by Liz Gavin
Declan and Keira discovered the footage had been recorded earlier when they heard Heller’s car seconds after the TV reporter announced a break for commercials. It was already dusk, so the detectives wasted no time with idle conversation. They called Morris and Kerry to follow them inside in order to brief everybody on what was going on.
CHAPTER 8
When they entered the house, Heller dropped the bombshell, “We’ll call off our plan.”
“You mean, you won’t use Keira as bait to catch O’Hallon? Hallelujah!”
“With all due respect, sir, I have to say I’m also relieved!” Murphy added.
“I thought it would finally set me free, but I understand the situation has changed. What about Connor, Inspector? Does he know anything about the original plan? We saw him on television yesterday. He seemed pissed off at the police for leaving him out of the investigation.”
“He won’t be a problem. As it turns out, I wasn’t able to reach him yesterday, which means, I didn’t pass any sensitive information on to him or the press,” he paused and stared at Keira before continuing. “My dear, things have escalated in a way none of us had anticipated.”
“I beg to differ, Heller.”
“I understand your frustration, Slane, believe me. However, we need to focus now on what’s ahead of us. There’s nothing to be gained by dwelling on past mistakes. I’ll need your cooperation more than ever. Can I count on you?”
“I’m surprised you have to ask. Of course I’ll do anything to help Keira.”
“Good! We don’t know what this psychopath is capable of in order to get what he wants. So, we can’t risk exposing Keira at this moment. We’ll have to relocate you.”
“That’s fine,” her voice was thin, but she stared into the older man’s eyes telling him, without words, she trusted his judgment. His heart skipped a couple of beats at her unwavering trust because he hadn’t been so sure of himself recently. In fact, he hadn’t felt that insecure since his first big case, many years ago. He was a green, rookie police officer back then, who felt guilty about a little boy’s loss. Now that he had a chance to make amends, fate seemed to be mocking him, throwing him one curve ball after another.
“The sooner, the better. When can we go?” Declan asked.
“Tonight. I sent Dwyer over to the other safe house to set things up.”
“What happened to Ms. Green?” Kerry asked.
“Did O’Hallon kill his cousin?” Murphy added.
“That’s the safest bet, although we need to work all angles. We’re still sorting things out, collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses; but, logic points blame to him. The first officers at the scene interviewed some neighbors. I haven’t had time to get all of their intel yet.”
“Did anyone see Paul at the scene?” Keira asked.
“Apparently, no.”
“I tell you, this guy’s a ghost! Nobody ever catches even a glimpse of him. He’s either the smartest badass criminal around here, or he’s the luckiest son of a bitch I’ve ever seen.”
“I can’t argue with you there, Slane. In my interviews with the people at the crime scene, I’ve found out the neighbors heard loud voices coming from Miss Green’s house yesterday morning. They said there was some kind of argument between a man and a woman. Ms. Green has a boyfriend, who visits her often, and the neighbors assumed they were having a disagreement. They didn’t want to interfere in the couple’s affairs.”
“How very polite of them! Meanwhile, a woman was killed. If people paid more attention to other people, many crimes could be avoided.”
“Nobody likes a nosy neighbor, Declan. Would you like the police to come barging in every time we had an argument? Something tells me we would keep them very busy!” Keira tried to make light of his worry. She failed to realize where his childhood traumas had taken his mind.
“I thought you, of all people, would get my meaning, love. If my neighbors had called the police, in any one of the many times my father beat the shit out of my mother, things might have been different for her. Maybe she would be alive today.”
“We don’t know that, Declan. This kind of situation is very delicate. It’s difficult to tell if you’ll do more harm than good. My mother once called the police because she heard the neighbors having a fight. She even saw the husband striking the wife across her face. When the officers arrived, the woman told them she had fallen down the stairs. On the next day, she came by my house and told my mother never to interfere in her affairs, again.”
