Luck of the Irish: Complete Edition (22 page)

With trembling hands, Declan held her shoulders and begged his sweet torturer for mercy, “Keira, love, I can’t hold off any longer.”

“So don’t.”

Her direct order made his body jerk even more under her touch. He never thought her mouth could be so innocent and tempting at the same time. He threw his head back on the pillows and braced himself. Keira had tried that before and he had managed to wrestled control of the situation from her. She was determined to go all the way this time, and he knew her too well - it was pointless to resist. He’d better surrender to the inevitable.

“Relax,” she whispered against his skin and he knew he was doomed.

His body swelled in contact with her hot tongue and lips and the sweet vibrations her voice had created. The last thing he saw, before he closed his eyes to reality, was the enticing sight of her fingers gripping him tightly as she bobbed her head up and down. He tangled his fingers in her hair in a last effort to keep his reactions in check, but the sensations were too overwhelming. They controlled his body and mind. Desire, lust, and passion pierced him, spurred on by her warm, wet caresses. While longing and love filled his heart and soul, nurtured by the abandon and selflessness with which Keira worshiped him. Her urgency stoked his fire and he soon reached the point of no return.

“Keira!” he wailed when her tongue swirled around him, teasing his senses, robbing him of the last traces of self-control, and his body exploded.

She caressed his thighs, trying to soothe his trembling flesh, but didn’t let go of her prize. He bucked and writhed under her hands and mouth, yet, she kissed him until there was no more energy left in his softening body.

When she looked up at him, her heart swelled with the beautiful sight his face offered her. His gorgeous features glowed with bliss and she felt a correspondent pang of emotion deep inside her. She had underestimated the powerful feeling that comes from pleasuring another person. She learned its strength at that moment, when her body reacted to Declan’s expression, with powerful waves of fiery desire. She covered his body with hers and seized his mouth in an endless kiss.

He felt her tremors and closed his strong arms around her slender body. His lips played with hers as his emotions subsided but hers grew stronger. He opened his eyes to watch Keira surrender herself and dive in the sea of sensations that she had created around them. It was an amazing sight to see and he reveled in it.

Their hearts slowly returned to their normal rhythms, as their hands soothed and caressed each other. Keira was sprawled over his body, resting her face on his wide chest. He breathed in the sweet smell of her hair, and kissed the top of her head. She sighed and smiled against his cooling skin.

“I love it when you do that,” she said, sprinkling light kisses on his chest and the his throat.

“What? Sniffle your hair?”

“No, kiss my hair!” she giggled.

“And I love it when you do that.”

“What? Laugh hysterically?”

“No, sweep me off my feet,” he squeezed her arms for emphasis.

“When did I do that?” she lifted her head and rested her chin on his chest to look into his hypnotic eyes. Their amazing green tones sparkled like emeralds with the emotions he didn’t want to conceal anymore. “When I giggled like a stupid little girl?”

He traced her mouth with his thumb before answering her. His expression was very serious when he did speak, “No, Keira, when you made love to me like the beautiful young woman you are. You took my breath away in more ways than you could ever imagine.”

Keira sensed what he was about to say and the thought scared her more than anything that had happened in her recent past. She was afraid to hear the words because she wasn’t ready to say them back. She couldn’t say them while there was a shadow called Paul O’Hallon clouding their future together. She kissed the tip of her own finger and put it over his lips to stop him from saying another word.

“Please, Declan, don’t.”

He closed his eyes to hide his disappointment but she knew she had hurt him, “I know it, Keira. I had told myself not to say anything. I guessed I got carried away.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m not ready to hear you say it just yet,” she added.

He admired the fact that she could be so poised despite being so young. He only hoped she would be ready soon to hear him say how much he loved her. Waiting was going to kill him.

“I hear you, Keira. I don’t want to pressure you. There’s no haste. We have a lifetime ahead of us.”

“Thank you, Declan.”

She offered him a warm grin, rested her face on his chest again, throwing her arm across his waist. He watched her fall asleep almost immediately while his own sleep eluded him for a long time.

* * * *

Declan and Keira went for a run, with Morris in tow. When they got back to the house, both Murphy and Kerry were at the front door. She looked distressed and urged them inside.

