Page 11

ELEVEN

HARKIN

Divided - R3YAN, CLRBLND.

I may have made her a promise, but the validity of it only stands when she keeps up her end of the bargain. She had orders to stay put, to not leave the fucking safe house. Yet, as the wheels hit the tarmac in New York, her little dot gets closer to the city. She’s lucky I’m already here. I have no clue where she’s headed, but if she’s not careful, she’ll walk straight into the clutches of the man we’ve spent months trying to locate and draw out.

The stairs from the plane creek under my weight as I descend toward the pavement where James is waiting in the blacked-out SUV. I called him when my phone pinged Keira’s location outside the twenty-mile radius I set for her. My little runner is back to her old ways, but this time, she’s easier prey.

“Any ideas yet?” he asks.

Slipping into the passenger seat, I throw my bag over my shoulder into the back seat. It lands with a thud and a small squeak. My eyes lift in the noise’s direction and land square on Stacey’s expectant one.

“Why is she here, James?”

“I keep a shorter leash on my toy. You could take a pointer or two from my book. Maybe we’d stop being in this position.”

His wicked gleam doesn’t leave the review mirror. I spin back to face forward and hear her harrumph as we speed off from the airport. That snide comment won’t earn him any favors later. However, something tells me Stacey’s slightly more malleable than my girl.

“She’s almost at the train station. You might as well get me close, and we can see if she takes a car or walks. I have no clue where she’s headed.” An idea pops into my head.

“Stacey,” I draw out her name, flipping the visor down and sliding the mirror panel open. “Text your slippery bestie and see what she’s up to, would you?”

I stare her down, curious to see if I have any sway with the woman or if her loyalty is strong enough to turn me down. When she pulls out her cell and starts tapping away, I know I was right about my earlier assumption, and I’m slightly disappointed she didn’t tell me to fuck off, for Keira’s sake. Then again, she’s been made aware of the situation. She knows the stakes of Keira deciding to go off on her own.

“She’s not answering my text.”

“Call her,” I snap, my anxiety taking the drivers seat before I notice James strangling my steering wheel out of the corner of my eye.

We’ve created quite the dynamic between the four of us. But he has more restraint than I do because, had he taken that tone with Keira, it wouldn’t have been the steering wheel my hands were wrapped around.

I keep the app on my phone pulled up as we near the train station. Keira’s here somewhere, but if I jump out now, I could end up heading in the opposite direction. When the dot starts down the street at a slow enough pace, I know she’s on foot.

“Any idea what’s around here?” I throw out, hoping either of them might know what she’s up to. I should know, with all the background I pulled on her months ago, but I’m in the dark this time.

“You know how much shit’s around here. It could literally be anything!” Stacey says, exasperated at my question.

“Pull over,” I growl, annoyed by her high-pitched tone. He swerves the SUV through two lanes of traffic and double parks as I quickly slide from the passenger seat. “Stay close. I’ll text you,” I instruct before slamming the door.

The sidewalk is busy, with all sorts of people leaving the station. I don’t have eyes on Keira, but it’s unnecessary when the tracker keeps us within blocks of each other as I close the distance. After the fourth or fifth crosswalk, we’re finally close enough that I can see her short frame up ahead.

She’s smart, dressed casually in an oversized sweatshirt and beanie pulled tight over her dark, flowing hair. Nothing special to draw attention, she blends in seamlessly. We only make it about another twenty feet before she slows to a halt in front of an undistinguishable building, and I slide into a walk-up alcove. It throws me back to the night I followed her home from The Red Door. It hasn’t even been a year, yet it feels like a lifetime ago with everything that’s happened since.

The buzzing barely registers over the hustling crowd between us, drawing me quickly from my hiding spot to close my fingers around the door just in time. She doesn’t turn around when the door doesn’t latch, but I wait to see where she moves before following. If she turns around, there’s no escaping her or the wrath that will follow.

Three flights and two halls later, she knocks on an apartment door. I wait patiently around the corner, using the reflective dome on the ceiling to watch her next move. I don’t expect the distorted frame to step out, wrap their arms around my girl, and plant their lips on hers.

“Baby girl, it’s been forever. Where have you been?” the voice of the next person I’m about to murder in broad daylight says.

