For Love & Bourbon (38 page)

R
hys pulled the SUV up to the curb beside a vacant warehouse in Louisville. The driver’s side door was barely hanging on and the windshield was cracked, but other than that the vehicle was intact.

Immediately following the crash, Killian had hopped into the backseat and wrestled Adam into submission. The guy was tough, tougher than Adam had anticipated. It hadn’t taken long before he’d been punched so hard in the face that he saw stars, too dazed to fight back. His hands had been bound with twine behind his back so tight he thought it might have cut off the blood flow.

By the time he’d gotten his senses back, they were already in the city. He had stared out the window helplessly, furious with himself for failing yet again. So he gathered his strength and waited for the next opportune moment to strike, refusing to let the bastards have their way.

The warehouse loomed like a concrete mountain above them. The rain had stopped, though a dense fog remained that, in the light of the street lamps, gave everything an ominous glow. He felt a sick feeling wash over him the second before Killian threw open the car door and yanked him out.

“No time to waste, boyo. Gotta keep movin’.”

Adam sneered at him, though the movement caused pain to shoot through his injured face. “Untie me, asshole. I ain’t done with you yet. Fight fair like a man.”

Killian let out a bark of a laugh and smacked Adam hard on the back to usher him along. “Who do ye think yer talkin’ to? I could mop the floor with ye. In fact, maybe I should untie ye just to teach ye a lesson…”

“Shut up, brother. We do nothin’ till we get instructions from Da,” Rhys cut in, casting a disapproving glance at his brother.

Killian shrugged. “We still need the girl. I expect he won’t want to do anythin’ more ‘til we have her.”

“We have to leave this place. It’ll be crawlin’ with the Feds before long,” Rhys said, staring around the street before making his way to a small metal door cut into the side of the building. He knocked twice, then a third time in a distinct pattern. Seconds later the door opened and they walked inside.

The building was lit with rows of fluorescent lights. Thousands of square feet of empty concrete floor spread out before them, with one thing resting in the middle of it. A chair, with a man tied to it with rope.

Adam’s heart slammed into his throat when he saw his father. Ty was staring at him with such sadness in his eyes, looking worse for the wear with blood and dirt on his face and business suit. Beside the chair was a smearing of dried blood, the coppery smell of it meshing with the industrial scent of concrete.

“Dad,” Adam muttered, trying to scramble out of Killian’s grasp to get to his father. Killian only held him back, chuckling to himself.

Adam then noticed another man, a bit older than his father, walking alongside them. He was tall and strongly built, dressed in camo pants and a tightly fitted T-shirt. Waves of light brown hair threaded with gray feathered back from his face. His stride was purposeful, strict, and from the scars and dark tattoos marring his skin, Adam had the feeling the man had known war of some kind.

He led the way to where Ty was sitting, then turned to face Adam.

A smile cracked the lines of the man’s harsh face as he eyed Adam with relish. “I don’t know how ye pulled it off, Tyler. He looks nothin’ like ye.”

Ty looked into Adam’s eyes as though silently pleading for forgiveness. When he said nothing, the man walked over to Adam and cupped his chin, tilting his face side to side. Adam stared into a set of hazel eyes that matched his own, and found he couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t only out of fear, but out of recognition.

Suddenly Killian’s words took on a whole other meaning.

“I’m Ned Brannon,” the man said, examining Adam like he were a fly pinned to a board. “By now ye will have heard of me. But much of what’s been said is nothin’ but lies. Ye deserve to know the truth about who ye are. Where ye come from. And where ye belong.”

Adam stared unblinking into Ned’s eyes, unwilling to be shaken by him. “You killed my mother. And now you have my father tied to a chair. What part of that is a lie?”

Ned eased back and released Adam’s face. He was about to speak before Rhys interrupted him.

“Sir, the Feds will be here any minute. We need to move.”

Ned’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded and Rhys set about unstrapping Ty from the chair while Killian held fast onto Adam. Ned gave Adam one more indulgent look.

“Have patience, my son. Soon ye will have the truth.”

WHEN THEY
drove up to the warehouse and parked behind the damaged SUV, Ava leapt from her truck. She would have stormed her way in if Cooper hadn’t held her back, instructing her to keep behind him. She started to resist, but didn’t want to waste time arguing. The sooner they got inside, the better.

Cooper and Marco, guns raised and at the ready, approached the single steel door in the side of the building and attempted to open it. Finding it unlocked, Marco nodded to Cooper to go ahead. He slowly stepped inside, Marco watching his back with Ava a few steps behind.

When Cooper lowered his weapon and let out a sigh, Ava shoved past Marco and stared around the empty warehouse.

She cursed under her breath, realizing they were too late. All that remained was a single metal chair, alone in the middle of the high-ceilinged room. She would have ignored it, but then she saw the blood.

