Page 13 of Cowboy
I nod slowly, glad we’re not sitting around. "We'll need proof, concrete evidence that can't be disputed or covered up."
"Exactly," Travis agrees. "And we'll need to be careful. One wrong move and we're all dead."
As we stand there in the darkness, I can't help but think of Caoimhe, sleeping inside. She's lost everything; her parents, her brother, her home. And now she's caught up in this dangerous game.
"We need to tell her," I say suddenly. "Caoimhe… She deserves to know the truth, all of it."
Travis hesitates. "It's risky. The more she knows, the more danger she's in."
"She's already in danger," I argue. "And keeping her in the dark isn't going to protect her. She needs to understand what we're up against."
After a long moment, Travis nods. "You're right. We'll tell her in the morning. For now, get some rest. I'll take first watch."
I head back inside, my mind racing with everything Travis has told me. As I pass by the staircase, I notice a faint blue glow coming from Caoimhe's room. She's still awake.
I hesitate for a moment, then quietly make my way upstairs. Her door is slightly ajar, and I can see her sitting cross-legged on the bed, her face illuminated by the screen of a laptop I don't recognize.
"Caoimhe?" I call softly, pushing the door open wider.
She startles, quickly moving to close the laptop before recognizing me. "Jesus, Ciarán, you scared me."
"Sorry," I say, stepping into the room. "I thought you were asleep." I nod toward the laptop. "Where'd you get that?"
She hesitates, her fingers tapping nervously on the closed lid. "It's Dylan's," she finally admits. "His backup. He kept it hidden in a compartment he built into his bed frame."
My eyebrows shoot up. "The Gardaí didn't find it?"
She shakes her head. "They didn't know to look." A ghost of a smile crosses her face. "Dylan was always paranoid about losing his data. He said if anything ever happened to him, I should get his backup. I didn't understand what he meant until..." Her voice trails off.
"Did you find anything?" I ask, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Caoimhe opens the laptop again and her fingers fly across the keyboard as she navigates through files. "At first, no. It's all encrypted, and Dylan was good with security." She glances up at me. "But I'm better."
I blink in surprise. "You can break his encryption?"
"I’ve been hacking for a while," she says, as if it should be obvious. "Dylan and I used to compete to see who could build better security systems. I usually won."
For the first time since this nightmare began, I feel a flicker of hope. "So what did you find?"
Her expression grows serious. "Communications. Dylan was in contact with Fiona Brennan, a journalist from the Irish Times. She specializes in exposing corruption." Caoimhe turns the screen toward me. "Look at these messages. Dylan was planning to meet with her, to share information about what you guys found."
I scan the messages, my heart pounding. "Did they ever meet?"
"No," Caoimhe says, pulling up another file. "The meeting was scheduled for the day after he..." She swallows hard. "After he died."
"Christ," I mutter, running a hand through my hair. "Travis and I were just talking about needing proof, something concrete that can't be disputed."
"That's not all," Caoimhe says, her voice taking on a determined edge I've never heard before. "Dylan had been documenting everything. Names, dates, locations. He created backups of the package you retrieved." She pulls up a folder filled with files. "He even managed to trace some of the funds. He was building a case, Ciarán."
I stare at her, stunned. "This is..." I struggle to find the words. "This could change everything."
Caoimhe meets my gaze, her eyes hard with resolve. "I've already made contact with Fiona. I used a secure connection and bounced it through multiple proxies."
"You what?" I exclaim, then lower my voice. "Caoimhe, that's dangerous. These people?—"
"Killed my brother," she finishes, her voice steady despite the pain in her eyes. "I know. And I'm not going to hide while they get away with it." She closes the laptop and looks at me with fierce determination. "I'm not just some helpless girl you need to protect, Ciarán. I can fight too. For Dylan."
I sit back, really seeing her for the first time. Not as Dylan's little sister who needs saving, but as a formidable ally with skills and resources we desperately need.
