Icy fingers trail along my calf. Am I imagining this now?
I open my eyes and see his face staring down at me.
He shakes his head. 揥ell, don抰 you look a sight,?he sneers at me.
揚lease!?I croak the word but no sound comes out of my mouth.
揟ime to go back to sleep, little bird,?he croons as he brushes my hair from my face. I turn my head away from him and then I feel his fingers grip my arm. I buck my whole body, trying to get away from him, but he holds my arm firm in his grasp, his fingertips digging into my soft flesh.
I feel a sharp scratch on my arm.
Then nothing.
Chapter 22
Shane
Paul picked me up outside my hotel eight hours ago and since that time we have been scouring the streets of Belfast looking for Sean O扖onnor. We have finally found him at one of his many girlfriends?houses.
It is Paul who goes inside and pulls him out of bed. He drags him naked into the street and throws him at my feet. I look down at him. He was fast asleep in bed with a woman. He crawled away like an injured animal to lick his wounds after our meeting yesterday morning. He didn抰 take Jessie.
Paul kicks him in the stomach and Sean retches onto the pavement.
揈nough.?I put my hand on his arm and he scowls at me. I hate Sean O扖onnor as much as anyone, but he won抰 be able to talk if he抯 too busy puking.
I crouch down on the floor and glare at him. 揌ave you seen Jessie??
揥ho??he blinks at me in what appears to be genuine confusion.
揓essie. My girl??I snarl. 揟he one you couldn抰 keep your filthy hands off the other day.?
揙f course I haven抰，？he spits.
I grab his head by his hair and tip it back so I can look into his eyes. 揂re you fucking lying to me??
揥hat would I want with your whore??he hisses.
I take his head and smash it onto the pavement and he cries out in pain. When I look up, Paul has pulled out a gun and has it aimed at Sean抯 head.
揥hat the fuck are you doing, Pol??I frown at him. 揥e抮e in the middle of the fucking street. Kids live around here.?
揌e took your girl,?he snarls at me, 揳nd then he called her a whore.?
I put my hand on his forearm, forcing it down so he lowers his weapon. 揌e didn抰 take her.?
揟hen who did??
揑t抯 a long story. Come on. Let抯 go.?
I walk toward the car and he follows me. The sun is coming up and I feel completely lost and hopeless. My brothers?plane will be landing soon and I only hope that their arrival will spark something in me that gives us a new lead to chase.
The hotel抯 security has been entirely useless and nobody seems to have saw or heard anything. How a grown woman can just disappear from a hotel suite without a trace is beyond me.
揥e will find your Jessica,?Paul says as he falls into step beside me.
The name slices through me like ice, sending a shiver down my spine. For once in my life I am grateful to my cold hearted bastard of a father, whose cruelty taught me nerves of steel. Despite my insides churning and my heart racing, I don't miss a beat.
揧eah.?
We stop next to the car and Paul pulls at his collar as he steps closer to me. It抯 then that I see the scratch on his neck. I抳e been so distracted looking for Sean, I forgot to look for the Wolf. 揧ou been fighting with some cats, Pol??I grind the words out with a smile while my insides boil with rage.
He runs his finger over it and the hint of a smile plays on his lips. 揘ot exactly,?he murmurs.
My fists clench at my sides as my heart races in my chest. My cell phone vibrating in my pocket is a welcome interruption. Glancing at the screen, I see it抯 Conor calling.
揑 have to take this,?I say to Paul as I step away from the car and speak to my brother.
Chapter 23
Conor
By the time we land at Belfast airport almost eleven hours later it抯 the early hours of the morning, local time. I turn on my cell as soon as we land and call Shane who takes longer than expected to answer.
揌ey,?he breathes.
揧ou found her yet??
揘o,?he says and my heart sinks in my chest. I shake my head to Liam and Mikey who sit watching my face for clues. 揑t抯 a shame Liam couldn抰 make it, but he needs his rest, and I suppose someone needs to look after things back home.?
I frown as I turn to Liam sitting beside. He is right here and Shane knows that he boarded this plane with me. So what the fuck is going on?
I press a finger to my lips indicating he should stay quiet before I answer. 揧eah, a damn shame.?
揑抦 heading back to the hotel with Paul. Can you and Mikey come straight there and we can plan our next move??
揙f course we will. See you in an hour, bro.?
I end the call and put my cell back into my pocket.
揥hat was that about??Liam asks.
揊or some reason, Shane wanted whoever he was with to think that you stayed back home,?I say to Liam.
揥hy??he frowns at me.
揃ecause then you抮e our secret weapon,?Mikey suggests. 揑f nobody knows you抮e here then厰 he shrugs. He doesn抰 need to finish the sentence for us to know what he means. An invisible man is an asset.
揧ou know who he was with??Liam asks.
揘o. Except for Paul, I think.?
揢ncle Paul??Mikey asks.
揧eah. Shane said he was going to ask him to help. But I wonder who else was with them??
揑抦 sure we抣l find out soon,?Liam says. 揝o, what I shall I do? Stay in the car??
I nod. 揑n the car and out of sight. I抣l fill you in on the plan as soon as I know what it is.?
揗aybe he knows something that he couldn抰 say??Liam offers, his face full of hope and I feel a flicker of it too.
揑 certainly fucking hope so.?
Chapter 24
Shane
I slip my cell into my pocket and turn back to Paul who is hovering close by. I wonder how much of my conversation with Conor he just heard. It is taking every ounce of willpower I have not to tie that fucker up right now and torture the truth from him. But he never caved under torture when he was in the army or after he left, and I can抰 risk him dying before I find out the truth. Besides, I have a plan now, and thankfully Conor knows me so well he responded exactly how I抎 hoped he would.
揘ow that your brothers are here, I抦 going to head back to my hotel and get some kip,?Paul says with a fake yawn.
揥hat? You haven抰 seen them for twenty-five years. You don抰 want to even say hello? Not even to Mikey??I balk at the thought of him and Mikey meeting again, but I swallow it down and look him in the eye.
揑抦 not as young as I used to be, kid. I need some sleep. I抣l see them later.?
揝leep? Come on, Paul. This is my world we抮e talking about here, and we don抰 have a hope of finding her without you.?I try flattery instead and the roll of his eyes tells me it is working more efficiently than tugging on his heartstrings ?because of course, he doesn抰 have one.
揓ust a few more hours? Help me fill my brothers in on what we抳e done so far and then you can get some sleep. We can all get some and start again tonight,?I lie.
揊ine,?he says with a sigh.
揟wo hours and then I抦 gone.?
揟hat抯 all I抦 asking for.?
I have just handed Paul a mug of coffee when the door to my hotel suite opens and Mikey and Conor rush inside. They both run to me and despite the fact they must be both as pissed as hell that I lost our girl, they wrap their huge arms around me.
揧ou got any leads at all??Conor asks as he takes a step back and looks at me full of anxiety and concern.
揘o,?I look over at Paul and my brothers turn to him, too.
揌ello, boys,?he says with a half smile as he makes his way over to us.