Heart Lies & Alibis (29 page)

I wasn't as surprised by the new Linc as I was sad. When we had been together back in the day, he had been really different when he was away from Rose. At night in his bed in the dark, he would talk to me about his dreams and fears, or about what he thought about different things or about what he wanted to do when he grew up. I had hung on every word, lost in the mistaken belief everything was more romantic at the time than it actually was and that at his heart, Linc was a good guy. Now I could see he was just a smarter, more conniving version of his brother. They were both mean to their core, with a violent streak that knew no limits and an insatiable need to hurt others. Damn, could this day get any worse?

Chapter 17

Sometime later, I was nearing the point where I would either scream from the fear and anxiety building inside me as my hour of execution approached or from the inane conversation between the Dixons when we there came a knock at the door. Declan and I exchanged hopeful looks at the possibility of rescue before the brothers reacted to the sound. Rose jumped up, his gun pressed hard against the back of my head, his eyes locked on Declan with the silent threat being keep quiet or I will kill her. Declan understood and though his eyes narrowing in fury but his mouth firmly closed.

Linc looked through the peephole, his gun drawn and at the ready.

"Looks like a utility repairman." He whispered, "Were you expecting anyone?" He asked looking in my general direction. I shook my head slightly, the gun at the back of my head preventing any movement.

He held his gun behind his back with one hand and slid the locks free with the other. He had just started to turn the door handle when the door exploded open into his body. Stumbling backwards, he was trying desperately to re-steady the gun at the opened door as four men rushed into the foyer.

Linc got his feet back underneath him quickly and was able to keep his weapon trained on the man in the utility worker's uniform the entire time though he looked ready to bolt at any moment.. Three other men swarmed in behind the large bodied man who was clearly in charge of this crew, with their guns drawn. Their entrance was explosive but their demeanors remained calm and unaffected. These men were professional killers, of that I was sure.

Rose, never knowing when to shut up, barked from the living room. "What the fuck is going on in there Linc? What happened?" His gun moved back and forth from my head to pointing at the circle of men in the foyer. He didn't seem sure of where the weapon would be most useful in the moment.

Utility Man spoke first. He was about Declan's age, with dirty blonde hair close cropped, and piercing ice blue eyes. He stood about 6'1" with a solid build that belied a simmering danger. "Who the fuck are you shit heads?" I saw Declan's face drain of color at hearing the man's pronounced Boston accent. We shared looks of fresh concern. The O'Bannion crew had found him. A new wave of 'what the hell were we going to do now' screams echoed through my head.

Linc spoke next, trying to reestablish his position of power in the room in the face of a more seasoned thug but was failing miserably. "Who the fuck are we? Who the fuck are you?" His usual cockiness had returned. Like his brother, Linc's temper often overrode any common sense he might have and find useful in a situation like this. He thought he could hold his own with these guys and I knew from the little Declan had shared with me about the O'Bannion thugs, he was very wrong.

Mr. Pretend Utility Man spoke again, his voice even and without much excitement or concern, clearly not phased the least bit by Linc's aggressive demands for information. His calm demeanor was unnerving to me, as if he had been in this crazy situation before, and saw nothing wrong with being in another one. "Don't fucking matter who we are jack off because we weren't looking for you assholes. We came here for a friend of ours." Utility man offered by way of explanation as his eyes moved around the room before settling on where Declan and I sat tied up.

The man's face broke into a cold smile when his eyes came to rest on Declan. He had found his 'friend'. I saw Declan working his jaw, his body tense under the fixed stare of the man, and almost vibrating with the fear of the moment. I held my breath. The man wasn't the least concerned nor questioning of the fact that we were tied to chairs. What the hell kind of sadistic bastard was he not to find this situation noteworthy? I could only hope I wouldn't have to find out.

He nodded. "And it looks like we found him, too. Hello Mikey, long time no see man." The man smiled again and I saw Declan's face tense even more.

Declan responded, in his Boston accent but with his voice controlled "Hello Malachy. Not long enough for my taste I would have to say. Nice uniform." He never wavered his glare from the man.

Malachy only laughed and shrugged in understanding.

Linc looked from Declan to Malachy and back to Declan again. "What the hell? Where did your asshole accent go? Why the hell is he calling you Mikey? What the fuck is going on?" He was bellowing the questions as fast as he could and with each one his face grew more red with rage.

Declan ignored Linc's questions, as did Malachy. Declan's eyes were locked on Malachy, pools of swirling gray mist of the storm of emotions he had barely contained beneath the surface. "How did you find me Malachy?"

Malachy was more interested in learning Declan had an accent than in anything else going on at the moment, including answering Declan's question about how they tracked him to Houston. "Wait, really? Those pussy Feds got you speaking in an Irish accent as part of your cover? Gave you an Irish name too I learned. What the hell man? That is some funny shit considering everything. What else did those WITSEC pricks add to your story? I didn't take the time to dig too far into your life once we figured out where to find you so I don't know what you've been up to the past few years." Malachy waited for an answer, still refusing to engage in any type of conversation with the Dixon Brothers. I could see Lincoln becoming more enraged with each passing moment. He would blow soon, of that I was sure, and the consequences would impact us all.

Malachy confirmed our worst fears. They had recovered Declan's records from Hayes and knew Declan was in WITSEC. It also meant they were responsible for Hayes's death. I had hoped they only found Declan by chance. Declan tensed. "We found you because of your dumbass Boy Scout behavior, Mikey. You just had to be the big hero and save your old lady neighbor from that fire. In the process, you got your ugly face on the news. You always had to be the hero, didn't you?" He paused a moment and I knew there was more to that statement than the obvious.

