Page 84 of Bozo

"I don't know his name," the kid says quickly. "But I've heard them talk about him. They call him the Puppetmaster."

Jerry and Denis exchange a look. I can see the wheels turning in their heads. That’s not a name I’ve heard before, but I’m wondering if Jer and Denis have?

"Where can we find this Puppetmaster?" Jer asks.

The young man shakes his head. "I don't know. But..." He hesitates, glancing at his friends. "They’re supposed to be after someone, or something that they need to make the Revenant bigger, better than before."

"Where is he?" Denis presses.

"Here in Ireland," the kid whispers. "That's all I know, I swear."

The room falls silent as we all process this information. It's not over. Not by a long shot.

Pyro turns to me, his expression grim. "Looks like we're no closer to finding out the truth.”

Frustration doesn’t even fucking cover it right now. Christ, what the fuck is going on? I quickly send a text to Gráinne, making sure she’s okay.

“Do you know who the Puppetmaster is?” I ask Jer and Denis.

I watch as Denis nods grimly. “I’ve heard about him. He’s a low-key player here in Ireland, but he’s got a lot of connections in Europe. It’s where he makes his money.”

Jer nods, his jaw tight. “Damien Hammond is the Puppetmaster.”

I frown. Am I supposed to know who that is?

“Bozo,” Jer says, his voice tight. “The guy who asked Grá on a date? He works in the hospital with her. He’s been a friend since she started college. Mike Hammond is the son of Damien Hammond.”

I clench my jaw, staring at him dumbfounded. “You let some fucker close to her?” I snarl. “How the fuck was he able to get that fucking close to her?”

Jer's eyes flash with anger at my accusation. "We didn't know he was part of this shit. Had I known, he would never have been anywhere near her."

I take a deep breath, trying to calm the rage building inside me. "So what now? We go after this Puppetmaster?"

Denis shakes his head. "Not yet. We need more information. If we move too quickly, we could spook him and lose our chance."

"And in the meantime?" I ask, my voice tight with frustration.

"We keep Gráinne safe," Pyro says firmly. "And we dig deeper. Find out everything we can about Damien Hammond and his operations."

I nod, my mind racing. "What about Mike? He's still close to Gráinne. We need to get him away from her." She hates being confined to the clubhouse, and I know she’s dying to get back to work, but he’s also there and that’s not something I’m comfortable with.

Jer runs a hand through his hair. "We can't just snatch him up. That'll raise too many alarms. We need to be smart about this."

"I don't give a fuck about being smart," I growl. "I care about keeping Gráinne safe."

"And we will," Denis assures me. "But we need to play this carefully. If we tip our hand too soon, we could lose everything."

I clench my fists, hating the logic in his words. Every instinct in me is screaming to hunt down Mike Hammond and beat the truth out of him. But I know they're right. We need to be strategic.

“Fine,” I snarl as I reach for my cell and see two messages from Gráinne.

Grá: All good. Heading back soon.

But not even minutes later, I see she messaged again.

Grá: Not sure what’s going on but something’s not right.

I lift my head and see Jer watching me. “What?” he asks, his voice tight.

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