A Little Harmless Fantasy(90)
“Okay.”
She started shutting down things.
“Maura,” Rory said, his voice annoyed.
She didn’t look up from her work. “What?”
“Look at me. At us.”
She forced herself to do it. “What?”
“You can talk to us.”
She didn’t know what was behind that comment, but she couldn’t deal with them. Not now. She was raw. She knew what she had agreed to when they had been on vacation, but she had fooled herself while they had been there.
“What do you want me to talk to you about?” she asked wondering if they really knew just how much this was hurting her. They had each other. She had no one.
She had walked around the desk but Rory stepped in front of her.
“Don’t make me order you to answer questions.”
She gave him what she hoped was a condescending look. “Don’t try that with me, Rory. I don’t play games out of the bedroom and you know that.”
“I seemed to remember a little incident in the kitchen…and one that started in the car.”
The memory of that was like a jab to the heart. She had thought they were moving on to something more than just a fling. But the guys had proven her wrong. Trust in your partners was needed for a real relationship and they and proven that they didn’t believe in her.
“I’m not in the mood for this.”
He opened his mouth but Zeke interrupted them.
“I think you need to get some rest, love.”
She tore her attention away from Rory to look at Zeke. The pity she saw there hurt more than losing them both. Of course she had never really had them, had she?
“Yes, I do.” She picked up her brief case. “I’ll have my cell, but I might just take a nap first.”
She hurried out of the room.
* * * *
Zeke let the door shut with a silent snick and said nothing. He was still pissed. He was also worried. The fact that Maura had left without argument wasn’t like her at all.
“What’s up?” Rory asked.
“She’s not acting right.”
“She’s tired. And I think she’s still embarrassed about yesterday.”
“No, you know her, she wouldn’t go home without a fight before.”
“Those two are crazy buggers.”
“Those two?”
“Her brother and her. It makes you wonder what their Da was like.”
He brushed that thought away. “Anyway, it’s odd. Really odd.”
“Do you think we should set another trail on her again?”
Zeke shook his head as his personal assistant beeped in.
“Sorry to bother you, Zeke, but there’s an Inspector Forrest on the phone. He says he needs to talk to you ASAP.”
He picked up the phone. “Jerry, I haven’t heard from you in months.”
“And I wish it was under better circumstances. I just found out myself or I would have called you earlier.”
“What’s up?” he asked dread inching down his spine.
“O’Connell escaped from Germany a month ago.”
“What?”
Rory was looking at him now. Worry etched his features.
“I didn’t find out about it until twenty minutes ago, but apparently, he paid off a few guards, who ended up dead in the end. The bastard was always cold. He escaped but we weren’t told here at Scotland Yard. Hell, I’m not sure I’m supposed to call you, but the truth of the matter is MI-6 always fucks these things up. I know that bastard was hot to kill you and McAllister. By the by, have you talked to him?”
“He’s here now.”
“Good. If I were you, I would make sure that you take extra precautions.”
“Sure, sure. Thanks for the call.”
“No problem, you know I owe you.”
He hung up and tried to get his brain wrapped around the news. O’Connell had been an IRA bomb specialist, one who went mercenary several years ago and had worked with anyone with the cash. He and his brother had been good, until Rory and Zeke had found them, killed his brother and caught up with O’Connell to arrest him. Germany had called dibs on him though for a bombing in Munich that killed twenty people. Still, he blamed Rory and him for his brother’s death and for being in prison.
He had vowed to kill them both.
“Zee, what the fuck is going on?”
“O’Connell, he escaped.”
“Just now?”
“No. A month ago.”
He saw the recognition on Rory’s face. It was O’Connell all along.
“Maura,” Rory said and turned and ran out of the room. Zeke followed.
“Call her. I need to call my mother and stepda.”
Jennifer stepped out of her office. “Call Conner, tell him “O’Connell”. Then you lock this place the fuck down.”