Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
CIARA
Something is wrong.
The pain has dulled to a constant cramp in my lower abdomen that intensifies every time I take a breath.
I try to tell myself it’s probably just my body reacting to the stress of the last few days, but I don’t actually believe it.
My baby is in distress, and Stephen was right, I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
He hasn’t said a word to me since we got in the car, which I wouldn’t normally question. But as he drives, he’s white-knuckling the steering wheel while his eyes keep darting to the rearview mirror, as if he’s worried someone might be following us.
I focus on the buildings we pass by outside our window.
I frown.
This isn’t the way to the hospital. We’re heading in the completely opposite direction.
“Stephen…you’re going the wrong way.”
He stays silent, not moving a muscle.
“Stephen?” I glance over at him, but he still doesn’t answer.
I stay calm. I can’t afford to stress any more, not when my baby’s life could be hanging by a thread.
I look back at the road. We’ve reached the highway.
There are no hospitals in this direction, just trees and open road for miles.
My heart starts to pound in my chest.
“Stephen, what’s going on?”
He still doesn’t look at me. His jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle ticking, and sweat beads at his temple despite the air conditioning coming through the vents.
“Come on, please, talk to me.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Ciara. I didn’t want to do this.”
“Do what?” A cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. “Stephen, what are you talking about?”
His grip tightens on the wheel. The way he’s refusing to look me in the eye has me shifting in my seat.
Something is very, very wrong.
“What do you mean you didn’t want to do this?” I slowly slide my hand toward my jacket pocket where my phone is.
I don’t risk pulling it out and flooding the car with light. Instead, I curl my hands around the device and shift my wrist until I can tap the back of the phone twice just below the logo.
It’s something I’ve rehearsed a dozen times, but a move I never actually thought I would need.
To Stephen, the movement is so subtle he hasn’t noticed, but inside, the shortcut has been triggered, and I know Ronan’s phone will be lighting up with an incoming call from me.
I just have to hope he’s able to answer.
“It’s not about you. If it were just me…” Stephen shakes his head, his throat bobbing. “I would die before I let anything happen to you, I swear to God.”
His words offer me very little comfort.
“But…”
“But my wife and kids.” His throat bobs up and down. “Declan said if I didn’t deliver you to him, he would kill them.”
“As in…Declan Walsh?”
“Yes.”
“Stephen—” I try to keep my voice calm, try to breathe through the mounting terror, but I feel like someone is sitting on my chest. “There has to be another way. We can protect them. You don’t have to do this.”
He finally glances at me, and there’s guilt in his eyes. Real, gut-wrenching guilt.
“You don’t know what he’s capable of. They sent me photos of my little boys, of my wife playing with them in the garden. Declan’s got people watching them every minute of the day.”
He’s right. I don’t know what Declan is capable of, but I also don’t want to be the reason we don’t find out.
There has to be another way out of this. The only silver lining is that I’m no longer in pain.
“Stephen, help me understand here, why now? Why tonight?”
“He gave me a deadline, and I stalled as long as I could. But after the safe house massacre…” His voice breaks, and if I wasn’t so terrified, I might almost feel sorry for him. “He changed the timeline.”
“How long has this been going on?”
Stephen’s jaw clenches. “Weeks, maybe longer? He first approached me before Max died, and I tried to resist, I really did. But then the threats started.”
“Why didn’t you come to Ronan? You know he would have helped you.”
“I thought maybe I could find a way out on my own...”
You thought wrong.
The reality has my eyes stinging with tears as the highway stretches on around us.
It’s the middle of the night, and I can count on one hand the number of cars that have passed us in the last few minutes.
I’m desperate to pull out my phone to see if the call connected and if Ronan heard Stephen’s confession, but I can’t risk it.
I might once have considered Stephen my friend, but it’s clear that when it comes to his family, I mean nothing to him. I’m just a pawn. One that is worth sacrificing.
I’m not even sure I can blame him. When I think of my own child, who I haven’t even gotten to hold yet, I know that I would do anything for them. I would sacrifice my own life if it meant they got to live.
My eyes flick to the side mirror, and my heart skips a beat as I notice a car behind us. The bright yellow lights slice through the darkness as they gain on us at an ungodly speed.
Could this be Ronan?
I have no idea if it is or not, but what I do know is that I can’t wait to find out.
Before I can overthink it, I brace my legs and shift my weight in the seat before leaning over and grabbing the steering wheel.
“Ciara, NO!” Stephen roars.
The car veers hard to the right, and Stephen tries to correct it, but I yank it again, this time with every ounce of strength I can muster.
The tires screech, and we plummet off the road, my scream lodged in my throat as the car hits a ditch and flips.
Glass shatters, and my body becomes almost weightless as the world spins around me.
My seatbelt digs painfully into my neck, trying to keep me locked down as the car continues to spin.
As quickly as it happened, it’s over, and the world becomes still once more.
Blood coats my mouth, and my ears ring as smoke tickles my throat.
I force my eyes open.
The entire front end of the car is crushed, and I try to move, but pain shoots through my side, and I cry out.
