“Ah, Tiernan!” They’re all pleased to see him, and it makes me happy to see. The headmaster’s a tall, large man with a thick gray beard and glasses. “Welcome home, son. And I see you’ve brought a guest?”
Tiernan shakes his hand. “Aye, sir, this is Ruby.”
“Pleased to meet you. Doran Clifford.” His eyes are sharp, his grip firm. “I’ll see you at supper, then?”
“Aye,” Tiernan says, turning to leave, as Clifford beckons the boy into his office.
“What will happen to him?” I ask Tiernan. I feel so badly for the boy.
“Well, he’ll be disciplined for his fit of temper, won’t he? I would know that dance fairly well. Had a temper myself. Damn near got expelled the first day I was here, but Keenan insisted I stay. Lachlan and Nolan helped me out quite a bit. Grateful they did. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without them.”
I hold his hand as he leads me about the campus. I’m honored that he’s brought me here, that he’s taken me into this place. But deep in my belly, I know something’s wrong. I tell myself it’s because I’m only playacting, that I’m here in disguise because I’m a wanted woman. That there’s only so long this can go on. I hate that I’m a wanted woman.
Even holding Tiernan’s hand, I can’t soothe the knot in my stomach or still the trembling in my hands.Chapter 13TiernanIt feels odd being back here. I imagine it’s the way a soldier might feel returning home from battle. Everything looks the same. Hell, everything even feels the same. But… I’m not the same person I was back then. I’m hardly the man I was a week ago, now that I’ve got a charge here with me.
A charge. Fucking hell, the way my mind works sometimes… She isn’t a charge. She’s Aisling. My Aisling.
I show Aisling the campus and introduce her to everyone we meet up with. Every once in a while, I do an almost double-take, she looks so different than she did before. She’s polite and adorable, damn near fetching with her hair hanging down on her forehead as she bites her lip.
She asks questions, and I do my best to answer her, but my mind is elsewhere.
Will they find us here? Is she still being pursued?
After I’ve given her the full tour of the grounds, I take her back to the room we’re staying in. She unpacks, and I call Brady.
“Any update?”
“No, brother,” Brady says. “They’re still looking for her. Someone got ahold of Vivian, and she told them she hasn’t seen Aisling since that night of the fight.”
Which would likely corroborate the suspicion that she’s a suspect in Edmund Doyle’s disappearance.
“Excellent.” I sigh. “What else?”
“So far, nothing. They’ve interviewed her flat mates, and they…” his voice trails off.
“What?”
“Well. There was an attack.”
“An attack?”
Aisling goes quiet, not moving a muscle in the bed while I talk with Brady. She knows I’m hearing something that involves her, but bloody hell, she’s got the self-control to wait. Good girl.
“Aye. The place where she lived was ransacked, Tiernan. They found… all sorts of paraphernalia. If she gets found, she’s going to jail for possession of multiple narcotics as well as suspected murder.”
I wince. Christ, no. She’s clean now. “Anyone hurt?”
He sighs. “Girl named Karla sustained a gunshot wound, bloke named Shane got shot too. Someone on the attack came there first, police after.
“Bloody hell.” She’ll want to see them, or at least talk with them, but I can’t let her.
“Lay low, Tiernan. We’ll see what we can do on our end. I’m working closely with Walsh to cover up everything we can, but you know, the prime minister’s son…”
Don’t I know it. Fuck.
I hang up the phone and turn to Aisling. “What is it?” Her eyes are wide, stark against her pale skin, underscored by her pale white cheeks.
I tell her everything. “Oh my God,” she whispers, shaking her head from side to side. Tears fall down her cheeks, and my heart aches for her. “Karla.”
“She’ll be alright, love.”
“And… what about… Shane?”
“They were both attacked but they’re fine,” I tell her. “They sustained only minor injuries.”
She pinches the bridge of her nose. “How, Tiernan? How will we get out of this?” She whispers. “I just… I don’t know how to deal with this. I used to… get high. Get my mind off the things I can’t handle. But that crutch is gone now.”
I take her hand. “Do you miss it?”
She frowns. “Well, no. I’m much happier sober, if I’m honest. I just don’t know how… how to really cope when things are out of control.” She stumbles over the words, and my heart goes out to her. I want to see my confident Aisling again.
I lace my fingers with hers. “Things are not out of control right now, love.”