutes’ time.

“Patrick, you have a gun?” I shout, and he nods, reaching for the glove box. “Shoot back, we have a tail!”

The tires scream as Noah swerves the car to avoid a trash bin. My heart hammers in my chest, the sound of it almost drowned out by the roaring engine. The black SUV stays on our tail, relentless as ever. I don’t take my eyes off the rearview mirror, watching the headlights grow bigger with each second.

“Don’t let them close, Noah!” I shout, bracing myself.

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to. He’s doing everything he can. His hands are a blur on the wheel, eyes sharp.

The street up ahead is clear, but we’re running out of options. I look to my right. Patrick pulls his gun from the holster, his knuckles tight around the grip. He’s ready.

"Ready to return fire, Finn?" Patrick growls, as if he’s been waiting for this.

I don’t need to respond. I’ve already got mine drawn. I slap the butt of my gun against the seat to steady myself.

“Take the next turn, Noah. Hard left.”

He doesn’t hesitate. The tires screech as we make the sharp turn, cutting across two lanes of traffic. A quick look in the side mirror confirms what I already know. The SUV follows, like a shadow.

The headlights flicker on the damp road behind us, and I raise my gun out the window. A single shot rings out. The SUV swerves, its front tires skidding for a second before the driver regains control. We’re gaining ground, but not enough.

“Get us into the next alley. Quick!”

Noah’s eyes dart to me for a fraction of a second, just long enough for me to catch a glimpse of his jaw clenching. He slams the wheel left again, taking us down a narrow alley, the brick walls closing in on both sides.

The sound of the SUV’s engine rumbles behind us. I glance back just in time to see headlights flash before they disappear behind a corner.

“Are they still on us?” I shout to Patrick, who’s got his own eyes glued to the rearview.

“They’re close!” Patrick yells back as a blast of gunfire hits the rear door.

I feel the car lurch, my body pressed against the seat. “We’re hit!” I yell. The adrenaline is thick in the air, suffocating. My hands tighten around the grip of my gun.

“Focus on driving, Noah!” I bark.

He’s already ahead of me, taking a sharp right into another alley. We zigzag through the streets like a rat in a maze. The SUV’s headlights remain in pursuit, cutting through the misty night air like a predator hunting its prey.

“Patrick, cover us!” I shout as I press my head against the seat, trying to stay low. Patrick fires back, shots ringing out, but they seem to do little more than push the SUV back temporarily. We need more time.

Noah swerves right again, narrowly missing a dumpster. We keep our speed, but the SUV doesn’t fall behind. It matches every move, staying glued to our bumper.

I can see it now—the gap is closing. We need to lose them. There’s no other choice.

“Take the next left, Noah. Hard left!” I yell again.

He obeys instantly, tires screeching as the car slides into a wider road. The SUV barrels after us. This is our last shot. My eyes scan the street ahead.

“There!” I shout, pointing. A construction site, wide open with concrete barriers on both sides, a narrow exit at the far end. If we can just make it…

We squeeze through, heading straight for the opening. The SUV doesn’t make it. It slams into the barriers, throwing a ball of flames into the air in an explosive impact. I watch the mushroom cloud rise and heave out an angry sigh.

We make it to the end, the dirt road kicking up around us. We’re free, for now, but I know there will be more of them coming. Siobhan knows it too. That's why she finally asked me for security, and not a moment too soon. The Doyles aren't going to back down without a fight. They'll do anything to keep their secret from coming out.