Luck of the Irish: Complete Edition

by Liz Gavin

  When the inspectors arrived the following afternoon, Keira and Declan greeted them in the front garden. They had been out jogging because in had rained in the morning. The police officers looked worried. Declan defended themselves, “You know we go for a run, right? Morris or Kerry always follow us. There’s no need to worry.”

  Dwyer exchanged a glance with Heller that crept Declan out.

  “We know that. It’s no big deal. Shall we go inside? We need to talk,” Heller suggested and they immediately followed his advice.

  “What’s going on?” Declan asked.

  “Wait up a second. I’ll go get Katherine.”

  When the women returned, they sat down in the living room.

  “We have finished analyzing the hospital cameras. We found O’Hallon breaking into a big pick-up truck. We followed the truck, using street cameras, until the driver pulled up at a supermarket and Paul left it.”

  He lifted a hand when Keira opened her mouth to speak. The gesture tapered off the excitement that had started to bubble inside her.

  “Unfortunately, a big delivery truck hid him from view. By the time the truck moved away, O’Hallon was nowhere to be seen. We lost track of his movements.”

  “Did you run the plates, sir?” Murphy asked.

  “We did and we found the owner. We paid him a visit. He wasn’t very forthcoming, and, he swore he hadn’t see anybody inside the truck or getting out of it. We checked out his story. He really has no connection to O’Hallon, and no reason to lie to us.”

  “We searched the area around the supermarket but there wasn’t any useful evidence left. Too much time had passed since that day,” Dwyer completed Heller’s explanation.

  “What are you going to do now? Is there anything else you can do?” Keira sounded anxious, panic was creeping up on her senses.

  “Murphy has told us about a hotline you’ve set up,” Declan remembered as he draped his arm over Keira’s shoulder to comfort her. He hated hearing that tone in her voice. She was at her wits’ end and he felt useless. “You’ve asked people to call in if they had information on that bastard’s whereabouts. Have you had any luck with that?”

  The detectives exchanged meaningful glances again and Keira felt a shiver ran down her spine as if a million ice-cold fingers were pressing down on her skin.

  “Yes, Slane, we’ve set up a hotline. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell the serious calls from the pranks. A couple of people called saying they had seen O’Hallon sneaking around the hotel where you had stayed in Cork. At first, we dismissed them as prank calls because it didn’t make much sense for him to return to that place. But, a receptionist contacted me and said pretty much the same thing, except he told me O’Hallon had had the guts to come up to him and ask about you, Miss Ashe. We have set up surveillance teams in and around the hotel but he hasn’t been spotted again. We didn’t find him with the security cameras, either.”

  “Great, Heller! That’s perfect! This nightmare is never ending,” Declan shouted. “Is this guy a ghost or something? Or are you all just plain stupid and incompetent? What the hell is wrong with you? Why can’t you find him? We can’t go on living like this. It’s insane!”

  For the first time, neither detective replied. They were mortified, “You’re absolutely right and we’re sorry, Slane. I regret to say we have failed Miss Ashe, and you, yet again. However, there’s still one thing we haven’t tried,” Heller hesitated before speaking again. “We’ll need your cooperation if we decide to go on with this plan.”

  “What is it, Inspector? We’ll do anything to help you,” Keira sounded desperate.

  “Keira’s right. We’ll do anything to see that motherfucker behind bars,” Declan said, gritting his teeth.

  “I’m still not convinced this is the best course of action, but my partner here has a very big mouth,” Heller pointed his head at Dwyer. “He’s blabbered to our superiors about Miss Ashe’s idea.”

  Declan and Keira looked at each other. While her expression was hopeful, his was torn between terrified and furious. The last one won, “Do you mean to say you’re going to use her as bait? No way, mister! I won’t allow it,” Declan snapped.

  “That’s the thing, Slane. Miss Ashe is an adult. We don’t need your permission, if she agrees to cooperate with us.”

  “Listen to me, son,” Heller spoke to Declan, his tone was reassuring while his dark eyes sparkled with a glint of confidence. He needed to calm down the hotheaded, boyfriend. “We’re on the same side here, and we want the same things – catching O’Hallon once and for all, and making sure Miss Ashe is safe. Even if you don’t like this plan, helping us is in your best interest. Now, hold your horses or I’ll have to ask you to leave. I don’t want to do that. I want you on board because you’re vital for this plan to have any chance of succeeding.”

  Declan huffed but didn’t reply to the older man. He turned to Keira, instead, “Are you sure about this, love? I think it’s a bloody stupid plan, but I’ll support your decision.”

  “We can’t sit on our hands anymore, Declan. We’ve got to try something. Anything. This is the only idea we have right now. I think it’s worth a shot. Please, help me out with it. I need your strength.”

  Declan hesitated because his guts told him the thing was insane. An ominous feeling weighted down his chest. When he looked into her blue eyes, though, they were so full of angst that he couldn’t deny her request. He would do anything to free her from that lunatic’s threat. He just nodded in agreement and she leaned forward, stretching her neck to kiss his cheek.

  “Thank you.”

