Page 102 of Charlie
Liv: Nathan and River are sleeping now, but I’m still so angry that I’m shaking. We need to take this monster down, Kit. I mean it! He deliberately makes the children think they’re crazy.
“Do ye believe us now?” Kit asked and took back her phone while nodding to my other hand, where I was holding my own phone.
“Charles, hello, are you there?”
I lifted the phone to my ear again. “Yes, I’m here. It seems I’ve misjudged Conor O’Brien.”
My grandfather sighed. “You and many others, my boy. I’m just grateful you’re finally seeing him for the charlatan that he is.”
“I need to get Liv out of there. If anything happens to her it’ll be my fault. I’m the only reason she’s there to begin with.”
“Yes.” My grandfather sighed. “I’m not comfortable with her being in his house either.”
Kit was texting away on her phone across from me while I ended the call with my grandfather. “I have to go, but call me if you hear anything.”
“Yes, same to you.”
My grandfather and I ended the call and Kit gave me a quick glance. “I’m telling Liv that the police found Jim Maddox’s body.”
With a look of determination, I got up from my chair. “I’m going to Howth to get Liv.”
“Whoa, stall for a second.” Kit got up too. “Ye cannot just barge in at midnight like a jealous lover and demand that she leave with ye. Liv is there because of the children and the best we can do is help her get them out too.”
“But if the police have all that incriminating information on him, why haven’t they made an arrest yet? If his foundation is nothing but a front to pile up the money for himself, then it’s illegal and he should be brought to justice.”
“Aye, and he will be, but these things take time.” She pointed to my untouched shawarma sandwich. “Are ye not gonna eat that?”
“No. All I can think about is how to get Liv out of there.”
Kit brought my sandwich and fries to the man behind the counter and had him bag it to go.
When we left, she took a detour back to my hotel and stopped by a homeless woman sitting in a sleeping bag and looking miserable. Kit squatted down in front of the woman. “Here ye go, my love. You’ll sleep better on a full stomach.”
The homeless woman had greasy hair sticking out under her knitted hat and she was missing a front tooth, but her smile lit up her face and made her look younger than at first sight. “Oh, bless ye.”
Kit patted her shoulder and stood back up. “Stay warm, Millie. The cold is fierce tonight.”
“I know.”
“Do ye have the jumper I gave ye?”
“I do. It’s wonderful and warm. Ye’re an angel.”
Kit laughed. “Ask my mother and she can tell ye differently. See ye around, love.”
When we walked away, I looked back to see the woman opening the wrapped sandwich with a smile.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.
“The plan is to wait for the DNA match. Once the English police have it, the gardas will arrest Conor and Liv can go home with you.”
“But what if that takes days?”
“Then we wait days.”
I stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. “I can’t just do nothing.”
“Do ye think it was easy for us to be patient and not get ye out of there by force? Three weeks Liv has waited for ye to wake up.” Like the rest of the Irish, Kit didn’t pronounce the letter h in words like think and three. “Now, I’m asking ye to be patient as well.”