“What’s wrong, Kate?” Keira frowned.

“Ms. Green was found dead this morning. Apparently, a friend went to her house to check on her. He had called her cell phone the whole day yesterday but she didn’t answered or returned his calls. He got worried.”

“Inspectors Heller and Dwyer are going to the crime scene,” Kerry added. “Dwyer called us on the police radio. He told us they’ll come here as soon as they can to discuss our next moves.”

True to their word, Heller and Dwyer went to the safe house straight from Ms. Green’s murder scene, which was much later than usual. Keira and Declan spent the day glued to the television set, even though the reporters had little information to offer. They saw Heller trying to avoid the cameras without success.

“Please, fellows, I have no comments for you at this time. Let us do our job,” he asked as he left Ms. Green’s house. He struggled through the crowd of reporters and walked half a block until the narrow alley, where he had parked his car. They swarmed around it, shouting questions, making it impossible for him to drive through them without running over somebody. He cracked his window open. “We’ll talk to the press when we have more information. I swear it. Now, please, let me pass.”

Declan and Keira discovered the footage had been recorded earlier when they heard Heller’s car seconds after the TV reporter announced a break for commercials. It was already dusk, so the detectives wasted no time with idle conversation. They called Morris and Kerry to follow them inside in order to brief everybody on what was going on.

* * * *

CHAPTER 8

When they entered the house, Heller dropped the bombshell, “We’ll call off our plan.”

“You mean, you won’t use Keira as bait to catch O’Hallon? Hallelujah!”

“With all due respect, sir, I have to say I’m also relieved!” Murphy added.

“I thought it would finally set me free, but I understand the situation has changed. What about Connor, Inspector? Does he know anything about the original plan? We saw him on television yesterday. He seemed pissed off at the police for leaving him out of the investigation.”

“He won’t be a problem. As it turns out, I wasn’t able to reach him yesterday, which means, I didn’t pass any sensitive information on to him or the press,” he paused and stared at Keira before continuing. “My dear, things have escalated in a way none of us had anticipated.”

“I beg to differ, Heller.”

“I understand your frustration, Slane, believe me. However, we need to focus now on what’s ahead of us. There’s nothing to be gained by dwelling on past mistakes. I’ll need your cooperation more than ever. Can I count on you?”

“I’m surprised you have to ask. Of course I’ll do anything to help Keira.”

“Good! We don’t know what this psychopath is capable of in order to get what he wants. So, we can’t risk exposing Keira at this moment. We’ll have to relocate you.”

“That’s fine,” her voice was thin, but she stared into the older man’s eyes telling him, without words, she trusted his judgment. His heart skipped a couple of beats at her unwavering trust because he hadn’t been so sure of himself recently. In fact, he hadn’t felt that insecure since his first big case, many years ago. He was a green, rookie police officer back then, who felt guilty about a little boy’s loss. Now that he had a chance to make amends, fate seemed to be mocking him, throwing him one curve ball after another.

“The sooner, the better. When can we go?” Declan asked.

“Tonight. I sent Dwyer over to the other safe house to set things up.”

“What happened to Ms. Green?” Kerry asked.

“Did O’Hallon kill his cousin?” Murphy added.

“That’s the safest bet, although we need to work all angles. We’re still sorting things out, collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses; but, logic points blame to him. The first officers at the scene interviewed some neighbors. I haven’t had time to get all of their intel yet.”

“Did anyone see Paul at the scene?” Keira asked.

“Apparently, no.”

“I tell you, this guy’s a ghost! Nobody ever catches even a glimpse of him. He’s either the smartest badass criminal around here, or he’s the luckiest son of a bitch I’ve ever seen.”

“I can’t argue with you there, Slane. In my interviews with the people at the crime scene, I’ve found out the neighbors heard loud voices coming from Miss Green’s house yesterday morning. They said there was some kind of argument between a man and a woman. Ms. Green has a boyfriend, who visits her often, and the neighbors assumed they were having a disagreement. They didn’t want to interfere in the couple’s affairs.”

“How very polite of them! Meanwhile, a woman was killed. If people paid more attention to other people, many crimes could be avoided.”

