揚aul??Conor holds out his hand to shake it. He remembers our uncle but Mikey won抰。 He was still a baby when Paul moved away.
Paul shakes Conor抯 outstretched hand. 揑t抯 good to see you, kid,?he says but his eyes are on Mikey who frowns at this man he doesn抰 know, but whose history is so very tied to his own. 揂nd to see you again, Michael. It抯 a shame your brother couldn抰 make it.?
Mikey frowns at him and I silently urge him not to give the game away.
揌e wasn抰 up to the journey,?he answers without pause and I could hug him. 揟his family reunion is all well and good but where the fuck is our girl??He turns back to me.
揥e haven抰 found her yet.?I rub my hand over my jaw. 揑抦 fucking exhausted, boys. I can抰 even think straight.?I sigh and shake my head.
揟hen tell us what you do know,?Conor snaps.
揕ook, Shane,?Paul downs his coffee and places the mug on the table. 揧ou should probably get some sleep and we can pick this up again later. I抣l leave you to fill your brothers in, but I really need to get back to my hotel.?
I nod at him. 揧eah. Thanks for your help, Paul.?The words stick in my throat.
揑抣l call you later and see if there抯 anything else I can do. Okay??he offers.
揧eah,?I nod and then he says his goodbyes to Conor and Mikey before walking out of the room.
My brothers and I watch him leave and as soon as the door is closed I take a deep breath. 揥here is Liam??
揑n the car outside. What抯 going on??Conor asks.
揑抣l tell you as soon as I抳e spoken to him,?I say as I take my cell out of my pocket and dial Liam抯 number.
揌ey, bro??he answers.
揌ey, kid. You see that grey Range Rover across the street??
揧eah??
揑n about two minutes our Uncle Paul is going to get into it. You can抰 miss him. He抯 six four and has a beard. I need you to follow him.?
揙kay. Is this about Jessie??
揧es. Don抰 let him see you. Follow him and call us when he stops. Okay??
揙kay. Fuck! He抯 on his way outside.?
揅all me as soon as you have anything, Liam. We抣l be right behind you as soon as you give us the nod. Okay??
揧eah,?he says and then ends the call.
揥hy is Liam following Paul??Mikey asks me but Conor stares at me with a look of horror on his face that makes me think he has already figured out the reason why.
I can抰 even believe these words are about to come from my mouth because it is too fucking crazy to be true, but it also makes perfect sense. 揃ecause Paul is the Wolf.?
Chapter 25
Mikey
揥hat the fuck??I ask as I stare at my oldest brother with my mouth hanging open, because I抦 pretty sure I must have misheard him.
揑t抯 him,?Shane says, shaking his head as though he doesn抰 even believe what he抯 saying himself.
揘o way. He can抰 be,?I insist. I mean I don抰 remember him from when I was a kid, but Conor and Shane always speak fondly of him. He left Ireland shortly after our mom died, but before that, he was our uncle. He taught Shane and Conor how to shoot. He was an expert marksman in the army.
揊uck! How do you know??Conor asks, seemingly more ready to believe this than I am.
揌e has a scratch on his neck that wasn抰 there when I saw him yesterday afternoon.?
揂 scratch??I interrupt him.
He glares at me and I stop talking.
揌e got it in the space of a couple of hours. The same couple of hours during which Jessie was taken.?
揝till, Shane厰 Conor frowns at him.
揂nd he called her Jessica,?he says and I blink at him as realization dawns on me. Our own fucking uncle? The Wolf?
揊uck!?Conor hisses. 揧ou never mentioned that抯 her real name??
揘o. Why would I? Jessica is like a different person to me. I only know Jessie.?
揃ut it is short for Jessica. Maybe he assumed??I say even though I know I抦 clutching at straws. He fits the bill in every other way. A hired assassin, able to disappear without a trace and hide in the shadows.
揂nd my key card was missing when I got back here yesterday.?
揥hat??Conor frowns.
揑 thought I must have left it behind, but there抯 only one here and I assume Jessie didn抰 take hers with her. He was the only person who got close enough to me to take it.?
揥hy did you just let him walk out of here then??I ask, suddenly the thought that we just let the Wolf leave here and go back to do who the fuck knows what to our girl, hits me.
揃ecause he抯 the fucking Wolf, Mikey,?Shane snaps. 揧ou think he would give her up if he thought we were onto him? He would die rather than let us find her. Did you not listen to anything Jessie told you about him??
揧es!?I snap as I walk toward him. 揇id you? Because you knew she was terrified of him and you still left her here on her own. You let him walk into this room and fucking take her. And now our girl is out there somewhere living her worst fucking nightmare and who knows if we will ever fucking get her back!?All the anger and frustration I抳e been holding onto for the past fourteen hours comes tumbling out of me as I advance on Shane.
It is Conor who stops me in my tracks. 揌ey!?he snaps. 揥e need to focus on finding Jessie right now.?
I glare at Shane who hangs his head as though he can抰 even bear to look at me and now I just feel like shit because how the fuck was he supposed to know our own uncle was such a fucking monster?
揝o what do we do when Liam calls??I ask instead.
揝hane??Conor says when he doesn抰 reply. 揑 need you on your fucking A game here, so get your head out of your ass and tell me what the fuck our next step is??
Shane looks up at us both and I抦 relieved to see his usual look of certainly and control back on his face. 揥e wait and see where Paul goes and if he stays there or leaves again. It depends on what Liam tells us.?
揝o we just wait??I ask.
揊or now.?
So we all sit down and wait for news from Liam, each of us wrestling with our own emotions alone, because to start talking about our fears and our anger would make it all that more real and for now we have to stay focused on finding Jessie. If I think too much about what she might be going through right now, I won抰 be able to function, let alone outsmart the Wolf.
Chapter 26
Liam
I follow the beat up Range Rover for about eight miles before it stops outside an old farmhouse in Antrim. I park up a few hundred yards down the road as he walks inside the house. Lights go on in the downstairs windows and my heart races as I wonder if Jessie is in there.
I dial Shane抯 number and a few seconds later, his voice fills the car.
揕iam??is all he says.
揑 followed him to an old house in Antrim.?
揥hat? He still has that place? Erin told me he sold it years ago.?
揥ell, he抯 just walked in there now. Shall I go in after him??
揘o. Just wait and see what he does next.?
揃ut she could be in there, Shane.?
揑 know, but she might not be, and if you go in then you completely blow our cover and we might never find her.?
揑 hate sitting here thinking that she could just be a few yards away. Wondering what he might be doing to her, Shane,?I say as emotion wells up in my throat. I am so fucking angry I could tear Paul抯 head clean off his shoulders with my bare hands, but I am also terrified. I haven抰 been this scared of losing someone since the Russians took Conor two years ago.
揑 know, kid. We抣l drive out there now, and then at least one of us can follow him if he leaves. And you can check the house.?
As I抦 talking to Shane the light goes off again and I freeze. I watch as the front door opens a few seconds later. 揌ang on. He抯 leaving.?