Merchants with Evil Intent (48 page)

      
Travers cleared his throat, “Any news on
Camryn O’Mara?”

      
McShane nodded gravely. “She was one of
the victims.” Travers mouth hung open and McShane continued, “She was shot in
the arm and is doing fine. The other victim, Declan Corrigan, was shot in the
chest. His recovery will be substantially longer.”

      
“This Corrigan guy shot Orlov?” Butler
asked.

      
“No, Camryn O’Mara did,” McShane replied.
“I know a few of you are acquaintances of her. When she comes back to Chicago
it might not be a bad idea to go and see her. Killing a person isn’t an easy
burden to bear.”

      
Butler nodded to McShane, his hint was
received loud and clear.

*
     
*
     
*

      
After nearly a month in the hospital
Declan was more than ready to go home. He glanced at Camryn sitting beside him
and gripped her hand. He nodded to his ma and her
da
in the front seat and whispered, “They’ve gotten on, aye?”

      
“Yeah, he’s smitten. It’s about time,
too,” she whispered back.

      
Siobhan tried her best to avoid the holes
in the road as she drove, but inadvertently hit one, causing Declan to grimace.

      
“Sorry Decky!” she apologized.

      
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“’Tis alright, Ma.”

      
Camryn mouthed the words, “Are you sure
you’re okay?”

      
His lips thinned in response.

      
She shifted uneasily in the seat and looked
out the window. It was much easier than to look at him.

      
Prior to his release from the hospital
she booked a flight to Chicago and hadn’t told anyone.

      
She’d be leaving in three days.

      
Looking out the passenger window she
thought about the past month.

      
She spent long days and nights with
Declan in his hospital room; most of the time he was totally out of it and
murmuring Teaghan’s name, always with an apology afterwards.

      
Each time he murmured Teaghan’s name it
felt like a knife stabbing Camryn in the heart.

      
She shrugged, absentmindedly; after all,
she said she was only looking for Mr. Right now.

      
At the time she was.

      
Irony’s a bitch.

*
     
*
     
*

      
Declan settled on the couch in the den
awaiting Camryn.

      
She seemed different, distant, since the
shooting.

      
Aye, killing a man will do that to a
person.

      
In the times when he was alone at the
hospital he thought aboot that day. What he couldna recall Eoghan gladly shared
with him.

      
“Aye, the gel saved your life!” Eoghan
beamed one early morning. “Why the cheeky gel even yelled at God himself!”

      
It was then that Declan remembered seeing
Teaghan.

      
“Eoghan, she forgave me,” he murmured.

      
He looked at Declan queerly. “What mean
you?”

      
Animatedly he told Eoghan of his
conversation with Teaghan. “Did ya not see her then?” he questioned.

      
“Nay, lad, I didna.
I only saw
ye
as a spirit. I’ll no’ be sayin’ this
again, mind ye, but I was passing witless seeing ye that way.”

      
“Aw Eoghan, I’m touched,” Declan teased.

      
Eoghan cleared his throat, bringing
Declan out of his reverie.

      
“Me thinks I’ll never live down the
bloody admission of my endearment to ye whilst ye were laid up,” Eoghan sighed
and sat on the hearth.

      
Declan glanced towards the den doorway
and whispered, “If you’d stay oot of me feckin’ head you wouldna have to relive
it.” He shifted on the couch, propping pillows around him, when he noticed the
frown on Eoghan’s face. “What’s wrong?”

      
Eoghan sighed, “I was given a choice of
staying in my ghostly state or going into the light.”

      
“The light?”

      
“Aye.
Failend says
I’ve earned me wings.”

Chapter
16

      
Camryn approached the door to the den and
heard two voices. It sounded like Ian so she quickly entered. She frowned when
she only saw Declan.

      
“Is something wrong, love?” he asked, startled
by her sudden appearance.

      
She shook her head. “I thought Ian was
here. I did hear two voices, didn’t I?”

      
A lump formed in Declan’s throat.
“Eoghan, please, the gel has seen you once already, aye?”

      
A muttered curse came from the hearth and
slowly Eoghan appeared.

      
He made a slight bow in her direction.
“Milady.”

      
So many different emotions ran through
her mind, the first being to run like hell, but she was made of tougher stuff.

      
Slowly she walked towards him, with an
outstretched hand. When she was within a foot of him she jabbed a finger into
his shoulder and squeaked when it went through him.

      
She glanced at Declan who laughed.

      
“Frustrating, that, aye?” he grinned.

      
“He’s the man I saw taunting Viktor!”

      
“Aye, lass, t’was me,” Eoghan sighed.

      
Circling as best she could around him she
threw her hands up and moaned. “I don’t understand how any of this is
possible.”

      
“Close the door, gel, and we’ll tell you
all aboot it,” Declan offered.

      
“Not without paper and pen! After all, I
am
a writer.”