“Nobody likes a nosy neighbor, Declan. Would you like the police to come barging in every time we had an argument? Something tells me we would keep them very busy!” Keira tried to make light of his worry. She failed to realize where his childhood traumas had taken his mind.

“I thought you, of all people, would get my meaning, love. If my neighbors had called the police, in any one of the many times my father beat the shit out of my mother, things might have been different for her. Maybe she would be alive today.”

“We don’t know that, Declan. This kind of situation is very delicate. It’s difficult to tell if you’ll do more harm than good. My mother once called the police because she heard the neighbors having a fight. She even saw the husband striking the wife across her face. When the officers arrived, the woman told them she had fallen down the stairs. On the next day, she came by my house and told my mother never to interfere in her affairs, again.”

“I’m just saying, Keira. Sometimes, we think only about the proper thing to do and forget the right thing to do. But, I see your point. It’s a tough call to make.”

“Did the neighbors call the police?”

“No, because nobody heard any shots. Nobody heard any cries for help, either. I received a phone call from Denis Gentry, Ms. Green’s boyfriend, earlier today. He told me he had never trusted O’Hallon. He said he had told her many times that she should be more careful, but she dismissed his concerns saying the man was her cousin.”

“She should have listened to him.”

“Definitely. But, Mr. Gentry is a person of interest in our investigation, as well. Like I said, we can’t rule out anything just yet. We need to explore all angles. We’ll check his story, first. Yesterday, on the phone, he told me that he called her cell phone for most of the day, but she didn’t return his calls. He was out of town and went straight to her house when he got back to Cork this morning. He thought there was something wrong, but he never expected to find her dead.”

“How was she murdered?” Kerry wanted to know.

“Multiple stab wounds.”

A brief silence fell on the group as each one processed the information.

“We watched Connor’s interview last night.” Keira broke the uncomfortable silence. “The host said his team had tried to contact Ms. Green, but weren’t able to do so.”

“Do you think there’s a connection between her murder and Connor’s article?” Declan suggested.

Dwyer’s arrival, at that moment, interrupted the conversation.

“Good evening, everyone. It’s all set in the house, Heller. I didn’t have time to buy any food, though. You’ll have to take whatever you have in here, Murphy.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you, Dwyer. Please, give Kerry the keys to the SUV. I’ll drive you back.”

“Don’t you think we should take them to the safe house?”

“There’s no time for that. This lunatic has eluded us for far too long. We have to find all the leads he’s left behind this time, while they’re still fresh,” he lowered his voice, highlighting his frustration. He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since he had been called to the hotel after Miss Ashe had been attacked. The Garda had taken years to find O’Hallon the first time. He was starting to come across as a crime mastermind, but he was no bloody Houdini. Heller would be damned if he allowed O’Hallon to get away with one more murder. “Set the GPS with the address to the safe house. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

He turned to Declan to address his previous question.

“It’s impossible to establish, for certain, if Connor’s article had anything to do with Ms. Green’s murder. We have no way of knowing if O’Hallon read the article or not. On the other hand, we can’t rule out any theories at this point. And, that is a valid one. Dwyer, we should head back to the station.”

The two detectives stood up to go, but Heller remembered something else, “Keira, don’t worry about your family. You know we’ve been in contact. I’ll call them as soon as I get to the station to advise them of the change in your situation. I’ve tried to talk to them earlier today. I was afraid they would read about Ms. Green in the media, but I couldn’t reach them. Fortunately, the time difference between Ireland and the U.S. will work in my favor.”

“Thank you, Inspector. I don’t want them to worry about me more than they already do.”

Heller nodded in reply because his throat got suddenly dry. He could very well imagine her parents’ anguish. He had children of his own. He cleared his throat to speak again. That was not the time to get emotional.

“Kerry, Murphy and Morris, you know the drill. Pack up the essential and leave the rest behind you. Tomorrow, I’ll send somebody to pick up whatever you leave here.”

“Yes, sir,” the three officers replied.

“Murphy, contact me when you get to the safe house,” he looked at his watch. “It’s a fifteen-minute drive from here. I’ll give you have half an hour to get there and call me.”

“Understood.”

“See you tomorrow, Miss Ashe. Slane.”

