Worcester Nights - The Boxed Set (17 page)

We drew closer to the lights, and I realized in confusion that the lights were not circled around the large bed. The bed had been pushed over against the far wall. Instead, the lights ringed around a man slumped on a wooden chair. His arms were tied behind him, and his ankles were fastened to two of the legs. Blood oozed out of deep gashes in his arms.

He wearily raised his head at our approach, his face bruised and battered.

It was Sean.

I gasped, swayed, and it was only Jimmy’s arm around my waist which held me upright. His voice was a soothing murmur. “Hang in there, Katie. You have the right to know.”

Seamus stepped forward from the ring of men, his face hard, angular.

“He’s a cop, Kate. He’s a fockin’ rat.” His eyes were cold marbles. “And once we’re through finding out what he knows, he’s getting exterminated.”

Book 3: A Song of Soul and Hope

Chapter 1

“Hope” is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

-- Emily Dickinson

S
eamus and Jimmy knew that Sean was an undercover cop.

Jimmy’s arm around me was all that kept me from collapsing at Sean’s feet. Sean’s eyes were on me, blackened, closing, and I could see the fire of determination which blazed within them. No matter what they did to him, no matter the pain his body suffered, he would never reveal that I knew the truth. His message to me was as clear as if he’d shouted it, full throttle, with his very last breath.

Get to safety.

I looked around the ring of hardened criminals. Seamus stood before me, stocky, muscular, his grim face telling me that he meant his threat. Once they were sure they had wrung from Sean every last kernel of information he could divulge, they would dump his broken body in a dark corner of the Quabbin where it would never again see the light of day.

I was not about to let that happen.

I closed my eyes, narrowing my focus with pinpoint precision to the cards in my hand. These men had been criminals for so long that their view of the world had calcified. Case in point – they assumed that I would go along with Sean’s execution without blinking an eye. A steady Irish girl backed up her clan, no matter what. She ruthlessly eliminated any threats. She did what had to be done.

Mrs. O’Malley sprang to mind – Seamus’s sister, Jimmy’s wife. Both men clearly respected the woman. If I could show them I was as tough as Bridgit – and at the same time prove that Sean was a loyal soldier – we might just come through this alive.

Steel flowed through my veins, and I opened my eyes again.

Sean’s brow creased with confusion, and then his face went pale. He tried to reach for me, but the ropes held him secure.

I drew myself to standing, stepping apart from Jimmy. I turned to face Jimmy and Seamus, bringing harsh disdain to my face. These men thrived on a no-nonsense approach. I would give it to them with both barrels.

“What is this, some sort of a hazing ritual? Are we ivy-league frat boys just weaning ourselves off a mother’s tit?” I waved a hand in Sean’s direction. “A little punching bag action, to prove your fists don’t shatter like glass?”

Seamus’s eyes narrowed, but he glanced at Jimmy, a hint of doubt flickering behind his small eyes. “Kate, Sean is an undercover cop. He’s been using you. He’s been fucking you as part of his play-acting.”

I held back the flush of heat which threatened to brighten my face at the echo of the words that, only a few days ago, I myself had thrown at Sean. I gave a scoffing laugh. “I know when a man is screwing me without emotion,” I informed them. “Sean was in prison for
years
. A woman can feel that kind of a thing when they’re in bed with a man. Believe me. He’s no cop.”

Jimmy glanced nervously at Sean before meeting my gaze again. “But it all fits, Katie. He shows up out of nowhere. Suddenly he’s climbing into bed with you. And practically at the same time we’ve got
rafters
breaking up the bar and the Cubes know our inside workings.” He gave a barking laugh. “Or are you going to tell me that Mexican-Mud-head Joey is to blame?”

I pinned him with my gaze. “Joey couldn’t change the channel on a TV without help,” I snapped. “Are these flimsy circumstances really all you have on Sean?” I bit sharply on the inside of my lip to keep the bright surge of hope from shining in my eyes. We might just get out of this.

Seamus’s face still held a hard edge to it. “There’s his phone, Kate. He’s made several calls to Evan – that man who helped him rescue you.”

I threw my hands in the air. “That’s because Evan’s my eldest brother! And, yes, Evan is a cop. Like my father was. You guys knew that.” I laced a growl into my voice. “And you also know that my father was shot and killed.” My eyes swung to Jimmy. “Just like your brother, Liam, was shot and killed. You know what that’s like. You know how it changes you.”

I turned to Seamus. “Liam was your best friend. You know about the soul-deep itch that brutal murder gives you. Like it’s time not to trust others. That you have to take things into your own hands.”

I steeled my gaze. “My dad was a cop, and when he was killed, they couldn’t even figure out who did it. My brothers and I were left on our own, with just our mother trying to hold things together. We relied on ourselves and nobody else. Certainly not the police.” I brought a tone of disgust into my voice. “When, after all we’d been through, my brother
became
one of them, I washed my hands of him. Completely.”

Seamus nodded, a note of respect coming into his eyes. He nudged his head at Sean. “So why was Sean talking to Evan?”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Evan, that bastard, was trying to get me away from Sean. Thought Sean was a bad influence on me. Wanted me to move back home with my mommy, as if I was eight years old.”

Seamus turned to stare down at Sean. “Is this true?”

Sean nodded, and his voice was hoarse as he spoke. “Said I was a fucking bastard for letting Kay work at the bar.” His gaze shadowed. “Told me, if he had his way, I’d never get within a hundred miles of his sister again.”

Seamus looked into his eyes for a long moment, then nodded, a hint of surprise coming to his face. “I think I believe you.”

