Page 30 of Memories of the Dark

“You did a stellar job with Seamus yourself. Look what he achieved. To put almost all the drug dealers in the city behind bars, destroying their distribution networks and labs is not a small thing. What can I do for you?”

“Cortez is dead, and it’s not our doing.” Flannagan’s words made Fabian gasp in shock, eyes wide. “However, we’ll deal with it later. For now, I want you to answer me one question: how much do you care about Fergus, Ardan and the others?”

CHAPTER 25

“What kind of question is that?” Fabian stared in shock at the man in front of him, who didn’t even blink. “I promised myself to protect and take care of Fergus and to never let Ardan fall. Or if he did, to help him rise. Brennan seems strong but can be very vulnerable at times, and so is Caleb. I will do everything in my powers to keep that promise.” Fabian’s eyes shone with affection, affection mixed with determination in his voice.

“That is the kind of answer I expected from you.” A smile brightened Flannagan’s face, but it only lasted a couple of seconds. “The time has come to keep that promise and keep these young men out of harm’s way. Their sworn enemies sentenced all four of them to death, and Fergus is their first target. I don’t know all the details, but they plan to attack The Base, too.”

“Who are the bastards? And what did that poor soul do to them? Hasn’t he suffered enough?” Fabian’s voice was pained, eyes clouded by sadness. “Wait, is it that Greenwood scum again? I’ll teach that one a lesson he’ll never forget.” The man’s voice changed, becoming steel-cold, his sapphire-blue eyes darkening, narrowed to two slits.

“He’s already dead meat. His allies, two British aristocrats, who claim to be related to the royal family, are the ones I’m worried about. They are behind Fernando Cortez’s assassination, and also the ones who plan to attack The Base. And there is, of course, the most dangerous of all: Godfrey MacNamara.” Flannagan’s face contorted of hate when he spat the last two words.

“I agree with you on those two. I know them very well. The older one nearly destroyed my husband’s and his sons’ lives. They are behind the children trafficking ring Ardan tries so hard to take down, and this detestable activity provides them sufficient money to raise an army of mercenaries to attack The Base with. However, I don’t see what Godfrey MacNamara has to do with this, other than being the lousiest father in the world.”

“You have everything in here.” With a motion of his head, Flannagan indicated the thick, brown envelope he was holding with both hands. “However, first you have to promise me you won’t open it before the meeting, and after you read the documents inside, you won’t do anything stupid. You have to be there for the poor boys when they find out the truth about the one who fathered them.”

“I give you my word. To do otherwise would mean to break the promise of supporting and protecting them, especially Ardan, who needs it more than all the others. Besides, in spite of everything he did, the boys still consider Godfrey their father, and it would pain them if something would happen to him. No matter how much I detest the specimen, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt his sons.”

“Here it is, then.” Flannagan put the envelope on the desk, pushing it to Fabian. “I won’t be able to attend the meeting. I still have some business I have to take care of. You’ll go there, tell them about the imminent attack on The Base and help them to devise a defense strategy. Unfortunately, Seamus won’t be able to contribute as much as we would like to because we need to take over Cortez’s business and annihilate his associates.”

“Ardan has many allies, so finding the extra men we need won’t be a problem. Besides, Sergeant Mills and the Steel Riders will be more than happy to help. Also, the guards at The Base possess excellent combat skills, so you don’t have to worry about that. One more question before you go: what, or better said who, is killing you?”

“The business I have to take care of, once our little, not-so-secret meeting is over. Some things are better to remain unsaid; otherwise, those we love could get hurt. You understand what I’m talking about, don’t you?” Flannagan’s voice was low and sad as he cast a suggestive look in the envelope’s direction.

“Yes, I do.” Fabian smiled weakly, holding the other man’s hand for a few seconds. “I hope I’ll see more of you in the future; you don’t have to give up hope. Just like Ardan, Fergus and their brothers need me, Seamus will need you to take care of things while he is in jail.”

Flannagan stared in Fabian’s eyes for a few seconds, then shook his head, the expression on his face a strange mix of defeat and serenity. He stood, headed to the door, then stopped for a while, looking around as if he searched for something. Finally, the man left the room and the building, thinking at the inevitable confrontation with the one who had been poisoning him over the last year.

