For Love & Bourbon (34 page)

“Oh, Adam.” Brandy’s hand flew to her heart, looking sick to her stomach. “Please don’t talk like that.”

He brushed off her comment, but his insides warmed all the same. “Goes to show you how useless the Feds are. He wasn’t even here when that guy showed up. I had to do his work for him.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t need to be puttin’ your life at risk to catch him. That’s what the agents get paid to do,” Brandy reasoned, refilling his water. She met his eyes as she handed him back his cup. “Please promise me you won’t do anythin’ stupid.”

Adam’s mouth quirked in a grin, unable to help himself. She was so cute with that worry line between her brows. “Would you miss me if I died, darlin’?”

She stiffened, not appreciating his humor. “You know I would.”

Ava came through the doors then, Cooper and Marco on her heels. Brandy offered up a smile before tending to other patrons at the bar.

Adam turned in his seat, held up his water. “See? Not drinking. No need to panic.”

Ava glared around the bar, looking like a livewire ready to crack. “Where is he?”

“Who?”

Her hands fell to her hips as she regarded him with a heated stare. “The Irishman.”

Adam shrugged. “Left a few minutes ago.”

“Okay. You need to tell me everything he said to you.” Ava sat down beside him while Cooper and Marco closed in to listen.

Adam recalled the conversation as best he could, then met eyes with Cooper. “He said his name was Killian. Probably a fake name.”

Marco’s mouth fell open. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

Cooper looked incredibly uneasy. “Killian Brannon is the younger of Ned’s two sons. Most likely that was him. Which means if he’s here, his brother Rhys and Ned himself probably are too.”

Ava paled, her breath hitching in her throat. “Oh God. There was another one. He came by the distillery today. Sounded British to me, but he could’ve been faking it. It didn’t even occur to me that he could related to Ned. Related to
me
.”

Cooper pulled out his cell phone and brought up a picture of a man with russet hair. “This him?”

She nodded, in a daze. “Yeah. Shit. He was right there. I didn’t think—”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know,” Cooper said. “It’s my fault. I should’ve shown you their pictures earlier. I just honestly didn’t expect them to make the trip. It’s risky enough smuggling Ned into the country. His sons are even more high profile. Killian almost went to prison for that bombing in Dublin, but Ned managed to secure his release. They’re being watched very closely by the Irish government. I can’t imagine how they made it through.”

Ava’s hands tightened into fists. “If he shows his face again, I’ll kill him.”

Cooper urged her to look at him, shaking his head. “These are very dangerous men, Ava.”

She got to her feet, one brow arched as if to challenge his statement. “That’s why I carry a gun. C’mon, Adam. Let’s go home.”

She pulled Adam to his feet and led him out of the bar. Once safely inside her truck, she faced her brother and felt the first flicker of panic trace across her skin. “Ned’s sons had the chance to kill us both today and didn’t take it. That tells me they want something else from us. We need to find out what it is.”

Adam nodded, feeling sick. “I think the younger one will be back. I can try and get answers from him. Play right into his hand.”

Real fear formed a lump in Ava’s throat. “It’s risky, but it may be the only way.”

“We have to do this for Mama.”

“You’re right,” Ava replied, a steadfast determination filling her. “They have to pay for what they’ve done.”

W
ell, we sure weren’t expecting this to happen,” Marco said as he drove through the night, Cooper beside him. He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “The guy was probably hanging around just waiting for me to leave Adam alone so he could swoop in.”

Cooper scanned the quiet streets of Fox Hills out the window, searching for any sign of Ned and his sons. “What I can’t understand is why make conversation? Why not just kill Ava and Adam if that’s the goal?”

“It must not be.”

The words hung in the air, a heavy reality they had no choice but to accept. If Ned had no intention of murdering Ty’s children, then what did he plan to do? It reminded Cooper of something he’d thought up weeks ago, something that seemed ridiculous in the light of everything that had happened since. Yet it made more sense than anything else.

“He’s gauging their weaknesses to find out which of them he can manipulate to take their father’s place. Just because Ty goes down doesn’t mean one of them can’t pick up the slack. They need Lucky Fox money.”

Marco stared at him. “Yeah, but he had their mother murdered and they know that. Why the hell would either of them buy into what he’s selling?”

“He doesn’t know what they know yet,” Cooper reminded him, running with the thought. “For all he knows, they bought into the botched robbery attempt story. Which is why he sent his sons in to see what would happen. And since neither of them recognized Rhys or Killian nor seemed overly suspicious, I’m willing to bet they make another pass at it. They came a long way to just give up now.”

Marco pulled onto Main Street and passed the bar. A few gruff-looking locals were standing out front, laughing with each other. “So even
if
Ned were to get Ava or Adam to agree to help him, what is he going to offer in return? Ty went into it willingly, but how would Ava and Adam benefit from this?”

