Page 98 of The Twins

“Thanks.” She gave me a hug. “I’m just relieved you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you.”

I held her for a moment then slipped from the apartment into the warmth of the day and headed down the avenue toward home. It felt strange to leave Amy with a guy in the apartment. She’d never had a proper relationship, one that meant something other than scratching an itch. Perhaps Mitch was the one; maybe his darkness would match her black past.

Chapter Twenty-One

Finn

“Hey, how’s it going?” I glanced up as Professor Andrew Deacon wandered into the front room we used for meetings at Rose Cottage. It had a big Victorian bay window, a locked metal cabinet for weapons, and a large screen on the wall.

“Not great.” He ran his hand through his hair and sat heavily at the head of the table.

“Sorted your shit out with Chelsea?” I asked.

“She’s not an easy woman to reason with. Too fucking clever.” He tapped the side of his head. “Drives me crazy.”

I chuckled and shared a look with Cillian.

“You wouldn’t have it any other way,” Cillian said with a grin.

It was unusual to see Andrew rattled over a woman. He usually satisfied his sexual needs without getting involved, but Chelsea…she’d wriggled her way under his skin big time.

“I guess.” Andrew flicked his hand at the door. “Who else is coming?”

“Phil is getting a sandwich,” I said.

“Always fucking hungry, that bloke.” Andrew huffed.

“And Grant and Dalton are supposed to be on their way.” Cillian slipped on his reading glasses and opened his phone. “I’ll check.”

“Mitch?” Andrew asked.

“He’s running late, but will be here soon.” I tapped my phone. “He’s just messaged.”

“Jamie?” Andrew pulled a gun from the back of his waistband and set it on the table. “I was expecting him to be here already.”

“He is here…somewhere.” Cillian frowned.

Phil wandered in munching a giant ham sandwich that was dripping with mayo. “Jamie is here,” he said through a mouthful. “He bought a bag of clothes for the Romanian girls, he’s taken it up to them.”

Ten minutes later, the full quota of Galahad were seated around the table. A motley crew of solid strong guys who could all handle themselves with or without a weapon. There was a fair few sharp minds between us, too, and individual talents like medicine, finance, hacking to name a few. I was glad to know them, to be part of them. I wasn’t sure what else Cillian and I would do without Galahad. The gym was fun, sure, and our business, but this, weeding out the assholes in the world and sending them to Hell…that was our true purpose. A calling. And when one was disposed of, another always took his place.

“So what did you get from the phone?” Andrew directed at Jamie.

“Not many chains of messaging, seemed he was old school, called people.”

“No evidence then,” Andrew said. “Recognize any numbers?

“There weren’t many, I’m guessing he switched phones a lot, no family from what I could see.”

“Might have had two phones,” I said. “Could have been a burner that we found.”

“Could be the case, but he’d had it a while.” Jamie shrugged. “He had Candy Floss’s number on there and he’d had contact with her months ago. Nothing since, didn’t even try and call her.” He paused then went on. “Interesting for two reasons. He must have known she was dead some other way. Found out from someone.”

“And the other reason it’s interesting?” I asked.

“That meant they weren’t operating independently as human traffickers, they knew each other. They could have shared info, shared trafficked people even.”

I sighed. What was the matter with these people?