The Defender (The Carrier Series Book 2) (17 page)

I turned toward Drew, not knowing where to start. He had already
opened his tablet and was trying to access our notes. “These walls are thick,
and it feels like we’re halfway to hell. I can’t get much of a signal down
here.” Drew typed frantically onto the screen.

“I don’t have any reception down here, either.”

I studied the walls of books and had trouble discovering how
they were organized. Counting quickly in my head I found there were thirty-two
shelves, each with a colorful wooden coat of arms nailed to the top. There were
no words or labels on any of the shelves, only numbers on the spines of each
book.

“You don’t suppose Mrs. Quinn would scuffle back down here to
give us a quick orientation?”

Drew rolled his eyes. “You should have the graveling I had to do
to get her to allow us down here in the first place.” He dug a small grey
device out of his jacket and lined it up on the table next to his tablet.
 

“What’s that?”

“This little baby will piggyback off an Internet signal from
miles away—even through these stone walls. I should be connected in seconds.”

“Nice.”

Drew took a picture of one of the crests with his phone and then
sent it to his tablet. I pulled a random book, set it on the table, and started
to page through it. I couldn’t read a word; most of it was in Gaelic. I put it
back and grabbed another book from the shelf on the adjacent wall. Nothing but
Gaelic. My heart dropped as I realized this was a dead end. I snapped the book
shut in frustration.

“How the hell are we supposed to figure this out, Drew?”

Without looking up from his computer he said, “These are the
coats of arms of the thirty-two traditional shires of Ireland.”

“Shires?”

“Counties, my friend.” His eyes met mine. “Do you know which
county Myers’s ancestors were from?”

“I have no idea.” I tried to hide it, but I was sure he could
hear the disappointment in my voice.

“Can we look up Myers’s county of origin in these books
somehow?” Drew suggested.

The coals of a tiny fire began to heat up my heart. “They’re in
Gaelic! Do you read Gaelic?” It came out laced with a little more sass than I
had intended, but Drew didn’t seem to notice.

“Not the slightest.” He let out a few chuckles and then realized
how serious I was. “Listen, this is just one setback. We’ve got the Internet
and our arsenal of agency apps. I’m sure I can find a translator.” He went back
to his tablet. “Grab a book off the shelf and turn to the back. Is there an
index?”

I did as he said, but couldn’t find anything that looked like an
index. I turned to a random page in the middle and picked a word. Drew
translated it on his computer, and it turned out to be the word “farm.” We
thought we could tell which words were names and translated for a few more
minutes, but in the end we knew our search would simply take too long this way.
 

I let out another frustrated sigh.

“We’ll figure this out another way, I promise.” Drew’s eyes
looked sincere, but still they didn’t encourage me much.

“Fine. Let’s get out of here.”

Drew packed up his things, and hurried through the creepy cathedral
basement. Mrs. Quinn was standing guard at the top of the steps. “Done so
quickly, my dears?”

“I’m afraid the records weren’t as helpful as we had hoped,”
Drew replied.

“Too bad,” she said, not too sadly. Mrs. Quinn bid us good day
as we passed a children’s school group waiting near the front door.

On the cab ride back to the hotel I texted Agent Bowman to let
him know about our dead end, and within a minute he had sent a reply—
Contact
Agent McCombe for further suggestions. Don’t give up too easily.

After I showed Drew the text, he said with a smile, “Orders are
orders. I better call her right away.”

  *
    *     *     *

Friday, October 17th

Agent McCombe agreed to meet us the next day for a pub lunch at
some place called Buskers. Drew and I got up early and went for a jog through
the Temple Bar neighborhood around our hotel before our meeting. It felt nice
to burn off some steam and clear my head. I didn’t know if it was the because
of time change, but I hadn’t slept well at all the night before, alternating
between dreams of Ava and nightmares of Myers. As we ran I tried not to, but I
wondered what Ava was doing that very second. I decided to call Adam later to
check in.

Shortly after noon, Drew and I waited on the bumpy cobblestone
sidewalk outside the bar. “Hello, boys,” Agent McCombe greeted us as she
approached from behind. Drew swung around, smiling a charming grin.

“Good morning, Agent McCombe.” He spoke long drawn-out words and
reached for her hand to shake.

“Please, call me Darcy.”  She smiled, looked him straight
in the eyes, and pulsed her eyebrows quickly with a hint of flirt.

That little bugger. He broke her.

“Agent Hill, how are you?”

“Fine, thanks, Darcy.”

Drew took the first step toward the door and opened it. He
motioned for Darcy to head in. “Shall we go get a table? I’ve got a hankering
for a pub lunch.”

Darcy smiled at him as she entered, and then stood by the long
mahogany bar for a few moments. She met eyes with the bartender, a redheaded
local man.

“Darcy! How are you this lovely day, my dear?” The old man
stopped wiping a glass with the bar rag and looked up at her.

“Wonderful, Liam. And you?”

“Not a care in my heart. I see you’re here with company today.
Will it be the usual table?”

“Please.”

“It’s all yours, dear.”

“Many thanks. Could you bring us three Smithwick’s and bowls of
your pot roast Guinness stew please?”

“At your service.” His head did a little bow.

“Best stew in Ireland,” Darcy said as she led us past several
patrons and to a quiet table at the back of the pub. Liam arrived with three
tall glasses of beer before we could even settle into our places at the table.

When Liam walked away Darcy got right to business. “So, what
have you discovered about Myers so far?”

“Unfortunately we don’t have much to report. Our trip to the
cathedral left us with nothing.”

“Really? Absolutely nothing?”

“It seems our Gaelic isn’t up to par, and without knowing his
county of origin, we weren’t able to narrow down any of the information.” Drew
took a long pull from his beer. “Ooh, that’s good.”

