Chapter 48 Ian
The McGinty operation was good sized and well placed.
It was a farm with a small airfield. Most of the area around appeared to be farmland, but that was simply a cover for a very elaborate set of buildings that housed the family operation.
I followed Lucas and Rossi into the farmhouse that doubled as a guest house for all of their people.
“Come with me and I’ll show ya what we have so far on the Kelly family.”
Lucas walked down a long flight of stairs into a basement type room.
Years ago it might have been used for vegetable or garden storage, but now it was a state-of-the-art conference room.
A board on the wall had schematics and other information about the Kelly compound.
“As ya can see, we have been workin’ on findin’ their weak spot for a while now. It’s not like we could just waltz in and ask for your lady back. We’ve lost a few others that could have been saved if we’d had access to their underground areas.”
Lucas pointed to the terrain surrounding what looked like an old castle. “There aren’t any blueprints because they’ve added on to the original building. It’s not like they’re super into doing things by the book.”
I stepped closer to get a better look at everything. “They can see anyone coming for miles around. Any trees or forested areas have been cleared out. There is no way to sneak up on them.”
I paced, getting desperate. “It’s been twenty-four hours, and Collette isn’t going to have much time with the monster torturing her.”
“We understand that, but there is only so much we can do without puttin’ our own people in harm’s way. We’d like to help as much as we can, yet the Kellys are ruthless.”
Lucas apologized.
I kept my rage and fear off my face..
“There have been feelers put out among our contacts, and we are tryin’ our best to find him. If they took her to the Kelly’s cages, then the outlook isn’t great.”
“They called us.”
I pointed out. “Well, they let her talk to me. After telling me to leave town, they’re supposed to contact us with their ransom demand.”
“Ha, well, that’s a new one. Phone calls with ransoms aren’t normally done. They’ll probably let her out when she’s on the brink of death.”
Lucas shook his head apologetically. “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it don’t look good.”
“She’s there with Sergi Ivanov.”
My tone couldn’t get any flatter
Lucas sighed and rubbed his hand over his face.
“What’s the plan of action?”
I looked between the two men. “She can’t stay there and you’re saying there’s no way to rescue her, and just sitting here is not an option.”
“No, we are goin’ into town to meet one of our contacts that has the inside scoop on what’s goin’ on at the Kelly residence. If Collette is there, then we can come up with a plan to make things happen. We don’t want to go in guns blazin’ and find out she was in some cottage on the coast,”
Lucas spoke carefully.
“All right. So on the assumption that she’s at the main residence, how are we going to be able to get her out? It’s not like there are a lot of resources.”
“There might be a way to have the people at Interpol be alerted that an American is being held against his will. This will be used only as a last resort because that will have a lot of ramifications that go with it.”
Lucas warned. “The Kellys have their own network and will move Collette before the police can do anything. They won’t take something like that lying down, and they’ll be out for blood later on.”
“Which is why we don’t want to do that unless we can’t get to him in any other way.”
Rossi agreed. “No point in starting a feud that will cost a lot of lives. Covert is better.”
“Can we split up and do some recon to find out what the area looks like?”
I didn’t want wait. “I could go do that while you guys are meeting your informant.”
If we split up, it would make things easier and a little faster, but Rossi wouldn’t hear of it. He was shaking his head before I could even finish what I was saying.
“Well, someone knows we’ve come to Ireland. The sooner we can find out where he is, the sooner we can get out of here. I’m not saying let’s go on a joyride or anything. We would have to stay off the main roads, but it’s not like they know for sure what we’re driving. Unless you have someone here in your organization that would be giving them information about us.”
I raised an eyebrow in Lucas’ direction.
Not that I wanted to accuse him of something, but if he had a contact in the Kelly organization, then it was only reasonable that the Kellys would have one in the McGintys’ organization.
“That’s why I’m the only person that is goin’ to know exactly what is goin’ on with the two of you. Others might have an idea, but I don’t want the Kellys to get wind of your presence in thee country.”
Lucas reassured me. “Them findin’ out you are here and with us, would really stir the pot and blood would start spillin’.”
He glanced at his watch.
“Time for us to go. You really need to stay here. Once we’ve made contact, then we can see about stakin’ out the Kelly’s operation, but until then we don’t need you dead or kidnapped either.”
I grunted in answer.
“You can hang out here until we get back.”
Lucas showed me the large living room that looked to be very comfortable. “Sara will make sure that you have anythin’ that you need. She’s nice and can help if you have questions about life in Ireland.”
I nodded with a fake smile pasted on. At least he couldn’t see my thoughts because I wanted to strangle both men.
This wasn’t the plan. I couldn’t just sit here like a damsel in distress, but there wasn’t anything for me to do, either. It would be idiotic of me to leave and traipse around Ireland alone with a target plastered on my back.
The other two had barely left when my new burner phone rang.
“Is this Ian Holdt?”
“Yes, who is this?”
I glanced at the phone with suspicion.
“I’m the one you’re looking for. We need to talk. Just you.”
The voice whispered. “I’ll have some answers for you.”