“First off, we’re kidding ourselves if we think Ava is the one they’ll pick,” Cooper pointed out. “Adam is the weaker link. He’s less involved in the company and is looking for a purpose. Killian will have picked up on that, guaranteed. Secondly, all Ned has to do is offer Adam the very thing he’s always wanted—a place at the table. Respect from family. Honestly, if Ned hadn’t made the mistake of killing Sandra when he did, I bet he could’ve persuaded Adam pretty easily to join his side.”

“But he couldn’t resist taking Sandra out first.”

“For reasons we’re being kept in the dark on.” Cooper sighed, frustrated to be so close to the truth and yet so far from it at the same time. “Our best hope of catching Ned is to have Adam lead us right to him.”

Marco’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “You’re asking the guy to walk straight into the lion’s den, Coop. You really think he can handle it?”

Cooper nodded. “Yes. As big of a screw-up as he is, he’d do anything to avenge his mother. He and Ava both.”

“Yeah, but can he handle it?” Marco asked again, looking uncertain.

Cooper looked out the window again as a light rain began to fall, wishing he didn’t feel so doubtful himself. “At this point, he’s all we got.”

AFTER WORK,
Brandy slipped into pajamas and her favorite fuzzy blue robe. She prepared herself a cup of chamomile tea, lost in thoughts of Adam and the strange Irishman.

She had known from the second the man opened his mouth that he was trouble. His rough and tumble appearance hadn’t helped either, and she was used to tough, blue-collar Kentucky boys. There was just something about him that screamed danger in the most violent sense of the word.

Ever since Adam had told her of his family’s connection to the IRA, she had thought about little else. She had done some research into the organization, found the roots of their cause to be noble and perhaps justifiable. But the violence—while far less common than it used to be—was something she could never condone.

How could a man she had considered to be a kind of second father align himself with murderers? And not just that, but help fund their operation behind everyone’s backs? He had taken money from the company his father had built and sent it back to the same people Joe had run from, to be used with deadly intent.

It was obvious that Ty Brannon was not the man everyone had thought him to be. In the end, she supposed he had paid for that deception with the death of his wife. It broke her heart to think that Sandra had been caught in the crossfire, and that Ava and Adam were suffering for it. She wished more than anything for the ability to help them, for a way to ease their burden. But she was just a girl from small town Kentucky. She wasn’t the FBI, the CIA. She couldn’t turn back time or bring back their mother. The most she could do was try and be there for them, a shoulder to cry on when the pain was too great to bear.

Tears sprang into her eyes at the thought. It killed her to know Adam was hurting. No matter what there was between them, she would always care about him. She had loved him her entire life, even if he never knew how to love her in return.

A quiet knock at the front door startled her out of her thoughts. She stared at it for a moment, wondering who could be coming to see her so late. When she went to the door and looked through the peep hole, relief shimmered over her.

She opened it and smiled. “What brings you here?”

Adam had his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans and a troubled look on his face. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.” She tightened her robe around her and stepped aside, welcoming him in. He turned to face her as she shut the door.

“I’m sorry to bother you. If it’s a bad time, I can go,” he offered.

“Not at all. Can I fix you some tea?”

“No, thanks.” He rocked back on his heels and glanced around her living room as though wondering where to begin. “I found out that Irish guy at the bar tonight is my cousin. He’s a known member of the IRA.”

Brandy paled. “Good Lord. What does he want?”

“I don’t know.” Adam met her eyes, and she watched his cool façade crumble to pieces. “I thought he wanted me dead. Now I’m not so sure. I need to see him again, try and play into his hand and see if I can get the truth. I’m—” His voice cracked and he averted his eyes. “I’m scared, Brandy. These bastards want to hurt my family and I don’t know if I’m strong enough to stop it.”

She could tell he hated himself for it. That he felt weak and helpless. She realized then exactly how she could help—by reminding him that he was good enough.

“Come here, baby.” She wrapped her arms around him, pleased when he tightened his hold on her and buried his face in her hair. Her heart shuddered as she rubbed his back. “You’ve spent too much of your life selling yourself short. Your family needs you. And as much as I don’t want you to, I know you can do this.”

His hands twisted into the material of her robe, then released as he eased back and looked into her eyes. “Thank you.” He started to touch her cheek, then hesitated and stepped away from her, feeling like he was crossing some imaginary boundary. “I don’t know why I came over here and bothered you with this. I’ve taken up enough of your time. Excuse me.”

He pushed past her toward the door, but she caught his hand and spun him back to her. Without reservation she brought her mouth to his and kissed him, her arms winding around his neck. He fell into it like a river does to the sea, a natural blending of one water into another.

She released his lips to trail kisses over his jawline and cheekbones, seeking to soothe, to comfort. When his body relaxed against hers and he whispered her name, she knew it was working. And when he brought her back for another kiss, her knees went weak and her heart wept.

Gripping his shoulders, she rested her forehead against his and fought to breathe. It took everything she had to reel herself back in, to give him the most she could offer without sacrificing her own bruised feelings. His hands slid into her hair and coaxed her eyes open.