The Defender (The Carrier Series Book 2) (19 page)

This is magnificent,
my heart
expressed.
Ava would love the view.  

I missed her with every inch of my heart.

“I’m sure she misses you, too.” A familiar and soothing voice
rang in my ear. Laura was standing only a few inches behind me.

“I’m sure she does,” I said quietly.

My brain retorted the painful truth:
Ava doesn’t miss you at
all.

“Ava has never said a bad word about you. Even after what
happened last summer.” Laura moved over to my right side and stared out the
window with me, shoulder touching mine. “She knows what a perfect catch you
are.”

“She’s pretty wonderful, herself.” My heart ached so intensely
for Ava to be right in the moment with me. I longed to wrap my arms around her
and stare out the windows over the beautiful foreign city together. I released
a ragged breath as a lump collected in my throat.

No. No crying
. My brain
warned.
Especially not here.

I swallowed hard.

“Nolan,” she said sweetly.

A gentle hand turned my shoulder until I was facing Laura, only
inches from her face. I looked into her eyes. I wanted so desperately to find a
piece of Ava inside those eyes.

Then she lightly touched my cheek. My knees went weak and I
closed my eyes, leaning into the palm of her hand. She let my face rest,
cradled there while I pictured Ava’s sweet skin next to mine. And then beyond
all of our control, we both leaned in slowly at the same time, heads tilted. My
heart beat madly as I felt her breath so close to my lips. We held our position
for a few quiet seconds while I instinctively moved my hand onto her waist,
pulling her hips a little closer. I involuntarily let out a breathy sound
followed by the word, Ava, the second our lips touched.

“Oh! Oh, oh…Nolan! I’m so sorry.” She backed away from me
quickly. “I just…I’m so lonely here, and the beer…. Oh God! Please don’t tell
Ava!”

What the hell are you doing?
My brain
asked.

“No no no. I’m so sorry, Laura. It’s just as much my fault.” I
took a few steps back. How could I have let this happen?

“Let’s swear right here and now that no one will ever know about
this.” Laura’s face was flush with embarrassment.

“Absolutely. I promise.” My stomach felt tied up in knots.

“You know, I should probably find my way back to campus now.”
Laura reached into her purse and grabbed her cell, checking the screen. Her
eyebrows scrunched up in confusion for several seconds and then she shook her
head as she replaced her phone back into her purse. “Well, thanks for…well, I
mean…I’ll see you around, Nolan.” Then she turned and left before I could
apologize again.  

I let out a huge sigh.

You idiot!
my brain scolded.

You miss Ava,
my heart
explained.
You just want her here with you.

Sunday, October 19th

Right after a quick pub lunch, Drew and I walked the few blocks
to Trinity College. We entered through an old wrought iron gate off of College
Green. A tall building of smooth grey stone stood before us. The sidewalk led
to two oversized, wooden doors offering entrance to the university. There was
very little activity on campus this early; the college kids were inevitably
still sleeping.

We walked through an ancient stone tunnel and emerged in a
colorful courtyard. Signs led us across grey cobblestone walkways, through
beautiful gardens, and over Fellows’ Square until we came to The Old Library.
The Old Library was home to the lavishly decorated Book of Kells, a
ninth-century gospel manuscript on display for tourists and locals alike.
Housed in the building were also the offices of Eneclann.

We were greeted by a woman sitting at an oversized mahogany
desk. The burnt orange wall behind her was softly up-lit from the floor and
displayed a large, antique-looking map.

“May I help you lads?” Glasses hung from a green string and
rested on her low hanging bosoms. Her stark white hair was pulled up into a
bun, stray pieces escaping around her wrinkled face.

“Yes. I’m Drew Smith. I believe you are expecting us?” There was
no one else in the lobby; in fact it was oddly quiet.

“Yes. Brynn is waiting for you in meeting room 10B. Just follow
the hall.”

The building had obviously been remodeled—the inside was very
modern looking with sleek lighting and smooth, long lines. We walked down the quiet
hallway past several doors and windows looking into a series of meeting rooms,
all with no lights on. I had an eerie feeling; it seemed like there should be
more people around. One room had its light on farther down—room 10B.

Upon entering we were greeted by a middle-aged, mousy woman. She
had pale skin and wildly wavy hair
.
Brynn got right to business. “Hello, gentlemen. Welcome to
Eneclann, please have a seat. Agent McCombe has alerted me to your inquiry. In
preparation for our meeting I have made a few guesses at the origin of the name
you are researching.”

We took a seat at the oval table in the middle of the room.
Brynn put on gloves and carefully opened a timeworn book. A silver laptop lay
beside the book and a small cup of tea on a flower-patterned saucer was off to
the side.