  They spent the next couple of hours laying out their plan. When Heller and Dwyer got up to leave, Declan was feeling a bit more confident. On the following day, the older detective would leak information about the safe house to Connor, the reporter. Obviously, he wouldn’t give Connor its location, but rather hint at the fact that Keira had been taken to a safe house somewhere around Cork and that the two inspectors visited it often. They expected to lure O’Hallon out of hiding, and get him to follow Heller’s car. They would catch him before he got anywhere near Keira.

  That night, Keira and Declan decided to watch television to check if Heller had had a chance to put the plan into motion. When they turned it on, they found out Connor had been busy with their case, but not in the way they had planned. According to the host of the show they were watching, over the previous week, Connor had tracked down O’Hallon’s cousin and published an article about her on his newspaper column. His team of producers had invited Connor for a live interview to comment on the article and he had graciously accepted.

  “What was the main reaction from the public to your article?”

  “Most people emailed me saying they found it hard to believe that someone could grow up with a psychopath, like Ms. Green did, without realizing it. I’d like to point out that many studies show this is not a rare thing. I mean, sociopaths and psychopaths can lead pretty normal lives until the day they snap.”

  “You wrote, in your piece, that she visited him at the hospital on the day he escaped, but she wasn’t able to talk to him and hasn’t been in contact with him since then. We all remember quite vividly the commotion you caused in front of Miss Ashe’s hotel when you accused her of having helped O’Hallon escape.”

  Declan fidgeted beside Keira when the scenes from that day appeared on the small screen.

  “What can you tell us about that day? Have you been in contact with Miss Ashe?”

  “Well, everything was chaotic after I said that she had helped her attacker escape, but you’ve got to agree with me the resemblance between the two women is astonishing,” Connor’s statement was reinforced by the television director, who split the screen in two to show pictures of Keira and Ashling, side by side. “Anyone would have made the same assumption. I met with the investigators, gave them all the information I had, but nobody from the police has talked to me again. They say it’s an ongoing investigation. Miss Ashe and Mr. Slane have dis
appeared from the face of the earth. Her family isn’t talking to the press and his friends and colleagues swear they haven’t been in contact with the couple. But, most importantly, nobody has a clue to where O’Hallon is, either. It’s a shame our police force hasn’t been able to find this man yet.”

  “Heller won’t be happy to hear that,” Declan muttered. “Why hasn’t he talked to Connor, though?”

  “To my surprise, I got a call from Cork Garda Station late this afternoon. I was on my way here and couldn’t take it. I’ll return the call after the show.”

  “That’s interesting news. You might come back to our show tomorrow with an exclusive, huh?”

  “I don’t know about that, my friend. I think you’ll have to read my column, instead.”

  “Thank you for your visit, Connor. I hope you return soon.”

  “My pleasure.”

  “We weren’t able to get a statement from the police or Miss Ashe. As our guest has pointed out, they are unavailable to the press. We’ve also tried to contact Ms. Ashling Green to present her side of the story to you, dear viewer, but she didn’t return our calls. If you’re watching us, Ms. Green, we’d be honored to receive you in our show. Please, contact our team. This is Robert Kane -”

  Declan turned the set off and looked at Keira, “I have the feeling we’ve started the plan off on the wrong foot.”

  With time and constant practice, Keira had gotten bolder, more demanding in bed. She couldn’t get enough of Declan’s body. The same was true for him. Their feelings for each other had also flourished and deepened. Still, none had said the three magical words. She thought it was too soon. He was afraid she wouldn’t say it back.

  They went to bed a little after watching the news program and soon their passion helped them forget about it.

  In the middle of the night, Declan woke up from a very naughty, but pleasant dream. His muscles tensed and he sat up, with a start, to discover Keira was responsible for his discomfort. Maybe it hadn’t been a dream, after all. He raised an eyebrow at her mischievous expression and offered her a lopsided grin.

  “Dare I ask what you’ve been up to, honey?”

  “I’d rather show you than tell you,” she answered before returning her attention to his lower body.

  Keira had woken up a little earlier, and Declan’s body lying beside her had been too much of a temptation for her to resist. She had kissed his chest down to his navel while her hands stroked him to awareness. His strong muscles had rippled under her silken touch and she had marveled at their movements. Now, she felt his body throbbing in response to her bolder caresses, at the same time as he hissed and moaned. His legs trembled under her hands. She couldn’t suppress a knowing smile when she looked up at him.

  “Hold still, Declan.”

  “I wish I could. Come here.”

  Her soft curves fueled his desire as they brushed against his hot skin when she moved slowly up his body to meet his eager mouth. Her fingers didn’t leave him, though, while their tongues dueled. He reluctantly let go of her sweet mouth only because he needed to breathe. Soon, he lost the ability to do that, when she swiftly descended on his growing erection to show him she was a quick study. Her hands slid up his chest to find his nipples. She tweaked and played with them as her naughty mouth caressed him intimately. He arched his back and twisted his hands in the sheets. He groaned and had a hard time suppressing a yelp, when she found a particularly sensitive spot. Judging his reaction correctly, she explored the spot, working his arousal, until he saw stars behind his closed lids.

  With trembling hands, Declan held her shoulders and begged his sweet torturer for mercy, “Keira, love, I can’t hold off any longer.”

