Page 39 of Destroy Me
“Are the cameras hooked up?” she asked, ignoring the voice that threatened to lead her down a dead-end road.
Deacon grunted an agreement as King began bringing the cameras online. “We set them up earlier.”
“This one’s off a bit.” King pointed to one square whose angle caused the side of the house to obscure its full range.
“I’ll adjust it,” Deacon said and was out the door.
Tension immediately pulled at Lyse’s gut. Though she’d met him a couple of times, she didn’t really know King Moncrief. The old, polite part of her, the part that hadn’t hardened enough in the aftermath of her mistakes to flip off social niceties, scrambled for something to say to the silent blond giant next to her.
“I’m glad Deacon worked things out with Elliot,” she finally settled on. “They deserve to be happy.”
“Yes, they do,” King said, his normally suave voice roughened with gravel. “Sometimes we do actually get the happiness we deserve.” She felt him shrug. “And sometimes we fuck up any chance we might have of happiness in the future.”
The man’s tone told her he knew from personal experience. Kindred spirits, then?
From the corner of her eye she watched as the view on King’s screen filled with a palm—Deacon moving the camera. Seconds later the angle righted itself, focused on the woods behind Mack’s house.
“I’m glad y’all were able to get here so quickly,” Lyse said. Her laptop beeped as the satellite hookup connected. Reliable connectivity this far from town was almost impossible without it.
“Global First certainly knows how to get their crews in and out of countries with a minimum of fuss, especially where weapons are involved.” Clicking filled the room as King typed. “We don’t do a lot of international work at JCL.”
“They know what they’re doing, all right.” She hadn’t seen any weapons, but no doubt Mack had them secured somewhere. He wouldn’t be reporting them, not when they’d been brought by men trying to help Siobhan. “I remember—”
“What the hell?”
The edge of her chair slammed into King’s as she swiveled to see what had his attention. The view from the adjusted camera was front and center, showing Deacon’s back as he rushed toward the tree line. A small, blurry white figure staggered toward him.
“Who is— Oh no.” Lyse was out of her chair before her next breath. King clamped on to her wrist as she passed.
“Who is she?”
“That’s Aileen’s daughter.” The question was, what the hell was she doing here?
They ran down the stairs, King tight on Lyse’s heels. He passed her as they entered the kitchen. Lyse watched as he drew a handgun from its tucked position at the small of his back, holding it down at his thigh as he joined Fionn at the back door.
“Where is—”
Fionn eyed the crack between curtain and door, pausing a moment, then yanked at the doorknob. “Here.”
Deacon hurried through the door, the little girl clutched in his arms. Lyse could hear his soft reassurances as he brought the child to the kitchen table and Siobhan’s open arms.
Kyla was crying softly. From the look of her pinched face, fear and cold filled her, but as Deacon placed her in Siobhan’s lap, the sight of a familiar face broke through her terror. Loud wailing filled the kitchen.
Lyse’s chest went tight, her breath hitching in her throat. Pain shot through her breastbone as she dug her fist against it.
Fionn raised his voice above the child’s cries. “Lyse, go up and get Mack.”
“No.” Siobhan shook her head, cuddling Kyla against her chest. “He needs to be sleeping. I’ll take care of her.”
“You can’t, Siobhan.” Lyse stepped closer. “Kyla can’t be cleaned up and put to bed. She has to go into the station.” Anything they did for her now could ruin evidence against the men who’d taken her.
“Then I’ll go with her,” Siobhan said. “She knows me.”
“No.”
The denial came from Mack this time, moving into the doorway to the rest of the house, his chest bare and the button of his jeans undone. Mack might be a good bit older than her, but Lyse couldn’t help thinking what a lucky woman her friend was.
“I’ll take her in. It’s important,acushla. We have to keep building a case against Ferrina’s men. But we won’t be risking your safety to do it,” he said when Siobhan tried to protest.