The gun appears in my hand before I know it, and my body stalks around the corner. I’m no longer worried about her wrath, so I don’t creep; in fact, my footfalls must be loud as I charge in their direction because both turn toward me.

“Keira,” I grit out, and she jumps further from the person who spurred this adventurous outing.

We’re at a standstill, my body shaking with a crazed fury I haven’t felt since the men came after Keira at the cabin. Then it was shoot first, ask questions never, because it wasn’t important, but right now, I’m hanging on by a thread of sanity.

“Well, isn’t this interesting,” the interloper spouts while leaning against the door frame, looking unfazed and curious.

Keira approaches me, trying to block the death glare flying over her shoulder. Her slender fingers wrap around my wrist, and their cool touch breaks my focus, drawing my eyes down to hers. Though her full lips are pursed, I can’t quite read the expression on her face.

“I should have known better,” she whispers while rolling her eyes. “Put the gun away, Harkin. It’s not what you think.”

“Sweetness, if it were, she’d be dead.”

A laugh breaks out behind us, and I stiffen in Keira’s grasp.

“Oh shit, baby girl, you switched teams and went full caveman, huh.”

The hand that was moving to holster my gun slows, but Keira sees the hesitation in my choice.

“Nik, could you fucking not,” Keira throws over her shoulder. Her hand shoves mine to continue, and the gun finally gets tucked away.

Nik—apparently—shakes her head and pushes off the door. “We should probably take this inside, lovebirds. My neighbors are nosey as fuck, and I have a feeling neither of you wants a visit from the local PD.”

“You’re in so much fucking trouble, sweetness,” I whisper in her ear as we follow into the apartment. Her breathy whimper is muffled by the door slamming behind us, but the flush that blooms across her cheeks is plain as day for everyone to see.

The apartment is a small studio with one door that must lead to a cramped bathroom. There’s a twin bed in the corner, a kitchen opposite. In the middle of the room, a couple of floor cushions and bean bags offer the only place to sit other than the one thing that doesn’t fit the space’s design. A computer set up to rival mine back at the apartment. The quad monitor monstrosity takes up half the studio.

Our host graciously throws out her arm while dropping into the computer chair and spinning back our way. My fingers dig into Keira’s hip from behind. She wiggles free and plops down, squishing one of the beanbags under her weight. She’s too comfortable here for Nik to be an acquaintance. They obviously have a history based on how she welcomed my girl.

Fucking great.

I stand behind Keira, arms tight across my chest, and stare down the stranger. She’s blatantly examining me from head to toe, probably thinking precisely what everyone else who sees me on the street does.

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you, beautiful.”

A thunderous growl pulls from my chest, and Keira sighs below me. “Nikita, cut the shit. We haven’t been together in years. Stop stirring the pot.”

“Come on, babe. I’m just testing your new man. I know you. He’s got to have a grip on his patience to deal with the shit you pull.” She drops a knowing look at Keira.

“I’m not that bad.” My sassy girl pouts and it’s enough to pull a chuckle out of both of us.

“Fuck both of you.”

“Oh, you’ve already done that,” Nikita pops back.

“Enough. Why are we here, sweetness?”

Her head tips back, giving me her eyes. “I wanted to help.”

“Fucking hell, Keira. Seriously? Do you know what being in the city by yourself could lead to?”

“I wasn’t alone, though, was I?”

“That’s not the point, and you damn well know it.”

“As entertaining as this is, I have a job to get back to. So, if you need my help with something, baby girl, now’s your chance.”

“I found my dad.”

“Holy shit, K.”

“Actually, he found me. And it wasn’t the reunion I’d always dreamed of. It was a complete shitshow, if I’m being honest.”

“You can say that again,” I add.

“There’s still some shit going on between us, and I’m looking for information.”

“You really think she’s going to be able to tell you something James and I weren’t able to?”

“He doesn’t know who I am, huh?” Nikita asks, a sly cockiness laced through her tone.

“Not from me,” Keira confirms. “But Nik, he’ll know once you show him.”

“We’ll see about that,” she says, turning around the computer chair toward the desk and firing up the gear at the push of her fingertips.

I watch the screens come to life, each displaying a different setup. Cameras to the left, code through the right. There is a blacked-out screen in the center that I’m all too familiar with.

