Page 32 of Redemption

“Evander told us he was having pressure applied to him in prison. Could be Hagen’s got a hand in this. Might be unrelated.” Jay polishes off the last of his meal, and I envy his ability to eat in a crisis. My appetite vanishes at the hint of stress. “I think we should ask him how smoothly the jailbreak went. We haven’t asked a lot of questions about the process. Was it Plan A?”

I consider the implication of his words. “You think one of Evander’s men might have aided the PLA?”

“If the plan went off like clockwork except for the interception of the helicopter, then yeah, I think he’s been played.” He rubs his jaw. “Or he’s been playing us. Something is off if there were no issues other than the chopper being stolen.”

I cover my face with my hands and rest my elbows on the wooden table. “What if we find him and he won’t come back with us?” The truth in that question terrifies me. We waded into a mass of risks to bust him out, and there’s still a chance I’ll return to Cape Verde without him. He won’t leave a threat to our happiness unanswered.

“I’d like to tell you that won’t happen.” Jay’s expression is layered with sympathy and concern. “We both know that’d be a lie. Finn’s a wildcard. The lack of communication from him is troubling. He’ll realize you’re frantic with worry, maybe even capable of doing something rash or dangerous as a result.” He shakes his head.

“At this point, do we stick with him or try to go our own way? If Finnisthere of his own free will, we could be putting him at risk, not to mention Evander and his team.” My thoughts are jumbled with the possible scenarios. Not all of them end well, with Finn in my arms, with us on our way home. I didn’t take this very dangerous path to have any of us dead.

“We wait until morning to see what Evander’s team comes up with for a plan and for intel into where Finn’s located. Maybe he’ll have contacted you by then. Maybe this worrying will be for nothing.”

Jay often tells me worry is a wasted emotion, but his words can’t stop the rising tide of it, sloshing away in my stomach. “I admire your optimism.” I push my plate into the center of the table and tuck a stray strand of hair into the bun at the nape of my neck.

“No matter what else is going on,” he says, “you’re Finn’s priority. You and Lucas. Without a doubt, if he can contact you, he will.”

Hope swells in me, pushing out the worry. Jay’s right. It’s a truth I’ve known this whole time, but it’s hard to have faith in something so big and impossible. Whether or not he’s been kidnapped, Finn will reach out. I’m going to cling to that even as we try to get to him.

Chapter Fifteen

Finn

WhatgameisEvanderplaying? He used real names at the hotel check-in, no aliases, a flare in the sky to anyone looking. Who is he trying to flush out? Me? The PLA? Someone else? The bombing in Cape Verde and the confetti bomb indicate Carys has powerful enemies. Does Pierre-Jacques have eyes in the hotel? Contacts at the airport? He knew she arrived in Ireland before we did. Them tracking her makes my blood boil.

Lorcan, Kim, and I circle the hotel several times before they leave me at a rear entrance to enter the lobby without me. Since no one is supposed to realize I’m working for the FBI and CIA in a joint operation to take down the PLA, I’m a wanted fugitive. Being out in public, somewhere as high traffic as this is risky. No matter the consequences, I need to see Carys and make her return to Cape Verde. I don’t know what the PLA is up to, but if they’re okay with her being in the country, and Zahir cleared her interference with the government, she needs to be far away from whatever happens. I don’t make bets I can’t win, and I sure as hell am not playing with Carys’s life as currency.

The back door pops open beside me, and Kim is framed in the doorway. She blocks my entrance.

“Where’s Lorcan?” My tone is wary.

“Lachlanis on the third floor as backup for your tryst. Jay is in 320, and Carys is in 322. They’re both eating in the hotel restaurant right now.”

Annoyance zips through me at being babysat by my little brother, but I tamp it down. My priority is getting her out of Ireland, and if I have to put up with Kim and Lorcan thinking they’re in charge, I can do that. “Key?” I hold out my hand, and she drops a metal key into it. “I didn’t realize places still used these.”

“All over Europe.” She rolls her eyes and steps back to let me enter. “Stairs are to your right. You’ve got your phone?”

After our meeting with Pierre-Jacques, I convinced them to stop and get me a burner. It doesn’t connect to the internet, so it’s useless apart from numbers already programmed into it or ones in my brain. God forbid they give me too much freedom. At least I’ll have a way to check in on Carys once she leaves, and the ability to maintain contact with Lorcan and Kim if we’re split up by the PLA. Just because Pierre-Jacques thinks they’re valuable now doesn’t mean he will later. I’m well aware of how allegiances and loyalties can change with unproven staff. As far as he knows, they’re disposable, even if for some reason I’m not.

I wave the device at her, but before I can leave, she grips my forearm. Glancing at her hand, I slowly lift my gaze to hers. She snatches her hand away as though I’ve burned her. We’re not friends, and I won’t pretend we’ve buried the hatchet. It’s still possible she’ll bury hers in my spine. Lorcan has been the buffer between us for the last twenty-four hours, and without him around, I don’t have a clue what will come out of her mouth.

“You need to stop calling him Lorcan, even in private. You’re used to bucking authority and doing whatever you want. I get that. But you’re playing with his life. Consistency is key. Lorcan is dead. As far as the world knows, you killed him. Lachlan isn’t your brother. You don’t know each other.”

The key is heavy in my palm, and I study her. Her distaste for me radiates off her. The speech is authentic, though. Was she like this in my house? We danced around each other, and I was never sure if we were going to rip each other’s clothes off or murder one another. At the time, either outcome would’ve been fine. I bet it irks her that she ever desired someone as evil as me, somebody who played a hand in the destruction of her family. Doesn’t mean the pilot light wasn’t on, waiting for us to flip the switch and ignite the flame. To do this job and love every part of my brother, there has to be darkness in her too. Maybe, believing it’s the light in my brother she loves helps her sleep at night. Her hands aren’t clean. Reminds me of what I love about Carys—she never pretends to be something she’s not.

“Consider the message received.” I amble toward the stairs.

“You’re going to make Carys leave?” Kim calls after me along the deserted hallway.

I chuckle. “You think she listens to me?”

“It’s not safe here for her.” She follows me. “She’s better off in Cape Verde.” When I don’t turn around, Kim lets out a frustrated noise. “I can’t imagine you putting up with somebody who doesn’t obey you.”

I smirk at her over my shoulder before heading into the stairwell entrance. “Ah, see.” I put my foot on the first stair and face her. “This is when you don’t know me as well as you think. Even I understand relationships don’t work that way.” Then I take the stairs two at a time, content to leave her stewing in her assumptions.

She’s not too far off about my character, or at least who I used to be. I’ve never shared authority before, not even with Lorcan when we were business partners and brothers. I might have taken his opinions into consideration, but the final decisions fell on my plate. With Carys, I don’t have that luxury. Any time we make choices without each other, we’re slaves to our weaknesses. So, while I’m prepared to tell her she can’t stay, I’m not naïve enough to believe she’ll listen without question. That’s not how we work best.

When I reach her door, I spy Lorcan at the end of the hallway near the opposite stairwell. He ignores me and gazes out the tiny window. Both our phones go off at the same time. When I check mine, there’s a message from Kim. Carys has left the restaurant. My phone buzzes again.

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