Page 249 of The Texas Sterling Collection
Declan pulled his weapon and pointed it at Ailbe. “I don’t think so,MacGowan. You’ve used me for the last time. Now that the code is done, I have no use for you.”
“Dec…what do you mean?” Ailbe edged toward Declan, his hands outstretched and his arms open. “I always put you first.”
“You’re a feckin’ liar, MacGowan. From our first day together, it’s always been about my connections, brawn, and protection for your precious scheme. Well, maybe you were outsmarted by that brawn, especially since I heard you talking to Sterling like you were lovers. I have no qualms about eliminating you and taking the winnings.”
Ailbe stood in the center of the room and folded his arms, sneaking a hand inside his jacket. “I can see I didn’t give you enough credit. We’re an unstoppable team, you and I, Dec. We could live happily for the rest of our lives.”
“You are confused about the meaning ofteam,” Declan said. “You can’t have me and have Sterling too. So I’m about to live happily for the rest of my life. You are not, because your life is about to end.” Declan sneered, drawing aim at Ailbe.
Ailbe pulled his gun from his jacket and aimed at Declan. “We’ll see whose life is about to end.”
The door to the maintenance room flew open with a bang, and Rod rushed in. He quickly scanned the room and found Wyl at the computer desk, safe. His glare turned to Ailbe, and he ran toward him, not caring about the gun Ailbe held.
“What the feck,” Ailbe shouted. “How the feck did you get free?” He pointed the gun at Wyl. “I’ll just end things for the two of you, your precious husband first.”
Declan fired at Ailbe. “You feckin son of a bitch. After everything I did for you!”
Wyl jumped to his feet, his chair flying and landing on its back. He rushed from the computer table and cowered in a corner, trying to avoid more gunfire.
O’Brien lumbered in, followed by three Gardaí officers and James and Glen.
“Hands in the air!” the officers shouted.
In seconds, Rod had Wyl in a firm embrace. “I’ve got you, babe.” Wyl trembled in his arms, facing the wall, hands over his ears.
“Ahhhhhh,” Ailbe dropped his weapon and grabbed his shoulder. He rushed for the table, hoping to launch the sequence before the time ran out.
Gardaí grabbed Declan, disarming and subduing him before cuffing him. Declan watched as Ailbe attempted to complete his plan.
“Don’t touch that keyboard,” Glenn shouted as Ailbe reached the computer table.
Ailbe’s bloody hand hovered over the keyboard, a confident sneer on his face as he looked first at Glenn, then at Declan. His index finger dropped onto the Enter key. The computer beeped an acknowledgment.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Gardaí rushed to Ailbe and took him into custody.
“The gunfire is over, Wyl.” Rod soothed his husband. “You’re safe now.”
Wyl rotated to face Rod and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing hard. “When the gunfire happened, I was so scared,” he gasped. “You saved me.”
“Nothing can hurt you now. I’m here,” Rod whispered.
“I’m sorry I had to play the game. It ripped me apart inside to see you angry.” Wyl’s voice still trembled from the ordeal.
“You said,darlin’, remember? I kept my glare up as part of the game. I knew what you were doing.” Rod stroked Wyl’s back.
Wyl pulled back to look at Rod’s face. “Wait…how did you get here? They tied you up and took you outside.”
Rod chuckled. “O’Brien happened along and found me in the middle of the street. He removed my bindings, and I immediately ran for the building to save you. As I ran, I heard O’Brien tell someone that Steinburg had monitored Ailbe’s computer activity and ordered his men to disable the computer.”
Wyl stole a quick kiss from his husband. “All that work, and it looks like Ailbe won anyway. The computer beeped after he pressed the enter key.”
Rod tugged Wyl to his feet and over to the computer table. James and Glenn studied the screen.
Communication Failureflashed repeatedly.
Wyl looked adoringly at Rod. “It’s over, babe. We won.”