“We are looking for the place of origin of the surname Myers.” I
spelled it out for her. “We also have interest in identifying where two
specific Myers could have lived in the time period of the late 1800s to about
1950.”

“Yes. I was able to find record in our archives of several
Mayers families in County Kerry in the mid 19th century, but haven’t found the
spelling M-y-e-r-s anywhere in my research. Is it possible Mayers is the name
you are looking for?”  

She slid the book over for us to see the page with dates and
addresses of several Mayers families. “This man goes by the name Myers now.”

I noticed a strange handwritten insignia in the margin near the
names.

“Is it possible the family changed their name upon coming to
America in the early 1900s?” Drew questioned her.

“Entirely possible.” Brynn checked her computer. “I also found
some other possible spellings of Myers—Meyers and Myars.” I put the spellings
into my phone for the time being.

Brynn pulled over another old book that was sitting on the table
and opened to a marked page near the middle. “I decided to dig a little deeper
and found an old Celtic spelling of Myers in this manuscript. It is spelled Ó
Meidhir, which seems to come from a Scottish or English origin, probably
deriving from a word meaning ‘physician.’”

“That’s it!” I knew deep in my heart—Ethan Myers’s ancestors had
to have been Ó Meidhirs.

Brynn shot me a strange look, but continued on. “Unfortunately I
wasn’t able to find much more about the family Ó Meidhir through my research.
You’d have to go to a local primary source to dig up any more information.”

“County Kerry you say?” Drew was taking notes on his tablet.

“Yes. I’d be happy to email you a report of my research findings
if you’d like.”

“That’d be perfect, thank you.” Drew exchanged email addresses
with Brynn and then she hastily stood up. We stood and shook her hand, thanking
her for her research, and then Brynn left the room quickly, taking the books
with her.

“There is something very odd about that broad.” He stuck his
head out the door and glanced down the hallway.

“We’re off to County Kerry!” I was so excited to uncover some
useful information and finally move forward in our search. I took my cell phone
off the table and checked the screen—
no new messages
—and then took a few
steps toward the wall, turning the lights off.

“Hold your roll, kid. We’ll have to disclose this information to
Agent Bowman first and see what he recommends as our next move. He may want us
to go back to St. Patrick’s now that we’ve discovered the Gaelic spelling and
shire of origin.”

I knew he was right; I just didn’t want to hear it. But before I
could protest, a faint electronic spit from behind Drew sent my world moving in
slow motion. The glass wall behind the table shattered as shots came whizzing
by my head. Drew and I hit the floor instinctively. I immediately pulled the
Glock from my belt and crawled to the wall. I stood up and shot into the
direction of the shooter with the doorjamb as a shield. Drew crawled past me
and hung slightly out the door where he had a better vantage point. He shot
twice from the floor and then retreated and waited.

I paused, trying to listen past the heartbeat in my ears. Who
the hell was shooting at us? Could Myers know we were here?

The shooting stopped suddenly and a strange alarm sounded. Then
over an intercom, a friendly female Irish voice rang out over campus:
“Attention all students, employees, and visitors of Trinity College. There is a
dangerous intruder on campus. Please follow Emergency Code Ten procedures
immediately.”

We stood frozen for a few seconds and then carefully ran down
the hallway in the direction of the shooter. We jumped over damaged furniture
and broken glass, but no more shots were fired. At the end of the hallway we
found Brynn lying on the floor, a single bullet hole between her shocked, open
eyes. The books she had shown us lay next to her, pages ripped out. We walked
over her body and into the lobby only to find the secretary awkwardly slumped
over onto the desk.

Drew checked her pulse. “This was no accident. Someone was
trying to prevent us from getting this information.” He craned his head around,
checking for signs of the intruder.

“It’s gotta be Myers.” I spotted a red exit sign leading the way
out the backdoor. “Come on, we need to get out of here before the police
arrive. I don’t want to stand here and answer questions when we could be
getting closer to stopping Myers.”

We stealthily ran through the seemingly deserted campus, staying
close to the buildings and not running through the open areas. We didn’t want
to be mistaken for the “possibly dangerous intruder.” I thought about Laura and
if she was in danger, but I had no idea where she was staying and didn’t have
time to find out. We jumped a fence and made it out to the street just in time
to catch a cab right outside of campus. We paid the driver an extra twenty
Euros to get us out of there as quick as he could.

On the cab ride to The Arlington, Drew texted Agent McCombe—
We’ve
been sabotaged. Meet us at The Arlington ASAP.
A second later I heard
Drew’s text message alert respond. “She’ll be there when we arrive,” he said.
“I’m calling Bowman.”  

