Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“We’re not safe here,” she told them.
“We know,” Niall replied. “Just eat. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
“How so?” Deidre asked.
“That bear was not one of the guys that brought us up here. I don’t know if they are in on it or if they have been taken out, but he came down here to scout us out. We’ve got tonight if they believed that you have really been taken elsewhere. Tomorrow, they’ll see where we go in the car, hoping we’ll lead them to you,” Niall told her.
“Do you think they are watching us now?” she asked.
“Yes, for now. They want to see if we’ll make a move. We kept him outside the door so that he couldn’t smell you, but there’s a chance he could see there were three meals on the table,” he replied.
“Then they might still come in after us tonight,” Ronan observed.
“They could, but I don’t think they will. On the off chance that they are wrong, they’ll wait to see rather than tipping their hand,” Niall replied, taking another bite of his fish as if unbothered by it.
“Then what’s the new plan, because it sounds like the one we were working on fifteen minutes ago is shot,” Deidre said.
“Aye. Shot it is,” Niall laughed.
There was something in the way he smiled at her that she felt all the way down into her toes. There was no denying that he had an effect on her, and it went far beyond his rugged good looks and perfect physique. Somehow, she felt connected to him in a way she’d never experienced before.
Of course, little of that mattered right now. In their current situation, they both stood a good chance of not being above ground this time tomorrow. They’d be buried in the mountains or covered in silt at the bottom of the lough.
CHAPTER FIVE
Niall
Niall was focused on the situation at hand, but he couldn’t help but be mesmerized from time to time by the shadows of the fire dancing across Deidre’s graceful face. She was like a pixie with her short black hair that exposed her long, slender neck.
“Niall?”
Niall snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Ronan speaking to him. He’d gotten lost in her for a moment, no doubt looking like he was staring into the fire when he was really taking her in.
“Oh, sorry. I was sorting it out in my head.”
They’d turned out the lights to give the appearance they’d gone to bed for the night. Hopefully, it would send any watchers back to the warmth of the main house until daybreak when they’d come back out to see who emerged from the cabin.
“So, we wait a couple more hours and then I take Deidre out through the woods in bear form. I’ll get her to a safe place and come back here before daylight. Even if they spot me, they’ll still just be looking to see where we have taken her.”
“Where are you going to take her?”
“I saw a motel up by the motorway. There was a bus stop in front of it. I’m going to take her there, and she’ll lay low until the first bus runs to take her to Belfast. I’ll get her a room at the Europa. It’ll put her in the middle of humans and bring some safety while we try to get out of here.”
“And if you don’t make it out of here?” she asked.
“Then you’re on your own. Your room will be on our family dime and I’ll make sure you have the money to get by for a few days and get on a ferry to Liverpool if we don’t turn up. Hopefully, you can lose yourself on the mainland.”
“Don’t you think the Europa is a bit public?” Ronan asked.
“Yes. They’ll expect us to hide her away somewhere. They won’t be looking for her out in plain sight. She can charge anything she needs there to the room. I’ll use one of the emergency accounts so it doesn’t trace back to the family.”
“And where are we going?”
“Derry,” Niall replied.
“Are you insane? Trill has people crawling all over that place,” Deidre gasped.
“Yes, but it won’t matter. We won’t be there long,” Niall replied.
“I don’t understand either,” Ronan told him.
“We’re going to stop at a pub I seem to remember Dad talking about once. I doubt it’s changed. Nothing on this island changes. After the bar fight I intend to start, they’ll not realize we’ve slipped away until we’re well gone and headed back in the opposite direction on the back roads,” Niall replied.
“And you think that will work?” Ronan asked.
“Aye. At least long enough to get them off our backs for now. Once we can get back to Belfast, then we can work on the next leg of the plan.”
“Am I being negative if I say that none of this plan sounds great to me?” Ronan asked.