Chapter 27
Halle
I didn’t look too bad if I said so myself.
While I certainly wasn’t a hat person, the little twist of fate had allowed me to walk right by the two brutes keeping guard without them taking a second look.
It hadn’t hurt that I’d switched clothes with my sister.
Although the jeans were a tiny bit too large, the well-dressed soldiers hadn’t noticed.
Neither had the reporters outside the building.
God. When would they quit and leave me alone?
In borrowing my sister’s car, I was assured anonymity at least until I reached O’Leary’s. Liam was always at the bar. I’d almost never caught him at home. I was honestly beginning to wonder how he’d managed to stay married all these years.
His wife was a nice person, although she’d never really liked me.
Neither had Liam’s father. He’d kept to himself, allowing Liam to run the show.
If what I was thinking was found true, I’d tell Liam’s wife the best thing she could do was to leave the man before she and her kids were placed in harm’s way as I’d been.
I’d let her know her husband was knee deep in a gambling debt.
And extortion. That’s what he’d done with the insurance money.
I’d made a couple of calls, putting pressure on the attorney to provide me with actual details.
Of course, he’d ignored them, forcing me to leave voicemails without going into any detail.
If what I was thinking was true, my visit wouldn’t be a complete surprise, but Liam wouldn’t know the extent of my inquiry.
Or the extreme anger furrowing inside.
Liam had strung me along and had lied to me. He’d known how hard I was trying to make ends meet and he’d still stolen my money. Why would he do this? I might not be able to get the money back, but I would get a damn answer.
Sean had been invited to a few poker games.
He’d attended a couple, but he’d told me the stakes were low.
He’d even returned home with winnings, but the dollar amount had enabled us to purchase a car seat with change left over.
Maybe he’d been covering for his brother.
Family did come first and since the patriarch hadn’t approved of the marriage, I’d thought myself lucky that Liam had both continued to talk with me and had given me a job.
If for no other reason than Emily’s sake.
I still couldn’t fathom that Sean had been involved with selling drugs.
That just didn’t make sense. Yet it would be reckless of me not to consider all possibilities.
Did I want to ruin his reputation? Would that make me happier?
Of course not, but I did deserve to know whether his death had been an accident.
Thoughts of my daughter lingered in my mind. She had a right to have a normal life.
With my parents both deceased, at least she’d had other family to count on for birthdays and holidays. Only not one O’Leary had made time for her.
Now I was forced to face what I’d already suspected. The few niceties had been all about keeping me on a short leash so the insurance and settlement money could be acquired and stolen.
Goddamn it, I was so angry I didn’t care about what he said to me. I was going to confront him so he knew I would be taking him to court.
As I climbed from Kristine’s Toyota, I glanced across the street at the bar.
It was barely two in the afternoon, yet the place was full of customers.
I eyed the street and sighed. While Las Vegas didn’t have a specific geographic area indicating a heavy Irish population, two streets consisting of almost twenty blocks housed more Irish pubs and businesses than anywhere else.
The dense population had increased during the last five years with a huge change in business hands in the last year. I’d noticed that myself as well as hearing chatter from the bar patrons.
And they were all looking at the O’Leary family as unofficial leaders of some solidarity movement.
The first time I’d heard the term, I’d laughed.
At that point, I’d known a hell of a lot about a good number of them by the shit they tossed around in the bar after a few shots of whiskey.
But the chatter had continued and I’d realized the O’Learys were dangerous.
Whatever was going on, Liam was very unhappy I’d stumbled into the situation.
What had finally prompted me to find the courage to confront him was that I hadn’t received a call from him.
Not one. Not asking why I hadn’t shown up for work or if I was okay after the ordeal I’d been through.
Even worse, there was no way he hadn’t seen the news about Emily’s abduction.
The news had leaked so damn fast every single television station in town had carried it as if I was a famous celebrity.
He hadn’t called just to see if his own niece was okay whether physically, mentally, or emotionally.
That had told me everything I needed to know. I wanted nothing to do with the family. I could get my money back somehow. Some way. Yet, I needed distance. And I didn’t care if they liked that I was spending time with Alexsey.