“I’m just saying, Keira. Sometimes, we think only about the proper thing to do and forget the right thing to do. But, I see your point. It’s a tough call to make.”
“Did the neighbors call the police?”
“No, because nobody heard any shots. Nobody heard any cries for help, either. I received a phone call from Denis Gentry, Ms. Green’s boyfriend, earlier today. He told me he had never trusted O’Hallon. He said he had told her many times that she should be more careful, but she dismissed his concerns saying the man was her cousin.”
“She should have listened to him.”
“Definitely. But, Mr. Gentry is a person of interest in our investigation, as well. Like I said, we can’t rule out anything just yet. We need to explore all angles. We’ll check his story, first. Yesterday, on the phone, he told me that he called her cell phone for most of the day, but she didn’t return his calls. He was out of town and went straight to her house when he got back to Cork this morning. He thought there was something wrong, but he never expected to find her dead.”
“How was she murdered?” Kerry wanted to know.
“Multiple stab wounds.”
A brief silence fell on the group as each one processed the information.
“We watched Connor’s interview last night.” Keira broke the uncomfortable silence. “The host said his team had tried to contact Ms. Green, but weren’t able to do so.”
“Do you think there’s a connection between her murder and Connor’s article?” Declan suggested.
Dwyer’s arrival, at that moment, interrupted the conversation.
“Good evening, everyone. It’s all set in the house, Heller. I didn’t have time to buy any food, though. You’ll have to take whatever you have in here, Murphy.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
“Thank you, Dwyer. Please, give Kerry the keys to the SUV. I’ll drive you back.”
“Don’t you think we should take them to the safe house?”
“There’s no time for that. This lunatic has eluded us for far too long. We have to find all the leads he’s left behind this time, while they’re still fresh,” he lowered his voice, highlighting his frustration. He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since he had been called to the hotel after Miss Ashe had been attacked. The Garda had taken years to find O’Hallon the first time. He was starting to come across as a crime mastermind, but he was no bloody Houdini. Heller would be damned if he allowed O’Hallon to get away with one more murder. “Set the GPS with the address to the safe house. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
He turned to Declan to address his previous question.
“It’s impossible to establish, for certain, if Connor’s article had anything to do with Ms. Green’s murder. We have no way of knowing if O’Hallon read the article or not. On the other hand, we can’t rule out any theories at this point. And, that is a valid one. Dwyer, we should head back to the station.”
The two detectives stood up to go, but Heller remembered something else, “Keira, don’t worry about your family. You know we’ve been in contact. I’ll call them as soon as I get to the station to advise them of the change in your situation. I’ve tried to talk to them earlier today. I was afraid they would read about Ms. Green in the media, but I couldn’t reach them. Fortunately, the time difference between Ireland and the U.S. will work in my favor.”
“Thank you, Inspector. I don’t want them to worry about me more than they already do.”
Heller nodd
ed in reply because his throat got suddenly dry. He could very well imagine her parents’ anguish. He had children of his own. He cleared his throat to speak again. That was not the time to get emotional.
“Kerry, Murphy and Morris, you know the drill. Pack up the essential and leave the rest behind you. Tomorrow, I’ll send somebody to pick up whatever you leave here.”
“Yes, sir,” the three officers replied.
“Murphy, contact me when you get to the safe house,” he looked at his watch. “It’s a fifteen-minute drive from here. I’ll give you have half an hour to get there and call me.”
“Understood.”
“See you tomorrow, Miss Ashe. Slane.”
When Heller and Dwyer rushed out of the house, Keira and Declan went to their bedroom to pack the few belongings they had taken with them to the hiding place. None of them wasted any time and everybody got busy.
“I’ll pack the things in the kitchen,” Murphy informed her colleagues.
“We’ll take care of the bedroom stuff.”
Kerry and Morris opened the closet and threw the things inside the bags without wasting time to arrange them properly. The first suitcase was full very fast.
“Take this to the SUV, will you? I’ll finish packing the other.”
