Thirty-One

The driver was waiting for them with the door open. Bryan and Eduardo had walked them out, but neither Finn nor Hollis acknowledged that. They just climbed into the back seat and waited for the car door to close.

“That was horrible,” Hollis said as softly as possible. Perhaps the driver was helping them before, but after tonight his loyalty could switch again. She looked back at the café as the car drove around the corner. She wanted to believe they were safe for the moment, but who knew? “He killed his friend in front of us.”

“I think that was the point, doing it in front of us. He wanted to show us that he has faith in us,” Finn said. “Or what happens when he loses faith.”

“I wonder if he knows about Teresa helping Declan?”

“I got the feeling she’s doing more than helping Declan,” Finn said. “From the way she spoke about him, she’s helped herself to the man. The whole time we were dancing she asked me questions about him. I finally told her he was a bit of a ladies’ man, so she might be better off keeping her distance.”

“Good advice I don’t think she’ll follow.”

“Not good advice.” Declan popped up in the front passenger seat.

Hollis, half startled, half angry, flung her purse at him and the corner of it caught his nose.

“You really are the right person for the job, Hollis. You’ve got a violent streak in you.”

“What are you doing here?” Finn said.

“Checking up on you.”

“Shouldn’t you be checking up on Teresa?”

Declan turned toward the driver. “I’m not involved with Teresa. Just helping her.”

“Like you were helping Silva? Do you know that Carlos poisoned him?”

“How?”

“The wine.”

“Did you all drink the wine?” Declan asked.

It took a moment, but Hollis got it. “Carlos poisoned the glass. He asked for fresh glasses.” She turned to Finn. “Did you know that? I thought it was awfully brave of you to do that toast.”

“I wanted to do what our driver told us, to follow his lead,” Finn said.

“It was impressive.”

Finn leaned in and kissed her. “I watched you two dance the tango. That was impressive.”

“This is adorable,” Declan interrupted. “And I’m always a big fan of seeing the two of you in love, but can we get back to Silva’s death? Are you sure he’s dead?”

“Very sure. But you don’t care about Silva,” Hollis said. “Just like you didn’t care about us in that crypt.”

Declan shook his head. “For what it’s worth, I did send someone to get you out, but you’d managed on your own by then. And as far as Silva, I barely knew him. I came down here because he was trying to pull a job and needed help. I needed the money …”

“How could you possibly need the money?” Hollis asked. “Didn’t you make millions from that deal in Ireland?”

“I lost it.”

“How could you lose it?” Hollis asked.

Finn wasn’t interested. “You said you came down here to help Silva.”

“Yeah. It was my understanding that he wanted to move some art. But Silva’s always been a bit in over his head, so I should have known better. The paintings were rubbish, not even a complete poser would be fooled. You can’t go cheap on the forgers, especially if they’re copying A-list painters. But Silva wanted to prove he was better than Carlos. Envy clouds the judgment.”

“If you couldn’t sell the paintings,” Finn said, “why are you still here?”

“I told Silva about the address book. We took an idea to Carlos. He’s got connections higher up the TCT food chain. The plan was that the three of us would split the money and the credit.”

“But you don’t have the book.”

“That’s a minor hitch. You can’t let details stop you from grand plans.”

“So while you were trying to execute this grand plan, Carlos double-crossed you?” Finn guessed.

Declan nodded. “Silva and me both, it seems. It was a simple enough idea. I’d get the book, we’d sell the book. But it was going to take time. Carlos was impatient. He wanted someone to track the book, so I told him about Tim and Janet McCabe.”

“You gave him the names of hitmen to track us down?” Finn asked.

“The deal was they wouldn’t kill anyone. And if it helps, they aren’t usually very good at their jobs, but they must have improved some skills. They traced the book to where it was last seen.”

“Dublin.”

“Yeah. They found out an American woman had taken it. And from there, they found you. Only Carlos changed the deal. He said to kill the woman who took the address book, so there would be no loose ends. When they showed up, I knew it was time to get you out of there.”

“They didn’t show up.”

“They did, Hollis,” Declan said. “You met them the day before yesterday.”

Hollis was about to argue with him when it hit her. The helicopter parents asking if her husband was a professor. “Arthur and Anne,” she said. “They were checking out their targets. Did you kill them?”

Declan sighed. “I can’t get out of this damned country at the moment. I can’t even show my face in public, not without one of Carlos’s spies finding me. I paid someone else to do it. Not to kill them, just to detain them for as long as was needed. You’re welcome, by the way. I saved your lives.”

“You turned us into hitmen,” Finn pointed out.

“Carlos was expecting to meet the McCabes. It was either let them kill you and fly down here themselves or send you down in their place. I thought you would both be happy with the choice I made. All you have to do to pay me back is get me the address book.”

“Why did you put a dead man in our house?” Finn asked.

“I didn’t put anyone in your house.”

The car turned a corner a little fast and all four of them tilted to the right. “Sorry,” the driver said. “I thought we were being followed.”

Declan ducked down slightly. “By Carlos’s men?”

“I don’t know,” the driver said. “I hope not. I have tickets to the opera for Friday and I would prefer to be alive to see it. Maybe I can try to lose them?”

“No,” Hollis said, more forcefully than she intended. “We go to the hotel. If they’re Carlos’s men, they’ll be suspicious if we do anything else.”

“Never argue with Hollis,” Declan said to the driver.

“I’m glad you see it that way,” Hollis told him. “I want my gun back.”

Declan smiled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gun he’d taken from her. “Don’t take it out again unless you intend to use it.”

Hollis realized the handbag she had wasn’t big enough for a gun, so she put it in the pocket of Finn’s jacket. It hung out slightly. “I’m not going to be able to hide it,” Finn said.

“I’ll stand close to you when we get out of the car,” she told him.

“You can tuck it in your pants,” Declan suggested. “Just check the safety first. Do you know how?”

“Of course I know how,” Finn insisted, then handed the gun to Hollis, who made sure the safety was on. When she handed it back, Finn kept it across his lap, his hand on the grip.

“Still behind us,” the driver said.

Finn put his arm around Hollis. Declan ducked lower in the seat. They all sat silently for a moment, as if noise would put them in more danger. Hollis tried to keep her breathing steady. Finn looked a little pale, but he shook it off. The driver pulled up at the hotel entrance and the car that had been behind them slowed but kept driving. Hollis could see Bryan behind the wheel and Eduardo next to him. She was glad her instincts had been to pretend that everything was normal, but the fact that the gunmen had followed them made something very clear: for all his pleasantness, Carlos didn’t trust them.

“We don’t have the address book,” Finn told Declan. “I wasn’t lying when I told you we handed it over to Blue.”

Declan nodded. “I know that now. But, here’s the thing. You can get it. Go ask your friend Peter for it. And I will do him a favor in return.”

“What favor?” Finn was losing his patience. The driver got out and opened the door to the backseat. Thankfully Declan couldn’t risk following them inside with Eduardo and Bryan driving around.

“I’ll tell him what it means,” Declan said. “And once he knows that, he’ll know how to put an end to TCT once and for all.”