*
     
*
     
*

      
When she came back downstairs John
stopped her on the bottom landing. “Can we talk for a minute?”

      
She looked at the den door hesitantly and
nodded.

      
“I’m taking Siobhan out for the rest of
the day, provided you and Declan will be okay on your own,” John whispered.

      
She rolled her eyes. “We’re not
teenagers, dad.”

      
He grinned and patted her arm. “I just
thought we both needed to be alone with our loves one more time before we head
back to the states.”

      
“Does she know yet?” Camryn asked.

      
“No. I’m not sure how she’ll take it,
either,” John murmured. “I never thought I’d feel this way about another woman,
but damn it, I’ve fallen in love with her.”

      
Camryn smiled. “It’s okay dad. Mom would
understand.”

      
He nodded towards the den. “Have you decided
how soon you’ll return?”

      
She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t think
I’ll be coming back.”

      
John’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Cam?
Did something happen?”

      
“Yeah.
I fell in
love with someone who’s still in love with his dead girlfriend,” she shrugged.

      
“Cam, it’s obvious the boy loves you,” he
reassured.

      
“Look, I don’t want to keep you from your
date. Go and have a great time, okay?” she hedged.

      
He looked at her sternly. “We’ll talk
about this later.”

      
She felt his eyes boring into her back as
she walked into the den.

      
In her mind, there was nothing to talk
about.

*
     
*
     
*

      
She was mystified watching Declan and
Eoghan talk like old friends. They told her how they first met; laughing and
shaking their heads at the stories they’ve shared in those few years.

      
Her hand moved at a fast pace over the
notebook and at times she forgot to write.

      
After several hours of talking Eoghan
stood to leave and bowed to Camryn. “Milady, it’s been me pleasure to meet your
acquaintance and may I add it has done a wealth of good to this pup.”

      
She panicked, not wanting Eoghan to
leave. “You don’t have to go! I’m sure you have other great stories to tell.”

      
“I fear the whelp twould be mighty angry
with me if I didna give him time alone with his lady,” Eoghan smiled.
“Anon.”

      
He bowed, disappearing.

      
Declan frowned. “Ya act like you doona
want to be alone with me.”

      
She lifted a shoulder. “It’s not that.
He’s so interesting and for so many reasons. Cripes! He’s a ghost! Why didn’t
you tell me about him sooner?”

      
“And have you think I was bloody barmy?”
he replied, incredulous.

      
She laughed. “Okay, you have a point.
It’ll be strange for you, with Eoghan moving onto a higher plane or whatever.”

      
“It’s true that I’ve grown used to him,
but I’ll have you to talk with, aye?”

      
She peeled her eyes away from his and
looked down at her hands.

      
“Gel?”

      
“I’m leaving in three days,” she replied,
staring idly at her notebook.
 

      
“No matter.
How
soon will you be comin’ back then? I assume after Christmas holiday?”

      
He took her hand into his. “Camryn, please
look at me.”

      
She slowly lifted her eyes to meet his.

      
“I love you,” he said softly.

      
Her bottom lip quivered. “I love you,
Declan.”

      
God help her, she did.

      
He pulled her against him and kissed her on
the lips. When she moved away suddenly he laughed. “Is it me
breath
?”

      
She shook her head. “No, I just don’t
want to reinjure you. You’re still healing, ya know.”

      
She tore her gaze from his and shuffled
the sheets of paper in her notebook. It was hard for her to look him in the
eyes. She felt deceitful by not telling him she wasn’t coming back and he
deceived her and possibly himself when he said that he loved her.

      
He reached the table behind the couch and
withdrew a small box.

      
“Camryn Margaret O’Mara,” he said
huskily.

      
She lifted her head and saw the small box
in his hand.

      
Her breath hitched.

      
“I planned on asking you the night; well,
that
night and didna get a chance.” He
moved to the floor and got on one knee. “Will ya marry me?”

      
God, she wanted to believe he loved her.

      
He tilted his head.
“Gel?
If ya doona like it we’ll find something more grand.”

      
She lifted her moistened eyes to meet
his. “It’s beautiful, Declan.”

      
Celtic knots adorned the band with a
large oval shaped emerald in the center, surrounded by ten round diamonds.

      
He pulled the ring from the velvet
covered box. “Let’s have a look then.” He took her left hand and slid the ring
onto her finger. “You’ve not given me an answer,” he grinned, producing those
sexy dimples. “If you’re worried about your Da, I’ve already asked his
permission.”

      
“He knew?” she grumbled.

      
“Aye, he was agreeable as well,” he
replied as he lifted himself from the floor and sat snugly next to her. “This
isna how I thought it’d be. I’ve ne’er proposed before, but I thought somewhere
between the proposal and slipping the ring on the gel’s finger a kiss was
involved. Unless ya’d rather not marry me,” he frowned.