I closed in on the screen and braced Alexa’s chair as I eyed Callaghan standing on the other side of the street, leaning against a black limo. “Callaghan was there?” I breathed out, my words a ghostly whisper of disbelief.
I’d mentioned Callaghan’s name, among others, when I’d given them the rundown.
“It can’t be a coincidence,” Alexa said.
“We’re running the plate number of the limo,” Jake said. “We’ll make sure we talk to the driver.”
Thank God for them. I’d never be able to sit back and let the Garda handle this and remain in the dark.
“I don’t understand how Callaghan even knew we’d go there, and at that time, no less,” Holly said. “I need to talk to Kate. It was her idea to go to that club.” I looked over at her, and she rubbed at her forehead. “I was even texting Callaghan while we were in there. It’s just all so strange.”
“Does this mean he’s moved up higher on the suspect list?” I still couldn’t figure out why the hell Callaghan would take Anna, especially when he got Da to agree to sell.
Alexa looked at Jake, and it was as if there was a silent conversation happening between them. She cleared her throat and redirected her gaze my way. “Honestly, whoever took Anna went to great lengths to keep his identity protected.”
“So Callaghan’s face on camera doesn’t jive,” I finished her line of thought.
“But that doesn’t mean he’s not caught up in all of this somehow,” Jake said.
“Or someone wants us to think that,” Xander added, and my mind was beginning to spin again. “We should check your car, Holly, to see if someone put a tracker on it. Someone had to have known where you were going that night.”
“We took a limo to the club,” she replied.
“You meet with Callaghan any time before the party?” Alexa asked while working at the keys again.
“He could’ve mirrored your phone,” Jake said.
“No, but uh . . . mirror?” She sat on the couch in front of the window which overlooked the river.
“He may have cloned your mobile,” Xander explained.
She snatched her purse and retrieved her mobile and offered it to Jake. “We never met face-to-face until the dress rehearsal dinner last night. Sean and Da did, though, but they didn’t know where we were going for the bachelorette party.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.” Her apology was directed at me, as if she were somehow responsible for what happened.
“This isn’t on you.” Probably me, though.
“We’ll take a look at your phone just in case.” Jake handed it off to Alexa. “We need to go talk to Callaghan and Renaud.”
“I’m coming,” I rushed out.
“The cops might be with him right now.” Jake checked his watch. “It’s the afternoon, so I doubt Renaud’s at the club. We can head to his hotel and scope the place out. But let Xander and me go in first before you show your face. I don’t want the police pissed at you for interfering with their investigation.”
“They’ll have to lock me up to stop me from looking for Anna.”
“I should come, too,” Holly said. “I’ve been to Renaud’s home before.”
My thoughts scattered at her words. A delayed blush appeared on her skin.
“I was seeking Callaghan, trying to reason with him about coming after the company, and I ran into Renaud at the hotel. He brought me to Callaghan’s room, but he wasn’t there, and so . . .”
I ate up the space between us, my heartbeat losing its normal rhythm. “What happened? He didn’t fecking hurt you, did he?”
“No.” Her brows knitted. “We talked. He offered to get rid of Callaghan for me.”
“Get rid of him? In exchange for what?” Alexa swiveled in the chair to view her.
“A future favor. I don’t know. He was vague.” She lifted her shoulders. “And I said no, so . . .”
Jake looked to Xander. “Yeah, we better talk to this guy.”
Xander holstered a sidearm and covered it with his shirt.
“Let’s roll out.” Jake motioned for the door. “Call us if you find anything,” he said to Alexa.
Part of me wanted to tell him to drop what he was doing and marry her. Don’t delay. Don’t waste one damn minute. Because you never know what might happen next.
But the greedy part of me needed their help, so I’d save my soapbox speech for when Anna was safe.
“The Garda haven’t gone to Renaud’s hotel, yet,” Alexa said over speakerphone not even ten minutes after we’d parted. “Looks like you’re going to beat them to it.”
