Forty-Two
Brennan
“You’re kidding me.”
Forrest shook his head. “I don’t know where he is, Bren.”
“Fuck.” I hissed the curse under my breath, then in a wave of rage, wiped my hands over my desk, sending everything pouring onto the floor. Laptop, desktop, pens, paper, everything went flying.
Amid the chaos, I let my fingers curve over the sides, with my knuckles aching, I rasped, “I’m going to have to speak with Da.”
“I’m sorry, Bren. We had Duncan and Franklin on him. You know they’re good at that shit.”
I gritted my teeth before I raised a hand and said, “Just leave, Forrest. It’s no one’s fault. Just...” I blew out a breath. “Just get outta here.”
Tink muttered, “Bren? You still want me to take O’Reilly’s corpse to the pig farm?”
I didn’t look up, just kept my head bowed as I rumbled, “Yeah. Get rid of that before it gets us in the shit.”
“You telling your da about him?”
“No.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure no one sees.”
“Good.”
I heard the door open and close and knew only Bagpipes would be remaining. “Still no word from Conor?” I rasped.
“No.”
“Fuck, I’d ask if this morning could get worse, but let’s face it, I have to talk to my fucker of a father so yeah, I know for a fact it will.” I snarled under my breath before I straightened up. “If Conor’s gone AWOL on us, then we need info on this Ainsley McKenna.”
“Census records?”
I pulled a face. “That’s a needle in a haystack, ain’t it?”
“Ainsley’s not a common name. McKenna is, sure, but not Ainsley.”
“True. Give it a try. No worries if you don’t come up with anything.”
“You’re being surprisingly forgiving today,” he tried to tease, but I wasn’t in the mood for it.
“Don’t, Baggy. Just don’t.”
“Sorry, Bren,” he said gruffly. “I’ll get on it.”
“Thanks, man.”
“You sure it’s wise not to tell him about Callum?”
I shook my head. “I can’t handle the fallout. It won’t be worth it either. He’ll just go apeshit and it’ll affect his judgment more than it already is.”
“He’s a high-ranking son, Bren. His going missing will make waves.”
“And I’ll deal with them as it comes. We’re already drowning,” I rumbled. “What’s one more tsunami?”
He grunted, but didn’t argue because he knew I was right.