Chapter 10 - PIER 19
The warehouse at Pier 19 smelled like cold iron and river water.
Norah entered beside Declan.
Liam followed ten feet behind.
No visible weapons.
Federal agents waited outside the perimeter.
Seamus stood beneath a hanging industrial light.
Sixty-three.
Silver hair.
Perfect overcoat.
He looked less like a murderer than a man who chaired museum boards.
Maeve sat nearby.
Hands untied.
A cup of tea beside her.
“Norah,” Maeve said. “This man has terrible manners.”
Seamus sighed.
“Your mother has been insulting me for forty minutes.”
“Good.”
Declan’s mouth almost moved.
Seamus noticed.
“You always did enjoy difficult women.”
Declan’s face hardened.
“Leave her out of this.”
Norah looked at him.
“Which one?”
Maeve laughed.
Even Seamus seemed briefly annoyed.
Then he held out his hand.
“Ledger.”
Norah carried Daniel’s notebook.
Not Patrick’s original.
Ava’s team had created a forensic copy.
Norah stepped forward.
“Let my mother go.”
“After authentication.”
“I authenticate after she walks.”
Seamus looked at Declan.
“She negotiates like family.”
“She is not your family.”
“No.”
Seamus smiled.
“That is why she may survive tonight.”
Declan shifted.
Norah touched his arm.
Stay.
Seamus opened the notebook.
“You understand the codes?”
“Yes.”
“Bannon 6-17.”
“Payment routed through municipal disposal contracts.”
“Recipient?”
“Greco Disposal.”
“Purpose?”
Norah looked at him.
“Murder.”
His expression did not change.
Good enough.
Then Seamus asked:
“Warehouse Twelve.”
Norah’s throat tightened.
“Two hundred fifty thousand dollars for document destruction.”
“And Daniel?”
“You tell me.”
Seamus smiled.
“Your father should have taken Richard’s money and disappeared.”
There.
The transmitter recorded every word.
Norah pushed.
“Instead you killed him.”
“I solved a problem.”
Declan moved.
Norah stopped him with one look.
Seamus continued:
“Patrick became sentimental afterward.”
“You killed him too.”
For the first time, Seamus hesitated.
Tiny.
Enough.
Declan saw it.
Norah saw it.
“He was my brother.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Seamus’s face hardened.
“He was going to destroy everything our father built.”
“So you poisoned him.”
Silence.
Then:
“Patrick made his choice.”
A confession without the word.
Enough.
Outside, Ava would be listening.
Seamus turned toward Liam.
“Now.”
Liam did not move.
Seamus’s expression changed.
“Liam.”
“No.”
Then a side door opened.
A huge man rushed Declan.
Trap.
Declan caught the first strike and drove the attacker against a steel column.
The man recovered and charged again.
Declan blocked him, turned, and sent him crashing across a workbench.
Another guard grabbed Norah.
Maeve threw her hot tea directly into his face.
“Mom!”
“I never liked him.”
Norah drove her heel down and pulled free.
Liam tackled the guard.
Federal agents stormed the warehouse.
Seamus reached inside his coat.
Declan was closer.
He could have killed him.
Norah saw it in the split second before his hand moved.
Instead, Declan caught Seamus’s wrist, removed the weapon, and stepped backward.
“Not this way.”
Seamus stared at him.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
Declan’s breathing was heavy.
“My father died ashamed.”
Agents surrounded them.
“I’m done inheriting it.”
Seamus was arrested.
Maeve hugged Norah.
Then slapped Declan lightly on the arm.
“You took long enough.”
Declan looked genuinely confused.
Norah laughed for the first time all night.
But Ava Chen approached with no smile.
“Mr. Gallagher.”
Declan turned.
“Your uncle is not the only arrest tonight.”
Norah’s laughter disappeared.
May you like
Ava held out her hand.
“Declan Gallagher, you need to come with us too.”
