Page 168 of Bound Lies

“Have you got the information?” Ronan asks.

“Finn’s dead.”

His silence stretches on for a beat too long, to the point where I’m not sure if he heard me or not.

“What?” he eventually asks.

I grit my teeth as I stare down at Finn’s limp and bloodied body.

“Slit across the throat. Doyle said he stepped out for five minutes to piss and came back to find him dead. The locks weren’t forced, so whoever it was must have had a key. Unless, of course, Doyle here is lying…”

I shoot Doyle a look over my shoulder and fight the urge to roll my eyes at how pathetic he looks.

Why the fuck we keep someone so spineless on our payroll is beyond me, but maybe after today, that will change.

“Doyle doesn’t have it in him. Which means someone else on the inside must have done it.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Fuck, it’s Stephen all over again.”

“How the hell does this keep happening? We’re going to be a complete laughingstock if we don’t get a handle on this.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Ronan retorts. “Whoever it was must have known about the contract you drew up.”

“You think?”

“Finn has been in our possession for months, but the second he’s about to hand over information, he gets his throat cut? Yeah, that’s not just a coincidence. Whoever it was wanted to make damn sure that Finn wouldn’t talk.”

“Fuck.”

“Who else knows about the contract other than us, Brennan, and Cormac?”

“Jackson and Riley.”

“Well, we can rule the pair of them out.”

“What about Lorcan?”

“He doesn’t know. Besides, he wouldn’t kill his own stepson.”

Ronan exhales sharply down the line, and I glance back at Finn.

I was counting on the information he had, and now that it’s gone, I’m not sure what our next move is.

“Are you sure that the safehouse is still secure?”

“As of a few minutes ago, I’m not sure of anything anymore,” Ronan mutters.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? Has something happened to Riley? I swear to God, Ronan⁠—”

“Nothing has happened to Riley. But just before you called, I got word that a document was leaked, and the information on it is spreading fast.”

“What kind of information?”

“A list of every one of our safehouses, along with details of each occupier. People are already pulling away. Allies won’t touch us. We’re on our own.”

My blood turns cold. “You’re telling me that every safehouse is blown, but that Riley is completely safe? You’re full of shit!”