For Love & Bourbon (36 page)

Before he could respond, she stormed into the house and went straight to her father’s office. She beat her fist against the door, shouting for him, then gave up all propriety and shoved her way inside.

Nothing but an empty room greeted her.

She exhaled and stalked toward his bedroom, only to find it empty as well. A quick look throughout the rest of the house confirmed it. He was gone.

“Where—”

“His car’s not here,” Cooper said as he rushed into the living room, his cell phone already out and half-dialed.

A bolt of fear shot through her. “I didn’t even notice. When did he leave?”

“Probably while we were at the bar with Adam,” Cooper guessed, lifting his phone to his ear. He waited for three rings before Horvath picked up. “Ty Brannon’s missing.”

Ava did one more sweep of the house, checking his bedroom to see if any of his belongings were gone. Everything looked as it should, bringing on a worse feeling of dread. Had he been taken while they were away? How much time had they wasted by assuming he was still locked up in his office?

She came back into the living room to find Cooper pacing by the fireplace, his voice cold as ice as he spoke into the phone. Joe came out of his bedroom then, looking confused by the tension in the air.

“What’s the matter, dearie?”

She pounced on him. “Have you seen Daddy?”

Joe shook his head. “Not since this morning when I took him his breakfast. Why?”

“His car’s gone and he’s not here. He could be in danger.”

“Now why would ye say a thing like that?” Joe asked, offering her an easy grin. “He’s probably just out gettin’ a drink. Lord knows he could use one.”

Ava grabbed him by the shoulders, needing him to understand the gravity of the situation. “Ned’s here in Fox Hills. So are his sons.”

Joe blinked. “Impossible.”

“Apparently not.” She turned as Cooper hung up the phone, eager for information. “Well? What’d they say?”

“He left his cell phone behind so the Bureau can’t track him. They don’t know where he is, but I’m willing to bet Ned made contact and he went straight to him.”

“Why the hell would he do that?” she demanded, though he didn’t need to say it. She knew the answer. A fear darker than anything she had ever felt before simmered low in her gut.

Joe glared at Cooper. “Is all of this true? Is Ned here in the States?”

Cooper nodded. “Yes. And your son is out for revenge.”

NED CIRCLED
the chair lying dead center in the empty warehouse, his footsteps echoing over the concrete floor. In the light of the rows of florescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling, the lines of his face were harsh and unforgiving. His eyes held those of his captive as he paced, his hands clasped behind his back.

“I’ve come a long way, cousin. Taken a huge risk. I only did so because I wanted to look ye in the eye when ye confess to what ye’ve done.”

Ty held perfectly still in the metal chair they’d roped him to, unwilling to show any fear. His mouth twisted in disgust as his gaze followed Ned. “I don’t deny any of it. You might as well kill me. Because if I get free, I’m comin’ after you.”

Ned feigned a look of surprise. “Come after me? I’m untouchable. I’ve evaded capture and lived openly for years. The Gardaí, yer foolish Feds. None of them can get me.”

Ty let out a dark laugh. “You’re wrong. I know your greatest weakness. Hell, she was mine too. Killin’ her was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

Ned’s right eye twitched as his temper crested. “Ye both betrayed me. The two people I loved most in this world stabbed me in the bloody back.”

“There was never any love between us, Ned,” Ty corrected coldly. “Only necessity.”

In a lightning fast movement, Ned grabbed Ty’s shirt collar and dragged their faces together. They glared into each other’s eyes, violence and a deep-seated hatred sparking in the air.

“I welcomed ye in despite yer da the traitor,” Ned spat. “I could’ve shut ye out. Had every right to.”

Ty sneered. “You wanted my money. For years I sent it to you without question, but that’s all done now. The Feds have got you right where they want you and it’s only a matter of time until you’re locked away for good.”

Ned released him and straightened. His voice was low and deadly as he spoke. “What did ye tell them?”

“More like, what
haven’t
I told them,” Ty replied recklessly. “I’ve been feeding them your dirty secrets for over twenty years. All those late night calls from payphones and throwaway cell phones. Every time you asked for more money, they were watchin’. Waitin’ for you to give them a reason to take you out. The Dublin bombing was the last straw.” When Ned flushed red in the face and his hands began to shake, Ty gave a fierce grin. “It was her idea, you know. She wanted to take you down and knew exactly how to exploit your weaknesses to do it.”

Ned ripped the 9mm pistol out of his belt holster and shoved the tip of the barrel into Ty’s forehead. He breathed furiously through his nose, his lips pressed into a tight line.

Ty closed his eyes, his smile spreading. “Lord, do it.”

