“I’m fine,” she said, though she was sagging on the stair railing beside her, keeping herself up.
But then I saw what it was that Teo did not want me to see: a man lying in the hallway, covered in blood. Uncle Jim’s eyes were still open, and I thought I saw them flicker. I went quickly to him and knelt down, the prayers of the last rites spilling out of me in a quick whisper. Uncle Jim coughed, a spray of blood spattering my robes, but it was an involuntary response—and his last. I saw his eyes go empty when the spirit left his body, and he moved from one realm to another.
After one last prayer for his soul I looked up at the other three in the hallway, who had stood there watching. I looked at Teo and I wanted to ask—but couldn’t.
“It was for me,” my father said. Teo glanced at him. “Teo was protecting me,” Dad said again, stronger this time. “Jim saw me coming out and he meant to kill me. So Teo shot him first. He saved my life.”
I looked back to Teo, who said nothing, his face stoic.
“You saved my life, too,” Tara said to him. “Thank you.”
I got up off my knees and went back to Teo, who would not meet my eyes. He studied the blood and dirt on the front of my robes instead. “You okay?” I asked him softly.
His face twisted for a moment. “Yeah.” But then we heard the sound of guns from below, staccato firing and more shouts. Teo pushed me and my father back behind him, his gun raised and aimed at the stair railing.
“Ms. Donovan, you should—” he began, but Tara had already picked up the gun lying by Uncle Jim’s inert hand. She pressed herself back against the wall as the first figures appeared, coming up the stairs, but her aim was steady and true as both she and Teo began firing. I could hear my mother screaming from the room behind us, but I could barely breathe, let alone call out.
When the gunfire ceased, Tara had a look of satisfaction in her face. She moved around the top of the stair railing to peek downstairs, and immediately raised the gun again, alert and ready. I braced for more shots. But then I heard her saying, “Well, it’s about time.”
I opened my eyes to see Conor O’Hara coming into the hallway, followed by a group of men. Conor gave a quick, respectful head nod to Tara.
“Everything’s under control downstairs, Ms. Donovan,” he said. He rushed to her as she slumped against the wall, catching her around the waist.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, but Connor would not let her go.
“All the same, I like to feel useful,” he said with a grin, and helped her hobble to the stairs. “Icancarry you in my arms if you prefer.”
“Certainly not!” she said, but she leaned heavily on him as they began to make their way downstairs. “I suppose the police are here?” I heard her saying.
“’Fraid so. Feds, too.”
“I’ll speak to them.”
“That might be for the best, Ms. Donovan. And then we need to get you to the hospital…”
The voices trailed off in the distance, and I realized when I turned back to Teo that Dad had left us.
“I think he’s looking after your Mom. Is she—”
I nodded. “She’s okay.” I glanced back at Uncle Jim.
“I’m sorry,” Teo said softly. “I didn’t want you to have to see.”
“It’s done,” I told him, taking his hand. “You did your job, and now it’s done.” He studied my face for a moment, worry still creasing his brow. I slid my hand up around the back of his neck and kissed his mouth carefully. “I love you.”
His face relaxed and he hugged me tight. “I love you, too.”
“I think it’s time we went home, don’t you?”
* * *
We couldn’t leave right away,of course. It took some days to sort things out, which was less time than I’d imagined, but still felt endless. I wanted to get back to New York, wasitchingto get back. Both Teo and Conor O’Hara promised men to keep watch over my parents, who were very happy to leave Hillview House once the police were finished with the scene. Tara Donovan had ruefully mentioned having to undertake renovations on Hillview, which made me wonder what would happen to Innisfree.
“The IFF will keep it,” Teo told me when I’d asked one night, after we’d made love and I lay curled up in his arms. “For now,” he added.
“So it’s not over with them?”
“Nowhere near,” he said grimly. “But you don’t need to worry about that.”