The tap-tap-tap of the keyboard in the background competed with the thumping of my heartbeat as I waited to hear more.
“Why haven’t they gone there yet?” What the hell are they doing, damnit?
“Looks like they’re trying to rule out the Donovan Hannigan revenge angle first,” she replied.
The idea had crossed my mind since Detective Grady had brought it up earlier, but I wasn’t sure who in Hannigan’s old circle would have the balls or the means to do such a thing as to take Anna from me, not without a death wish. “And how do you know all of this?”
“She’s a cyber queen,” Xander said, sitting in the back seat of my Audi. “The cyber queen.”
“We’ll let the police focus on the Donovan Hannigan connection then,” Jake said, which meant he must’ve assumed it was a dead lead.
Jake was driving my car, and thank God he’d offered. I’d probably have gotten us into an accident.
My brothers were still aimlessly roaming the city as if they’d somehow spot Anna walking down Grafton. God, I could only hope. But they were trying to help; they couldn’t sit idle with her missing.
Anna’s dad was out there, too. He didn’t know his way around the city, but this was his daughter, and nothing would stop him from trying to find her.
“I did find a link between Brian Callaghan and Sebastian Renaud,” Alexa announced.
“What?” I nearly snatched the mobile from where it was mounted on the dashboard as Jake parked.
“It was one of Renaud’s drivers chauffeuring Callaghan the night of the party,” Alexa said.
“You talk to the driver yet?” Jake asked.
“No answer. I’m working on it. But apparently, Callaghan always uses Renaud’s hotels, and his other places of business whenever he’s in town.”
Jake killed the engine. “Did you get Renaud and Callaghan on camera together?”
“Yeah, talking at his hotel bar, but that could be a coincidence since it’s Renaud’s place.”
“Who the hell is this guy?” Holly asked.
“I don’t know because Renaud didn’t exist until five years ago,” Alexa answered. “Whoever Renaud was before—he did a hell of a job at burying that person.”
“If he’s capable of that, is he also capable of looping the camera feeds at the hotel?” I asked, wondering if this son of a bitch was somehow behind Anna’s abduction.
“He looks nothing like the man we saw on camera outside Anna’s hotel room,” Holly said. “Renaud is taller. More muscles.”
“He probably would’ve hired someone to do his dirty work.” I expelled a hard breath. “I assume whoever hit on Anna at the bar, too, could be a—”
“A plant,” Alexa interrupted. “Someone to divert our attention.”
“Or the guy from the bar is unrelated. Just some creep hitting on her,” Xander said. “We have to look at every angle with an open mind.”
Jake nodded. “Renaud, Callaghan—they may not have Anna. But they’re connected to everything somehow,” he said in a low, bone-chilling voice.
I scratched at the stubble I never got a chance to shave this morning before the wedding.
Anna had been worried we’d jinx the day, and now . . .
My thoughts winged to the dark corners of my mind. To the place where I’d stuffed away the morbid ideas of what could be happening to her.
Each thought had me growing lightheaded
. Dizzy. Ready to collapse and give in to the pain.
But no. Damnit. I was a fighter, wasn’t I?
No matter how much I’d tried not to be.
And Anna would fight, too. She wouldn’t let someone beat her down. She was strong. Resilient.
I rubbed at the growing achiness in my chest and shoved the door open. “We’re getting her back today,” I said as a command, needing for it to be true.
“The first twenty-four hours are the most critical,” Jake said after ending the call with Alexa a moment later.
Xander tipped his chin in the direction of the hotel. “Then let’s do this.”
Chapter Ten
Holly
It wasn’t my fault, and yet, I couldn’t help but feel responsible.
I’d been in Renaud’s home. I’d desired him. Wanted him to screw me six ways to Sunday, even though it’d felt wrong. Dirty.
“Kate just got back to me,” I said after reading the text. “She said going to Renaud’s club wasn’t the original plan. She met some guy three nights prior to the bachelorette party, and he invited her to Renaud’s place Friday night, and so, she switched the location of the party in hopes of seeing him there.”
