We had less than three hours before dawn at the most and I knew if I didn’t find him tonight, I never would. It was too easy to hide in the city in the daytime. And come nightfall tomorrow, he’d be long gone. It was no use going to Lucy’s—the strip club was where the drugs had been found, and the police were swarming there.
Declan’s phone had been going off like crazy. He’d put feelers out everywhere. I couldn’t believe how well connected he was. Someone said he’d seen Tommy walking down Seaport Boulevard hours ago. We headed down that way, pulling on every warehouse door we could to see if any were loose or had recently been broken into. It was crazy, but as kids, we did this all the time. We’d come down here and wedge open the doors to the warehouses and scare the shit out of anyone who followed us inside. It was a game. I’d played it. Tommy had played it. So had Declan. Back then Southie was also a dump, though, and there were a shit-ton of abandoned buildings. Not so many anymore.
For over an hour Declan and I walked on opposite sides of the streets, up and down the docks, and through alleys. The wind was brutal and it was cold, so I’d pulled my hood up long ago. Lost in my thoughts, I kept walking, searching, pulling on doors, looking behind garbage cans, peering into smaller alleyways, checking out the homeless to see if Tommy was pretending to be one of them.
“Hey, man.”
Declan’s voice grabbed my attention and I looked across the street at him as he came jogging toward me.
“He’s at the fucking Seaport Hotel.”
My heart pounded. “No fucking way. I thought he’d checked out.”
“Miles just called. A buddy of his in security has been on the lookout and spotted him about an hour ago. Checked in under some alias, but he’s there. Room 510.”
I started moving backwards and pointed my finger at Declan. “Take the Rover and go back to my old man’s. I’ll meet you there later.”
“No way, man. You’re not going there alone.”
I shook my head, still pointing. “I don’t want you involved any further. You’ve done enough for now. Don’t follow me. Just go.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“Declan, you have to leave. I can’t take the chance of you getting caught up in something dangerous.”
He stood there motionless.
“Please, man.” My voice was pleading and I think he got what I was saying. My conscience couldn’t handle it if he got marked or worse if he got killed in the crossfire.
He said nothing.
I took that as an okay and turned around and started running. The hotel wasn’t far, and it would be faster to get there on foot than heading all the way back to my vehicle anyway.
It was almost dawn by now and the early morning sky was just erupting. To everyone else I looked like I was out for a run, not on a mission to confront Tommy Flannigan and—and what? That was the question, wasn’t it? Do I sell my soul to the devil and kill the motherfucker? I decided not to go there in my mind right now. One step at a time—first I had to find him.
It was the longest fucking ten minutes of my life, but finally the Seaport Hotel was in sight. I strode through the lobby like I belonged there, hit the up arrow at the bank of elevators, and casually stepped into one when the doors opened. Beneath my calm exterior I was screaming, because my time of reckoning had finally come.
I stabbed the button for the fifth floor and the elevator seemed to crawl up to it. In the hallway, it felt a little surreal. I glanced down and was shocked to see my white knuckles and the ropes of muscle straining against the backs of my hands. I shook off any doubt. I had no choice but to do this. I’d use my fists. If I beat him to a pulp and he didn’t recover, I couldn’t be charged with premeditated murder. The law was flashing through my mind. Murder in the first degree. Voluntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter. It didn’t matter; all would come with a prison term.
If I killed this motherfucker tonight I was going to be without Elle in my life. If I didn’t, if I turned around right now, I was going to have to let her go.
It was a lose-lose situation all the way around. But the come and get me if you dare note Tommy had sent me was sent for a reason, and I was going to find out what that reason was.
My strides were long. Room 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, and finally 510. Focused on the gold numbers, I reached my destination in less than three seconds.
Without even thinking about it, I lifted my leg and kicked the door in, throwing the entire weight of my body into it. Luckily, this hotel was old and so were the doors.
Barreling into the room, I was shocked when I saw him. I had to remind myself that this time I wasn’t going to be held down by three men while he wielded his knife at me.
Yes, it had been a very long time since we were face-to-face, and there he was, looking the same. Like time had never passed. His eyes met mine with a dare, a come-and-get-me, and then he scampered from the bed to the floor in less than a heartbeat. On his feet, he stumbled backwards. “It’s been a long time,” he snickered.
I clenched my teeth and drew in a breath to calm the fury surging through my veins. “Not long enough.”
“You got my note?”
My blood started to pump so fast that I could hear my heartbeat thumping in my ears. “I did. But you already know that. Why else would I be here?”
That grin was back. “A friendly chat between old friends.”
“Fuck you,” I spat.
He shook his head. “Not one to let bygones be bygones?”
Ignoring the shit spewing from his mouth, I rushed forward and slammed my fist into his face. “What do you want from me?”
He bounced off the wall and I grabbed his shoulders before he slumped to the ground. Kneeing him in the gut, hitting him hard enough to lift his feet off the floor, I then let him tumble down. “We need to talk,” he managed.
With his face on the floor, I placed my foot on his back and pressed.
He yelped like a dog.
“Talk!” I barked out.
“Let me turn around.”
Easing my foot away, I stepped back but kept my gun pointed.
Slowly, he turned over and wiped the blood from his mouth.
“I’m waiting,” I sneered.
Instead of talking, he lunged for the gun that was sticking out from under the mattress.
Motherfucker.
“Freeze!” someone shouted.
“Hands up, now!” someone else yelled.
My eyes darted to the door. Agent Blanchet was standing in the doorway with a swarm of agents surrounding her.
No effing way.
She walked over to me. “I want you out of here.”
I stared at her.
“Now, McPherson. Don’t make me take you in and then process paperwork to get you out, because that will really piss me off.”
Tommy never made it to his gun, but his laughter made my ears ring. He was off the floor in cuffs in two seconds flat. Surrounded by five agents, there was nothing I could do to get to him.
“Now,” Agent Blanchet repeated and started shoving me out of the room.
I wanted to deck her but knew that would get me nowhere. With slow strides, I headed for the door.
“Hey!” Tommy hissed.
I turned around.
“Don’t think that girl of yours is any safer with me behind bars. If you were a good boy and followed the rules, there wouldn’t be an issue. Would there? So for her sake, you will stay away from her now because you know I have eyes, and hands, and a few hundred dicks, everywhere.”
“You motherfucking piece of shit,” I growled and lunged for him.
“Get him out of here.” Blanchet’s voice was loud as she pointed toward Tommy.
Hands were holding me back and a weird rush of fear washed through me as I watched Tommy being dragged out of the room.
It was like time stood still and I couldn’t move.
I had no idea how much time passed or when whoever was holding onto me had released their grip but when I blinked, I realized the room was quiet. I looked around.
Agent Blanchet was the only one in the room and she was staring at the doorway. “You can come in,” she said.