Worcester Nights - The Boxed Set (31 page)

My eyes held on Sean. He still wearing his black tux, although now it was streaked with dark crimson blood layered with charcoal grit and black smears. He looked like James Bond crossed with a gladiator.

Ralph grinned, his grey eyes sharpening. He swept his barrel back and forth across us, like the glistening red eye of a Cylon  dispassionately ready to exterminate on a whim. “So, who is it going to be? You shoot me; one of these women dies. Maybe more, if you’re not lucky. Care to say which one gets the bullet?”

Sean pressed up away from the car. A sickening tremor ran through me as his left leg shuddered when it took on weight. The realization hit me that he had been through a tumultuous gunfight. How badly had he been injured? There weren’t any wounds that I could see, but surely he would be hiding them, shielding any weakness from his opponent’s eyes.

Sean’s gaze swept down to me; tense concern drew his brows in. He spoke to Ralph, his voice tight. “She needs to get to a hospital.”

Ralph chuckled. “I need to get paid,” he countered, shrugging. “She’ll last a while, yet. I bet she could even survive with a few more holes put into her.” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Care to test that theory?”

Sean’s face steeled. “You touch her, and –”

Ralph stepped forward, pressing the barrel of his gun into the back of my head. It took every ounce of my will not to close my eyes, not to cringe in on myself. I had to be strong. For Sean, for all of us.

Ralph’s voice purred from just behind me. “I touch her, and you’ll … what? There’s just you and me here, boy. The odds are in my favor.”

Sean gave a wry smile.

There was movement from the sides of the car. Then, out from the shadows stepped Seamus, Evan, and Jimmy. The three men drew into a line with Sean, separated by enough space to give each room to work.

Thick emotion swelled within me, and I was hard put to assign a single name to it. Comfort. Satisfaction. Serenity. I could almost lay down and take a rest, a rest I craved with every ounce of my being.

Somehow, it was all going to be all right.

I glanced up at my captor. Ralph’s brow creased. He swept his gaze slowly, carefully, across the four men, his eyes resting on each one for a long moment.

He hovered, waiting, and then …

He lunged, his arm wrapping around Bridgit’s thick middle, hauling her to her feet. He pressed the matte barrel of his pistol against her head, his voice tightening.

“It’s always been Bridgit,” he instructed the four men. “She’s my ticket out of here. You can have the rest. Give me access to my car, and I’ll let you get that girl to the hospital. By noon I’ll contact you with my demands. A business transaction. Simple. Pay the bill, and we’ll be done.”

Bridgit stood up straight, her eyes on Seamus. “Take the shot.”

Jimmy was gazing at Eileen with concern, but at Bridgit’s statement his attention spun. His mouth hung open in surprise. “God, Bridgit, no!”

Bridgit nodded at her brother. “Seamus, you’ve always been there for me. When our sister, Maeve, died from that botched abortion. When Liam was shot down, murdered in cold blood. You’re my foundation. My Carrick-a-Rede bridge over razor-sharp rocks.”

Seamus’s voice was tight. “I’m here for you, Bridgit.”

Bridgit held his gaze. “Shoot. No matter what the outcome, shoot. It’s better than what he has planned for me.”

Ralph pulled her in against him. “The
figa
doesn’t know what she’s saying. Let us go, and we’ll work this out.”

Seamus, like Jimmy and Sean, still wore his tux, and his muscular body flexed beneath the elegant fabric. His brow was creased with exhaustion. I wondered if he, too, had injuries that were not immediately visible. But his eyes shone clear and bright.

“
Nár laga Dia thú.
”

She nodded, her gaze fully on her brother.

I could hear the English version echoing in my mind, even as he drew his gun up, even as the retort of the firing echoed across the clearing.

May God never weaken you.

The blast rocked Ralph’s head back, throwing his arms wide, and Bridgit remained still as his body flung back from her, slamming into the frost-coated ground.

For a long moment the tableau held.

