Chapter 8 - I REFUSED TO BE THE BAIT
“No.”
Declan said it before Liam finished.
Norah folded her arms.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
He looked at her.
“Seamus wants you at Pier 19.”
“I heard.”
“You’re not going.”
“Wrong sentence.”
Declan closed his eyes briefly.
Then tried again.
“I do not want you to go.”
“Better.”
Liam looked between them as though reconsidering every career choice he had made.
Norah studied the ledger.
“Seamus needs authentication.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the original accounts are coded.”
“Daniel’s notes decode them.”
“And you understand his notation.”
She did.
Her father taught her double-entry bookkeeping before long division.
She had forgotten that until now.
Norah looked at Declan.
“If I don’t go, he may kill Conor.”
“That is not your responsibility.”
“No.”
Good.
“But if we can use the meeting to document him, I decide whether the risk is worth it.”
Declan’s jaw tightened.
“This isn’t a spreadsheet.”
“No. It’s my father.”
That ended the argument.
They contacted federal authorities through Julia Reyes.
Declan hated every second.
Norah enjoyed that more than she should have.
A federal prosecutor named Ava Chen arrived at midnight.
She did not care about Gallagher mythology.
Excellent.
“You want protection?” she asked Declan.
“No.”
“Good, because I didn’t offer it.”
Norah nearly smiled.
Ava reviewed the evidence.
“If this is real, Seamus is connected to multiple homicides, bribery, racketeering, financial crimes…”
She looked at Declan.
“And probably crimes involving you.”
“Yes.”
“You understand cooperation does not erase those?”
“Yes.”
Norah watched him.
No hesitation.
Ava proposed a controlled meeting at Pier 19.
Norah would wear a transmitter.
Agents nearby.
Declan’s team excluded except Lena Torres.
Liam would act as though he had completed Seamus’s demand.
Before anyone agreed, Norah’s phone rang.
Saint Catherine Assisted Living.
Her mother was missing.
Norah stopped breathing.
“What do you mean missing?”
“She left with a man who said he was your uncle.”
“I don’t have an uncle.”
Security footage arrived.
Maeve walking calmly beside a gray-haired man.
Norah had never met Seamus Gallagher.
Declan had.
“That’s him.”
Norah’s fear became ice.
Seamus had reached her mother before they could.
Then her phone received a photograph.
Maeve sitting in a chair.
Unhurt.
Holding tea.
Behind her:
A warehouse.
Message:
PIER 19.
MIDNIGHT.
BRING BOTH LEDGERS.
Norah looked at Declan.
“No argument now.”
His face was terrifyingly calm.
“No.”
May you like
He handed the phone to Ava.
“We end it tonight.”
