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“I mean it, Declan,” I went on. “Do not fucking sedate me. I will kill all five of you if you do.”
“Tearney and Brody left already,” Declan informed me, rather than instruct Lochlan. “It’s just us.”
“I don’t care if there’s three or thirty of you,” I bit out. “Either you kill me, or else I take you all out.”
“Jesus feckin’ Christ, baby,” Declan hissed. “Yer feckin’ shot.”
“Okay…okay,” Lochlan chuckled. “I’ll give you a local, but depending on how far in the bullet is, it still might hurt like hell.”
“I don’t care,” I told him truthfully. “Just do it already.”
Lochlan let out a huge sigh as he shook his head, but I didn’t care if I was being difficult. I had enough problems without losing more time to a sedative. I had to find out what Declan had done with the two bodies, then make sure that nothing would come back to haunt me later. They didn’t know these woods the way that I did, and I wasn’t going to take any chances with sloppy work.
That also had me thinking of this Klive person. If he knew that his people had come here, then how long would he wait to come out here to look for them? Yeah, there was a chance that Klive didn’t know that they’d chosen my cabin specifically, but that wasn’t a risk that I could afford to take. The more I found out about Klive, the better. I needed to know what I was dealing with, and it was obvious that Declan knew who Klive was.
Doing my best to ignore Lochlan’s ministrations, I kept my eyes on Declan. “Who’s Klive?”
Before Declan could answer, Noah surprised me by saying, “You might as well tell her.”
Declan let out an irritated sigh before saying, “Klive Simpson is a small-time…gang leader for lack of a better word. Supposedly, he’s dealing in drugs and guns, and while he’s not big enough to matter right now, it’s a question of why he’d choose a state that’s already occupied by three different organized crime outfits. Especially, Port Townsend where we all operate out of.”
My breaths were choppy as Lochlan went to work on my shoulder, but I could still speak clearly. “How big is his gang?”
“He started with twenty, but with your little contribution to the cause, he’s down three people,” Declan answered honestly.
My mind started spinning with the information, and there was only one reason that a person behaved unreasonably. Business was a cold spreadsheet that only cared about the total sums. Money was a universal goal for almost every human walking the planet, and it was the only thing strong enough to make enemies work together. If the cause resulted in enough dollar signs, then people found a way to get along for the greater good. So, when someone did something that made absolutely no sense, there could be only one reason for that. In fact, our little reunion right now was proof of that.
“It’s personal,” I said.
Declan’s head reared back a bit. “What’s personal?”
I hissed when Lochlan began trying to dig out the bullet, but it was more from the pressure that he was applying than from actual pain, though there was still some of that. Granted, it could have been a lot worse, so I needn’t complain.
“The reason that he’s here,” I answered. “The reason that he picked Port Townsend is personal.”
“How do you figure?” Noah asked.
“Only something that evokes emotions can make a person act irrationally,” I explained. “And starting a crime enterprise in a state that already has the Sartoris, Kotovs, and O’Briens is about as irrational as a person can get.”
“She’s got a point,” Lochlan mumbled as he fished the spent bullet from my shoulder.
“We couldn’t find any personal connections when we checked into him,” Noah stated.
“Were you guys really looking for any?” I asked. “Or were you just looking for the basics since you didn’t feel like he’s a threat right now?”
“I’m going to make a call to Provenza,” Noah announced, and it seemed weird to me that he would have Aurelio Provenza’s personal phone number.
“Okay, I’m going to stitch this up now, lass,” Lochlan informed me. “Then I’ll give you something for the pain. You’ll be hurting in the morning.”
“I’m not worried about it,” I replied, then realized just what he’d done for me. “Thank you all the same.”
“You’re welcome.”
Once Lachlan gathered all his stuff and stepped away, Declan took his place. “How are you feeling, baby?”
“Tired,” I answered honestly. “I’m fucking tired, Declan.”
His blue eyes searched mine before saying, “Keavy, you can’t stay here. If nothing else, you need to go back with us, so that the police don’t suspect anything.”
