Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
It is the last place I expect him to want to meet.
Eriksen.
The warehouse is dilapidated, vines growing over and through leftover barrels, abandoned cars. Anything they can grow on, they take over without remorse, spreading across the graveled lot. We haven’t brought any men with us.
There is no need.
It wasn’t easy to reach him. We had to be sure that Lina didn’t intercept any messages. If she did, we would all be dead, and so would Bailey.
Fuck.
Bailey.
I can tell from Kiernan’s downcast look that the guilt over what happened to her is overwhelming him.
Ava reamed him, no doubt spurring the feeling of regret even further.
I had counseled him against handing her over, but he had been sure that nothing would happen to her.
That he and Seamus could easily get to her once Crowe’s indiscretions were revealed.
He doesn’t know the man like I do.
Doesn’t know what he is capable of.
For once, I wish I hadn’t let my son learn from the consequences of his own actions.
I have always allowed them to experience what it means to fail.
Unless it would harm them physically. And even then, I was not too worried about a few bruises or broken bones.
They needed to learn that every action has a reaction.
Sometimes it is good, but other times there are real consequences.
He is feeling that now.
Kiernan couldn’t have known what would happen to her, but he should have thought about the worst-case scenario. He knew Crowe wasn’t a good man. He was aware of what had happened to Bailey in the past. I explained to him what she told me the night she broke into the safe.
Still, he chose to move forward.
And I did nothing.
Now, I stand with my sons in a warehouse that time has frozen.
Nothing has changed since the night of the massacre.
Nothing is out of place. You can still see the bloodstains clinging to what is left of the rotted wood floors.
Bullet holes riddle the metal walls, allowing the sun to sneak through and cast an ethereal light over the darkened room.
And there he stands, in the middle of it all, the one man I’ve grown to hate more than any other.
I’ve been so blinded by rage and hatred that I never bothered to dig up the truth behind the hits.
Even after all these years, I still make mistakes.
Ava’s mother once said I was ruled by my emotions.
My men are family to me. Not just pawns to be manipulated and used as cannon fodder.
“You came.” I stop a few feet from him. He’s come alone as requested, but I’m not stupid enough to believe that he doesn’t have some kind of backup.
“You sent me a photo of my daughter,” he rumbles. “Say you have a plan to take down Crowe. I’d be stupid to ignore that.”
“Thank you for listening,” Seamus speaks up. “We need all the help we can get, and so do you.”
The corners of Eriksen’s lips turn up in a sneer. “I’ve been trying to get my daughter out from beneath Crowe’s thumb since she was three,” he spits. “What makes you think you can? And why would you care?”
“Bailey was under our care for some time,” I admit to him. “We didn’t know she was your daughter. She didn’t even know she was your daughter. We used her to gain access to some confidential information that is on Crowe’s laptop.”
“Was she caught?” he growls, taking a threatening step forward. “Did he find out?”
Kiernan clears his throat awkwardly. “I handed her over to him,” he admits. “My plan was to get him to trust us by turning her in. I gave him a fake drive, thinking that he would never truly hurt her. I didn’t know—”
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know,” he admits. “That’s why we need your help.”
Eriksen narrows his eyes at my son, but I can see the gears in his head turning.
“My wife is good at tracking people down,” he admits.
“You shouldn’t—” I start, but Seamus beats me to it.
“There is a reason we asked you to come alone,” he says. “And why we had to go through such crazy channels to contact you.”
Eriksen’s gaze flickers between us suspiciously.
“You might want to brace yourself for this,” I tell him. “It is not pretty.”
“Your so-called wife works for Crowe,” Kiernan informs him. “And she isn’t the only one.”
“And you know this how?”
Kiernan flicks his gaze to me, and I nod.
I truly feel sorry for Eriksen.
His whole world is about to be shifted out from under him.
The scream of pain he releases as Kiernan shows him our proof leaves my soul aching.
I know exactly how it feels to lose everything.
I always suspected that Katherine was dead, but to hear it from the mouth of the daughter I never knew had shattered my world.
Even further, when she told me that Katherine hadn’t left me of her own free will.
I will never get the love of my life back, but I have Ava and a drive for revenge. One I will never let go of, and the other… well, revenge is a dish best served cold.
“There is a brothel,” he begins, his voice thick with sadness. His jaw clenches. “I have a few spies there that help me get intel. They also get some of the women out from time to time if they can.”
“You think she is at that brothel?” Seamus asks.
Eriksen nods. “I got word a few days ago that security had suddenly increased. Crowe himself came down to pay a visit. That has never happened before.”
“Have you heard from them since?”
He shakes his head. “No.” He sighs. “But I can guarantee you that is where they are. Crowe doesn’t visit his brothels. Ever. They are run under a subsidiary company. His name isn’t anywhere under it, so that nothing ties him back to them if they go down.”
“How do you know it is his, then?”
Eriksen smirks. “Because the company it is listed under is owned by Derik Cole.”
Dead men can’t own companies. Derik Cole was one of Elizabeth’s first victims. Hung himself from the rafters with pictures of his victims spread out beneath him. It made national headlines. If the brothel was ever discovered, all anyone would find is a dead man’s name.
“Can your spies get her out?”
“Not with the extra security,” he admits sadly.
“All the girls are under lock and key in the main house. The only time they are let out is if they are needed upstairs for premier clients. That’s how I get my intel.
One of the clients is a friend of mine. I won’t be able to get new intel through him either.
He only comes once a month, and if we break his pattern, they might suspect something. ”
I nod, understanding.
“Then I think it is time we set our plan in motion.”
I glance over at the boys. They nod.
“And what is this plan?” Eriksen asks.
Smirking, I hand over a large manila envelope I brought with me.
“I think you are going to enjoy this.”