Page 99 of Retribution

“Me, of course.” When he shifts in the bed he winces. “I’m a liability here. Get home. Get the ol’ memory jogged. Go after whoever did this.”

“The doctors think your memory will return?” I clench the bottom of his bed.

“They don’t know shit.” With a grunt, he squirms in the bed again. “Can’t get comfortable. They need to start giving me the good drugs.”

My mind drifts to the last time I was seriously injured. It was a few years ago; I woke up to Malik clutching my hand.

“How’d you find me?”

I give my head a quick shake to clear the memory and devote my attention to Finn. “Itwasluck. Ian was supposed to have swept the exterior. We checked the dead bodies for ID or anything else. We thought you were missing. And I don’t know. I was standing in the field, and something about the shed called to me. So I went to look.”

“And there I was.”

“And there you were.”Leaning against the side of the shed, pointing a gun at me.

We stare at each other, time ticking between us, but I can’t determine what he’s thinking. If he was Lorcan, I’d ask, but Finn would never tell me, even if I begged.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay.” Part of me actually means that; I hope it isn’t the part that gets me killed.

“Mydeartháir beagsays we’re not trafficking women and kids anymore. I’m guessing that was your doing?”

“Bad for business.”

“Thatisthe business. If you’re going to stick with my brother, you need to realize that. ’Cause whether me and Lorcan go our own way”—he pulls his hands apart and then laces them together, resting them on his stomach—“or we lock ourselves together, neither one of us is any Robin Hood. We’ve killed for each other. We’re bonded by blood.”

Except there’s good in Lorcan.“I don’t have a problem with your lifestyle.”

“Not much you can do about it, even if you did.”

A smile threatens to burst onto my face, and I glance away from him before it can take hold. Just because he can’t remember doesn’t mean he can’t figure it out again. “I should go. All hands on deck while we figure this out.”

“I want you here tomorrow with a status report.”

“There might not be anything to report.”

“Then come tell me that.”

“Whatever you want.” I open the door.

In my room, on the dresser, is a note from Lorcan indicating he’ll be out of town for two days, with the code for his office scribbled beside it. I gape at the numbers for a while, surprised he gave it. Maybe he’ll change it to something else as soon as he comes home. That’ll be the true test of how much he trusts me. Does he leave me with the code beyond the next couple of days?

Although I didn’t need to see the marks in the field, I made the trek out there for show as soon as I was on the property. It’s important to keep up appearances, especially now.

When I pick up my phone off the nightstand, there are two messages. One is from Carys and the other is from Dai Qing disguised as another random text. This time it’s a doctor’s appointment.

Frowning, I stare at the text for a few minutes. They’re calling me to headquarters for a meeting. While it would be nice to see Malik, the timing isn’t great. I need to speak to Dai Qing before I leave for the airport.

I dial Carys’s number and hold the phone to my ear.

She answers on the first ring. “Oh, God, Kim. Is he still alive?”

“What?”

“Finn. He called me early this morning or late last night. I was in a meeting, and so my phone was off. But he left this rambling message on my phone because he was dying.” Her voice catches on a sob.

“He’s alive, Carys.” What else did he say in that message? She’s calling me, so he couldn’t have outed me as FBI to her, or she’d be here shooting me herself. “What did he say in his message?”

Carys takes a few steadying breaths. I picture her worrying a wad of tissues as she talks. “Some personal stuff.”