Darcy suggested we inquire at Eneclann, a well-respected
genealogy and history research firm associated with nearby Trinity College. She
asked Drew to call to set up an appointment, and although they were reluctant
at first, they agreed, but requested a day for research. We were to meet on
Sunday afternoon. It was killing me how long this was taking. I had been hoping
we’d uncover all we needed in a matter of days and be back in Wisconsin by the
end of the week.

Before Liam brought our stew, Darcy and Drew engaged in small
talk while I shuffled through the pictures I had of Ava on my phone. My heart
was flooded with memories of the way she looked and how sweetly she spoke. I
missed her a great deal and would give anything to have her back in my life, to
be the way we were last summer. My agony turned quickly to anger as I thought
about the state of our relationship now.

Myers. Who was he to ruin what we had?

Drew poured on the charm, inducing laughter from Darcy and
showing interest in her by asking personal questions. I was very quickly
beginning to feel like the third wheel, and my heartache was about to explode,
so I excused myself to the bar and sat in front of a pint for a while, watching
people pass by the window.

Liam was wiping again, but stopped the old wet rag right in
front of my beer. “If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times
before—heartache. It isn’t young Darcy you’re after, is it boy?”

“No, no. I’ve got a girl back home—or at least I used to.”

That was depressing to say out loud.

“Ah, yes. Is she beautiful?” He looked at me with a gentle smile
on his face.

“Incredibly.”

He smile grew larger. “Is she funny—does she keep good company?”

“Without a doubt.”

Liam leaned forward, placing his elbow on the bar and his chin
on his upturned palm. His soulful eyes lit up to full power. “Is she good in
the sack?”

I just about spit my mouthful of beer in Liam’s face, but was
able to recover and swallowed it. “Well…I…I…um…we…” I coughed, trying to cover
the fact that the old man’s question took me off guard and I was flustered.

“Just remember this, my son—The man who is worthwhile is the one
who can smile when everything is dead wrong.” He stared me deep in the eyes for
several long seconds. “You’re a good man. I can feel it in me bones. She’ll find
her way back to you. ”

“Thanks, Liam.” But I wasn’t so sure that could be true.

Liam got back to work, whistling an Irish tune and leaving me
with my thoughts. After five more minutes I swiveled on my stool to check if
Drew and Darcy were still flirting, and suddenly it felt like my heart stopped
beating for a full three seconds. I grabbed my chest with my hand and stared at
the sight in front of me, eyes wide in awe. It couldn’t be. I was stuck frozen
on my stool, ears flooded with the sound of my heartbeat.

Ava Gardner was in Ireland.

Panic added to my overly astonished state. Had Myers captured
and brought her here?

She was sitting with her back to me at a table with three other
women about her age. I could see her familiar body type and her straight, brown
hair. One girl said something funny and as soon as I heard the laugh I knew it
was definitely her. I slowly slid off my chair, and with my jaw inevitably
hanging to the floor, I willed my feet to move one in front of the other. A
hummingbird was drumming inside my chest cavity as I cautiously approached the
table.

You’re not supposed to let her see you,
my brain reminded me.

Shut up
, my heart replied.

My feet continued to carry me forward as I wondered if she would
even know who I was? Did she still have no memories of us?

I barely heard Drew call from a few tables over, “Nolan? What
are you doing?”

I stopped right in front of the table, but Ava’s back was still
facing me. I swallowed a big lump of nerves hiding in my throat.

One of Ava’s friends noticed me. “ ’Lo, boy. Can I help you with
something?”

I couldn’t find a voice inside me.

And then she turned around and stared right at me.

“Nolan? What the hell?”

I should have known.

“Hey, Laura,” I tried to sound enthusiastic but I felt like a
deflated balloon. It was Ava’s sister. My heart was so desperate to have Ava’s
sweet face in front of mine at that moment, I felt like I might lose it right
there in the bar.  

I was still in a stupor when Laura stood up from the table and
gave me a big hug. “What are you doing here?” She threw her hands up in the air
and swung her head around looking for her sister. “Is Ava here?”

“Ava’s not here. I’m sure she’s in Stevens Point.” As far as I
knew, Laura had no idea what had happened with Ava’s memory wipe. I didn’t have
a backstory ready so I answered with another question, “What are you doing
here?”

“I’m studying abroad at Trinity College. It’s just down the
way!” She pointed out the window and then slid a hand through her hair. “I just
can’t believe I ran into you halfway around the world!”

“Yeah. Incredulous,” It really was amazing that we would happen
to meet in the same pub at the same time on the other side of the world, but I
was still so disappointed I didn’t have much enthusiasm behind my voice.  

“Do you have a few minutes? We should share a pint!”  

I accepted her invitation and returned to the bar to pick up my
beer. Drew quickly got up from his table and slid into me like a giddy
teenager. He half-whispered rapidly about an inch from my face. “Did you just
pick up that hottie?”

I wiped Drew’s spit from my forehead. “That hottie is Ava’s
sister, Laura,” I whispered back.

“Shut. Up. Ava’s sister?” He blatantly looked over at Laura and
checked her out. She was chatting with her friends and not paying attention to
us. “What the hell is she doing in Ireland?” He rubbed his hands together like
an excited chipmunk.

“She’s studying at Trinity. I thought I’d sit and chat with her
awhile, so calm down.”

“Take your time, Darcy and I are having a nice little
conversation.” He winked and I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, don’t forget. You can’t say anything about Ava’s memory
wipe. Remember, it’s all classified.”

“Yeah, I know.” I glanced back at Laura. Her friends were
getting up to leave the table. “I’ll be careful.”