Page 61 of Sins and Salvation

"Declan." Cormac's voice breaks through my thoughts. "If it comes down to a choice?—"

"I know." I cut him off. "Conor comes first. Always."

He nods, satisfied. We understand each other in this, at least. Family above all.

We park a quarter-mile from the shipyard entrance. I check my phone one last time—still no word from Maeve.

"Five minutes," I remind Cormac. "Not a second longer."

"Be careful." He grips my good shoulder. "Bring them home."

I walk toward the entrance, hands visible, gun hidden at my back. Two men step out of the shadows to meet me, weapons drawn.

"Donovan," one of them says with a thick Russian accent. "You came alone. Smart man."

"Where's my son?"

He smiles, revealing a gold tooth. "Inside. Mr. Petrov is waiting."

They pat me down, finding the gun at my back.

"Insurance," I say with a shrug.

The gold-tooth man laughs and takes it. "You won't need this."

They miss the knife in my boot. Amateurs.

The main warehouse is dim, the high windows filthy from years of neglect. I look around for Conor and Maeve. Nothing but an empty chair is in the center under one light.

A tall figure walks out from the darkness. Andrei Petrov. Photos don't do justice to the ice in his eyes.

"Declan Donovan." His English is perfect, no trace of an accent. "At last, we meet properly."

"Where's my son?"

He tilts his head. "Straight to business. Very well." He nods to someone behind me. "Bring the boy."

I wait, muscles tense, for Conor to appear. But the man who steps forward is empty-handed.

"He's gone," the man says in Russian, which Petrov doesn't know I understand. "The woman took him."

Petrov's face darkens. "What woman?"

"The mother. She broke in, shot Yuri, and took the boy."

Relief hits me hard. Maeve got Conor out. They're gone. They're alive.

I hide my reaction and laugh instead.

"Looks like you just lost your leverage," I tell Petrov. "My son's not here. My woman took him back."

"Impossible," Petrov snaps, but I see the uncertainty in his eyes.

"She's a mother protecting her child." I take a step toward him. "You fucked with the wrong family."

Petrov pulls a gun, aiming it at my chest. "You still came. That means I still have something to bargain with."

"I didn't come to bargain." I move closer. "I came to end this."

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