Page 97 of Mob Bride

“When we go in the garage, we can’t say a single thing while we’re out there. We’re working on the assumption they didn’t plant any cameras in the garage. We can’t be sure, so I’m praying they won’t see us hiding you. It’s possible they don’t have cameras, but they could have microphones.”

“Shane, I know. I’ve planted plenty of them.”

His grim expression tells me he didn’t care for the reminder.

“I keep an under-vehicle search mirror in a cut out behind some storage shelves.”

That shouldn’t surprise me, but it does.

“I have places to hide shite all over my property, Carrie. Cormac’s doing a sweep now to ensure they placed nothing underneath his car or mine. There are a few small nooks and crannies where they could place a bug or a tracker, but I don’t think most agents are well versed enough in cars to know exactly where, and none of them looked like they had hands dirty from being underneath one of our cars.”

“Maybe an auto body class should be required at the academy.”

“We are always wary, but neither of us is overly concerned right now. Once you’re hidden, we’ll go back to the door. I’ll open it from inside, and we’ll wait until the garage door is halfway open to ensure the agents see us before I step down into the garage. Cormac’ll come out of the house behind me. It’ll look like we’re leaving together, but only the two of us. If we open the door while we’re already near the car, it’ll make the agents even more suspicious that we’ve already hidden something in the car or in the garage. We want to make it look as though we have no cares in the world as we leave. Life continues despite the minor disturbance.”

I nod since all of that makes sense. I don’t know if he just thought of this or if it’s standard operating procedure for this family. I suspect the latter. Someone trained them, and now it comes naturally.

“Cor’ll get in the driver’s seat, and I’ll get in on the passenger side. You know it’s not a long drive to Sean’s house. In case there are any trucks or vans parked in the neighborhood outside my jammers’ radius, we’ll stay quiet until we know whether they’re following us. We’ll talk about going to the movies this weekend and our security shifts at the bars Finn owns. I’m not scheduled for anything, but Cormac is a bouncer at McGinty’s this weekend. It’s the bar our nana owned before she passedaway. Finn inherited it. If the car’s bugged and we stay quiet the entire time, it’ll seem suspicious. We’ll chat, so it’ll sound like we believe everything’s back to normal.”

I know how sensitive those things can be. I pray they don’t hear me breathing.

“I’ll text Sean now to let him know we’re headed out. If I have to communicate with anyone once we’re beyond my house’s jammers and not close enough to his, I’ll text rather than call.”

“What should I expect when we get to Sean’s?”

His expression softens as he lifts me onto his lap on the sofa where we sat down for this conversation.

“I suspect your parents are going to engulf you and not let go.”

That makes my heart hurt. “I can’t blame them if they do.”

“Cailín, my parents were exactly the same way the first few times I went on missions alone. My mom wasn’t any better before that when my brothers and I went on missions with our dad. She’s not quite as bad now as she was in the beginning, but neither of my parents take for granted the blessing it is when their sons come home alive. We don’t always come back without some nicks and cuts, sometimes even some stab wounds and bullet holes, but we all live to tell the tale.”

I gulp. I’m nauseous at the thought Shane might come home like that, and I’d have to see it.

“Little one, that hasn’t happened in a long time. And we have the best doctor in the city to stitch us up.”

He grins, but it does little to console me. I snuggle closer. We sit together in silence until Cormac returns from the garage and gives us the all-clear. Just like Shane described, they help me into the back of Cormac’s Range Rover. It’s seriously cramped even with me curled into as tight a ball as I can make my body. Cormac and Shane suspect we’re being followed but aren’t sure, so I stay in the back. I don’t know what’s in the tubs, but theysound heavy. If we get pulled over, they might deter anyone from searching too far into the back. It’s stuffy, so I wipe sweat from my forehead when Shane finally lets me out in Sean’s garage.

The moment I’m through the door and into Sean’s house, my mom’s barreling toward me, and my dad’s on her heels. My parents swoop me up for a hug that threatens to smother me.

“Carys, thank God. Are you okay?”

Tears choke my mom’s voice. She’s still hugging me, but she’s eased her hold a little. She’s wrapped around me from the front, and my dad envelops both of us from the back. He’s a tall man, so his arms are long enough to reach around us. They make a Carys sandwich. I loved when they called it that when I was a kid. I just realized I think of myself as Carrie now after hearing Shane call me that so many times.

“I’m all right. Nothing happened to me.”

I know my dad’s tone. Fuck my life.

“I’d hardly say nothing. You owe us an explanation.”

My shoulders droop even though my arms stay wrapped around my mom. When she pulls away enough for me to turn around, I hug my dad.

“I will, but it’s going to take a while to explain everything.”

“We figured as much.”

From the way Shane, Sean, and Cormac wince, they recognize Mom’s tone. I bet it’s the same as when she deals with any of their injuries. It’s not entirely sympathetic, but it is filled with concern.

---