“And he became your surrogate father.”
“I suppose so.”
“You loved him.” I tilt my head and watch his expression. He closes his eyes for a moment and presses his lips together.
“Yeah,” he finally says, “I did.”
“And you are going to take care of the person who killed him, regardless of who it is, and you’re going to take care of his business as he would have wanted you to.”
Deklan looks at me, blinks a few times, and then smiles.
“You’re right,” he says. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Chapter 38
“No.” Deklan’s tone is low, but he slams his palm against the table. “Kera isn’t going to be anywhere near this.”
“She won’t still be there when it goes down,” Teagan says. “Mac will drive Sean to make sure they’re far enough behind us. We cross paths at the intersection and switch passengers—Kera will be with me, and Brian will be with you. Mac and Sean follow you to the secondary warehouse. Sean won’t even know she’s not with you anymore.”
“We’ll have about thirty seconds,” Brian says.
“That’s not much time.”
Teagan glances at Brian, and he nods very slightly.
“It’s enough time,” Teagan says. “If Lucas did his job right, Sean is focused on all the acquisition stuff right now, which is a good distraction.
“He is,” Lucas says with a scowl.
“Yeah, Lucas gave him a whole stack of papers,” Mac says. “It’s enough to keep him occupied until Christmas.”
“We don’t need that long.” Deklan says. “We also don’t need Kera there at all.”
“She’s supposed to be there, Dek.” Teagan sighs and reaches across the table to touch Deklan’s arm. “She sets Sean off just by being in the room. If she’s not there, he might not take the bait. With her in the room, there is no chance he will back down. He has to show his authority over you in front of her—he can’t help himself. That’s what we need.”
Deklan closes his eyes and presses his lips together, but he knows what Teagan is saying makes sense.
“It’s all right, Dek,” I tell him. “I’ll be fine.”
“Going to deal with Grange at the last minute will take him by surprise,” Mac says. “He’ll be pissed off that it wasn’t already done, and that should keep him focused.”
“I don’t like it.” Deklan leans back in the chair and folds his arms over his chest.
“I think it’s the best option,” Teagan says. “Sean will insist on going when Grange is released. He doesn’t trust you not to kill the guy.”
Deklan glances over at me and narrows his eyes. I nod at him. I’m okay with the plan Teagan and Brian have concocted even if I do have to go back to that house and be near the man who broke into my apartment and videotaped me sleeping naked. By the time it’s all over, Sean will be dead, and I’ll never have to worry about him again.
“Are you sure?” Deklan asks me.
“Yes.” I nod more emphatically. “Whatever risk there is, it will be worth it.”
Deklan rubs his chin with his hand before he looks back at Teagan.
“Let’s go over it all again from the top,” he says. “I want to make sure everyone gets it right.”
*****
“I’m gonna go release Grange.”