I threw my hat into the passenger seat, tousled my hair, and patted my back pocket. Since my weapon was still back at the house and I hadn’t thought about asking Kristine to bring it for me, all I had was a Swiss Army knife Sean had given me as a Christmas gift our first year together.
Maybe it would come in handy for keeping me safe.
After glancing at both sides of the street, I jogged in between traffic to the other side. Another deep breath and I threw open the door.
The very first time I’d walked into the bar, the entire crowd had stopped talking, turning their heads toward me with scowls on their faces. Until they’d noticed Sean walking in behind me.
Even then, their attitudes had barely been friendly. Sean had even made an announcement that I was his girl. That had been the only reason they’d treated me with anything other than a cold shoulder.
After that, I’d been one of the crew then a member of the family. They’d looked past the fact I wasn’t Irish. Yet I’d never truly felt as if I was a member of the family.
Just tolerated.
As soon as I walked in, I relived that first moment all over again.
It took a couple of seconds for the group of burly men and a few women to realize who’d walked in through the door. As soon as they’d digested who was standing in front of them, you could have heard a pin drop. That didn’t deter me in the least.
I walked in past them, nodding to a couple as I headed for the bar.
Finn was behind the bar, Sean’s best friend and a guy who carried both a switchblade and a pistol with him wherever he went. After finishing rubbing a glass dry and placing it on the bar, he tossed the towel, placing both fisted hands on the edge. His glare was harsher than the others.
He was considered the bouncer or given what I knew about Alexsey, more of an enforcer. He’d followed me to the car more than once after my shift. I’d thought it had been to ensure my safety.
Now I was beginning to think otherwise.
I caught the eye of a man on my right, his eyes more imploring than the others. As if he was warning me to be careful.
“How are you doing, Patty? Is Margaret feeling any better?” I asked one of the regulars, an old guy with a big heart.
While he appeared sheepish, he smiled. “Doing fine.” I had a feeling the guy sitting next to him punched him under the table since Patty turned away from me as if I had the plague.
That forced me to purposely glance toward another asshole who’d recently been hitting on me. “Hey, Rory. Still interested in that drink or you just prefer pawing me for free?” At least my caustic words had caused his face to pop a shade of beet red.
I swung around again, looking from one to the other.
While they didn’t resume their conversations, they acted like I wasn’t in the room.
I tried to think of something to say to all of them.
It was strange how I’d never cared whether they’d liked me or not.
This wasn’t high school. But today it felt wrong. I deserved better.
But in trying to find those right words, tears kept coming to my eyes instead of a perfect statement. Thankfully, the television was droning on about whatever afternoon bullshit was going on and that allowed a cover for any strangled sound I might make.
As my luck would have it, a news bulletin flashed onto the screen about my worst nightmare. My daughter’s kidnapping. I immediately lifted my head, studying the screen.
With no one talking, I could hear what was being said.
“The kidnapping of a local kindergarten student has parents frightened for their children.” At least this reporter was decent enough not to mention my name as others had done before. It still made me angry that there was a chance my baby girl would be forced to relive the horror all over again.
The fact that not a single man inside the bar or Finn was paying any attention to the news shouldn’t upset me. They couldn’t care less about anything in their lives but what was important to them.
However today, I was livid.
“Do you see the picture on the television set up there?” My voice was raised and I pointed to the television. And was ignored.
When I didn’t hear anything and not a single person in the bar even grunted in my direction, I spun around in a circle.
“Hey! I’m talking to you. Listen to me and pay attention.
” Yes, I’d raised my voice and yes, I was bordering on losing my shit, but I was through with playing the victim of some crazy turf war.
“That story about a child being kidnapped? Well, guess what? That was my daughter, Emily. Sean’s daughter.
She was stolen from her school on the first day of kindergarten in broad daylight by two nutcases.
Do you know what could have happened to her?
Do you have any idea the kind of nightmares she’ll have for years to come, maybe the rest of her life? Do you even care?”