Page 32 of The Echo of Forever
“Cut the lights,” I said, and Oliver complied, plunging us back into darkness.
As our eyes adjusted, I made out a figure perched atop the van.
Violet O’Sullivan, the wife of Finnegan O’Sullivan, sat cross-legged on the roof.
A handgun rested on her knee. Her face was shadowed, but I could feel her watching us.
I opened my door.
“Follow my lead and try not to say anything stupid. She’ll shoot you for less.”
Violet was the no-nonsense type.
We approached the van, and as we got closer, she became visible. I smiled as annoyed grey eyes met mine.
The O’Sullivan women were so goddamn interesting to me.
“Who’s this beauty?” Oliver asked, stepping forward as if he had a chance to woo the married woman.
Finnegan, who I hadn’t been expecting, rounded the truck with an unamused expression on his face.
“So, there’s two of you disrespectful mutherfuckas. Address my wife by her name or not at all.”
Violet smiled, and so did I.
“Don’t be so mean, sunshine,” she mused, jumping from the top and landing gracefully on both feet. “I’d kill him before you got the chance to, anyway.”
“Noted,” Oliver said, sounding more intrigued than anything. “Compliments are unwelcome.”
The O’Sullivan men and their territorial ways were even more interesting. Finnegan’s brother, Sean, didn’t like it when I flirted with his wife. Had called her my future and all. It’d been fun and games, though, my first time out of Everwood for an extended period of time.
“Always a pleasure, Mrs. O’Sullivan.”
She tossed me a look that only made me broaden my smile.
“Don’t start,Everwood,” she said as Finnegan opened the back and revealed eight bolted crates. “As promised.”
Calling me by my city had become a thing amongst their circle, mostly because we were a no-touch zone for organized crime.
Violet produced a crowbar and I hoped in to pry one open, revealing an assortment of high-quality machinery.
“Forty-five caliber, clean serial numbers,” she said, lifting one for inspection. “The ammo’s in the bottom crates. Hollow points, just like you asked for.”
Oliver whistled low, picking up one of the weapons and checking its weight.
“Definitely worth the money,” he mumbled.
I hopped out the truck to have a word with Finnegan.
“Did my package make it safely?”
He nodded.
“All good. We took that route today.”
As an incentive for allying with me, I’d given them full control of the iron pipeline and righted some wrongs on their behalf.
Now, I-95 was theirs to move on how they saw fit, though I’d stepped on the Collective and killed an ally of theirs to get my hands on it.
