Page 65 of Iron Cross

There he was. The Green we all knew about. The man of fable. A legend that had gotten darker each year, as reports of wrecked ships and burned warehouses became a thing of violent legend.

I should have listened to Cosima. I should have believed her.

I would not shatter what semblance of peace we had by asking about Giovanni Morelli.

“Come quietly, sweet Muse,” he reached out, placing his hand on mine. “Don’t hurt us more than you already have.”

I wished that my skin crawled at his quiet threat. I wished that I could feel some kind of fear. But whatever curse he’d placed on me, made me turn my palm up, so we could intertwine our fingers, and I drew comfort from it.

He took his finger and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear.

“I had hoped to win you over, like a normal man,” he said, as he leaned down, bringing our faces closer together over the linoleum table. “I wanted to give you the time that I hadn’t when I was myself. But now…” He shook his head. “I must get you home and safe.”

A loud banging on the door cut us off, as he and I jumped.

Eoghan looked at me, with terror in his eyes, as he gestured for me to grab Cillian. I did. Without hesitation, un-trapping him from the high chair and holding him to me.

The banging continued, as Eoghan went into the drawer, touching the underside of my hidden Glock. So he had found it.

He charged the weapon and placed it behind his back, before going to the door.

“Who is it?” he asked, his finger on the trigger.

“Housekeeping you fucking prick.”

The vaguely familiar voice made me slump.

Eoghan relaxed, opening the door.

“What?” he asked, as the woman pushed in.

“The Italians have found you.” Sinead Flanagan, the woman who had been my escape was clad in a leather jacket and leather boots. The hair that had been short and blonde was now black. But it was unmistakable. Her heart shaped face and small, doll-like lips were a standard of beauty from Edwardian time, and her pale skin and rosy cheeks from the bitter cold outside.

“How?” Eoghan glared, as if it was her fault.

Fuck! As if things couldn’t get any fucking worse…

Out of their sight, I touched the edge of my purse, until I found my phone. I pulled it out, pressing three buttons that triggered a sequence that would destroy it, the data inside, and send adistress signal. A signal that might not go fast enough to save me… but if there was a chance to save Cillian… I would take it.

I held Cillian closer, before I called, “Sinead?”

“Aunty!” My son said, recognizing her from the day she’d spent with us months ago.

“Hi sweetheart,” Sinead smiled, then looked at me apologetically. “Hi, Kira.”

Chapter twenty

The Escape

Eoghan

She looked at the back seat and shut her eyes. She turned to Sinead and whispered, "There's no car seat."

The agitation in her voice grated me almost as much as the fact that she wasn’t turning tomewith her concerns.

Jesus, did she not know her life was at stake?

“You can’t have a kid in a car without a car seat.” She held our son to her chest, and he held onto her in return. The bond of mother and son was obviously strong.

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