Then the world spun up into motion. Sean and Evan raced forward, coming to either side of me. Sean drew me into an embrace, and it was all I could do not to burst into sobs, not to release all of the terror and strain and exhaustion of the past hours. I soaked in his strength, drawing in the stunning feel of his arms around me, his sturdy chest protecting me.

At long last he drew back, his eyes holding mine. One hand shakily traced down my cheek. “God, Kay, are you all right?”

I gave a wry smile, nudging my head toward my shoulder. “I’ve never been shot before.”

Evan growled, and he reached forward, probing at the swath of napkin-bandages there. “You should never have been in that position,” he muttered. His jaw eased as he took in the injury. “It’s less bad than it looks, though. Who took care of this for you? Jessica?”

I nodded, turning my head to look. Seamus was on one side, wrapping his sister into an embrace, his head nestled into the crook of her neck. Jimmy was on my other side, helping Eileen up, brushing back her red hair. Jessica was kneeling by Ralph’s side, her fingers pressed against his carotid artery.

Her voice was low and steady. “He’s dead.”

Bridgit chuckled. “Of course he is. My Seamus never misses.”

Jessica reached into Ralph’s pockets, drawing out the cell phones he had taken from the women. Seamus looked at them for a moment, then stood, crossing to her. He took them from her hand, his eyes holding hers for a moment.

He glanced back at Bridgit, then the phones again. “I’ll hold onto these for now; put them with Evan’s. We can discuss how we proceed once we get to the cottage and get you all warm and fed.”

A tremor eased through me, one that had little to do with the ice-cold ground I knelt on or my sheer exhaustion. Seamus and Jimmy were both armed, and both were now fugitives on the run. While Sean had a gun, and I prayed that Evan did as well, I doubted the men wanted to shoot it out in the middle of this deserted clearing.

I looked up to Sean, a wealth of questions ringing in my head which I could not safely put into words.

Sean nodded at me, then looked over to Seamus. “Kay really needs to go to a hospital and get proper medical attention for her shoulder. Let her brother take her there. He’s already sworn not to say anything about you. He’ll take the Charger and they’ll be out of your hair. I’ll go with you all in the Escalade, wherever you want, and ensure any remaining Cubans don’t cause trouble for you.”

I turned and looked at the edge of the clearing. I could see Seamus’s car now, its grill barely visible beyond a massive oak. I took in the shattered mirror, the blown out back window, and my heart leapt in my throat.

“I’m going with you.”

Evan’s voice was a growl. “Kay, I’ve had quite enough of –”

Seamus stood. “We’re all staying together, and we’re all going to the cottage. We can talk later about what happens next. But for now, I want you all where I can see you.”

Evan’s gaze steeled, and tension settled in his arms.

I knew that look. I’d seen it the night we walked through downtown Worcester, during my first year at Holy Cross, and a group of burly young men came toward us on a deserted side street, their eyes sizing us up with interest.

Evan’s eyes had hardened, and his lean muscles had compressed, then shimmered.

The men recognized something in him, something primal. They’d crossed to the other side and let us pass in peace.

I put my hand on Evan’s arm. “I’m fine, Ev,” I soothed him. “Jessica did a good job. And I am hungry. Let’s just go to this cottage and rest up.”

A chill wind swirled the frost off a patch of leaves, and a red-tailed hawk soared high overhead, his black eyes searching the ground for something – anything – to eat.

At last Evan blew out his breath, nodding. “We stay together,” he agreed, his gaze returning to Seamus. “But you’d better have some medical supplies at this cottage of yours.”

Bridgit’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “Oh, we do,” she assured him. “We are prepared.”

Sean tucked his arms beneath me and hoisted me up in them. Jimmy slid an arm under Eileen’s shoulder, helping her along. The others moved with us as we came to the Escalade.

Seamus glanced back at the corpse. “If we’re lucky, the coyotes will drag him off before anybody comes out here. Lord knows they have few enough other things to eat this time of year.”

