Flawless(72)

“Yeah, I know,” Craig said. “I owe you one, Wally.” When he hung up, he looked at Mike. “We really need to find Joe.”

Mike nodded. “We need to find out everywhere she went with Joe and anything her friends know about where he’s been, then check out every damned Joe in the place.”

Craig nodded. “Maybe those phone records will help. I’ll tell you one thing, though.”

Mike looked at him questioningly.

“We go back to Finnegan’s ourselves,” Craig said.

“We need to ask Declan for all his receipts.”

“No, we’ll get Mayo to do that,” Craig said.

“Why?”

“Because we’re going back as Ian Stone and his drummer buddy, Nate Ellsworth,” Craig said.

Mike looked at him suspiciously. “You think something at Finnegan’s isn’t what it appears, don’t you?”

“Yes, you know that.”

“Do you suspect one of the family?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Of course you don’t. Not when you’re sleeping with Kieran Finnegan,” Mike said. “You’ve got to get past that, buddy. You don’t know what’s going on there, and you need an open mind.”

“I am past it. I never let my personal feelings interfere with the job, and you know that, Mike.” Craig was surprised that Mike hadn’t yet mentioned what they’d heard from Julie Benton.

Mike shook his head. “You need to be careful, buddy, really careful. Now, me? I believe in her. I think you found a frickin’ pot o’ gold. She’s smart and beautiful, but you still need to watch out.”

“Mike...”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a pro. I know. Listen, do we really have to wear beards again? And those flipping contacts?”

“Yes, Mike, we do.”

“She’s going to see through you,” Mike said.

“Bull. I worked undercover for years. Eagan didn’t even recognize us, remember?”

Mike laughed. “Yeah, but you’re not sleeping with Eagan.”

*

Kieran assuaged Tanya’s attorney by making up something about Tanya telling her additional and very personal details of her marriage, things the woman wasn’t comfortable talking about to anyone but her. She promised that she would put everything in a revised report.

She managed to get out of Rikers quickly, despite the fact that Miss Terry insisted on seeing her to the gates, apologizing all the way for having brought her in on a Sunday.

As soon as Kieran was back in the car, she asked William Buell to drive her to Finnegan’s.

Yes, that was where someone had pointed her out to the man who had tried to kill her. But, she reasoned, no one was likely to try to kill her there—at least not during business hours.

She went back to wondering why someone wanted her dead.

If someone was trying to kill her, it had to be because he or she thought she knew something. The problem was, if she did know something, she had no idea what it was.

They’d tried to kill Bobby, too, and presumably for the same reason. And given that he was pretty much a full-time barfly, it was in fact reasonable to think he might have overheard something.

But what?

She had to talk to Craig. This was getting serious.

Of course, Craig already suspected something was going on at Finnegan’s. She could tell that he was suspicious of the clientele—and her family.

Maybe even of her.

No, he couldn’t be. He’d been with her when she’d been taken hostage. Then again, maybe he thought she’d been some kind of plant, and then the wrong set of thieves had shown up.

Maybe he was even sleeping with her to try to find out what was going on. Maybe he even expected to hear her whisper the truth when she was asleep.

She told herself she was being ridiculous. Even paranoid.

All she knew for sure was that at that moment she needed to be at Finnegan’s, needed to be with her family, the people she could always count on.

And where she was afraid someone she loved might be inadvertently involved in everything that was going on.

Buell let her off directly in front of the door and Kieran hurried inside.

The place was relatively quiet.

The pub always did a traditional roast from 1:00 p.m. until closing, which was midnight on Sundays. People came in at random times all day, and when she arrived, half the tables were full. She saw Mary Kathleen right away.

Her brother’s fiancée was in bright spirits; she knew that Bobby was doing well, so as far as she was concerned, all was right with the world.

“Kieran! I didn’t think you were coming in today,” Mary Kathleen said. “You must be worn to a frazzle, working all day, then sleeping at the hospital. Why didn’t you go home?”

“I needed company, I guess,” Kieran said. “And I had to talk to someone for work, and since they gave me a driver, I thought that I’d just get dropped off here.”

“Work on a Sunday?”

“No rest for the weary,” Kieran said lightly.

Mary Kathleen looked at her worriedly.

“No, no, I’m not really weary,” Kieran said quickly. “It was just something that needed to be done today.”

“Well, Declan’s behind the bar, Kevin is doing books and Debbie and I are doing fine out here on the floor. Why don’t you get something to eat? You’re starting to look a wee bit pinched.”