Ned’s finger rested on the trigger, a pull away from murder. He stared at the welcoming acceptance on his cousin’s face and knew instantly death wasn’t punishment enough. Drawing back his hand, he slammed the butt of the pistol against Ty’s temple, slicing a gash into his skin. Blood pooled and trickled down his face, and Ned rejoiced in his cousin’s cry of pain.

“I took more pity on her than I will you,” he said viciously, re-holstering the gun. He bent down and grabbed Ty’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “I think drawing this out and making ye watch me destroy everything ye love is payback enough.”

“You already took what I love.” Ty gritted his teeth, tears in his eyes from the pain. His hands balled into fists as he strained against the bonds. “You’d be better off killin’ me.”

A knowing look flashed over Ned’s face, joined by a cruel smile. “Why, Tyler. What about yer dear children?”

Sweat dripped down Ty’s forehead, joining the wash of blood. “Given the look on your face I trust you know the truth by now.”

“Aye.” Ned eased back, releasing Ty’s chin. “Why should that comfort ye?”

“Because now I know you won’t kill them.”

“An interestin’ theory,” Ned mused.

“Sandra loved Ava and Adam.” Remorse shadowed Ty’s expression, chasing away his anger. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, grief consuming him. “She gave her life to protect them. That has to mean something to you.”

“Sandra…” Ned drew out the name on a long breath that turned into a dark laugh. “I preferred her real name.”

When Ty said nothing, Ned decided they had talked long enough. His hand clenched into a fist and he hit his cousin hard enough to knock the chair over and spill his blood onto the concrete.

W
e found his car,” Beau announced as he came into the living room, though by the look on his face it wasn’t good news. “No sign of Ty, though.”

Ava shot up from her seat on the sofa and went straight to him. “Where was it?”

“Parked on the side of a county road halfway between here and Louisville,” he explained, looking past her to Joe. “There was no sign of a struggle, no indication he’d been taken against his will. Based on the tire tracks it looks like someone met him out there and picked him up.”

Ava frowned. “How’d he know to meet them all the way out there? If there was a call or something can’t we trace it?”

Cooper came into the room then from Ty’s office, holding up his cell phone. “I just talked with Marco. I asked him to check if there’d been any emails on Ty’s account. He found one from the same address that sent the original threat. It listed coordinates that probably lead right to that road.”

“So he did go willingly, then,” Ava realized, her heart sinking. “He wanted to confront Ned.”

Cooper approached her, his hands falling on her shoulders. “We’ll get him back.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “He could already be dead.”

He nodded, not willing to sugarcoat anything for her. “He could. Or he might not be. Our best option is to wire Adam immediately and have him wait at the bar for Killian to show up again. The rest of us need to act as if nothing is wrong. Ned won’t leave until he gets what he came here for.”

Ava let out a rush of breath. “Then let’s give it to him.”

ADAM SAT
in his usual seat at the bar, feeling like a worm on a hook. He tried to act casual, to not give any indication of the firestorm raging within. Containing his temper was the only way for the plan to work.

The equipment the FBI agents had taped to his chest grew warm from his body heat. The tape itched his skin, but he knew better than to scratch it. He’d been coached on how to act, what to say, and when to bail out if the conversation got too heated. He ran over those instructions in his head a dozen times, knowing he was a dead man if he screwed it up. His father was at risk now, which meant there was more riding on this than ever before.

Down the street at the Lucky Fox office, Ava and the Feds were listening in. They were counting on him to find out where his father was being held. They had to give off the impression that they weren’t worried about Ty’s whereabouts and that they had no reason to think foul play was involved. Blissful ignorance was going to be his saving grace.

Brandy kept watch on him from down the bar, the FBI on her cell phone’s speed dial if things got out of hand. He offered her a half-hearted smile, trying to focus on her instead of the fear turning his gut inside out. She smiled in return, but kept her distance as instructed so as not to deter Killian from joining him.

Adam didn’t know how long he sat there. An hour, two maybe. Time, as usual when he found himself inside the bar, was irrelevant. He would sit there all evening if that’s what it took, nursing his glass of whiskey till the sun came up.

When he saw Brandy’s eyes shoot to the front door and widen slightly, he knew the moment had come. Though his body wanted to tense up, he took a deep breath and sipped his drink instead. A man settled onto the stool beside him and patted him on the back.

“I thought ye’d be here,” Killian said, his teeth flashing in a shark’s grin. He nodded to Brandy for a beer, then folded his hands together on the bar.

Adam met his eyes, making sure to appear downtrodden and pissed off. “According to my sister, this is all I do.” He lifted his glass in a solitary toast and sneered. “Guess I can’t deny it.”