I let out a low whistle. “You’ve got a type, don’t you, little one?”

Nik’s eyebrows raise at that little truth.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I’m not telling you shit, lover boy.”

Fair enough. I wouldn’t willingly give over my signature, either. It’s one thing to leave it online for someone to find and know who accessed their information. It’s another thing entirely to share in person.

“So, what are you looking for?” Nikita asks, clicking away.

Keira’s unsure eyes lock on mine. I nod in encouragement, because if she thinks we might learn more about what her father wants, and she trusts this Nikita person, then it’s worth a shot.

“When I was with my father, he told me this story about how my mom found out she was pregnant at school. He also mentioned that my mom wasn’t just someone who got mixed up with the wrong person. That they were from rival families. I don’t know shit about my mom, not really. I’m not even sure if the name I always knew her as was her actual name. Fuck, my last name might not even really be Fitzpatrick. She could have made that shit up.”

“Breathe, sweetness,” I remind her while my hands rub up and down her back. She’s spiraling. I’ve seen it repeatedly over the last couple of months as we’ve worked through what we know. The resurrection of her twin and the miraculous appearance of the father she never knew would be enough for anyone to lose their minds. Add in the kidnapping, rescue, running, and DNA results, it’s a miracle she hasn’t had a complete breakdown.

“Okay, we’ll start simple. What name did you know her by? I can check birth records easily enough. Especially in connection to yours.”

“Claire Fitzpatrick. I think she would have been born here in the city. Probably sometime between 1980 and 1985.”

“Do you know what school they went to?”

“No, he just said it was a Catholic school. One, the families, went to where a truce was held.”

“When you say the families, what do you mean?” Nikita questions, picking up on the emphasized details Keira’s throwing out but not explaining.

“Uhm, like the families of New York’s underground crime syndicates.”

Nikita’s fingers stop tapping against the keys, and her eyes bug out, swinging in our direction. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

At first, I think she’s about to fly off the handle, and my body tenses in preparation. Instead, her face lights up like it’s Christmas, and she’s just been handed the puppy she’s been begging for all year. I’m not sure that I like or trust her reaction. What if she’s tied up with them, and we just walked into the worst person’s apartment for help? She could have Domenico on speed dial, and his thugs could be here in minutes to try to take Keira from me again. She doesn’t miss the movement, and I mindlessly rest my hand on my gun.

“You going to shoot me in my own home?” Nikita asks without a single ounce of worry in her tone.

Keira glances over and hops up the beanbag to stand beside me. “What are you doing?” she bites between clenched teeth.

“Doesn’t she seem just a little too excited about the information?”

Her lips pull up into a small smile, and she shakes her head like I’ve just said the world’s stupidest thing. “Hey, Nik, want to tell Harkin who you work for, so he’ll calm the fuck down?”

“Come on, baby girl, his face is priceless. Plus, I don’t work for them. I occasionally assist when their MIT-chosen Quantico graduates fail at their tasks. I’m a lone wolf.”

“Look, I don’t care who the fuck you do or don’t work for. You want to be the FBI’s bitch, it’s not my business. What I do care about is the fact that you seem to think it’s a fucking good idea to keep flirting with my girl. The only reason you still have a tongue is out of respect for Keira. But my patience is wearing thin.”

The room is dead silent. Keira’s shifted so close to me, her chest heaves and brushes against mine with every accelerated breath. Her eyes are filled with a fire that I know all too well and if we were alone, I’d bend her over and test my hunch that she’s soaked right now. She’s reading me like an open book because she shifts slightly, rubbing her thighs together, and I quirk a quick smile down at her.

A sharp, slow clap breaks our tangential moment on the other side of the room. “Well, aren’t you, Mr. Big Psycho? Do you usually go around threatening everyone who looks her way?”

Giving her nothing but disinterest in answering that question, the muscles in my face relax. She’s not wrong. If the situation were different, I wouldn’t have hesitated to lay the person out. The funny thing is, Keira would do the same if the roles were reversed, and there wouldn’t have been any stalling her trigger-happy finger.

“This was obviously a mistake on my part. We’re going to go, Nik. Sorry for bringing this shit to your door.” Keira looks between the both of us. Linking her fingers between mine and squeezing tight, she pulls us toward the door.