"And just your luck it was Paddy who was watching the news one night when the story about your heroics flashed on the screen. Of course we didn't know it was you for sure at the time because they kept calling you something else in the news story. But then Paddy saw that goddamn tattoo on your chest. The one dedicated to your mom. He knew that tattoo had to be a one-of-a-kind. So we started digging and found some interesting things." He smirked at Declan and waited for a response.

Declan never spoke the entire time Malachy explained how the O'Bannion boys ended up in Houston. Declan had been right to be worried after the news story broke about his rescue of Ms. Thelma. And now his worst fears had come true.

Malachy continued. "Paddy sent us down here to Texas when we finally had something solid. By chance we got a lead on your handler Hayes from one of our contacts at the Federal Prosecutor's Office. Oh and I guess I should tell you, your buddy Hayes put up a hell of a fight keeping the details of your case a secret. It took some persuasion that Orin," he stopped to gesture to the biggest of the thugs behind him who grinned sadistically back at us, "really enjoyed delivering. In the end, Hayes didn't give us much. Eventually, we found a hidden file in his house though, and it listed some of your information including that you were banging a local attorney. He seemed really concerned that this relationship might have consequences for you. Looks like he may have been more astute than he realized." He winked at me.

I heard Declan suck in his breath and then exhale slowly. The pain and anger he felt for what had happened to Hayes left him raw and raging inside, I could see, from the flush of his cheeks.

Malachy looked me over. For not the first time in the past few days, my skin crawled with revulsion caused by the gaze of a sadistic asshole invading my life. "Not bad Mikey. Not bad at all. When I read in the file she was a few years past her prime, I was a bit worried about you. But then, you always had good taste in the ladies. It was your pecker-head father who made the piss poor choices when it came to the women he fucked." He looked me up and down once more before turning back to Declan.

Declan could barely speak he was so angry. He spit the words into the room through clenched teeth. "Fuck you Malachy. Don't look at her like that and don't talk about my father ever again."

Malachy smiled but I could see he was starting to seethe a bit as well. It was clear Declan could rub him the wrong way. "Mighty brave talk from a man tied to a chair, facing the shit-storm you find yourself smack in the middle of right now. Better watch your mouth, Mikey. Things can get a whole lot worse very fast and I wouldn't mind starting the party with your lady there. Maybe I could give you a taste of the pain you have in store once we get back to Boston and you face the old man." His threat was clear. Why the hell did so many people suddenly want to kill me?

Linc was getting more and more confused as Declan and Malachy continued talking. Linc's eyes were wide and annoyed as they darted back and forth between Declan and Malachy.

His eyes were back on Malachy when he barked his questions again. "What the fuck are you two talking about? What does he have to do with WITSEC?" He jerked his head in Declan's direction. Lincoln was breathing heavier now, his anger and bewilderment at what was happening growing with each new exchange between the men. He may not have understood exactly what was happening but he knew it was bad and would likely threaten the future of his red race car dreams. "And what the hell do you fuckers want with pretty boy anyway?" Linc worked his jaw waiting impatiently for an answer.

Malachy swung his gaze at Linc as though he was just then noticing there was someone else in the room besides Declan. As his eyes fully focused on Linc the irritation at having to address him overflowed into his speech.

"Maybe the question should be what the fuck do you want with him and his lady friend? It seems you may have less than honorable intentions with them tied up and all. What exactly is going on here?"

Linc and Rose exchanged brief looks. They were silent while they contemplated their answer. "None of your fucking business." Linc finally hissed, the waning of his confidence evident in his voice. Maybe he wasn't as stupid as he appeared and the full weight of the situation was starting to finally become clear to him.

Malachy rubbed the end of his gun against his forehead, his exasperation growing with each interaction he had with these Kentucky idiots. "Now see, that is where you are wrong." He gestured to the men behind him, "I appear to have you outgunned, and from this brief conversation, outsmarted too. So it might be in your best interest to start talking before things get, shall we say, complicated." Another implied threat, made all the more terrifying by the calmness with which it was delivered.

"Hey man. Did you just call us dumb? Did he call us dumb, Linc?" Rose bellowed from the other room, his face contorted in anger and confusion. I was surprised he had caught the insult from Malachy at all.

Ignoring the outburst, Malachy raised his gun, starting towards Linc as he continued talking," So why don't you wanna-be hillbilly bad-asses put those guns down before someone gets hurt, okay? My patience is running very thin and I have some business with Mikey over there I need to finish and I have no time to be dealing with you."

Time froze for a moment as the room stopped all motion. The six men slowly pointed their guns a little more forcefully at each other. No one was willing to back down yet no one was willing to take the next step and act on the threats they had been lobbing back and forth. Less than hour had passed since Malachy and his men entered my house and it felt like a lifetime of life had been lived. I felt my body fluctuating, in rapid turns, between exhaustion from the emotionally intense moment and an intense pulsing of energy fed by my fear and adrenaline. And then the world exploded again and I wondered for a split second if I really was just caught in some bad dream I couldn't wake from.

We all heard the cocking of a gun at the same time and simultaneously turned to the sound that emanated from the direction of the kitchen just as a Latin infused voice spoke to the room. "Or perhaps, all of you should discard your weapons so we can have a more civilized conversation."

Holy hell. Was there really another group of fully armed men in my house? How the hell could this day get any worse or any weirder for that matter?

The man who had drawn our attention spoke again while nearly everyone sat in shocked silence, except Malachy of course, who looked just slightly more annoyed than before. The man was a machine.

"As I was saying, perhaps it would be best if we reduced the number of weapons in the room." His suggestion sounded more like an order.

Malachy finally moved his weapon off of Linc for the first time since entering my house. He started across the room, his gun now angled at the newest guest to our deranged get-together, who in turn returned the favor. Malachy was well into the room before he stopped.