Chapter 17 #3
He finished the last of his coffee and picked up one of his napkins. He used a pen to write a message to Jim then he slid the napkin across the table. The message warned him they were being watched.
Jim nonchalantly glanced at the napkin before tapping a finger once on the table.
“Yes.” The single tap was clear.
Cormac casually glanced around the diner and noticed the exit sign leading to the back door. Jim followed his gaze with a barely perceptible twist of his head. Another protocol they’ve used over the years. Exit out the back, but make it look casual.
Cormac slid out of his booth and went to pay the bill. He then headed toward the men’s restroom before pausing in front of the door, then slipped out into the back alleyway. He collided with a fry cook who had been throwing away a bag of trash in the dumpster.
“Sorry,” the man apologized and wiped his hands on his apron before he slid past Cormac in the tight confines of the exit door and headed back inside the diner. He called out something out to the other fry cook who laughed, but Cormac wasn’t paying attention.
A few moments later Jim joined him and they headed to their car parked a few streets away.
It was finally time to head to Chicago. He knew where the woman was now.
Thanks to Jim’s man in Chicago who’d collected a hair sample, they were able to determine it was Sean’s daughter.
There were no doubts now. He had Kara O’Brien in his sights, and within a few days she would be his.
Atlas Drake removed his apron and tossed it into the laundry bin the back of the restaurant in the employee room and pulled out a cell phone. He logged onto his Black Widow tracking app and made sure that the two dots were slowly progressing away from his location.
“Atlas, we need another round of fries,” Margot, one of the diner waitresses said from the doorway of the employee room.
She was a cute little thing with big green eyes and dark brown hair pulled up in a ponytail that made him want to grab it as he kissed her senseless. She was innocent and sweet, too sweet for a man with his tastes and appetites. But damn he liked her smile.
“Sure thing, Margot.” He grinned at the woman.
She blushed deeply and scurried off. Atlas chuckled.
He didn’t bother putting out a fresh apron he simply tossed fries into the oil and started to cook them.
He waited just long enough for them to be done, then he was out of here.
Job done. At least in New York, because he was certain the two Irishmen he’d been surveilling were leaving for Chicago right now.
He’d been afraid for a second, he’d been made when he’d been dropping the trash out in the alley and he had used the opportunity to tag both men with trackers on their jackets, but neither man had said a word to him, or barely even looked at him.
He waited for the other fry cook to step in after he’d finish cooking a couple burgers and then Atlas paused one last time in the hallway leading to the back door.
His team had chosen the diner because one of his targets, Jim O’Leary, kept coming back to it every morning for breakfast. Atlas had worked here for only a week, but it been fun.
He had almost forgotten what fun was like.
Then with a sigh, he turned and pulled on his leather jacket and headed out the back door the same way his targets had. He dialed Asher on the way. It was a few hours past midnight, but he knew his friend would answer.
“Yeah?” Asher voice was quiet.
“Callahan and O’Leary are on the move. I tagged them but I wanted you know.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll follow them and head your way.” Atlas said, hanging up as he trotted faster toward his car at the end of the dark street. It was New Year’s Day and the smell of fireworks still lingered in the air as Atlas reached his vehicle. He paused, turning back toward the diner one last time.
Margot’s face flashed through his mind. He should have told her he was leaving.
Shit… he was going to go back and tell her goodbye.
He was twenty feet away from SUV when the world behind him went up in flames. He was thrown into the street, colliding with a parked car. Pain ricocheted through his entire body.
Hell... Callahan had somehow figured out he was being tailed. Atlas had no idea if they’d known it was him, or just figured out which car he’d been driving, but either way, the two Dubliners knew they were being followed, and they were going to be way more careful in their movements.
People rushed into the street, screaming as they saw his SUV turn into a deadly inferno. His cell phone lay a foot away from his hand, cracked and dead. He had to warn Asher he been made.
“Atlas?” Margot, the cute waitress from the diner was kneeling down by him. When had she gotten there?
“Don’t move, okay? You’re bleeding.”
Gingerly, he touched his temple and his fingers came away covered in blood. He felt fine though. Head wounds always bled more seriously than their injuries often were.
“Margot, I need to borrow your phone.”
She handed him her cell phone without question and he dialed Asher back.
“I’ve been made.”