“Where is Mary?” Garrett asked.
Declan looked to Sinead, who still had her weapon focused on Huntley Sr. “I don’t recall that being a direction.”
He fired a warning shot at Garrett’s feet, making him jump and squeal like the pig he was.
“Idiot,” his father hissed. “This is over. Do what he says.”
“See? I told you the father had all the brains. Weapons out and down on the ground.”
“This isn’t over. My father knows people. Scarier people than you,” Garrett said even as he and his father complied with the order.
Declan shook his head and turned his gaze to Huntley Sr. “Yes, I know. But it would appear your days of dabbling in international terrorism are over.”
“I have a respectable law firm,” Huntley Sr. insisted.
“But you and I know better. You see, it’s early on the west coast, but in a few hours FBI agents are going to be showing up at your firm with a subpoena in hand. They are going to find a lot of evidence that links you to known terrorist groups. Quite detailed paper trails of how you both laundered money for them and provided them with avenues of funding.”
“That’s bullshit,” Garrett said.
“You’re bluffing. There is nothing there,” Huntley Sr. concurred smugly.
Declan smiled. “Maybe there wasn’t. But there is now. All the evidence anyone would need to put you in jail for a very long time.”
“The lawyers,” Sinead muttered. “All day with the lawyers.”
Declan smiled as his clever girl understood what he’d been doing with his time out in San Francisco after he had retrieved the picture.
“I told you I hate them,” he reminded her.
“You won’t be able to make phony evidence stick.” Garrett shouted.
“Oh but I can. You would probably be surprised, or maybe you wouldn’t as he’s your father, how much of it is actually legit. I hate to break this to you, Garrett, but your father is a not a very good man. And you, Mr. Huntley Senior, I think you’ll find federal prison quite a holiday, because once it’s known to your merry band of terrorists that you failed to provide the picture or me, they probably will have you killed. I however, could not take that chance. You sealed your fate the moment you tried to pay Mary to return to your sick and twisted son.”
“Something I never would have done,” said another voice.
Dec stiffened as he watched his sister walk out of the house, standing behind Garrett and his father. Too close. Too close to both of them.
Garrett wheeled around at the sound of her voice.
“I told myself I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t face either of you,” she said softly. “But I could. I have.”
But Declan could still hear her. Could hear the fear in his sister’s voice as she confronted the man who abused her and the other man who sanctioned it with money. He lifted his gun and took aim at Huntley’s head when he felt the pressure of Sinead’s hand on his arm.
“Don’t,” she said. “Let her have this.”
“Mary, please,” Garrett said, actually physically getting on his knees. “All of this, everything I did was just to get you back. I know I screwed up. But I’ll make it up to you. We can take a trip. Start over. Like none of this happened.”
“You fractured my jaw, broke my ribs and my arm. People had to see me like that. People knew what I had allowed to happen to me. It was worse than the pain. A thousand times worse,” she recounted, her voice wobbling, but she was standing as tall as her five-foot-two frame would allow. “And you want to start over? How stupid do you think I am?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t. You’re everything. I’ll go to therapy, counseling. Anything. I love you.”
“You’re pathetic,” Huntley Sr. said, closing his eyes in disgust.
“Shut the fuck up, Dad. I don’t care what you think. It’s you, Mary. I only care about you.”
At that she laughed, but it was a hallow sound and it made Declan’s heart clench. He feared he might never hear actual laughter from her again.
“You don’t love me. You don’t know what love is. How could you? Look at what you were raised by,” she said, pointing to her ex-father-in-law as if he was scum under her feet. “No, you charmed me. You fooled me. You wanted to own me. But you never loved me. How sad that I was so desperate for it that I settled for you.”
“You bitch,” Garrett snarled.
Declan watched it unfold in seconds. The man who had been on his knees surged up and lunged after his sister as if to tackle her to the ground. Garrett was in mid-lunge when Declan heard the report of the rifle. Then instead of reaching Mary, Garrett Huntley collapsed in a puddle at her feet. The back of his head gone, the blood and brains spattered on the jeans and chambray shirt Mary had chosen to wear for her confrontation with her ex-husband.