When Heller and Dwyer rushed out of the house, Keira and Declan went to their bedroom to pack the few belongings they had taken with them to the hiding place. None of them wasted any time and everybody got busy.

“I’ll pack the things in the kitchen,” Murphy informed her colleagues.

“We’ll take care of the bedroom stuff.”

Kerry and Morris opened the closet and threw the things inside the bags without wasting time to arrange them properly. The first suitcase was full very fast.

“Take this to the SUV, will you? I’ll finish packing the other.”

“I think we’ll need another suitcase for Murphy’s stuff. She’s busy in the kitchen and won’t have time to pack it herself.”

“Good thinking, Kerry. I don’t think we have another one in here. I saw Murphy bringing some boxes in the other day. On your way in from the car, ask her where those boxes are, will you? We’ll make do with them.”

“I’ve got this.”

Morris finished packing the second suitcase before Kerry returned with the boxes, so he decided to take it to the car and get the boxes himself. He crossed Murphy in the living room as she was coming from the kitchen, her arms were loaded with a huge box full of food and other supplies.

“Is Kerry in the kitchen with you?” he asked Murphy.

“No. I thought he was packing up things in the bedroom with you.”

“He was. I told him to take some stuff to the car a while ago. He hasn’t returned yet. I assumed he was helping you out because I had told him to ask you about some boxes.”

They dropped everything to the floor as they realized something was wrong. Drawing their weapons, and looking around the room, they didn’t find signs of an intruder. which didn’t mean there wasn’t one in the house.

“Check out outside,” Murphy lowered her voice. “I’ll check on Miss Ashe and Mr. Slane.”

When he moved to the kitchen, she explained, “I’ve already bolted the kitchen door. Nobody will come in through there.”

“Fine.”

“Be careful.”

“You, too.”

They went their separate ways. Morris got out of the house. It was dark so he crossed the small garden carefully, and got to the sidewalk. The SUV was parked in front of the house, but there wasn’t anybody near it. The trunk was wide open but Kerry wasn’t there. Morris moved around the car and discovered Kerry lying unconscious, in the middle of the street, a few feet away from the car. There was a pool of fresh blood on the ground beside his partner. More blood was slowly oozing out of a gash in his lower abdomen.

Morris knelt down, put his fingers to his partner’s neck, and checked his pulse. It was very weak. His breathing was elaborate, too. He stood up and reached for his radio to call dispatch, when he heard a faint rustle of leaves coming from somewhere behind him. As he turned around, though, Morris felt a sharp pain in his own lower belly.

He looked down to find a double-edged knife lodged there. He looked up just in time to see O’Hallon’s sneer as he knocked Morris out with a punch to his right temple. He never had a chance to react because he blacked out, and fell to the ground.

When Murphy got to Keira and Declan’s bedroom, she was relieved to find them still packing. She hesitated at the door for a second because she didn’t want to alarm them, although she knew they shouldn’t waste any precious time.

“Keira, we must go. Now.”

“We’ve just finished packing our stuff,” she answered without looking up at Katherine as she struggled with the suitcase zipper. She had thrown her things inside the suitcase carelessly and it was hard to close it.

“Let me do that, love,” Declan offered, taking her place. He had given her some room to try doing it by herself but he had kept an eye on the situation.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Keira taunted him, looking up at Katherine for support. Her smile vanished at the sight of Murphy’s gun. “What’s going on, Kate?”

“I’m sorry, Keira, but we have to go.”

“What happened, Murphy?” Declan demanded. “Why are you here?”

Murphy hadn’t entered the room because she wanted to watch the corridor. But, she never thought they would question her instead of doing as she told them to do.

“We’ve got to go. Now. Kerry is missing. I told Morris to go out and look for him. I came in here to check on you, guys. We can’t waste time. Come with me. You’d better…”

She never finished her sentence. They heard a shot and Murphy fell to the floor of the corridor. Keira jumped forward to go to her, but she was pulled back by Declan’s strong hand in her upper arm. He stepped in front of her, and before she could say or do anything, Paul O’Hallon appeared at the door, blocking their only way out.

“Missed me, gorgeous?” he addressed Keira, but his gun was aimed at Declan. “Let go of her, Slane. Nobody else needs to get hurt.”