“Sweet Jesus,” she gasped, stumbling toward the chair with wide eyes and a horrified heart. She fell to her knees, knowing the blood was her father’s. Her throat clenched as she stared around at it, her hands curling into her hair. The bastard had tortured him. Spilled his blood. Vengeance soared through her like a phoenix and burst into flames. “I’ll kill him for this. I’ll fucking kill him if it’s the last thing I do.”

Cooper helped her to her feet an instant before she broke. He said nothing and simply held her while she raged, her screams muffled by his chest. Her hands clenched into fists around his shirt, then weakened as her spirit grieved. She had already lost one parent. She couldn’t lose the other.

She pulled away from him, wiping at the tears that spilled down her face. “I don’t understand. The tracking device led us here. Where are they?”

Marco stepped back into the warehouse, holding up the device. “It was on the floor of the backseat in the SUV. Adam must have removed it.”

Ava felt the last of her hope shatter to pieces. “So what now? How do we find them?”

She met eyes with Cooper, needing an answer.

He only bowed his head. “The best we can do now is contact rental car companies in the area, see if Ned or his sons rented the car they’re using. But I’m betting they got it from an IRA contact. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to rent or steal something.”

Disbelief shot through her. “There has to be something else. Anything.”

“Well, there is one thing,” Marco said, lifting an index finger in the air.

Cooper glared at him. “No.”

Marco frowned. “You didn’t even hear what I had to say.”

“I know what it is, and the answer is no,” Cooper asserted, his hands tensing over Ava’s shoulders.

She stepped back from him, her eyes on Marco. “Tell me. What is it?”

Marco ignored Cooper’s disapproval and faced Ava. “We were talking on the way over here, and we think we know what Ned is after.”

Ava’s eyes narrowed. “You mean other than Lucky Fox money?”

“I mean
instead
of the money. In fact, I don’t think he gives a shit about the money at all. What he cares about are his kids. As in, you and Adam.”

One of her eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”

Cooper crossed his arms, a reluctant sigh escaping his lips. “You heard what Killian said. He called Adam his brother. Which means, obviously, that makes you Killian and Rhys’s sister. Seeing as the two of them are a few years older than you that makes your mother far too young to be their mother, so the connection isn’t shared there. That leaves only the father, and though theoretically possible, I find it hard to believe that Ned’s first wife got impregnated by Ty. Therefore, that leaves only one possibility.”

“Ned is my father,” Ava said numbly, another tear falling down her cheek. She made no move to brush it away.

Sympathy clouded Cooper’s eyes. “Yes.”

“But, but then that means Mama
knew
him,” Ava managed, revulsion washing over her.

“Up until a few weeks ago, you were sure your father didn’t know Ned, either,” Cooper replied. “This clearly goes much deeper than any of us anticipated.”

She rubbed her face, needing to stay focused. “So then what is your plan to find Ned?”

Cooper exchanged a knowing look with Marco, then turned back to her. “Ned has one twin. He’s not going to leave until he gets the second to take home to Ireland.”

“He plans to force me and Adam onto a plane to Ireland with him?” Ava nearly laughed it was so absurd. “I’d like to see him try.”

“He got into this country, he can get back out again if we don’t find him in time.”

She saw the anger contort his expression. “From the look on your face, I guess you’d prefer I just go hide in a hole somewhere until the storm blows over.”

Cooper motioned toward the chair and the blood. “You’ve seen what Ned is capable of, Ava.”

Her hands fell to her hips. “I also know that he probably won’t kill me. At least not at first. I have to try. If he really wants me, then it won’t be long before he makes contact and then I’m gone.” She straightened, a sense of pride and duty bolstering her resolve. “I’ll go get my family myself if y’all don’t want to help.”

Marco’s brows shot up and Cooper edged closer to her, jabbing a finger into her chest. He looked angrier than she had ever seen him before. “This is still my investigation. I have just as much a right to be here as you do, if not more so. I’m here to protect your life, not risk it.”

“Oh, but Adam was worth risking? And my mother?” she growled, furious tears in her eyes. “Why was it okay to sacrifice them but not me?”

“Because we were in control back then. At least we thought we were,” Cooper retorted, his hands diving into his hair as he turned away. He let out a frustrated breath and closed his eyes. “This is why we should’ve never gotten involved, Ava. My feelings for you are getting in the way of my ability to do my job.”

She tossed up her hands. “There’s no time for that now, Slick. I’m sorry. We can worry about whatever the hell is going on between us later, once my dad and brother are home safe.”

He faced her again, his expression impossible to read. “Fine. Get in your truck. We’ll follow you home. You can wait there for Ned to make contact.”

She hesitated, not ready yet to be done with the argument. The cold detachment in his tone doused her temper and left her feeling hollow. When Cooper turned away and headed for the door, she realized it was over whether she was ready for it or not.