I handed Jake my mobile to show him the information Kate had provided. The description of the guy, the time, and place. “You think that guy’s our kidnapper then?” I asked Jake as he forwarded the details to Alexa.
“Let’s hope so, because we can pull surveillance from the bar Kate first met him at,” he answered.
“Unless the bastard kept his face hidden there, too,” Adam said, a grim tone to his voice.
“Let’s try and be positive.” Jake handed the mobile back to me.
“Renaud. Callaghan.” I whispered their names under my breath as we ascended. “None of this makes sense. But so help me, if either of them hurts Anna I’ll kill them myself.”
Xander peeked at me from over his shoulder. His eyes the color of steel. “I’ll hold him down while you do it if that’s the case.” I could feel the hard sting of his words. It didn’t appear to be his first time dealing with death. “But let’s get Anna back without anything happening to her.”
Adam didn’t say a word; how could he? His mind had to be racing in so many different directions, and surely all tracks led back to a perfect storm of grief and anger. And I knew my brother, he’d destroy anyone who even touched Anna.
“Les Fleurs,” I whispered as a memory grabbed hold of me. “Sean and Da met up with Callaghan at that restaurant this past week. I bumped into Sebas . . . er, Renaud there that night. He also owns that place.”
“Too many coincidences.” Adam’s tone converted to a half growl as he spoke.
When the doors parted, Xander asked, “Callaghan or Renaud first?”
“Renaud,” Jake said, and a few seconds later, we knocked on his door.
My heart wedged into my throat, temporarily obstructing my airway when the door opened inward.
Worn-out jeans and a white tee—a look I hadn’t anticipated on a man like him. His broad shoulders filled out the shirt, the same way his biceps fought with the fabric of the sleeves.
Renaud met my eyes. Looking at me as if I were the only one standing before him.
“I was expecting you.” He stepped back, offering us entrance, and a cold bristle of air flowed up my spine when I moved past him then turned around.
He scratched at the back of his neck and faced us once the door was closed.
Everything had me on edge just being within arm’s reach of him. And so, I backed the hell up, nearly bumping into the hall table.
“Please, have a seat.” He motioned toward the living area of his massive suite, a room fit for a king, and apparently, Renaud. “I’m sorry to hear about your fiancée, McGregor.”
Adam didn’t sit, and neither did Jake nor Xander.
We weren’t there for a social call, but I wasn’t sure if my legs would hold my weight beneath his heated stare. Even when I turned my back toward him, I could still feel his eyes on me. Like he’d stripped me naked and was currently memorizing every curve of my body.
“So, you know why we’re here?”
At the sound of the rough texture of my brother’s voice, I swiveled back around to face everyone, worried Adam might lose control.
He moved closer to the man, and Adam’s tall height managed to fall slightly shy of Renaud’s towering frame. “Do you know where she is? Did you have anything to do with this?” he seethed, his hands bunching at his sides.
“Adam.” Jake stood behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, urging him to back down. And Xander flanked Adam’s side.
Three to one. Not a fair fight, even though I sensed Renaud could hold his own.
I stood awkwardly off to the side of the men, willing my thundering heart to calm the bloody hell down.
I wanted to sit, but I also refused to get comfortable, and so, I folded my arms and seized in a breath—with it, came Renaud’s cologne, the dark notes flitted to my nostrils.
The hotel room smelled like him.
The place was dark and cold. And so, it felt like him, too.
My skin itched with the need to leave.
My body was a betrayal to Anna. She was missing, and yet, this man somehow had lit a fire inside of me this past week, and it seemed to rage and burn harder, hotter, and faster even now.
I hated him for it.
Hated myself even more.
It’d only been seconds since Jake had requested Adam to back away from Renaud, but the lapse of time had felt like a space of eternity to me.
I needed to get out of there and away from him.
