“Jesus, we’ve been here for more than a week, so he has to be looking for her. How has he not already come here?” Ronan asked.
“He did, before you came. She went out the back door when we saw him arriving and hid in a spot I have out there. It’s safe, but not somewhere she could be for long. He thinks she went south instead of coming up here.”
“She can’t stay here in your attic forever, Andrew. What are you going to do with her?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t figured that out yet. He controls everything down here. I can’t use the usual people to get her a fake passport and get her out of the country. I’m waiting for things to settle down enough for me to slip her up north to Belfast and get her on a ferry to the mainland. If I can get her to Liverpool, I can get her the right papers in Bootle.”
“And how are you going to explain your little trip to Belfast to Trill?” Niall asked.
“That’s the easy part. He’s got us greasing the wheels up there with the peelers and local council so he can run guns to the Republicans.”
“Republicans? IRA?”
“Aye. The same.”
“Bloody hell, mate.”
“I know. I don’t like it neither, but I have to do what I have to do in order to keep what’s left of my kin above the dirt.”
“All right, here’s what we’ll do then. Ronan and I will take her up north. You got a safe space up there? Somewhere that the northerners don’t know about, nor Trill?”
“Aye.”
“Are there other people in it, or is it empty?”
“Empty. It’s an old bungalow on the edge of my grand’s old farm about halfway between Belfast and Donegal. When we go up, we stay at the main house he left us, but the bungalow is down in the woods near the stream. It’s a little rundown, but livable still. No one goes there, and most people don’t know it even exists.”
“Good. How do we get her from here to there without being tracked by his eyes and ears on the ground?” Niall asked.
“I have a delivery going up in a couple of hours. You can follow them up. Just keep a distance, and if anything goes wrong for them, keep going up toward Armagh. I’ll give you a burner phone with a number on it if you end up on your own. Just call it and they’ll bring you where you need to be.”
“Who is the number for? Republicans?”
“Yes.”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Up to you, no matter to me. I can get her taken care of, but if you want to do it yourself, then you’ll need to let them help you if it comes to that.”
“How do you know you can trust them? They’re a shower of shite, that bunch.”
“I don’t trust them, but I do know that they keep their mouths shut when it’s in their own interests. They skim off the top from Trill. They don’t want a war between the IRA and bears. They just want their guns.”
“Aye then. Let’s hope I don’t have to lay eyes on them.”
“Let’s hope.”
Deidre heard them walk back toward the door and hurried to a chair by the window, trying to appear like she was looking out the window while they were out talking. She turned and met Niall’s gaze as he came back in, a grimace still on his face. A cranky one, he was.
“I know you were by the door listening to all of that, so no need to explain what’s happening. Get your shite together for the trip,” Niall told her, not waiting for an answer before turning to leave again.
Deidre looked at Andrew and he shrugged. “It’s the only way I know to keep you safe, Deidre.”
“By sending me off with the likes of that arsehole? Me Nan would roll over in her grave at you, Andy.”
“Aye, but I’m doing the best I can, lass. The McNallys aren’t exactly powder puffs, but they are good people, and they won’t let any harm come to you.”
“Are you sure about that?” she asked, not quite as trusting of the strangers she’d been hearing all about the house since they’d arrived.
“Aye. I am.”
“Guess I’m going up north then. Good thing there are no border stops anymore since Trill has my passport. I don’t have hardly any clothes or anything, either.”
“I’ll fetch you some of Maggie’s things. She won’t be needing them, and I’ll give you some money. Maybe you can find someplace to get what you need once you get to Armagh. People there will help you, even if the McNallys aren’t that keen on them.”
“Thank you for everything, Andrew. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Aye. You’ll be in my prayers, Deidre.”
“As you will mine,” she replied.