Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“I didn’t realize we’d have a crowd,” she said, looking back at Liam.
“I’ve got things to get back to. Just dropped by for a visit. They’re all yours,” Blaise said, then turned and gave Liam a nod before he started for the door.
“No rush, Mr. Hughes.” Marlana said his name with an emphasis as she raised a brow at him. She wanted him to know she was aware of who he was.
“Things are waiting on me, Mrs. Newbury,” he replied, not pausing to look her way. “But be sure to tell Anders I said hello.”
Marlana tensed and then took a deep breath before moving her focus on a retreating Blaise to us. She shook her head and pursed her lips.
She continued toward us as the door closed, signaling Blaise’s exit.
“Who is Anders?” Liam asked.
I sat silently, staring at her. Needing her to tell me something that would lead me to Salem.
“That would be my boss’s boss,” she replied in a clipped tone. “Anyway, did he have useful information?” she asked.
“Just a family visit to check on things,” Liam replied.
I hadn’t known we weren’t sharing this with her, but message received.
“I see,” she said, not looking convinced. “Very well. I was given this information by someone who wasn’t supposed to share it with us. It’s not DEA knowledge, but there are others looking for the ghost. Those who have the power to do something if they can find him and get the evidence they need to shut down his operation. They got close, and he turned into vapor again. But what they did get in their attempt was that there was a houseguest at the Murphys’ home in Birr. It’s not known who exactly because the staff is well trained not to talk. But one of the maids let it slip to a family member, who then unknowingly shared it with our contact.”
I stood up and jerked my phone out of my pocket and began typing like a man possessed.
“What are you doing?” Marlana asked.
“Finding the airport closest to Birr.”
“You can’t do that,” she snapped.
“Like hell I can’t.”
“You’d be shot and killed the moment you were spotted. And if dead, you wouldn’t ever see Salem again.”
I paused and looked up at her. “Then what the fuck do you want me to do? Stay here and wait some more? I can’t wait. I need her!”
She sighed. “Plan properly. Showing up in Birr? Hell, I doubt you’d get farther than the airport parking lot. They have people everywhere. It would get you killed.”
“Thank you,” Liam said. “If that is all, we can take it from here.”
She looked back at Liam. “Don’t do anything stupid. There is a chance it isn’t Salem.”
Liam nodded his head once. “We won’t.”
I could tell she wanted to ask what it was Blaise had been here to tell us, but she didn’t.
“That’s likely the best information I will get. It was a miracle that I got that,” she told us.
“We appreciate it,” Liam told her.
With a swift nod, she gave us a concerned frown, then turned and headed for the door. Neither of us spoke until she was gone.
“You’re not going to fucking Ireland. She’s right. You’d have a bullet between your eyes within moments of your arrival,” Liam said.
Gripping my phone tightly in my hand, I glared down at it. “I can’t just sit here and wait. I don’t know why they have her. If they’re mistreating her. And I need to tell her that no other woman is having my baby and they never will.”
“I know. And we will use that information, but I believe what we learned from Blaise was more helpful. We just need a plan to track down the fucking chameleon. What Blaise didn’t get to tell you before Marlana arrived was that Wilder is working through his system, using the one alter ego name that he has and attempting to link it to the others he has used. Once he finds a pattern, he can then use it to lead us to the source.”
“But if she’s in Birr, then how the fuck do we go get her, even if we track him down?”
Liam smirked. “We find out what port he is using to smuggle drugs into the States and take something of value from him. That will draw him out. Then we offer an exchange.”
“You are saying we take his fucking drugs and offer to return them for Salem?” I asked, not sure that sounded like a winning idea.
“No. We take his vessel and everyone on it.”
“How the fuck are we gonna do that?”
“That’s where Blaise’s men come in,” Liam replied. “Now, aren’t you glad my daughter married into the Mafia and we all became friends?”
18
Salem
Squinting against the sun, I looked from Brady driving the car to the window to see where we were now.