“I think we’ll need another suitcase for Murphy’s stuff. She’s busy in the kitchen and won’t have time to pack it herself.”
“Good thinking, Kerry. I don’t think we have another one in here. I saw Murphy bringing some boxes in the other day. On your way in from the car, ask her where those boxes are, will you? We’ll make do with them.”
“I’ve got this.”
Morris finished packing the second suitcase before Kerry returned with the boxes, so he decided to take it to the car and get the boxes himself. He crossed Murphy in the living room as she was coming from the kitchen, her arms were loaded with a huge box full of food and other supplies.
“Is Kerry in the kitchen with you?” he asked Murphy.
“No. I thought he was packing up things in the bedroom with you.”
“He was. I told him to take some stuff to the car a while ago. He hasn’t returned yet. I assumed he was helping you out because I had told him to ask you about some boxes.”
They dropped everything to the floor as they realized something was wrong. Drawing their weapons, and looking around the room, they didn’t find signs of an intruder. which didn’t mean there wasn’t one in the house.
“Check out outside,” Murphy lowered her voice. “I’ll check on Miss Ashe and Mr. Slane.”
When he moved to the kitchen, she explained, “I’ve already bolted the kitchen door. Nobody will come in through there.”
“Fine.”
“Be careful.”
“You, too.”
They went their separate ways. Morris got out of the house. It was dark so he crossed the small garden carefully, and got to the sidewalk. The SUV was parked in front of the house, but there wasn’t anybody near it. The trunk was wide open but Kerry wasn’t there. Morris moved around the car and discovered Kerry lying unconscious, in the middle of the street, a few feet away from the car. There was a pool of fresh blood on the ground beside his partner. More blood was slowly oozing out of a gash in his lower abdomen.
Morris knelt down, put his fingers to his partner’s neck, and checked his pulse. It was very weak. His breathing was elaborate, too. He stood up and reached for his radio to call dispatch, when he heard a faint rustle of leaves coming from somewhere behind him. As he turned around, though, Morris felt a sharp pain in his own lower belly.
He looked down to find a double-edged knife lodged there. He looked up just in time to see O’Hallon’s sneer as he knocked Morris out with a punch to his right temple. He never had a chance to react because he blacked out, and fell to the ground.
When Murphy got to Keira and Declan’s bedroom, she was relieved to find them still packing. She hesitated at the door for a second because she didn’t want to alarm them, although she knew they shouldn’t waste any precious time.
“Keira, we must go. Now.”
“We’ve just finished packing our stuff,” she answered without looking up at Katherine as she struggled with the suitcase zipper. She had thrown her things inside the suitcase carelessly and it was hard to close it.
“Let me do that, love,” Declan offered, taking her place. He had given her some room to try doing it by herself but he had kept an eye on the situation.
“Isn’t he adorable?” Keira taunted him, looking up at Katherine for support. Her smile vanished at the sight of Murphy’s gun. “What’s going on, Kate?”
“I’m sorry, Keira, but we have to go.”
“What happened, Murphy?” Declan demanded. “Why are you here?”
Murphy hadn’t entered the room because she wanted to watch the corridor. But, she never thought they would question her instead of doing as she told them to do.
“We’ve got to go. Now. Kerry is missing. I told Morris to go out and look for him. I came in here to check on you, guys. We can’t waste time. Come with me. You’d better…”
She never finished her sentence. They heard a shot and Murphy fell to the floor of the corridor. Keira jumped forward to go to her, but she was pulled back by Declan’s strong hand in her upper arm. He stepped in front of her, and before she could say or do anything, Paul O’Hallon appeared at the door, blocking their only way out.
“Missed me, gorgeous?” he addressed Keira, but his gun was aimed at Declan. “Let go of her, Slane. Nobody else needs to get hurt.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“That’s a bold statement. You shouldn’t underestimate her feelings for me. Now, get your hands off of her and let her come to me.”
