Page 152 of Dirty Eoin

We make eye contact. We both know that we’ve stared Death in the face today and survived. But we also both know that he never leaves empty-handed.

It’s then we hear the entrance doors as they open then close.

Roisin is still bound. There’s no time to deal with that when whoever’s come to join the party is mere minutes away.

I can’t switch on the location finder on my phone as it will be dead. I never charged it as I wasn’t expecting to have to use it during a kids’ birthday party.

Cursing, I use the now horizontal sword to cut through the tape on my right hand until my fingers are free and the blood is circulating once more. Then I use it to cut off the tape binding my left arm to my body.

Fuck.

Did they lock us in?

Roisin watches as I quickly make my way to the door. I nod at her. It’s a silent promise, letting her know I’ll be back. I breathe out in relief when I turn the handle and the door clicks open. Closing it behind me, I make my way to the room next door.

There’s been no mention of any weapon having been found, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t. I reach behind the statue of Mary, then pull out my rifle. It’s covered in a fine film of dust, but it’s exactly as I left it.

“Thank you, God.” I close my eyes as I whisper to the ceiling, grateful that for once The Almighty has answered my silent prayers.

CHAPTERFORTY-NINE

ROISIN

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Manhattan, New York

I watchas the girl who would have been my daughter-in-law enters the small room. She looks surprised initially, then it changes to one of distaste. I’m not at my finest having spent the time I have tied to a plastic chair. I’m covered in filth and blood. Meanwhile, Molly is professionally dressed in a grey pin-striped suit. Has she already found herself a new job and a new fancy man? She definitely doesn’t look as devastated as Daddy Dearest was making her out to be. One of them is lying. Then again, it’s a trait that typically runs in families, so it’s probably both. One thing’s for sure. Molly McGrath wasn’t expecting to walk in here to find me alive and well. She was expecting me to have a sword sticking from my skull.

I tsk as I shake my head in disappointment. “Molly, surely there could have been another way.”

“He betrayed me, Roisin. You both did.” She pouts like a child.

“So you thought taking my life was the answer?”

“I wanted to take away the thing that meant most to him.”

“Then surely you should have set your sights on Jaine.”

“Daddy says we can go after her next time. He said she would have been far more difficult to take as she seldom leaves her building.”

“Not really. We were traveling in the same car.”

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Just as I said, we were in the same vehicle. Are you not wondering where my female driver is?”

I nod at the empty pew facing me. She glances at it and her frown deepens.

How could I have ever thought this girl suitable for the Ma Duster role when she’s walked in here and has neither assessed her surroundings nor identified where both hostages are?

I glance behind her exaggeratedly. Her eyes widen as her life no doubt flashes in front of them. She now knows exactly where my driver is.

I smile as she spins, knowing her last sight in this world will be Jaine Jones pointing a rifle at her head. I know what Jaine can do from five hundred meters away. She doesn’t need to bother checking the wind direction today. And I know she won’t hesitate. Not with a person who’s just admitted to wanting her dead.

“Hi, Molly. Bye, Molly.”

I smirk at Jaine’s words then close my eyes before she pulls the trigger. Not because I don’t want to witness the execution of this deceitful girl. It’s because I don’t want any of her brains getting in my eyes.

We both stare down at Molly as she lays on the floor, her eyes wide open, a perfect round hole in her forehead and surrounded by an expanding pool of her blood. Placing the weapon on the pew, Jaine unbinds me.

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