Chapter 50 Conal
Conal
God, it was fucking hot in this country.
The scent of ozone and rain still lingered in the air as we stepped out of the terminal building.
The humidity made my shirt stick to my skin like glue.
That and all the sweating I’d done while soothing angry airport security personnel who wanted to arrest our asses, thanks to the fucking Karen-bitch Ronan had pissed off.
Our trip had been a waste of time. We both knew Declan wouldn't hang around once he tracked Verity down, but even for him, flying straight out without letting us see her was a dick move.
Ronan was one step away from going full psycho on his ass. He'd been losing his shit ever since we found out she'd done a runner. Naturally, he blamed me. Said it was my fault for not dealing with our unhinged sister.
In his opinion, if I'd shut down Saoirse's bullshit and reminded her of the problematic things she'd kept from Verity, none of this would have happened. Instead, I'd allowed our sister to act like a spoiled brat when, in truth, none of us had done anything wrong.
Maybe I was at fault for not de-escalating things. I usually played the peacekeeper in our house, acting as a mediator when my siblings fought. But not this time.
Instead of appeasing my sister, I'd walked out.
Only I'd forgotten how much Verity hated conflict. Running away was her default mechanism when she couldn't handle shit. It was why she'd left after Ronan dragged her from the sea, the night she nearly drowned.
One day soon, I'd take her to a psychotherapist, kicking and screaming if necessary.
She and Ronan could have counseling together.
Both of them needed help, albeit for different reasons.
Him, because he was a certifiable lunatic, and her, because she needed to talk to someone about her fucked up childhood.
"We need to get to the private jet terminal," Ronan snapped, stating the bloody obvious as per usual.
"I know. It's two miles away." Or so Google said.
"We can run that." Ronan hefted his bag and looked at me. "Which way?"
"I'm not fucking sprinting in this heat!" I pointed at the waiting cabs. Had our ma dropped him on his head as a baby? "Come on."
I jumped into the first cab and explained in my rusty Italian where we wanted to go. Just as the crappy pile of shit car pulled away from the curb, my phone rang.
"Let me guess, you're about to taxi down the runway," I huffed with a sigh.
"No. We're in the terminal building. Verity's gone."
"Gone?" How the fuck had he lost her again?
"She went to the bathroom and disappeared. Looks like someone followed us here and saw an opportunity to take her."
Ronan snatched the phone out of my hand.
"You better fucking explain how and why you let that happen!"
I snatched it back and brought up Google Maps again.
"We're two minutes away. Meet us outside."
The cab driver put his foot down when I glared menacingly at him. Our brother stood waiting when we pulled up outside the terminal.
"I called Milo. He's trying to locate her now."
Oh fuck. Thea would find out we'd lost her sister again. Knowing her, she'd go nuclear.
"So, what's the plan?" We needed to get away from here. There were too many security people hovering with guns for my liking.
"Head back to the hotel and wait for Milo's update."
Declan looked like he'd aged 10 years in the last three days. Knowing him, he blamed himself. Frankly, I blamed him too. And judging by the murderous looks Ronan kept throwing in his direction, Ro was more than ready to kill him.
I clenched my fists in frustration. Fighting among ourselves wouldn't help Verity. We needed to pull together and work as a team. It was our only chance of finding her before anything bad happened.
"That's not a fucking plan! I'm not sitting in a fucking hotel room while my Pixie suffers."
Declan ignored the two of us, turning away to take a call. "Send me the map," he barked before waving Ash and Connor over.
"Milo thinks he's located her."
"Thank fuck for that." I huffed out a sigh of relief.
The sooner we rescued our girl, the sooner I could start making things right with her.