“I’m not responsible. And Callaghan may be an arse, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t take Anna.” His Irish tongue took a front seat to his half-French background. Well, if the man really was part French. What if his entire history had been one big lie?
What if he wasn’t even Irish and—
“How could you possibly know what Callaghan’s capable of?” Adam asked, a harsh grit in his tone, interrupting my thoughts.
“Well, Callaghan’s also now a dead arse.” His gaze moved past the men as if they weren’t standing before him like a wall. He’d managed to find a glimmer of space to catch my eyes—and apparently, I’d done the same.
And it took me a moment to process what he’d said. “Dead?” I whispered and averted my attention to the floor.
“What are you talking about?” Jake spoke this time.
“He wasn’t answering my calls, and so, I used my key to check out his room. Found him dead. Stabbed three times.” The way he’d said the words it was as if he didn’t have a caring bone in his body.
My stomach roiled. This was all way too much.
“Are the Garda on their way?” I asked, wondering how Alexa wouldn’t have known that given her crazy cyber skills.
“Not yet, I was about to phone them when you knocked on my door.”
I opened my mouth, but he lifted his hand and lightly shook his head. “And no, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go in there and see him.”
I couldn’t get my mouth to move, too focused on the dark gleam of Renaud’s eyes.
A lone lamp was all we were working with since the wall of curtains sealed out any natural light, but it was all I needed to see him.
To see the darkness in his eyes.
The potential evil.
“You did it, didn’t you?” I accused. “You killed him.” I nearly choked on my question when his eyes swept over my body like the touch of expensive satin on my skin.
“No. Sorry to disappoint you.” He faced Jake. “He owed me. So, no, I didn’t want him dead. I can’t collect on my debt now.”
His words were the only thing casual about the moment. As if the man’s death was an inconvenience and nothing more.
Who are you? “Owed you what?”
“The details of my relationship don’t matter, Miss McGregor. Callaghan liked to stay at my hotel and use my
drivers whenever he came to town. He always went to my places of business. He felt safe under my protection, since he wasn’t the most loved man.”
“Looks like it got him killed,” Jake grumbled. “How long ago did you find the body? Five minutes? Ten?”
Renaud’s chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “About an hour ago.”
“What?” Adam moved closer to him.
Renaud adjusted the silver watch band on his wrist before his eyes swept north to find my face. “I wanted to check the cameras before I called the Garda. To see who went into the room.”
“You tamper with evidence, too?” A hard beat of authority moved through Jake’s tone.
“Of course not, but I can’t have someone murdering guests in my hotel without—”
“Who’d you see on camera?” Adam interrupted. “Who went to his room before you?” His fingertips tucked into his palms at his sides. The pulse pricked at the side of his neck; he was ready to lash out at anyone right now.
“Your father,” he answered after a moment.
“What?” Adam rubbed at his right temple and bowed his head.
Jake edged closer to Renaud, taking charge of the situation, and thank God for him. Adam and I could handle a lot of things—but Anna being kidnapped and now a murder . . . no way. “The police will know you went into the room an hour ago,” he said. “Why take the risk and wait? You’ve now earned yourself a top spot on the suspect list. Hell, you may have bumped Adam’s father’s name with your own.”
“Or maybe it was you who killed Callaghan,” Xander suggested.
Renaud turned away from us. “They won’t be focused on me, I can promise you that.”
“And how can you be so certain?” Jake asked.
“Because Callaghan was blackmailing your father.” Renaud faced us again, a grim twist to his lips, as if he didn’t want it to be true.
“How do you know?” Adam asked before I could.
“There was an envelope in Callaghan’s room,” he replied.
“What was in it?” I moved closer to Renaud and reached out for his arm.
His gaze dropped to my hand. “That’s irrelevant. I don’t believe your father killed him, but it sure as hell looks that way now. You should focus on finding Anna, then clear your father’s name before it’s too late.”
Dublin Nights Series Box Set: On the Edge & On the Line Page 35