“You’ll have to shoot me first.”
“That won’t be a problem,” he raised the gun and aimed at Declan’s head.
“Declan, please, don’t do anything. He will shoot you,” Keira moved to stand in front of Declan, facing him and putting herself between the two men. “But, he won’t hurt me. Please, let me go.”
“I’ve told you a million times, Keira; I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll certainly not let this vermin take you anywhere.”
“Baby, please, let me go. I’ll find a way to come back to you. I promise. I don’t want to see you get hurt because of me.”
“No way! You can ask me anything, love. Just don’t ask me to give up on you.”
“I’m not asking you that. I’m asking you to have faith in me, in us.”
Keira and Declan were facing each other, their locked eyes filled with conflicting emotions. His dark green gaze was full of determination and anger, while her blue eyes brimmed with tears. Her face was screwed into a mask of anguish.
With their feelings and senses so invested in their momentary battle of wills, Declan and Keira didn’t notice O’Hallon moving inside the room until it was too late. He grabbed her upper arm and yanked her away from Declan’s grasp.
“You heard her begging you to let her go with me. Keira belongs with me. You should have learned that by now, Slane. You took her away from me against her will,” loathing and spite glinted in his hard eyes as he pulled the trigger without batting an eyelash.
“No!” the loud explosion wasn’t able to cover Keira’s cry of desperation.
When she saw Declan falling to the floor, pressing a hand to his stomach, where a stain of dark red was spreading fast, Keira launched herself at Paul, screaming like an ancient warrior woman.
Deep hurt and churning hatred consumed her, but also gave her an unexpected strength to punch his chest, and arms. Caught by surprise, Paul moved backwards a couple of steps. She followed him, sank her nails into the soft flesh below his eyes, scratching his face, and experiencing the gratifying satisfaction of hearing his high-pitched yelp of pain.
“You son a bitch! Why did you shoot him? You didn’t need to do that.”
“Keira, I did that for us.”
“I’ll kill you for that.”
Looking around the room in search of something to hit him with, she missed his next movement. She felt the sharp pain in her left temple, where he hit her with the grip of his gun. Her sight turned hazy and she stumbled forward towards Paul. When he stretched his hands to hold her and stop her fall, she panicked.
“Stay away from me, you sick son of a bitch.”
Keira couldn’t stomach his hands on her again. She stepped backwards, away from Paul, trying to escape. She lost her footing with her own sudden movement, fell backwards, and hit the back of her head to the ground with a loud crack.
“Declan…”
His name was the last softly whispered word on Keira’s lips before a silent darkness filled her mind and she lost consciousness.
Declan’s mind was fuzzy. He was in excruciating pain, which clogged his brain, and allowed him to remember only bits and pieces, regardless of how hard he tried – Garda Murphy showing up, O’Hallon snatching Keira from his hands, then, shooting him.
After he had fallen to the ground, he blacked out. When he woke up, he didn’t know how long he had lain on the floor, blood gushing out of the bullet wound, while crippling pain seared him when he made even the smallest movement.
He wanted to shout for help, but his voice had deserted him. He moved his head, looking for Keira and found her lying on the floor close to him. He felt utterly powerless when he heard the gut-wrenching sounds of bones breaking as O’Hallon continued to batter her already immobile body – just like he had felt when he was a child. He made a super-human effort to stretch his arm and reach them. He needed to stop the bastard, he needed to help her, but unbearable pain paralyzed him.
“Stop! You’re killing her!” he tried to shout but no sound came out of his mouth.
He rolled onto his back. More blood gushed from his wound. Feeling dizzy, sick to his stomach, and angry at himself for not being able to stop O’Hallon, he knew he had failed Keira. Just like he had failed his mother as a kid. He couldn’t live with himself if something happened to Keira because of him. He took a deep breath, bracing himself to try to move, but a sharp stab of pain pierced his chest, and he lost consciousness again.
