Page 43 of Dublin Debacle

“That doesn’t mean anything.

“It does to me.” She nodded. “I trust you.”

He held out his arm. “Then let me do the honors of ensuring your safe arrival at your flat.”

Emily hooked her hand through his bent elbow and let him escort her out the back door of the pub.

Jack liked the feel of her hand on his arm so much that he had to recite to himself,Just see her safely into her flat and leave.

Emphasis on theleavepart.

As he walked out the back and around to the side of the building, he felt his resolve slipping.

Emily gasped and stopped, bringing Jack to an abrupt halt.

His gaze went to her Mercedes, where he’d parked it earlier that day.

Red spray-painted words covered the car in bold, ugly letters.

DIE LIKE YOUR DA!

CHAPTER10

“My car!”Emily cried and dove toward it.

“Emily, wait.” Jack snagged her arm and pulled her back. “Whoever did that could still be here.”

Jack ducked down and looked beneath the vehicle. He straightened and walked with her to inspect the damage.

“This was my father’s car. He gave it to me when we came to live here.” Emily pressed a hand to her mouth. “Why are they targeting my family? What have we done to deserve this?”

“Nothing.” Jack took his phone from his pocket, called 999 and reported the damage. He slipped an arm around Emily’s shoulder. “I’m sorry this is happening to you and your family.”

“I don’t know what I can do to make it stop. I can’t control anything about this situation.” She leaned into him, thankful for his strength. “I’m a take-charge kind of person. This is killing me.”

“Yeah.” Jack’s arm tightened around her. “I hope we can fix this.”

“At the rate attacks are escalating, I’m not sure it can be fixed until something catastrophic happens.”

“I’ll install cameras tomorrow, and we can look around and see if there are other buildings nearby that already have some kind of video surveillance. Maybe they have a camera with a view of the side of your building.”

“We can try that.” Emily sighed. “I’m tired to the bone, missing my father, brother and uncle. What’s worse is that I’m losing hope.”

“Don’t,” Jack said. “We’ll figure this out.”

In the meantime, his arm stayed around her, holding her up as they waited.

A member of the Garda arrived fifteen minutes later to take the report.

Once he was gone, Jack and Emily climbed the steps together.

Emily unlocked the door and waited just over the threshold while Jack quickly checked the interior for intruders.

When he finished searching through the three-bedroom flat, he returned to her. “It’s clear.”

She didn’t move from where she stood, her heart racing despite her exhaustion.

Jack took her hands in his. “Do you want me to stay? I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable being alone after all that’s happened.”

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