Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
I wanted more than anything to abandon it.
To be on land, with Kelly and London.
Seconds bled slowly into minutes as we waited.
Finally, I spotted a trawler heading toward us. “There.”
The officer in charge, Detective Sergeant Davis, gave me an abrupt nod. “Remember, he won’t suspect anything if you’re a wee bit nervous. But act like we’re just your crew. You’re in charge. Don’t look at us for guidance or protection because while we will protect you, you seeking assurance from us will give us away.”
Fraser and I nodded. My cousin was pale, but his eyes were hard with determination.
I tried not to think about Eileen or the twins, Kelly and London, and how much they were all counting on me to get this right.
The wait for the Iris to approach seemed to take forever. I could feel the stress pressing on my bladder and fought off the desperate need to pee out my nervousness.
London flashed across my mind. She’d hardly slept and had woken with me in the wee hours of the morning. My last image of her was standing in our driveway, waving me off with a brave but trembling smile.
Kelly was still asleep, thank goodness, so I didn’t need to pretend with her. My last image of her was her sleeping peacefully in her bed, her e-reader abandoned beside her pillow.
I’m coming home to them.
I steeled myself as the Iris drew to a stop starboard side. Approaching the edge, I watched warily as a huge beast of a man, even taller and broader than me, stalked to the edge of the Iris. “I’m Russo,” he announced in a thick accent.
“Shaw,” I stated grimly. “Let’s do this.”
“We need to check boat first. Make sure no weapons, sì.”
DS Davis had already warned me this might happen, so I just jerked my chin up in agreement.
Two lithe men boarded our long-liner, and I gritted my teeth while one of them patted me down as the other patted down Fraser. They moved through our small crew, the undercover police officers doing a good job of looking just the right amount of nervous.
“All good!” one of them shouted back as the other checked over the boat.
Without a word, they worked with the crew of the Iris to unload crates of fish that we knew had drugs buried inside them. Rage burned in my chest at the realization these people had intimidated others into crime. But they weren’t going to get me. They’d chosen the wrong fucking man.
After it was done, the men disembarked the long-liner onto the Iris. Russo’s expression was hard, cold. “Anything goes wrong at port, you are a dead man, sì?”
I stared blankly at him and he smirked, giving me an approving nod before he waved his hand imperiously. “Move on. We stay, watch you leave in right direction.”
Without another word, I turned and gestured to Fraser. He moved into the cabin and the engine started back up. Carefully, he maneuvered us away from the Iris and toward Dublin.
Once we were out of earshot, DS Davis approached. “You did very well.”
“It’s not over. Should we check the crates?”
Davis checked his watch. “In a minute. Right now, the Iris’s radio systems are all being blocked so they can’t radio out, and they’re about to be surrounded by the Gardai.” He tapped my shoulder. “See.”
Sure enough, in the distance, I could see multiple police speedboats heading toward the Iris. We watched as she tried to flee, but the Iris was an old trawler and there was no way she could outrun them.
“This is the risky part,” I reminded him. “If your signal blockers didn’t work, they warned Siobhan and the Walshes.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “Have faith.”
Siobhan Cosway was not at all what I expected. In fact, she was not unlike my wife in appearance. Young, maybe late twenties. Red hair, startling blue eyes, and a bonny face. Yet there was more than a glint of ice in those eyes. She wore a rain jacket, tight jeans, and wellies, and I wondered if the downplayed look was to blend into our surroundings. There was a dark confidence in her grim, clipped commands.
Before we got into port, DS Davis used the radio system to check in on the operation. Two crew members were shot, a police officer took a hit, but he would live, and Russo and the crew of the Iris were arrested. There was no sign that they’d been able to warn anyone else about the operation.
Still, it was nerve-wracking when Cosway and her two thugs approached us at the port. The commercial side of Dublin Port was expectedly noisy and crowded. We’d preregistered our arrival with no problems, and obviously the Gardai was waiting in the wings along with officers of Police Scotland.
I played my part. “No fish until payment,” I reminded Siobhan when she demanded we start unloading.