Page 53 of Redemption

“All trustworthy?” I frown as Lorcan slides into the driver’s seat.

“All hungry for money. Best kind of loyalty.” He takes out a cigarette and lights it in the back seat. “Finn? Lachlan?” He offers the pack to us.

It’s times like this when I start to feel each of my forty-one years. Did I smoke in my twenties? Sure. Now? Not a chance. I got enough things that might kill me, no need adding to the list. “Nah.” I wave him off. “We’re good.”

Francois cracks a window and blows the smoke out as we drive. “You’ve got the plan, yeah?”

I tap my temple. “In here. Are the lads around your age?”

“Yeah. They’re my mates from school.” He grins.

How in the hell is the PLA an organization worth the CIA’s time when it’s run by a bunch of twenty-year-olds who don’t have a clue?

“Did you meet Jade?” he asks. “She’s fit, ain’t she?”

I smirk. If he thinks Jade’s attractive, Carys would blow his young mind. “Does Pierre-Jacques realize you’ve got a thing for his girlfriend?”

Francois chuckles. “I reckon she likes to be wanted. Prancing around in her tiny outfits, flirting with the lads.”

Lorcan and I exchange a glance up front. Not the impression she gave us. At every turn, she’s got a new face. “She’s a flirt, is she?”

“Vindictive tart is more like.” He laughs. “I reckon that’s why we’re after the McCaffrey family. She used to run with them when she was younger.”

“Oh.” It’s the first word he’s uttered since his introduction. “Was she shagging one of the McCaffrey boys?”

“Not from what I heard.” He shakes his head. “Wanted to, I’m sure. I reckon she’s like that.” He taps ash out the window.

I let out a grunt. Much better when idiots ramble with the information I want rather than having to drag it out of them. He hasn’t realized he shouldn’t be chummy with us yet, which suits me fine. Maybe the fact he isn’t privy to my reputation will work in my favor. “So, what? She hung out with them?”

“Don’t know, exactly.” He flicks the butt of his cigarette out the window before rolling it up. “Just heard she used to run with them. Was a long time ago, mate.”

Does that explain the familiar feeling I have whenever I look at Jade? Was she in the background when we were younger, toying with the McCaffrey boys? If that’s the case, does she know me better than I think? Does she recognize Lorcan? My blood cools and then runs hot.

“We need to talk,” I mutter to Lorcan.

“Agreed.” He catches Francois’s attention in the rearview mirror. “Whereabouts are we headed?”

“Ah, right. Sorry. Left here. Pub’s on the right. I’ve secured you a room above the pub. Nothing fancy, but better than sleeping on my settee.”

At the pub, Francois walks ahead of us, and I mutter, “Does Jade know us?”

“Not a clue,” Lorcan says. “Her personality is giving me whiplash. There’s an agenda hidden under these layers.”

“What, though?” I rub the back of my neck. “I’ll get in touch with Jay.”

“I’ll tell Kim they should be on high alert. Jade can’t be trusted.”

For the next six days, Lorcan and I systematically take down each of the McCaffrey business interests. Dare I say it? It’s kinda fun. Being here is not without its frustrations. My inability to talk to Carys is a thorn in my side. Whenever we schedule a call, she gets waylaid by Pierre-Jacques or Jade and can’t get outside to answer. If I phone out of the blue, she’s having tea with Jade or in the middle of a video chat with Lucas or doesn’t pick up at all. Texting or emailing her any of the information we found out about Jade is risky given the amount of time they’re spending together. An unlocked phone is a gift.

Other than the constant queasiness in my stomach, I don’t have any proof Jade’s the devil in disguise. But it doesn’t seem right for a woman to wear so many faces or be so adept at adjusting to her audience. Young boys? The flirt. Pierre-Jacques? The obedient girlfriend. Lunch with new contacts? The cougar. Tea with Carys? The lonely, abused woman. Carys says women wear different faces all the time, especially if they feel threatened in a man’s world. I suppose that’s true of some women. I’m not convinced that’s Jade’s reality.

“We got him.” Lorcan gestures to his phone from the bar where he was ordering us dinner. “Francois called. Sieged the house. They’ve got Donal waiting for us.”

I could have had one of the boys Francois recruited kill Donal or ordered Francois to do it himself. But I have questions I need answered before I’m going for the jugular. “Are you coming?” I rise from the table we’ve used as command central in the far corner of the pub.

Lorcan grimaces as he wanders closer. “Don’t think I should. If they brought him here, maybe. Too many eyes might see something we don’t want if I go there.”

Like the fact Lorcan Donaghey is still very much alive. Keeping him here coordinating Francois’s lads has worked out well. Lorcan could be a central part of the action while meeting very few people. This pub is sleepy and on the edge of a village outside Cork. Not many in or out of the place. To the lads, I was the public face of the operation, going wherever another pair of hands was needed. My brother was the brains and the steady calm in the storm I raged. By the end of the week, most of the men knew if they wanted courage to do a difficult job, they came to me. If they wanted strategy then they went to my brother.

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