Meanwhile, Fabian joined Ardan and Brennan, greeting Roger Mills, Xavier, Seamus and Dehaan, who for some reason, insisted on being present at the meeting. As expected, the news about the Warthons being back in the city came as a shock to everyone, except Dehaan, who with a mysterious smile, said that the two just dug their grave.

Then, he told everyone about Dunbar having irrefutable evidence of Nigel Warthon bragging about being involved in different illegal activities, from child trafficking and pornography to money laundering. They only had to find a way to get them out from hiding, so the police could arrest them.

Until then, however, ensuring The Base’s protection should be everyone’s top priority, Fabian said, gaining everyone’s approval. Brennan, who knew the place better than anyone, except Ardan, Lothier and the nucleus of the crew, pointed to the weaker spots of the perimeter. According to his strategy, those were going to be defended by the highest trained, most loyal guards under his and Lothier’s command.

The Steel Riders, a contingent of Bratva men, the rest of The Base’s guards and Seamus’s best men were going to patrol the rest of the perimeter, having the dorms, the kitchen, the storage rooms and the school as main objectives. Ardan approved his brother’s plan, adding that, as soon as the meeting was over, he was going to message a few more friends who would be very happy to help.

Fabian nodded, a small smile playing on his lips as he realized The Base’s boss was talking about Alasdair’s cousin, Liam Stark, his partner, Elias Poldark, Leon Stanley and the ex-Bratva leader, Aristarh Golovkin, who at sixty-two, was still in top shape.Of course, my Lance would want to join them, too, and I’m not going to stop him,he thought, smiling inwardly.

Once the meeting was over, Ardan and Brennan went back to their daily duties, Fabian returned to the small office where he’d talked to Flannagan, curious to see what was in the brown envelope. Hands shaking a little, he opened it, extracting the documents in random order. After reading only a few lines, the man stared in shock at the piece of paper in his hand, incapable of reacting to the information it contained.

For a few long seconds, Fabian’s brain froze, refusing to assimilate the words he’d just read, rejecting them as the fruit of a wild, sick, twisted imagination. However, like always, he got himself together, deciding to read everything in order, from the top of the pile to the bottom.

The documents, wills, marriage certificates, birth records, death certificates and police reports told a story of a man who, in his immense greed, sacrificed the lives of three innocent women, whom he married and then killed. The same man almost destroyed those who he should have loved and protected: his sons.

All Godfrey MacNamara ever wanted was money and power, so he married the older daughter of an immensely rich, very influential Scottish mobster, who gave birth to twin sons, Ardan and Fergus. When the boys were five, he orchestrated their kidnapping and the killing of his wife so he could inherit her share of the fortune.

Then, the grieving widow waited for the younger sister to reach marriageable age and repeated the maneuver. He needed a child from his new wife; otherwise, her estate would have gone to Harrison, her fiercely protective brother, who was also blindly loyal to Godfrey. The man couldn’t get rid of the woman and Brennan, the son she gave birth to one year after the wedding, in the same way he did with her sister, so he sent them away, together with his brother-in-law, who started to ask too many questions.

Free again, Godfrey set his eyes on his next target, the daughter of a wealthy businessman with roots in the organized crime world, whom he married after only a few months of courtship. The young woman, with a very fragile health, gave over to her new husband’s subtle but constant pressure, getting pregnant and giving birth to a healthy boy, Caleb, with the price of her own life.

As Fabian read the confessions of some of those who helped Godfrey carry out his evil plans, a wave of nausea threatened to take over him. That monster, he thought, knew exactly what Ardan was going through. He framed Brennan for killing his mother and uncle, was for a good while Greenwood’s accomplice in mistreating poor Fergus but had the nerve to ask the boys to obey his orders.

Making a mental note to meet Quinlan and beg him for forgiveness once again, Fabian renewed the promise to protect and support Ardan in everything. The man was his brothers’ shield and rock, the one they turned to for advice and comfort.Don’t worry, kid, I’ll never let go of your hand.

With that thought in mind, Fabian gathered all the documents from the desk, putting them back into the envelope. The man looked around the small office, searching for a place where he could hide the documents but couldn’t find anywhere, so decided to take them to the mansion, where Ardan or his brothers couldn’t find them.

Besides, Fabian wanted to talk to Lance about the envelope because he learned the hard way that some secrets needed to be shared with the ones he trusted and loved. Lost in his thoughts as he was, the man didn’t pay very much attention to what happened around him and bumped into Ardan, almost knocking him down.

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