Crimson Death
Page 158

   He got his own clothes out before he stood back up. I had the pants on by the time he’d chosen his outfit.
   Nicky turned to Dev. “If you’re coming with us, get dressed fast.”
   “Do I have time to just change into fresh clothes?” Damian asked.
   “I don’t know. Do you?” Nicky asked.
   Damian stripped off his shirt in one smooth motion and went for his own suitcase.
   “Why doesn’t someone call Flannery and ask if his aunt Nim knows how to contact Riley?” Dev asked.
   I stopped in my frantic scramble for clothes. “That was smart, but I don’t have a number for him either.”
   “I’ll call Edward,” Nicky said.
   “Since when do you have his cell phone?” I asked.
   Nicky just smiled at me and started to punch in buttons on his phone.
   Dev started getting dressed. I had everything on but my boots and weapons. He’d never be dressed in time to go with us.
   Dev’s voice was muffled as he pulled his shirt on over his head and asked, “Where are we going if we don’t know where Riley is now?”
   “Girlfriend’s work,” I said as I got my first gun settled on my belt.
   Nicky got off the phone. “Edward is calling Nolan to contact Flannery.”
   “Great,” I said.
   Damian was dressed in fresh clothes, including a coat that I’d never seen before and a pair of nice but utilitarian-looking boots. His jeans were tucked into the boots. His crimson hair fell loose around the shoulders of the warm, weather-resistant coat so that he looked like a male model in an outdoorsy-clothes commercial. The clothes were right, but he was too pretty to actually hike in them.
   Nicky waved his hand in front of my face. It startled me. “Do you have all the weapons you need?”
   “Sorry. It’s not like me to get that distracted in an emergency.” I checked the two wrist-sheath knives with their high silver content and the big blade down my spine in its custom-made holster, which attached to the shoulder rig. It held mostly extra ammo now, and it attached to the gun belt where my main handgun sat in an inner pants holster. If I could have figured out a different way to carry the big knife, I’d have gotten rid of the custom-made shoulder holster, but it was great for extra ammo and a smaller backup gun. I put the AR-15 on its tactical sling across my body over the T-shirt and sweatshirt I was going to wear under my coat. I’d have to leave the coat unfastened to be able to get to the AR, but I couldn’t open-carry, not in Ireland. Hell, back home in the States, it would have freaked people out, even with the words U.S. Marshal emblazoned on the back of my Windbreaker.
   I was already missing my Bantam shotgun, which was back in the armory at Nolan’s compound along with a few other things, but there was just no way to keep all our dangerous stuff at the hotel. They’d offer you a safe if you had expensive jewelry, but I’d never seen a hotel, no matter how nice, that offered you a secure weapon locker. It was always a problem when traveling for business.
   My phone rang and it was Edward’s ringtone, so I picked up. “Wait for Nolan’s people to get there before you go out, Anita.”
   “We’re big boys and girls. I don’t think we need to wait for a babysitter.”
   “You don’t have Irish credentials, and neither do I. We need someone with us who has credentials. That’s part of the deal I made for all of you when you came into the country, remember?”
   “I remember something vague about Nolan’s people being with us when we were out in the city.”
   “I won’t make you wait for me, but don’t leave the hotel without at least one of Nolan’s people with you. Promise me, Anita.”
   “Damn it, Edward, did Flannery have a way of contacting Riley?”
   “Flannery is trying to get hold of his aunt now.”
   “Then we need to get to the restaurant before his girlfriend is off shift for the day.”
   “I know that, Anita.”
   “What’s the worst that could happen if we get caught in Dublin without proper ID?” I asked.
   “You could be deported or even jailed if you get the wrong Garda and the wrong judge.”
   Oh. “Okay, good point. How long until Nolan’s people arrive, and where the hell are you that someone else will get to the hotel first?”
   “I’m trying to convince the police that you won’t start slaughtering people in the streets and you really will be useful to the investigation.”
   “I thought we’d settled all that before I got on the plane.”
   “So did I,” he said, and he sounded tired and frustrated, and underneath that was anger. Eventually, if they kept pushing him, they’d get to his anger and stay there.
   Nicky’s phone rang. He listened and then hung up. “Donahue and Brennan are downstairs to escort us where we need to go.”
   “How did they get your number?”
   “I told Edward to give it to whoever needed it.”
   “Good thinking.” I looked around the room. Everyone looked dressed and ready to go. Jake, Kaazim, Ethan, and Domino were waiting out in the hallway for us. Fortune stuck her head out of her room long enough to kiss Nathaniel and me good-bye, and then she went back to sleep. She had Echo in her room still waiting for nightfall. She couldn’t leave Echo unprotected, and we didn’t need the whole crew for this. Magda and Socrates were still at Nolan’s compound trying to make friends with the rest of his people. After what she’d done to one of their new superstrong cells, I really hoped Nolan had a plan B.
   Donnie met us in the lobby, smiling. Brennan, a lot less happy, was behind her. Honestly, I was surprised to see him, but I did my best to just take it in stride. Apparently, medical had cleared him, and Nolan thought he could handle the assignment. “Forrester says you need an escort,” he said.
   “Actually, he said babysitter,” Donnie said, grinning.
   “I appreciate you keeping us legal,” I said, and kept walking toward the door. They fell in behind and to the side of me.
   “What’s the emergency?” she asked.
   “We may have inadvertently let the bad guy know we were contacted by a local today.” Jake and Kaazim did the bodyguard thing at the door, checking for safety and holding the door for me.
   “Unless you know something we don’t, we don’t know who the villain of the piece is yet,” Brennan said.
   “Let me rephrase, then: the suspected bad guy.”
   “Who do you suspect?” he asked.
   “Where are you parked, and will it hold all of us?” I asked.