Chapter 31 #2
"We found an archive at the farmhouse," Irish said. Brennan's attention sharpened.
"An archive?"
"Da hid records behind his study wall. Saint Brigid's.
Covenant. Harrow. Transfers. Financials.
Medical. He left a letter saying the house was being watched and that if anything happened, it wasn't robbery.
" Nobody spoke for several seconds. Brennan looked toward Maverick, then Cipher, then back at Irish.
"You have the original letter?"
"Secured."
"Where?" Irish's expression closed. I touched the back of his hand lightly, and when he looked at me, I let the gesture remind him that he didn't have to decide alone rather than trying to stop him. He exhaled.
"Farmhouse."
Brennan nodded. "Nobody touches it until forensic preservation is arranged."
"Already photographed."
"Good."
Irish looked almost surprised. Brennan's voice softened slightly. "Mr. O'Brien, if the material is what you say it is, the murders will be formally reviewed."
"Reviewed?"
"Reopened if evidence establishes a credible connection."
Irish's jaw tightened. Cipher cut in before the frustration could become something sharper. "It does."
Brennan looked toward the screen. Cipher displayed Declan's warning letter.
Then the Harrow correspondence. Then a Saint Brigid's internal security memo dated two days before the murders.
O'Brien residence under observation. Primary documents unconfirmed.
Household composition verified. My stomach turned.
Irish stopped breathing. Brennan swore quietly.
That file changed everything, not emotionally so much as legally and operationally.
The murders had not merely occurred after Declan threatened to expose the network.
The organization had documented surveillance of the O'Brien household immediately before four members of that household were killed. Brennan looked at Irish.
"I'll make the call myself."
Irish didn't answer. His attention remained on the words household composition verified.
I knew exactly who he was seeing in those words: Siobhan, Maeve, Finn, and himself.
The Order had turned his family into another administrative record before destroying it.
I stepped closer this time. His fingers found mine without looking.
Dr. Moran watched but didn't interrupt. Cipher moved on.
"We also have another development." Something in his tone shifted every person near the vehicle back into the present.
"Croft?" Trigger asked.
"Yes." Irish looked up. My heart accelerated.
"Where?"
"Manchester." I stared at the screen. Cipher pulled up a still image from a hospital security camera. Dr. Helena Croft appeared near a reception desk wearing a dark coat and glasses, her hair pulled back. Even grainy and partially turned away, I recognized her immediately.
"When?" I asked.
"Three hours ago."
"Why would she go to a hospital?"
"Because one of the residents she removed during the Croft House evacuation deteriorated." Anger flashed through me.
"She took someone with her?"
"Apparently. Woman in her early twenties. Severe dehydration, medication complications, possible withdrawal from something Croft had been administering. Croft brought her in under a false name and tried to leave once staff started asking questions."
Irish's voice hardened. "Tried?" Cipher's expression shifted.
"She was detained." I stared at him.
"Croft is in custody?"
"As of twenty-six minutes ago." Relief came so suddenly I almost didn't trust it.
"How?"
"Eli had every identity and vehicle connection we could build flagged through the protected channels Toxic's counsel arranged after Croft House.
Hospital security scanned her face when she entered.
Local police had enough to hold her on false identity and obstruction until the Croft House warrant caught up. "
Trigger exhaled. Raze muttered something deeply enthusiastic about technology.
I barely heard either of them. Dr. Croft was in custody, not because Irish had chased her through the tunnel, somebody had shot her, or revenge had finally caught up with her, but because the evidence had.
The patient she had brought in was alive. That mattered more.
"Is the woman okay?" I asked.
Cipher nodded. "Critical but stable. Doctors believe she got there in time." I closed my eyes for a moment. Irish's thumb moved once across the back of my hand. When I opened them, Inspector Brennan was watching us.
"Same Dr. Croft associated with this property?"
"Same network," Trigger said. "Different facility in England." Brennan looked toward Saint Brigid's.
"How large is this thing?"