I whip around and glare at him. “Are you serious?”
He seems a little taken aback by my reaction. “Just humor me.”
“Not a chance,” I say with finality. “I’m coming with you.”
“Saoirse…”
“I’m coming, Cillian,” I insist. “You wanna waste time arguing with me or you wanna see what this package is all about?”
His jaw is set, but I can tell from his expression that he knows arguing is pointless. And we both know that whatever has arrived at the gates has something to do with me.
The coincidence is just too great.
“Fine,” he concedes. “But stay behind me.”
* * *
When we approach the gate, Cillian gestures one of the security guards forward. “Well?”
“It was dropped off by a reputed courier company,” the guard informs him. “They set it down at the foot of the gate and left. Didn’t ask for a signature or nothing.”
Cillian glances at Rhys.
“We’ve scanned the box,” the man says. “Didn’t pick up on anything. No explosives. No residue of gunpowder, either.”
Cillian nods. “Open the gates.”
The gates wheel open smoothly. I peer out from around Cillian’s back.
I’m not prepared for how massive the box is. It’s laid out horizontally, long and narrow. Almost shaped like a coffin.
Although surely that’s just my overactive imagination reacting to the stress of the last few days.
“Open it up,” Cillian instructs.
Rhys moves forward, accompanied by the man who had picked Cillian and me up from the roadside. Rory, I think his name was.
They approach the package with their guns drawn while two other men tear off the tape securing the top lid of the gigantic rectangular box.
They crack it open.
And at once, their faces drop into horror.
They hide it almost instantly. They’re trained men, I’m sure. Battle-hardened.
But for one moment, they looked like they’d locked eyes with the devil himself.
Cillian sees it, too.
“Stay here,” he tells me firmly. His tone says that there will be no arguing this time.
I’m okay with that, I think.
He walks forward a few steps ahead of me and takes a look inside. His back is to me so I can’t see his expression, but the rigid tension of his spine catches my attention.
Someone tries to stop me from approaching the box, but I shake him off violently and charge forward.
Three steps until I can see what’s in there.
Two steps.
One step.
I look down in the coffin…
“Pa?”