  “So don’t.”

  Her direct order made his body jerk even more under her touch. He never thought her mouth could be so innocent and tempting at the same time. He threw his head back on the pillows and braced himself. Keira had tried that before and he had managed to wrestled control of the situation from her. She was determined to go all the way this time, and he knew her too well - it was pointless to resist. He’d better surrender to the inevitable.

  “Relax,” she whispered against his skin and he knew he was doomed.

  His body swelled in contact with her hot tongue and lips and the sweet vibrations her voice had created. The last thing he saw, before he closed his eyes to reality, was the enticing sight of her fingers gripping him tightly as she bobbed her head up and down. He tangled his fingers in her hair in a last effort to keep his reactions in check, but the sensations were too overwhelming. They controlled his body and mind. Desire, lust, and passion pierced him, spurred on by her warm, wet caresses. While longing and love filled his heart and soul, nurtured by the abandon and selflessness with which Keira worshiped him. Her urgency stoked his fire and he soon reached the point of no return.

  “Keira!” he wailed when her tongue swirled around him, teasing his senses, robbing him of the last traces of self-control, and his body exploded.

  She caressed his thighs, trying to soothe his trembling flesh, but didn’t let go of her prize. He bucked and writhed under her hands and mouth, yet, she kissed him until there was no more energy left in his softening body.

  When she looked up at him, her heart swelled with the beautiful sight his face offered her. His gorgeous features glowed with bliss and she felt a correspondent pang of emotion deep inside her. She had underestimated the powerful feeling that comes from pleasuring another person. She learned its strength at that moment, when her body reacted to Declan’s expression, with powerful waves of fiery desire. She covered his body with hers and seized his mouth in an endless kiss.

  He felt her tremors and closed his strong arms around her slender body. His lips played with hers as his emotions subsided but hers grew stronger. He opened his eyes to watch Keira surrender herself and dive in the sea of sensations that she had created around them. It was an amazing sight to see and he reveled in it.

  Their hearts slowly returned to their normal rhythms, as their hands soothed and caressed each other. Keira was sprawled over his body, resting her face on his wide chest. He breathed in the sweet smell of her hair, and kissed the top of her head. She sighed and smiled against his cooling skin.

  “I love it when you do that,” she said, sprinkling light kisses on his chest and the his throat.

  “What? Sniffle your hair?”

  “No, kiss my hair!” she giggled.

  “And I love it when you do that.”

  “What? Laugh hysterically?”

  “No, sweep me off my feet,” he squeezed her arms for emphasis.

  “When did I do that?” she lifted her head and rested her chin on his chest to look into his hypnotic eyes. Their amazing green tones sparkled like emeralds with the emotions he didn’t want to conceal anymore. “When I giggled like a stupid little girl?”

  He traced her mouth with his thumb before answering her. His expression was very serious when he did speak, “No, Keira, when you made love to me like the beautiful young woman you are. You took my breath away in more ways than you could ever imagine.”

  Keira sensed what he was about to say and the thought scared her more than anything that had happened in her recent past. She was afraid to hear the words because she wasn’t ready to say them back. She couldn’t say them while there was a shadow called Paul O’Hallon clouding their future together. She kissed the tip of her own finger and put it over his lips to stop him from saying another word.

  “Please, Declan, don’t.”

  He closed his eyes to hide his disappointment but she knew she had hurt him, “I know it, Keira. I had told myself not to say anything. I guessed I got carried away.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m not ready to hear you say it just yet,” she added.

  He admired the fact that she could be so poised despite being so young. He only hoped she would be ready soon to hear him say how much he loved her. Waiting was going to kill him.

  “I hear you, Keira
. I don’t want to pressure you. There’s no haste. We have a lifetime ahead of us.”

  “Thank you, Declan.”

  She offered him a warm grin, rested her face on his chest again, throwing her arm across his waist. He watched her fall asleep almost immediately while his own sleep eluded him for a long time.

  Declan and Keira went for a run, with Morris in tow. When they got back to the house, both Murphy and Kerry were at the front door. She looked distressed and urged them inside.

  “What’s wrong, Kate?” Keira frowned.

  “Ms. Green was found dead this morning. Apparently, a friend went to her house to check on her. He had called her cell phone the whole day yesterday but she didn’t answered or returned his calls. He got worried.”

  “Inspectors Heller and Dwyer are going to the crime scene,” Kerry added. “Dwyer called us on the police radio. He told us they’ll come here as soon as they can to discuss our next moves.”

  True to their word, Heller and Dwyer went to the safe house straight from Ms. Green’s murder scene, which was much later than usual. Keira and Declan spent the day glued to the television set, even though the reporters had little information to offer. They saw Heller trying to avoid the cameras without success.

  “Please, fellows, I have no comments for you at this time. Let us do our job,” he asked as he left Ms. Green’s house. He struggled through the crowd of reporters and walked half a block until the narrow alley, where he had parked his car. They swarmed around it, shouting questions, making it impossible for him to drive through them without running over somebody. He cracked his window open. “We’ll talk to the press when we have more information. I swear it. Now, please, let me pass.”