Page 55 of Savage Redemption

“No. Just, make sure she’s comfortable. And calm.” I pass the still squirming girl into his custody. “I know you’re upset, love. Let Megan take care of you. And Faith.”

“Please, don’t hurt him,” she sobs. “Rosie said…”

“It’s okay, and this isn’t your worry. Leave it to me.” Not much by way of reassurance, but I’m not keen to make a promise I may not keep.

Megan and Jake bundle the girl out, followed by Nico going in search of Faith. Her calming presence will be invaluable, as usual. The door closes behind them, leaving the rest of us in silence.

“She should know better by now, bursting in here like that.” Jack shakes his head. “Do you want me to have a word? Or maybe Arina?”

Arina is Nataliya’s older sister, currently standing vigil over young Andrej’s bedside.

“Maybe, later. Right now, she has other things on her mind.” I sit down again and call the room back to order. “The thing is, inappropriate outburst or not, the kid has a point.”

“Boss?” This from Tony.

“At first glance it does look as though our mystery man was on the side of the angels.”

“Do you mean us, boss?” Jack seems unconvinced by the description of our gathering as ‘angels’.

I allow myself a grin. “Well, some of the time. I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until I know for sure who he is and why he’s here.”

No one appears to disagree with me.

“So, what now, boss?” Tony wants to know.

I pull out my phone. This time it’s my sister, Casey’s, number I speed dial. “Now, we do some fact-finding. Hi, Casey. Where are you right now?”

“In Dublin. Ged had business over here, so we flew back a couple of days ago.” Her husband, Jed O’Neill, heads up the Irish Mob but has extensive interests in New York, where they live for most of the year.

“That’s convenient. Could he spare you for a day or two to help me out with something?”

“I daresay he could. In fact, his business here is more or less concluded, so you could have both of us. Roisin, too. We were thinking of a quick visit before we fly back to Manhattan.”

“Even better. When could you be here?”

“First thing in the morning, okay?”

“That’ll be fine.’

“Care to give me a clue?”

“I need a deep dive into someone. Full background, life story. You know the sort of thing. From his shoe size to his favourite pudding, and his first pet as a child.

“Fair enough.” She pauses, then, “Is my idol still there by any chance?”

“If you mean Professor Byrne, yes.”

“Who else? She’s a fucking legend.”

“If you say so. I’ll leave the fangirling to you. See you tomorrow,” I end the call.

Everyone files out, with the exception of Jack. He looks concerned.

“Something on your mind?” I ask.

“It may be nothing. The kid blurted something about Rosie. What do you think that was about?”

“I noticed that, too. Megan said that Rosie sneaked in to see him, was chatting away to him in Spanish, but she denied even knowing him when Megan asked.”

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