Stephen is silent beside me, but I don’t want to risk turning my head in case I cause more damage. I hope he’s not dead for the sake of his wife and kids, but I had no other choice. Their lives weren’t the only ones at stake.
I try to fumble for my seatbelt, but my hands are shaking so badly I can’t undo it.
I’m completely trapped here.
The engine is billowing out smoke.
What if the engine explodes?
“Oh God, oh God,” I try to undo my seatbelt again.
“Ciara!”
Ronan.
A strangled sob escapes me at the sound of his voice.
I glance out of the corner of my eye and see him ripping open the door, his dark eyes wide with a combination of fury and panic.
“Ciara…”
The sound of his voice is enough to send me into a fit of sobs. I can barely breathe as every emotion possible hits me all at once.
Ronan’s arms are around me, pulling me out of the car with such care that I only sob harder.
He holds me against his chest as he carries me away from the wreckage. “I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”
I cling to him, shaking uncontrollably as I catch sight of the wrecked car.
There’s no sign that Stephen is even still alive, and that realization has me completely coming apart.
“Stephen…h-he was going to—”
“I know. I heard everything.”
“Y-you did?” I look up at him.
“You did good, baby. You did fucking perfect.”
I nod as my throat tightens.
“Brennan, open the car door. I need to get Ciara inside.”
Brennan appears like a shadow, opening the back door of the SUV so Ronan can help me inside.
He sets me down so gently, as if I might shatter at any moment.
I hold him tighter. “I didn’t think I would see you again.”
Pain flashes in Ronan’s eyes as they flick up to meet mine.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He reaches out to cup my face. “Does it hurt, Tine Bheag?”
“I…” My face crumples, my mind and body too overcome with exhaustion to even offer him an answer.
“Try not to move too much, okay?” He looks calm, though I can see the concern on his face.
Blood drips down the side of my face and floods my mouth, so I’m sure I look pretty beaten up. But cuts can be stitched up. What I need to know is if my baby is all right.
“Ronan,” I gasp. “The baby—”
But Ronan’s no longer paying attention to me. Instead, he turns to look over at the smoking wreckage, and before I can even open my mouth to scream, he starts to sprint toward it.
“Ronan!” Brennan yells.
“I’m getting him out!”
Brennan’s eyes widen. “It’s going to explode! Have you got a death wish?”
I can only watch, frozen, as Ronan dives back into the smoking wreck.
The smoke is so thick that I can barely make him out as he fights with the driver's side door.
I’m half climbing out of the car to go after him, but Brennan’s arm locks around my waist, holding me back. I try to fight against him, but my limbs feel like lead, and I don’t have the energy to push him off.
Then the screaming starts. It’s so loud that my head throbs, though that might be from where I hit it against the window as the car flipped.
Where is it coming from?
Oh god, it’s me. I’m the one screaming, but I can’t seem to stop…
Suddenly, through the smoke, Ronan emerges, dragging a half-conscious Stephen behind him. Blood drips down his temple, and his leg is bent at an odd angle, but he’s alive. For now, at least.
I sag against Brennan’s arms, my throat raw and dry.
“Call the others!” Ronan calls out. “We need a medic. He’s no use to us dead!”
“Fucks’ sake.” Brennan drops one of his arms from around my waist to reach for his phone. “Ciara, get back in the car—”
I take my opportunity to break free from Brennan’s hold and sprint toward Ronan, throwing myself against his chest.
He gasps as I knock the air from his lungs, but then his arms are around me, crushing my body against him.
Everything hurts, and my head spins, but I don’t care. All I want is to stay in the safety of his arms and never let go.
I take in his scent, now tainted by the smoke, but still feeling like home. “You could have died.”
“But I didn’t.”
I pull back and smack him on the chest. “You could have been blown apart! What the hell were you thinking—”
“I was thinking I need him alive. So we can finish this, once and for all.”
Ronan takes my wrist and brings it to his lips. kissing the inside of my wrist, and my anger melts away at the contact.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was the mole?”
“Because I didn’t know, not until Tamara called me.” He moves to cup my face, swiping his thumb over my lip. It comes away bloody, and a crease forms between Ronan’s brows as he looks down at it.
I blink. “Tamara?”
“She hadn’t seen him in days, and she knew something was off.”
I close my eyes as a cold chill washes over me.
Stephen groans nearby, and Ronan tenses against me.
“He was never going to walk away from this. Declan has had him on a leash for weeks.”
“He didn’t want to hurt me. And I’m here, aren’t I? Isn’t that enough?”
“Because you forced his hand.” Ronan’s voice turns icy. “He would have handed you over to Declan if you hadn’t acted first.”
As much as I hate to admit it, Ronan is right.
His arms tighten around me, and I rest my head against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.
He kisses the top of my head. “I’m so proud of you.”
A sob escapes my throat as I sink my fingers into his shirt, pulling him closer.
“I thought I was going to die.”
“But you didn’t. Because you’re the toughest woman I’ve ever met, and I love you so much, Tine Bheag.”
Something in my chest splinters, but in a good way.
I used to hate that nickname, but after tonight, I know that I will look forward to it every day for the rest of my life because it means Ronan is at my side.