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He has to.
“Jack, find a mirror and a window where you can keep an eye on the drone without being seen. Give me a signal if it comes back.”
Jack answered with a salute.
“Kate, I need ya to clean up the blood and find a damn good hiding spot in case any more troops come through here.”
Kate nodded as she stared at the unmoving chest of the man sprawled out between us.
“Clo …” Damien stood and helped me to my feet as well, keeping a steady hand on my body the entire time. “Pack us a bag and get ready to run.”
“With a fuckin’ drone on the loose?” Jack whispered.
“Yes,” Damien stated. “I’m gonna move the bodies to the pub through the back door. The front window’s already broken, so once they start lookin’ for the missing sailors, the drone will be able to fly right in and find them. If their surveillance catches us fleein’ the city, they’ll assume we killed the bastards, and you two will stay off their radar.”
Damien’s backlit face turned toward mine, and I felt the temperature drop ten degrees. “Or you three, if ya wanna stay here.”
I shook my head, clenching my teeth to keep them from chattering. Trying to outrun a drone sounded like a suicide mission, but as much as it shocked me, I trusted Damien. Without him, I would have died a thousand deaths already.
Without him, I would have welcomed them all.
Pressing his lips to mine, Damien stole what little breath I’d gotten back before moving past me down the stairs. “Jack, tell me when the coast is clear. I’m gonna move these bodies next door.”
“Wait!” I whisper-shouted, grabbing him by the shirt and turning him to face me. With trembling fingers, I reached up and unfastened his top button. “Ya can’t get blood on this shirt too. It’s the only one you’ve got.”
CHAPTER 27
CLOVER
“Here ya are, love. All packed up.”
I stood at the bottom of the stairs, clutching Damien’s shirt as I stared at the hallway that led to the back door, waiting for him to return.
Turning to face Kate, who was coming down the stairs behind me, I forced a smile as she handed me a military-looking backpack stuffed to the brim. Damien had told me to pack up our things, which I had assumed meant our new toothbrushes and travel-sized toiletries, but Kate must have taken it upon herself to throw in half the pantry as well.
The sight of that backpack reminded me of the one I’d left in Howth. Of my mother’s books. Of my mother, period.
She would have done the same thing.
“Kate, this is too much,” I said, accepting the heavy bag with a grateful smile.
“I run a bakery. I’ve got plenty of food. And we’ve got runnin’ water, so you two need the bottled stuff more than we do.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Kate cleared her throat. It was dark in the stairwell, but I could hear the emotion in her voice as she struggled to find her next words. “I wish ya could stay.”
“Me too.” I nodded as I slung the bag over my shoulder. “Maybe we can come back, once things calm down.”
“Ya mean once we’re all speakin’ Russian?” Jack added from her place behind the bakery counter. She was using a handheld mirror to look out the large front windows. “Shite. It’s almost at the end of the harbor.”
I heard the back door open, but before Jack could even draw her gun, Damien emerged from the hallway. My heart stopped, just like it did every time I looked at him. His bare chest was smeared with blood, but the bandages I’d applied to his bullet wounds after our … activities the night before were still nice and clean.
Just one more thing I had to thank Kate for.
I felt her bristle at my side. As Damien approached, she dropped her head and stared at her wringing hands.
“It’s comin’ back,” Jack said, watching the drone in the mirror. “Ya better go. Now.”
