“Not from me they don’t, and I don’t know how else they’d find out.”
“Do you know anything about who they are sending and when, where he is coming in?”
“No. That’s not something Sorley would share with me even if I asked.”
“What about this Liam Donnelly fellow that set you up with James and Hannah. James said he’s done business with him for years. I checked into him. He owns some sort of real estate outfit in Dublin.”
“He doesn’t exist. It’s a very well-run front. Liam Donnelly is Sorley Maguire.”
Olcan contemplated this for a moment and kicked himself for not having been more thorough in his investigations. He’d let his attraction to her blind him and missed it. Fuck.
“Okay. Get out of my sight, Niamh. Go far away before I change my mind about letting you walk out of here.”
“Olcan, please,” she said, finally showing a chink in her armor as her voice cracked.
“No. Just leave.”
She turned and walked to the door, pausing for a moment before opening it and walking out of his life. Olcan hurled the half-full whiskey glass in his hand at it, watching it shatter against the wood and crash to the floor. After a few minutes of what felt like pure, unadulterated rage, he picked up his phone and called Fergus.CHAPTER THIRTEENNiamh
NIAMH FELT BROKEN AS she returned to the house and closed the door behind her. Turk looked at her, his head cocked sideways to look at her curiously as she burst into tears. She had survived Olcan, at least physically, but she still had no idea where she might go or how to get there. The only money she had was what Sorley had sent for the apartment. She’d given it to the landlord already, but if she sweet-talked him, he might refund it and give the other guy who’d been looking at the place her spot.
She sucked up her tears and glanced at the clock. It was too late to call tonight. She’d call in the morning when she got up. In the meantime, she’d get her things packed up and be ready to go the moment she had it in hand. If it didn’t work out, she’d pull what she could from the ATM and if Sorley questioned it while she was on the move, she’d tell him it was for extra furnishing and stuff for the new apartment. If she did that and lied to him about where Fergus was, maybe she could put some distance between them before he realized she had crossed him.
She didn’t dare look up any places to go on her phone or laptop, as he had given her both items for her trip and they were likely tracked or bugged. She’d have to leave them behind when she went. No. If she was going to have to wait until morning to get into the ATM, maybe she’d have time to take them to a pawn shop and get a few bucks for them. Every little bit would help.
Her heart hammered against her chest as she thought about what she was going to have to do to keep safe. She’d have to cut all ties with anyone back home, though she’d not been allowed to tell them where she was going or keep in touch with them in the first place. She’d hoped to be able to live a normal life once she’d settled her deal with Sorley, but things weren’t going to happen like that.
“I’m going to kind of miss you,” she told Thor as he watched her from a nearby rug. He’d be alone tomorrow, but he should be fine. She’d put him out some extra food in the morning and leave the dog flap in the back door open for him in case he needed out before James and Hannah came home. He wouldn’t be alone long, and he’d probably get a kick out of the freedom.
She went ahead and packed her things, leaving out only what she would need in the morning. Nothing left to do tonight but try to make it through without crying the whole time. She went back down to the wine cellar and retrieved a couple of bottles. They would help. No doubt James and Hannah would be mad that she took them, but they’d recover. They’d not even called to check in since they’d been gone, so they obviously weren’t that worried about anything.
“Come on, big guy. You want to sit on Mommy’s white sofa with me and cuddle?”
She patted the sofa beside her and Thor walked over, sitting on the floor in front of it, looking at her with a look of uncertainty.
“It’s okay. Come on. I won’t tell your Mom.”
Thor jumped up on the sofa and curled up beside her, laying his head on her leg as she poured the first glass of wine. The familiar tug toward the house across the street pervaded her emotions as she tuned into an old western, hoping it would distract her enough to get her through what was bound to be a long night ahead.