I brought an edge of harshness into my voice. “Well, you should, because it’s the truth.” I took a step toward Seamus. “Not only that, but I know who the real mole is.”

That got the attention of every man in the room. They swung to stare at me. Seamus’s gaze narrowed. “Well, who is it?”

I waved a hand at the room around us. “Who comes and goes without any restrictions? Who walks into Jimmy’s office, into these rooms here at the warehouse, and you don’t question his presence at all?”

Seamus pointed a finger at Sean. “This man here.”

I shook my head. “On the contrary, you immediately suspected Sean, because he was a newcomer. How stupid would he have to be, to show up and then have the Cubans cause trouble only a day or two later? Surely, if his presence was part of some master plan, he’d invest more time in building up his friendship with you before he launched into the conflict stage.”

Seamus slowly nodded. “All right, then - who?”

I put my hands on my hips. “When I was with the Cubans, being held hostage, there were a few odd things I noticed. The lemon cleaning scent in the bedroom had a certain bright spearmint zest to it. Also, as I was falling asleep, the cleaners were downstairs. Their machine made a whirr-thump noise.”

Seamus crossed his thick arms. “And?”

I looked at Jimmy. “When I spilled some liquor at the bar the other day, Jimmy called in Trai Hok and his wife to clean it up. They used the exact same scent to clean the walls. Their scrubber made the exact same whirr-thump noise.”

Jimmy’s brow creased. “I suppose it does make that noise, but heck, Katie, maybe those scrubbers all do.”

I shook my head. “I looked up the equipment on Google. I found video after video of those things in operation.
None
of them make that noise when they are healthy. Trai’s is old, failing, and it’s got a specific, distinctive hiccup to it. It’s got to be him.”

I looked between the two men. “Trai comes and goes when he wants. He goes into all of your offices. He could read anything and everything. He’s probably in the background during half of your meetings.”

Seamus glanced at Jimmy. His fingers drummed on his arm as he considered it. “She could actually be right.”

I took a step to come up before him. “I
know
I am right,” I corrected him. “And not only that, but I know how we can prove it.”

Chapter 2

S
ean was now spread-eagled on the bed, tied in place, and I resolutely kept my eyes from him, from the bruising on his face, from the gashes in his arms which still leaked a slow, steady stream of blood. I knew I would see, in his eyes, a fervent pleading for me to get as far away from this warehouse as possible.

I would not leave him.

Jimmy held his phone to his ear while he walked a circle around the thick spatters of blood on the floor. “Thank you so much, Trai. I appreciate it. We use this area for filming, you know, and we want to get this mess cleaned up before it leaves a permanent stain. Ten minutes sounds great.” He clicked off.

Seamus glanced at Sean for a moment, then looked at me again. “You know it might not be Trai, right, Kate? It could still be Sean, playing us all for fools. Using us.”

I stepped up to Seamus, staring him directly in the eyes, pouring my fury with him and all his perverted cronies into my gaze. “If Sean is a fucking rat, then I swear I will shoot him myself.”

Seamus gave a small smile at that and looked over to Jimmy. “She reminds me of Bridgit, when Bridgit was her age. You didn’t tell me Kate had this kind of steel within her.”

Jimmy grinned, coming over and putting an arm around me. “She’s my girl, all right.”

I held in the shiver of repulsion which strove to tremor through my body, instead focusing on Sean lying helpless on the bed. If Sean could have endured that beating, I could certainly handle Jimmy’s lecherous touch.

Brrrrring!

A familiar ring came from an aluminum frame table against the side wall. I looked over in surprise. Sean’s phone was laying there, along with his keys and various other items. One of the thugs glanced down at it. “It’s Evan,” he reported.

A thought kindled in my mind, and I stalked over to the phone, filling my face with raw anger. “Evan? That bastard? Let me have a word with him.”

The soldier looked to Seamus for orders, and Seamus’s eyes lit up with interest. “Sure, let Kate have a chat with her brother. This could be fun.”

I grabbed up the phone, taking a deep breath. I had to be cautious with this. One wrong word and I could be joining Sean in the Quabbin’s soulless depths.

I hit the answer button. Before I could speak, Evan’s voice burst out of the phone, raw with fury. “Where the hell have you been, Sean? I told you I’d be out later today to take Kate back home, where she belongs, and that you and I needed to settle something first. Settle it
permanently
.”

Seamus’s grin brightened. “Put him on speaker.”

Trepidation hammered in my heart, but I pushed the button and held the phone out before me. Then I filled my voice with the same rage which had just blasted from the phone like an avenging angel’s trumpet.

“And who the hell do you think you are, to order me around? I’m an adult, Evan. I’ve got a college degree. I don’t need you to act as my nanny. God knows you did more than your share of that over the past ten years.”

There was a sputter from the phone, and Evan’s voice was even richer with fury when he spoke again. “Sean put you on the phone? He’s a coward in addition to a bastard! He should never have let you stay in that bar!”

“Nobody
lets
me do anything,” I harshly corrected him. “I
choose
for myself what I will do.”

“Like when you
chose
to date that bastard, Derek?”

Righteous indignation flared through me, and I didn’t need to act my anger any more. It spewed like a pyroclastic surge billowing from an erupting volcano. “I wouldn’t have made that bad decision if you’d let me date back in high school, to have even some experience in handling relationships,” I shot back. “You muffled me up like an Eskimo papoose on a cradle board! I couldn’t go out with friends, I couldn’t even go out and get a job!”

His tone heated. “Right, so now your brilliant
choice
of a job is being a bartender at that tacky, seedy, hell-hole of a bar which deserves to be burnt down and ploughed under?”

There was a growl from the men around me, and Evan’s voice became sharp. “What the hell was that?”