Page 38 of Redemption

“Can you play it again?” Kim asks from the passenger seat, half turned to see us.

Carys hits the button on her phone again, and the conversation between her, Jay, and Evander streams through the tiny speakers. While we listen, I try to hear whatever Kim’s picked up. Most of it is Evander warning Carys against going after the PLA to rescue me herself. He managed to get information in the twelve hours between arriving and being fired. They’re planning a big, complicated job, and no matter what reasons they might have given for wanting me on their team, none of them are likely to be real.

“If the McCaffrey vendetta and the negotiation with the Byrne family aren’t legit, that’s going to be clear very quickly.” Jay reads my mind and slides a glance in my direction.

“Right, yeah.” Kim dismisses him, her gaze getting far away as the recording plays. “What he says right… here.”

Carys gives an exasperated sigh. Neither of us has much patience for Kim. “He calls him a sociopath.”

“Not that.” She makes a rewinding motion with her hand. “Go back again.”

Carys slides her thumb across the screen, and Evander’s deep voice pours out again.

PJ is a wild card. But so are a lot of the people around PJ.There’s a shuffling noise as though Evander is standing up or moving around.Watch yourself. I’m not sure the structure of the organization is what it seems.

His last warning could mean anything from PJ isn’t the real person in charge to PJ doesn’t have control over his men. Either scenario isn’t good for us. I glare at Jay. “You didn’t push back on that comment?”

“We fired the man and told him we thought we could handle your extraction from the PLA better than him. You wanted me to milk him for details?” Jay meets my glare with one of his own.

“Until his tits ran dry.” I let out a frustrated huff. “He was offering that information on a silver platter.”

“What information?” Jay tilts his head. “The ‘I’m not sure’ part probably indicated, oh, I don’t know, that he’s ‘not sure’ about what he’s saying. We weren’t being served anything but speculation.”

I tighten my jaw in annoyance. When the hell did Jay take his balls back?

“Still,” Kim says from the front seat. “We need to be on the alert for shifting allegiances, anything that’s out of the ordinary, unexpected people, pieces that don’t fall in line with what we think we know.”

I hold my burst of annoyance.Way to state the obvious again, Kimi. I liked it better when I was bossing her around. “Whatdowe know?” I ask. “They terrorize people but not enough to actually get caught by any law enforcement agencies?”

“Bit like us at one time,” Lorcan says. He makes eye contact in the mirror. “Human trafficking, drugs, weapons. An anarchy claim supported by almost nothing. Pierre-Jacques says they’re going to start seeking revenge on their enemies. What enemies? No one seems to have a list yet.” He taps the steering wheel. “Very scattered. From what I’ve seen, I don’t understand why the CIA is so worried about them. No tactical core.”

The Irish scenery zips by before we turn down the narrow laneway to the PLA’s run-down castle. Tactics were always Lorcan’s strength. I brought the muscle and the will to win at any cost, and he created the plan to make it happen.

When the car stops and we’ve squeezed out, Carys’s face scrunches up at the decay. “They live here?”

I try to see the building through her eyes. A pale brick and stone castle with missing windows on one half and a clear remodeling attempt in the 1970s on the other. While we’ve been referring to the place as a castle, the actual building looks like it has a split personality. Run-down castle here and remodeled mansion there. Itishuge, even if it’s not particularly attractive.

“Not exactly your penthouse suite in Chicago.” Kim leads the way toward the front entrance.

Carys’s step falters at Kim’s comment, but she ignores her. “I hope they have a decent cook.”

I slide my hand along Carys’s waist, and she leans into me, wrapping her arms around my middle until we’re almost at the front. Once we’re at the door, she stands up straight and draws her index finger and thumb from her forehead down to her chest. I smirk at her ‘game face’ routine. God, I missed her.

Just before we enter, I tease up the hem of her shirt to rub my fingers against the small of her back. I’ve spent months without her. Goose bumps rise on her arms. I want to haul her against me, ignore everyone else, and find an abandoned corner of this place. Shouldn’t be too hard.

The guard at the front door clears his throat to separate us for the search. After we’ve been patted and our weapons confiscated, Noel appears.

“I see you took PJ’s claim to bring whoever you wanted seriously. Carys.” He nods at her. “Jay.” He tips his head. “Welcome.”

His knowledge of them sets off an avalanche of tension. My posture tightens, and so does Lorcan’s, but Kimi is as loose as ever. She follows Noel toward the dining room, and her hands are shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket. Over her shoulder, her gaze connects with my brother’s, and it’s the first sign I’ve seen of unease.

Each seat has a placard by the plate, and when I notice Carys has been put beside Pierre-Jacques near the head of the table, my tension escalates. Jay’s name is also written in neat cursive on another piece of cardboard on the opposite end of the table. They’ve nailed the element of surprise over us. Between each are names I don’t recognize.

“PJ thought it would be good for everyone to get acquainted.” Noel gestures to the scattered spots across the close to twenty-person table.

I chuckle and snatch Carys’s placard from her spot then toss the name tag of the person next to me into the middle of the table. Using both hands, I place her name in front of the plate next to mine. When I meet Noel’s gaze, his eyes are bulging. Looks like I shot him. I could shoot him. I still have his gun even though it’s at the front door. Might set the right tone for today. Noel is not in charge. Noel is dead.

Was this what Evander meant about the power structure not being firm? ’Cause I can cement this pretty quick.

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