“First, how did you get this number? Second, how do I know this isn’t a trap?”
I snapped.
“Look, I get that you shouldn’t trust me. My dad isn’t goin’ to let me go, not ever, but if we can get Collette back to you, then I’ll settle for that.”
She knew the correct names and was right about me not trusting her. I could only hope that she hadn’t frauded Andrew into a relationship.
“Just come to Sandymount. There’s a touristy coffee shop—the Coffee Spot where we’ll be in public. I have green hair, and you’ll be able to spot me when you get inside.”
She hung up before I could protest further.
The board by the door held a couple of sets of keys. When I walked outside and beeped the key fob, one of the cars lit up.
With renewed concentration, I took into account that I needed to stay on the other side of the road. It had been a while.
The new burner phone had GPS on it, so I punched in the town's name and coffee shop. Sandymount was about a twenty-minute drive from the farmhouse. The terrain started to change quickly from farms to urban.
The shop wasn’t crowded because I’d arrived between the morning rush and the lunch rush.
Sure enough, there was a woman with bright green hair facing the room.
“Heather?”
I questioned, walking over to sit across from her.
“Yes, and you must be Ian. Andrew described you exactly.”
She held out a hand, and I took it.
She had soft green eyes, and light freckles across her nose, with fair skin. She was pretty, and exactly who I would’ve pictured my friend falling for.
Sadness graced her features. “I’m really sorry we never got to meet when he was alive.”
We stopped talking when a waitress came over to take our orders.
“Tell me how you met?”
Colette would want to know..
“We both got into the same hired car because we’d ordered one. It was a thirty-minute trip and somethin’ about him just pulled me in. Before I knew it, I’d gotten out with him and we were going to dinner.”
A dreamy look filled her face and she looked off as if she were gazing at a memory. “That’s all it was—a dream. It could never be anything more than that.”
“If he had lived, it would have been a lifetime together for the two of you. Even with horrible odds, he was still trying to find you.”
I wanted her to know that Andrew would never have left her on her own with the baby.
Her shrug of hopelessness echoed the feeling that kept trying to build in me when I thought about Collette’s situation. “The universe was against us. My father would never have let him live, no matter if he had gotten me away from here.”
I wasn’t someone who generally believed in happy endings, but Andrew was someone that deserved to have one. He was the better person out of the two of us.
“At least you have the baby to remember him by.”
I offered it as a consolation prize.
“Oh, you don’t know?”
A tear streaked down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. “My father took the baby from me. Then instead of having him sold to the people he wanted to sell him to, my sister snuck him out and gave him to someone completely off my father’s radar. I don’t know where he is except that he’s in a better place and won’t have to deal with being a mafia boss’s unwanted grandson.”
Heather started to choke up and collected herself.
My heart crashed against my chest. That was terrible, and it would hurt COllette so much.
“That’s horrible. I know he’s your father, but can we kill him for you?”
I paused after he words left my lips. “I’m sorry, he’s your dad. That was rude.”
“No,”
she laughed. “Andrew said you’d say something like that. He didn’t mean to keep Collette in the dark for long. We were just wrapped up with each other at first. Then my father started takin’ steps to look for me. That put the kibosh on anythin’ goin’ public about our relationship. Andy was so excited that we were goin’ to have a baby.” She got a dreamy eyed look again. “He wanted to have a family.”
I took in what she had to say. Andy always wanted a family. He died for it. As I was wiling to die for a chance at that with Collette.
“At least the baby has a shot at a good life with a nice set of parents. I will be content with that.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
I asked tentatively.
“My father killed my fiance. He’s kidnapped your girlfriend and may decide to kill her. Do you really think that’s the best place for a child to grow up?”
The hate coming out of her eyes reminded me of myself.
“I just know that growing up without parents really sucked. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It’s horrible, but I get where you’re coming from.”
“No, you really don’t. Sure, livin’ in several homes and havin’ sexual abuse isn’t fun. I get that, but that was my daily life and my father let it happen to us. He didn’t care if his top men took their fill of us girls. After all, that’s what we were born for, anyway. Why not make sure that we knew our place?”
Her body shook with anger and memories. “My son would have become just like them. This way he has a home with parents that will love him. It’s the best we could do. It was the best I could do.”
I wasn’t used to having to apologize or express empathy for others. “I’m sorry I upset you.”
“Not your problem. I can help you with the one you have, though.”
Heather leaned forward. “Here are the codes, best times, and where Collette is being held. You need to try to get to her in the next two days. I can’t guarantee that the codes won’t change after that.”
“What about you? That was the other problem we wanted to help with.”
She got up. “There is nothin’ you can do about it. I’m supposed to marry someone in the next few weeks and if I disappear now, they’ll scorch the earth lookin’ for me. I’m a lost cause.”
She looked me straight in the eye. “Ian, save Collette and don’t look back.”
I watched her walk out of the cafe. Then I grabbed the folded papers she left behind, which would be just what we were looking for to get Collette out.
Rossi would be pissed that I was gone, but I’d come back with a plan of action. He’d get over it.
It was time to bring my woman home.