Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 98561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“This job put us on people’s radar,” said Kian. “I’ve been getting calls all day. Some of them from Langley.”
JD looked impressed. “The CIA want us to work for them?”
I looked at the base and smirked. “Better hurry up and fix the roof.”
“Better think up a name too,” said Cal.
Everyone looked at each other. That hadn’t even occurred to anyone. The team needed a name.
“O’ Harra’s Irregulars,” said Danny as he joined us.
Kian grinned. “That does have a ring to it.” Then the grin became a grimace. “But if Emily’s dad wins the election, my name’s going to be a bit too well-known to be connected to what we’re doing.” I felt sorry for the guy: it was obvious he’d rather be coming with us on missions, instead of sitting behind a desk.
“Steel Talon,” said Colton. “Sounds badass!”
“It does,” I agreed. “But we may get mistaken for a death metal band.”
Kian rubbed at his stubble thoughtfully. “When we were kids, my dad used to take us to this beach in Ireland. There used to be these black-and-white birds. Stormfinches. They weren’t big. Didn’t look like anything special. But my dad said the sailors used to be superstitious about them. If you saw them, it meant there was a storm coming.”
I looked at our little group. It fitted. We nodded to each other, then clinked glasses.
I looked around to check on Olivia and found her deep in conversation with Stacey. I didn’t want to interrupt so I just stood there for a moment, gazing at Olivia and drinking her in. She was the prettiest damn thing I’d ever seen in my life. With her hair down she looked wildly romantic, like she should be running up some windswept hill to meet her secret lover. And with that dress revealing all that tempting, pale cleavage…I couldn’t work out if I wanted to kiss her slow and tender or just push her up against a wall. I’ll just have to do both.
I glanced sideways and nearly had a heart attack: Bradan had appeared right next to me. “Jesus!” I hissed. “We need to get a bell for you!”
“Sorry,” he muttered. He was gazing at Stacey in the same way I was gazing at Olivia. “We’re two lucky bastards, aren’t we?”
I nodded silently. Then, as we stood there watching, I started to pick up on something. He wasn’t just waiting for them to finish talking, like me. He was hanging back, standing in the shadows rather than joining the party.
I frowned. I’ve always had a good instinct for people and for years, I’d used it to help me steal: lying and cheating and conning. Now I was getting this unfamiliar feeling, like I wanted to…help.
Is this what it’s like having a conscience? I sighed. “What’s up?”
Bradan didn’t answer for a while. I stood there patiently, cultivating that perfect, warm silence…
“She’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Bradan said. “When I got out of the cult, I was a mess.” He looked away. “More of a mess. She put me back together.”
I nodded. Go on.
“I’d crawl through hell for that woman,” he said seriously. “But sometimes I think…” He sighed. “Sometimes I think it’d be better for her if I wasn’t with her.”
I understood. All those things he did for the cult, the people he killed: he was drowning in guilt. “You think all that stuff makes you…not good enough for her?”
He nodded sadly. “Not just that. Just, like…ah, I don’t know.” He sighed. “Look…what you saw on the news about the cult…that wasn’t the full story. There was some stuff about the history of the cult that the government didn’t want coming out. That’s why they didn’t look too hard into all the things the cult did.” His jaw tensed. “Otherwise, I’d be in jail.”
“From what I heard,” I said gently, “you were brainwashed. You weren’t you, when you killed those people.”
“Doesn’t make ‘em any less dead though, does it?” Bradan said, his voice jagged and bitter.
I said nothing. I didn’t have an answer to that.
Bradan sighed. “It’s just…look, I’m not saying I believe in karma, or any of that shit. Just…I feel like sooner or later, I’m going to have to answer for it. And that should be on me, just me.” He looked at Stacey. “Not on her.”
I thought for a moment. “All I know is, I saw the way you two looked at each other, when we got back. And…” Suddenly, the words came spilling out. “Look, when you find something that real, that special, you don’t let anything break you apart. Not anything.” I blinked, embarrassed. I’d been talking about him and Stacey, but I’d found myself looking at Olivia.
But it seemed to work. Bradan nodded, squeezed my shoulder and walked over to Stacey.
I frowned at my shoulder. Is this how it feels to do good? It bugged me that I couldn’t do more. The guy needed to talk to someone about what he’d done, to get it all out of his system. I’d happily listen but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to help him: I was a thief, I’d never killed except in combat. He needed to talk to someone who could really understand.