“You got it, boss.” I heard the smile in his voice before the call cut off. Caity would be protected, and I could sneak into the house and retrieve the files.
“Whatever you’re hiding,banphrionsa,I’m about to find out.”
I sat outside Caity’s house waiting for her to leave and Liam to follow. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there. Liam McGuire had a knack for hiding in plain sight. And you’d never see him until he wanted you to. By then it would be too late.
Caity stepped out the front door and looked around. I slid down in my seat, not wanting to let her see me. Satisfied no one was watching her, she walked down the steps and climbed into her car. I waited until she turned the corner and drove out of sight before I reached for my car door.
Movement caught my eye as a man dressed in black walked by my car. Another was coming from the opposite direction, and two more were coming from a third direction.
They passed each other as if they weren’t connected, but the slight nod of the first man’s head told another story. They quickly pulled something from their back pockets and each slipped a balaclava over their heads.
I sat back in my car, slumped down, my eyes barely able to see over the dash as they climbed the steps to Eamon’s house and picked the lock.
Grabbing my phone, I quickly swiped through my apps to the camera and pulled the screens up. The men made quick work of the lock on Eamon’s office door, and despite their finesse in not drawing attention outside, here they had no such composure.
One man went directly to the desk and sat in Caity’s chair. Quickly, he pulled the drawers from their slots and spilled the contents onto the desk as he rummaged through everything.
Another slid his hands along the wall, looking for a safe, I assumed. Or maybe a secret panel that hid what they were searching for. He would be disappointed. Eamon wasn’t that clever.
Sal had multiple panels in his office, as did the rest of us. But Eamon was old-school and a fool. He never believed anyone would be stupid enough to break into his home, let alone his office.
The third and fourth men went to the file cabinets that sat against the far wall. Opening one drawer at a time, they pulled files individually and quickly scanned through them. Once they realized they hadn’t found what they were looking for, they tossed the files over their shoulders onto the floor.
They continued this until the file cabinets were empty.
“There’s nothing here, boss,” the man who’d scanned the walls said.
“It has to be here somewhere. She said no one had been in here since the old man died. Not until his nosy fucking daughter moved in.” The man at the desk must have been the boss, as he was the one who answered.
“Bitch should have left well enough alone,” one of the other men grunted, and a growl crawled up my chest. They didn’t know I could hear them. Hell, they didn’t know I could see them.
“Now what?” the fourth man asked.
“Spread out and search the house. The files are here somewhere. Fucking find them!” the boss ordered.
They filed out of the office, not bothering to shut the door, let alone lock it again, and, well, it made sense. Caity would know as soon as she came home that someone had been there.
I clicked through the cameras trying to follow each of the men. If I’d been in my office or at home, I could watch multiple screens at once, but these cameras had been placed to watch one woman who couldn’t be in more than one room at a time.
I clicked through quickly, watching what I could. The men moved with precision, tossing anything that wasn’t nailed down. They moved from room to room, each doing the same as they had in the office. All Caity’s hard work in restoring this house into something beautiful was ruined.
It would have been more efficient and easier for me if they’d cleared one room at a time rather than switching places and searching the same spots the previous man did.
“There’s nothing here, boss.”
They all stood in the living room now, looking around the room.
“You checked every room?”
“Yes, boss,” the three men answered together.
“The bathroom? The fucking pantry?”
“Everywhere. There’s nothing here,” asshole number two confirmed.
“Maybe she hasn’t found anything?” asshole number three said.
“Or maybe she took it with her,” stated asshole number four.
