Fifty-Four

Declan watched the bus pull away with Finn and Hollis on it, doing their best to hide from view. Good for them, he thought, though he had made it as easy as he could.

They were no good to him dead, not until he had the manuscript. It hadn’t been among their belongings, nor were the clues Eamon had sent in the package.

But they knew what the clues were; they knew where it would lead. And bless them, they seemed determined to stay on the trail. All he had to do was follow them until he got what he wanted.

Whatever happened after that, as his auntie always said, was in the Lord’s hands.