“An hour?” I grab my phone, and I’m shocked at the time. “Mum! You’re home already?”
“You’re looking at me. What’s gotten into your head? Why are you acting so crazy? And you’re still not telling me why you slept in James’s room?”
Getting my breath in check, I say, “Every bedroom’s been leaking. Ewan and I have been emptying pots for days, and he started patching the sheetrock to hold us over until James and Dad can get on the roof. We’ve been sleeping in a different bedroom each night to stay dry.”
“I see.” She glances at the ceiling again. Distracting her may have worked. “We? What do you mean, we?”
Ewan and I exchange horrified glances.Oops.“I’m still waking up. How’s the baby?”
“Just a doll.” Mum yawns from probably being up so early.
Ewan and Sadie disappear, his hand on her shoulder, steering her away and giving me a warning look. “Mum, why didn’t you call to say you were on your way?”
“Since when do we have to announce our arrival?” Dad quips, walking by with their luggage.
“Um…” Fair point.
Before I can come up with something, Mum springs back to life. “Good news, though!”
“What’s the good news?” I grunt, dying for a minute to myself so I can put clothes on.
“We ran into Michael Reilly on the ferry.” Her face lights up. “His mum and I belong to the same knitting group. You remember Gail Reilly? Michael’s her son, who works in the visa processing office.”
My heart pounds. This can’t be good for me. “And?”
“I convinced him to have Sadie’s visa by tomorrow.” Mum practically does a jig. “Let’s get you two girls packed up!”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ewan
“Whyareyoucallingme from a burner phone, big brother?” Connor sounds groggy. “And at two in the morning?”
“It’s seven a.m. here.” Here, as in Waterford, but all I see is an empty street with a brand-new June sun making the cement glow. “And you know very well why we use burner phones.”
“But you’re not working. Oh…” Now he sounds awake.
“Aye, but you are. Get your laptop. Find all the cameras sending signals and recording on these following streets.” Sitting in my rental car parked on the side of the road, I read off the list.
“Got ‘em. Now what?” He clicks his keyboard on the other end.
“Turn them off.” Even I hear my voice turn ice cold.
“Ewan, you’re in a foreign country. We’re American citizens now. What are you doing?”
“What I have to. What’s necessary to complete this transaction.” I tell myself beating Callum to an inch of his life is part of the marriage deal for Kieran. I’m tying up loose ends for his promised bride.
My heart knows better.
This is my revenge for his hurting Darcy the way he did. For even thinking that Sadie belongs to him. Even though biologically sheishis, she’ll never be his. Not legally. Not in her heart. Not in any way conceivable. I’ll see to it. For her sake. I don’t care about that fucker. Only Sadie and Darcy.
I won’t be married to Darcy, but she’s part of my family. She’ll always be a Quinlan.
“Okay. They’re off. Whatever you’re gonna do, do it fast. Most systems have a ten-minute window before they will override and snap back on.”
“Aye.” Getting out of the car, I locate the shadowed doorway I targeted a few days ago. I’m good at what I do. Track people down and make them comply. I found out where Callum works and where he parks. He leaves his car in an employee dirt lot and walks one short, empty block. Or at least he has the last two days when the rain stopped, and the town opened back up.
I asked Connor to delay our flight schedule. It gave me this time to wrap up loose ends. No way am I leaving here, letting that scum think he can just waltz up to Darcy’s doorstep and blindside my brother into telling him where she went.