Chapter 7 - THE MAN DECLAN TRUSTED WITH HIS LIFE
Liam did not run.
That was the first reason Norah believed there might be more to the photograph.
He walked into the guest apartment voluntarily.
Placed his gun on the table.
Then pushed it toward Declan.
“I knew you’d find out.”
Declan looked at his oldest friend.
“How long?”
“Eight months.”
“Working for Seamus?”
Liam’s jaw tightened.
“Being controlled by him.”
“Difference?”
“Yes.”
Liam’s son, Conor, had accumulated gambling debts through one of Seamus’s old crews.
When Liam tried to pay them, Seamus refused the money.
He wanted access instead.
Schedules.
Vehicles.
Building security.
“I gave him small things.”
Declan laughed without humor.
“There are no small things in security.”
“I know.”
“Did you help stop the elevator?”
Liam’s face broke.
“No.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Then why was your emergency response seven minutes late?”
Silence.
Norah answered for him.
“Because Seamus told you to delay it.”
Liam looked at her.
“Yes.”
Declan stood.
The room seemed to shrink.
For a moment, Norah saw the man everyone feared.
Liam saw him too.
He did not reach for the gun.
Declan moved closer.
Then stopped.
“What would old Declan do?” Norah asked quietly.
Both men looked at her.
Declan’s hands clenched.
“Something permanent.”
“And current Declan?”
He stared at Liam.
“Wants evidence.”
Good.
Liam exhaled shakily.
“I can give you Seamus.”
He had saved messages.
Recordings.
Payments.
Because after the elevator attack, he realized Seamus intended to kill Declan regardless of cooperation.
“And Keane?”
Liam looked sick.
“Seamus killed him.”
“You saw it?”
“No. Keane called me last night. Said he wanted out. This morning he was dead.”
Then Liam revealed the largest piece.
The three-million-dollar transfer was not payment to assassins after the fact.
It was a trigger.
Once the transfer cleared through Norah’s credentials, a packet would automatically be sent to police, media, and Gallagher’s board.
Documents showing Norah had embezzled from Gallagher Enterprises for years.
Fabricated emails suggesting she and Declan were romantically involved.
And a final allegation:
Declan discovered the theft, confronted her in the elevator, and both died when she sabotaged the car.
Norah stared.
“They were going to turn me into the villain.”
“Yes.”
Liam looked at Declan.
“And you into the dangerous boss who finally pushed the wrong employee too far.”
Clean story.
Dead people.
No rebuttal.
Then Liam placed a flash drive on the table.
“This is what Seamus actually wants.”
Declan inserted it into an isolated machine.
A list appeared.
Judges.
Police officials.
Union leaders.
Politicians.
Gallagher captains.
Thirty years of payments.
Norah whispered:
“Patrick’s second ledger.”
Liam nodded.
“Keane copied it before Seamus took the Bible.”
“Where is the original?”
“I don’t know.”
“But Seamus thinks you do?”
“Yes.”
Declan looked at Liam.
“Then why are you still alive?”
Liam’s face went pale.
Because he had one final instruction from Seamus.
Bring Declan to Pier 19 tomorrow night.
Or Liam’s son Conor would be killed.
But the message included another demand.
May you like
Declan had to bring Norah too.
Seamus wanted the accountant who could authenticate Daniel Bennett’s ledger.