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. If Myers knows we’re
actively researching, he’ll likely retaliate and go after Ava.” I calculated it
was about nine in the morning in Wisconsin, so I dialed Adam’s number.

“Good day, Nolan!”

“When’s the last time you’ve seen Ava?” I snapped. No time for
niceties.

“Late yesterday. She’s just fine, Nolan, relax a bit.”

My blood began to boil. Why did he have to be so condescending?

“Shut up, and listen to me, Adam. We’ve just been shot at and
I’m fairly confident Myers may be in pursuit of Ava now that he knows we are
digging through his past. Get to her now and do not let her out of your sight
all day.”

“Really? Okay, hold on. I installed a GPS program on her phone
so I know where she is at all times.” I could hear typing on a computer. “Looks
like she’s at Iverson Park. I’ll find her and stay with her today.”

The cab pulled up in front of The Arlington and Drew threw some
money at the driver while still talking with Bowman. As I stepped out of the
cab, I finished my conversation with Adam. “Check in with me later, even if
it’s the middle of the night here. I need to know she’s safe.”

“Fine. Bye.”

As we walked through the front doors, Agent McCombe approached
us from the lobby. We explained what happened as she swiftly led us around the
lobby elevators and through a fire exit.

“Myers knows someone is burrowing into his family tree and he is
not happy about it.” She led us down a flight of stairs and along a stark
basement hallway. “We’re sure he sent someone to destroy the information you
found in the Old Library.” She pushed through a door labeled
Boiler Room
and charged between some chugging black metal machines that seemed older than
Ireland itself.

Drew looked as surprised as I felt.

“We’re pretty sure Myers had your tablets and phones scrambled
while you were on campus.” She took a sharp right at the back of the boiler
room, and punched in a seven-digit code on a box to the right of a steel door
around the corner. I took my cell phone out of my pocket and started poking
around the menu.

No, no…no! All the pictures of Ava were wiped!

“What do you mean, ‘we’re pretty sure’?” I asked her as the box
at the door spoke—“Access granted, Agent McCombe”—and it cracked open.

She turned toward me before opening the big, heavy door all the
way. “Irish Intelligence, of course. We’ve been following your every move since
you arrived.”  

Drew’s eyebrows crunched up and he and mouthed,
Following us?

My pocket vibrated. It was a text from an unknown number—
Found
her running at the park. Will stay with her until I get word from you.
It
was Adam. My contacts were empty, thanks to Myers, so I added his number in.

I followed Drew through the door Agent McCombe was holding open.
We were submerged into an opulent, futuristic room filled with a dozen people
in black suits. It was dim, only lit by blue lights around the perimeter of the
ceiling. A curved grey desk faced a humongous, yet invisible computer screen
that took up most of the south-facing wall. Computerized images floated above
the desk and workers touched midair, manipulating maps and graphics. They typed
into keyboards that lit up on the glass desk in front of them.

How many hundreds of unsuspecting tourists slept while this
whole operation conducted business under their heads?

A tall man approached us, his eyebrows expressing his probably
grumpy disposition. He held out his hand and greeted us glumly. “Agent Hill,
Agent Smith, I am Agent Aeden Kane, commander of this office.” His short brown
hair and prominent freckles reminded me of a childhood friend I once knew.
“Follow me.” Agent Kane turned and led us into a conference room, Agent McCombe
close behind.

“Please, take a seat.” Agent Kane switched on an image that
projected from the middle of the glass table onto the air above it. “Ethan
Myers has recently become somewhat of a concern to the IIA.” A picture of him
flashed in front of us, and my stomach instantly twisted.

“Yesterday a young woman was found dead under, let’s just say,
odd circumstances.” He flashed a picture from the morgue. The brown-haired
woman was missing the entire left side of her skull, exposing a mutilated
brain. “Evidence has forced us to consider the proposition that her death is
associated with Ethan Myers.”

Why would Ethan be after a young Irish woman? Could she be in
connection with Myers’s family?

“Very recently we joined forces with the FBI as a result of our
concern regarding what Myers’s endgame might be.” He pushed a button on a
remote and a new image appeared showing several faces, all named. I took a deep
breath when I noticed Ava’s picture among the others. I counted quickly in my
head—ten.

“These are the faces of women who Myers has either killed or
captured in the last year. They are all Americans except for this last woman,
Emilee Brady. Our research scientists have desperately been trying to decipher
the connection between them all, but so far have been unsuccessful.”

Agent Kane switched the screen to a map of Ireland’s counties.
“Our explorative geneticists have discovered the alternate spellings of Myers
and the connection with a family in County Kerry.”

Drew looked at Darcy. “You already knew?” I could hear the anger
behind Drew’s voice as he pounded his fist down on the table. “Then why send us
on this wild goose chase?”