Flawless (New York Confidential #1)(67)

Julie waved a hand in the air. “They wouldn’t have done anything. They’d have told me to call animal control, and animal control might have tried to take Benji and Sally away from me. I couldn’t take that chance.”

“I’m afraid someone can’t be arrested just for being a jerk,” Kieran said.

Julie’s hands were wrapped around her coffee cup, as if for comfort, and she was staring down at the dark surface. “No,” she agreed softly, then looked up. “But, Kieran, I like him. I like your guy. He was so nice to me at the pub the other night.” She giggled. “A harem! Gary thinks Craig has all of us. That’s too funny. He’s actually jealous, even while he’s bringing his bleached blonde bimbo into our apartment and sleeping with her in my bed.”

“It is your bed. Get it back.”

Julie shook her head. “I don’t want it back. Ever. I’d always think of it as filthy.” She sighed. “Look at me. I’m a horrible person, teasing you and moaning about Gary when Bobby is still in the hospital.”

“I think Bobby is going to make it. I really do,” Kieran said. “Think we should get back up there? The guys probably prefer their coffee hot.”

Julie nodded, and they headed out.

*

Back upstairs, they discovered the hall had become a busy place in their absence. A new and different doctor was there and entered the room as they approached. The officer on duty was alert in his chair, and Declan and Danny were leaning against the wall, waiting for their chance to see Bobby. Inside the room, Craig and Mike had been joined by an older man who appeared to wear years of trial and weariness on his face, and the three of them were talking with Bobby, who was back in his bed.

“What a good sister,” Danny said, helping himself to one of the cups of coffee Kieran carried.

“Nice of you,” Declan said, taking one from Julie. “And one for Officer Hunt here. Thanks.”

Kieran looked at Julie, who shrugged.

“I’ll head back down for more,” Julie said. “You know, for the guys in the room who are actually working,” she added lightly, then headed back toward the elevator.

Declan turned to Kieran and said, “Bobby’s last scan came out really well. Lots of medical jargon that I didn’t understand, but the upshot is that he’s out of the danger zone. He’ll be moved to a different room this afternoon and kept another day or so, and then he can leave.”

Officer Hunt smiled at her. “I’m not surprised you’ve stayed with your friend. ‘Any decent person would lend a hand,’ right?”

Kieran smiled weakly. It wasn’t that it was a bad motto. She just hadn’t really wanted to be a creator of mottoes.

Or recognized so easily by strangers.

Especially men in hoodies.

Bobby, she reminded herself, had not been attacked by a man in a hoodie. But even Bobby seemed to believe that he’d been attacked by someone who’d been in Finnegan’s.

“We’re all still worried about him,” Danny explained. “Who knows whether this is over or not.”

Kieran felt a knot forming in her stomach. So much for the eggs. She met her brothers’ eyes. “You think someone was really after Bobby? That it wasn’t a random attack?” She spoke in a normal tone, seeing as Danny had already included the officer in their conversation.

“Who knows what happened?” Declan said.

As he spoke, the door to Bobby’s room opened, and the doctor left. Mike and Craig joined them in the hall, followed by Detective Mayo.

Introductions were made, and then Declan asked, “Was Bobby able to help you at all?”

“Well, if tall, dark and wearing a vampire cape helps, yes,” Mike said.

“There was more than one person in on the attack,” Craig said.

“Coffee!” Julie announced, joining them and handing around the cups.

“I’ve seen you before. You come into Finnegan’s now and then,” Declan said, addressing Mayo.

“I do indeed,” Mayo agreed, nodding to Declan and glancing over at Craig and Mike. He shrugged. “My family hails from County Mayo, Ireland. My great-grandfather was one of the many who headed to New York in the middle of the nineteenth century during the great potato famine. Finnegan’s is like a touch of the home I never knew. And,” he added, “cops love the place.”

“We do have plenty of cops around,” Declan agreed.

“Well, pleasure, and I’ll be moving on,” Mayo said. “Craig, Mike—we’ll keep in touch,” he said, then headed down the hall. He paused to turn back and lift his coffee to Julie. “Thank you,” he said.

“Pleasure,” she assured him.

Declan looked at Craig and Mike, his expression serious. “I don’t like it,” he said. “I don’t like it one bit.” He shook his head. “It’s no secret that we really do have off-duty cops in the place all the time. You’d think people would know that and misbehave somewhere else.”

“One would think,” Danny murmured.

Declan looked over at his sister. “Kieran, go home. You worked all week. You were caught up in a robbery on Monday and then involved in that subway thing two days later. Last night you slept here at the hospital. Go home. Get some sleep. Julie, why don’t you go with her? I have a few free hours to hang here, and Danny can stay until tonight.”