Page 51 of Midnight Escape

“True,” Doc agreed, “but their employees might.”

“If he hasn’t made the move in the last three months, why now? And why just tearing up her studio? Why not her room, instead of just the broken perfume bottle?”

With his nervous, arguably ready-for-battle energy flying through his nerve endings, he jumped from the chair again and paced. No matter his feelings for Moira, he had to be level-headed.

“If it’s him, he’s coming now because he found out she’s still alive.” Danny wiped his hand over his face, trying to clear his head and settle his brain to figure this out. “Here’s my gut’s guess. He may know she’s here, but it’s not him. Boyle is a cold-blooded killer and would hire the same. So, the men at the tavern and whoever fucked up her studio aren’t in the same class.”

His teammates nodded, but their expressions showed a flash of concern. It only lasted briefly, but it told him how they felt about this op. Technically, it wasn’t an official op. AJ had given him leeway to use the team—not like he wouldn’t have—to collect Moira.

Doc leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “I think this whole thing stinks to high heaven. There are several options. Someone in the Underground is keeping it secret. The ruined studio doesn’t fit with that option. That could be an angry artist who doesn’t like the competition or a disgruntled client.”

“Yeah,” Danny said, but without conviction. “I don’t see the last two going to the effort. But there might be something to your thought. This was a message, but I’m not sure what kind.”

Cowboy pulled his legs up and straightened in his seat. “Whoever did this has been watching the house and guessed the limitations of your security system. They knew neither of you were here and did it not long after you’d left late last night.”

He’d already been racking his brain to see if he remembered someone poking around more often than should be or starting a casual conversation with himself or Moira.

“I know,” Cowboy said. “I’m looking into this more. If it’s who’s chasing her from Ireland, he may’ve used muscle but not killers. They’re taunting her to confirm she’s the right person.”

“That sounds plausible,” Danny said.

“Has she said anything or hinted about trouble?” Doc asked.

Danny gave him a sideways glance. “You saw her. She only asked for help when she couldn’t get away. Like us, she knew better than to go out the back door right away, in case someone was waiting. So, if she had problems outside of the reason she’s here, I doubt she’d share them unless they got out of control.”

“Damn stubborn women,” Cowboy muttered.

“Agreed.”

“Let me call AJ about it all. My plan is to protect her, keep our ears to the ground for local or international chatter.”

Cowboy gestured his thumb to the front door. “What about the scary twins?”

He and Doc chuckled at that. HIS only needed the two of them to confront a perp and they’d be spilling the beans, without so much as a word from either twin. Come to think of it, he’d only heard a few words from Jane and even less from John. “They’re with us. They’ll be our nighttime secret weapons.” He paused, then added, “Let me call AJ. Then we talk to Stone.”

“Stone?” Doc’s brow furrowed. “Is he back with us?”

Danny shook his head. “I think he’s done with his field days. I’ll have him dig up what he can about our potential suspects. When Moira arrived, I had him pull what he could of those at the mansion that day, but I set it aside when I felt she was safe. Stupid of me.”

“Don’t sweat it. We’ll take care of it.” Doc stood. “Got anything to drink in the fridge?” Doc loomed over him.

“Help yourselves. There’s also snacks in the pantry.” He stepped to his office to make the first call.

AJ picked up before the second ring. “What the fuck? You should’ve reported already.”

True, but he’d needed to calm down. Pissing off AJ would doom anything extra he might need or make them pull him. “We had a problem.”

“Go ahead.”

“We found her easily this morning and brought her home. The problem is that someone has been in my home and destroyed her art studio on my third floor.”

“Don’t you have a security system? If not, I’ll meet your ass in the ring.”

He wanted to laugh. AJ, well, he wasn’t good in the ring. As if channeling his boss, Danny’s finger and thumb rested on the bridge of his nose before he answered, “Of course I have a security system. It just isn’t on the windows or inside motion.”

“Do you think it’s the Irish threat?”

“I couldn’t say. There’s no chatter of her in the Underground, but I won’t write them off completely. The two thugs could’ve been trying to fill a quota and decided she looked good for it.” Danny took a breath and continued. “Whoever did the deed last night knew Moira wasn’t there, knew I’d left, and knew my house and security system, or made a damn good calculated guess on it. Plus, they targeted her space.”

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