Eileen tucked herself in against Jimmy. “I gave them a snack earlier,” she commented with a grin. “This bastard out in the woods last night. Ripped his throat open, when he was trying to rape Kate.”

Evan’s gaze darkened with anger, and Sean pulled me in tighter against his body. “God, Kay.”

“I’m fine,” I reassured them. “Eileen got to him before he could do anything.”

She grinned. “Damn right I did,” she agreed. “Should have castrated him, instead of just killing him quick.”

Jessica stepped forward, opening the door. Sean climbed in with me, moving to the back seat, and Evan came in on my other side. Jessica followed to join us in the back row. Jimmy and Eileen took the middle seats, and Bridgit and Seamus were up front, with him driving.

Sean looked at my shoulder again, and his lips pressed together. He turned to face Seamus. “Is it far?”

Seamus pressed on the gas. “West Berkshires. Bridgit has a cottage out there. We’ll be safe. We’ll take care of Katie, don’t you worry. We’ll be there in under two hours.”

I lay against Sean, breathed in the rich musk and scent which was uniquely his, and his arms came up around me. His lips pressed against my forehead, and the world faded away.

Chapter 5

T
he world shuddered, searing pain echoed through my shoulder, and Sean’s arms drew in around me. His voice was warm against my ear. “Hang in there, Kay. We’re here. We’ll get that shoulder looked at as soon as we get inside.”

My eyes were stuck together, and it took a moment for me to pry them open. It was midday, judging by the sun streaming through the car’s windows, and we were parked alongside some sort of a massive log cabin. It was two stories tall, with a railinged front porch which stretched the full length of the building. A large, matching two-car garage stood to the side, and the rest of the world was snow-dusted pines and junipers. A dirt road stretched behind us, twisting into the distance.

Everybody began climbing out of the car, groaning and stretching. Evan took my legs, and between him and Sean they got me out and back into Sean’s arms again. Sean carried me up the front porch steps. A pair of Adirondack chairs sat to one side. I leant my head against his chest, thinking of the matching photograph he’d done, hanging in his quiet studio. It all seemed so long ago now.

Seamus unlocked the front door, pressed it in, and we followed behind him.

The place was stunning. High, vaulted ceilings crowned the gleaming wood great room. Beyond it was an elegant kitchen in pine and marble. A massive fieldstone fireplace was surrounded by three large, forest-green sofas. A wide staircase led to the second floor, and an open door to the right presented a view of an elegant master bedroom done in shades of rust. Large windows allowed the beauty of the surrounding forest to shine in from all sides.

Eileen turned in place, her mouth open in an O. “It’s like the Log Mahal!”

Bridgit nudged her head at the large oak dining room table. “Put Kate on that. The light above is perfect, and we keep all the bandages and supplies in the cupboard there.”

Sean nodded, stepping over with me and carefully laying me down on the table.

Bridgit crouched at the cabinet, coming out with a pile of bottles, bandages, and other wraps. “My mother was a nurse,” she muttered, laying it all out on the sideboard. “Saw more than my fair share over the years. Comes in handy.”

She turned to Seamus. “Nuke us some hot water, will you?”

“Of course.” He headed off into the kitchen.

I felt like a star attraction at some sort of bizarre Quincy episode. The others gathered loosely around me, watching with varying degrees of interest as Bridgit cut away the burgundy fabric from the wound area. I groaned with each slice through the gorgeous material. Surely the dress was already beyond repair, but to have it made so blatantly clear still dug at me.

Sean’s fingers twined into mine, and he gave a wry smile.

“I’ll get you another one,” he murmured.

“I just want to go home,” I responded, and my throat went tight. Did I even know where home was any more? Certainly not that tiny one-room apartment in the three decker. Sean’s brick studio apartment had been a listening post of Seamus and Bridgit, and we could hardly go back there after this was all over. I was adrift, loose, like floating seaweed tossed on a turning tide.

Bridgit’s voice was a mutter. “This will hurt, lass.”