Page 27 of A Temptation Too Great

Seamus grumbles as he steps closer, pulling out one of his blades. “Answer his fecking questions, or I’ll slice you open.”

“Sir.” The idiot turns back to me, and just for taking his eyes off me, I slap him again. His head whips to the side, and I smile. My leather glove leaves a bright red mark on his face.

“Why did you kill Mrs. Kelly?” I demand, and he starts shaking and pisses himself.

“I d-don’t know w-who you’re talking about.” He shakes his head.

Without missing a beat, I pick up my gun and shoot him in the knee. He screams and looks around, hoping someone will save him, but it’s too late for him.

“Don’t fecking lie to me. We have video proof it was you. Why did they let you go?”

“That video was destroyed. Kelly made sure it was gone.”

“Kelly? Which one?” God, I hope he’s wrong, but I know he’s not. One of the Kelly men killed Moira’s mam.

“Eoin. The young one. The older one had no idea. Now please let me go. I know I broke the rules and came back, but my da was dying. Tell Kelly I won’t say anything to anyone else,” he pleads.

This fecking idiot thinks we’re in bed with Kelly.

I shake my head as I exchange the gun for the blowtorch. His eyes bulge more, and he starts screaming. I switch it on and hold it to his bare feet.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me. He wouldn’t. He just said she found out something he didn’t want her to know. She also learned he’s a serial killer. He’s the one killing all the streetwalkers.” The idiot continues to cry, and I pull the torch away.

When he passes out, I turn to Seamus, who grabs a bucket, drops it over the side of the boat, and hauls it back up full. Without a word, he dumps the cold water over the idiot’s head.

“Why?” I demand as I click on the torch and move it across his chest. His shirt melts over his skin, and he screams in agony. I stop and raise an eyebrow, waiting.

“As she died, she told me she would make sure her daughter was safe from him. That’s all she said. I don’t know anything more. Please don’t kill me.”

I stand back and consider her final words. Could they mean Eoin isn’t her biological brother? Is there something I’m missing?

I don’t think twice about my next actions. I need to get back to Belfast and figure this out. I grab my gun and shoot him between the eyes. He’s dead before I turn around.

Seamus shakes his head. “You didn’t let me or Carson have any fun.”

“We need to get to Lex, and I need to check on Moira. Something feels off.” I felt it just before we started torturing him. There’s something not right.

The three of us dump the body off the back of the boat, leaving him to the water. If he’s ever found, none of us will be implicated. The gun won’t trace back to me. Nothing we used tonight will, not even the cinder block. That was paid for with Eoin Kelly’s credit card.

I pick up my mobile, but there’s no signal this far out. As Carson drives us back, I keep glancing down at the screen, then back toward the horizon as Belfast grows closer.

Finally, it rings.

“Where are you?” My father’s voice is frantic.

“Feck,” I roar into the phone. “Is she okay?”

“She’s alive, but she took off. Someone attacked her. We got her to the hospital, but she slipped out the back.”

“Get Arianna to tell you where she is. Have Lex run a search.”

“He tried, but it was a shift change. Several people left through the same exit. Lex said she must have had her head covered, concealing her identity. Arianna won’t tell me anything. Just said to give her time.” He pauses, and I know there’s more. “She thinks it was her brother. He broke her nose, and she probably has a fractured rib or two.”

“Bloody hell. I’m heading to the warehouse, then I’ll head that way.”

“Okay.” He hangs up.

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