Flawless(55)

That sounded ominous. Unsettling.

“We’re closing up now,” she said softly.

“Yes, I know, and I’m waiting.”

She leaned forward. “To make sure I’m safe?”

“Let me stay with you tonight,” he said, his finger playing across the back of her hand again.

She needed to say no.

Instead she nodded. “Yes.”

“Good night, Kieran!”

She turned to see that Bobby O’Leary was leaving. Leave it to Bobby. He didn’t even drink—and he was closing down the pub.

“Night, Bobby!” she called, pulling her hand away from Craig’s touch and waving.

Declan was heading around the bar. He seemed to accept Craig being there as perfectly natural. “Are you seeing my sister home?” he asked.

“I’d planned to. Figured you must be worn out after a night like this.”

“I am, but you must be worn out, too. The city is in an uproar, and you’re caught right in the middle of it,” Declan said.

Craig smiled. “But I’ve had a relaxing evening, meeting a lot of interesting people here at the bar.”

Mary Kathleen came up just then and sat on the stool beside Craig, sighing as she let her head fall. “Brilliant night, but, oh! I’m beyond exhausted.”

Kieran hadn’t even had a chance to speak with her almost sister-in-law. “Did everything go well with you and Julie?”

“Aye, the girl’s a love!” Mary Kathleen said, lifting her head and grinning. “Quiet as a mouse, she were. Slept well, then woke up and headed over to her old place for whatever she might need most. Figured we’d get a list of the heavier things, and the boys can go get them on Sunday morning, when this place is actually closed for a spell. For the moment she’s fine—happy as a lark. She’s working from home the next few days, hangin’ with the pups. And what angels they are, too. Never knew I wanted a dog till now.”

“I’m not so sure a pub keeper and his wife have time for a dog,” Declan said.

“No harder than babes, and I assure you, we’ll be having a few of them,” Mary Kathleen said.

Kieran was relieved to find herself actually smiling.

Raising his voice so his brothers, who were still busing the last of the tables, could hear, Declan called out, “Thank you—no, bless you all. Couldn’t have handled tonight without you. Now go home. Get out. I need to lock up.”

Kevin and Danny stopped and headed to the bar, staring questioningly at Kieran and Craig.

“You’re good—go home. Kieran has an escort,” Declan told them.

Kieran couldn’t tell whether Danny was looking at her with a strange expression or not.

“Well, great,” Kevin said. “I’m off. I plan to sleep late tomorrow. I’m totally wiped. And I’ll see to it that this reprobate gets home, too.” He punched Danny playfully on the shoulder.

“Night all,” Kieran said.

“And, you two, you need to get out of here, too,” Declan said to her, with a nod toward Craig.

Kieran reached under the bar for her bag and jacket. With Declan making shooing motions behind her, she rounded the bar and joined Craig. He didn’t touch her as they walked to the door together and he opened it for her.

His sedan was just down the block. They walked to it quickly, without speaking. She took a quick look over her shoulder as they went.

“Do you think we’re being followed?” he asked her.

“What?” she asked in turn, her brow knitting in confusion.

“You were looking around.”

“Just wondering who else was out this late,” she said.

He nodded and opened the car door for her.

As she slid inside, she wondered what the night was going to be like. He was being so silent suddenly, and she knew that she herself was tense.

Why hadn’t she said no when he said he wanted to stay the night? Why hadn’t she protested?

Why had she been so afraid to speak up? And exactly what was she so afraid of tonight, here with an FBI agent by her side?

“Eagan really likes you,” he told her, pulling into the street.

“I’m glad. He seems so...normal. I mean...for a boss.”

He smiled at that. “He is normal, just obsessed with work.”

“And you’re not?”

He shrugged. “We have shifts, we’re allowed to have lives, but it does turn into an around-the-clock type of thing a lot of the time. So,” he said, changing the subject back to her, “how do you feel the interviews went? Eagan said you were upset that the thieves had been to Finnegan’s.”

“Wouldn’t you be, if it were your family’s business?”

“Hey,” he said, “every crook out there has dined all over town. The only difference this time is that usually management never knows about it.”

She turned in the seat to look at him. “Did you learn anything today?”

“It’s an ongoing investigation.”

“Oh, so you can’t tell me?”

He was silent.

“Great! I’m supposed to tell you everything, and in return you get to keep me in the dark.”

He let out a sigh. “We’re investigating a number of leads.”