Irish Throwdown (What Happens In Vegas Book 4) by Matt Lincoln (short books for teens .TXT) 📕

“How? Wallace spent an hour on TV specifically telling people not to take the cough syrup.”

“Maybe they didn’t see the broadcast,” Fiona shrugged. “Or maybe they’d already taken it before it aired. There’s still a lot we don’t know about it, like how long it takes people to become violent after taking it.”

“There’s also the possibility that people will take it anyway,” Naomi suggested. “Drug addiction is an awful thing. The director mentioned that taking it could cause hallucinations and disorientation. People might be willing to chase that high regardless of the consequences.”

“What a bunch of morons,” Miranda spat. “So you’re not getting a day off, right? Don’t you usually go see your family before missions, Charlie?”

“Yeah,” Charlie grumbled. “I might go have dinner with him tonight. It wouldn’t be right of us to put it off any longer than necessary. People are dying. The faster we stop the perp, the better.”

“Well, you should get going then,” Naomi sighed. “Make as much of the little time you do have. Good luck on your flight tomorrow.”

I thanked her, then we all drifted back to our own tasks. Charlie packed his stuff up and left, Naomi and Miranda went to speak to Wallace, and Fiona and I retreated into her office.

“You probably won’t be here for Halloween, will you?” she asked sadly.

“Oh, no, I won’t,” I replied, suddenly remembering the plans we’d made.

“It’s alright,” she shrugged. “I kind of had a feeling you wouldn’t, even back when I asked you to come party with me. I mean, it was either going to be you two or Miranda and Naomi jetting off. I can’t be surprised that you’re busy in the middle of a case.”

“Sorry,” I apologized anyway as I fell into one of the chairs in her office. I’d been working as a federal agent for a long time and had never had to worry about disappointing anyone or breaking engagements for my job. I found that I had to cancel plans with Fiona pretty often, and I really didn’t enjoy it.

“It’s probably for the best,” she replied as she sank into the other chair and rested her chin in her hand. “If Wallace is right about more attacks breaking out across the city, it’s probably not a great idea to go out on a night when everyone will be under the influence of something.”

“Maybe we can go out tonight, instead,” I suggested. “I have the rest of the afternoon free.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I do,” Fiona argued. “Wallace didn’t tell me to go home early.”

“He probably won’t even notice,” I shrugged mischievously. “It’s only a few hours, anyway, and you already did a lot today. You tracked down the store’s location, and you figured out that the drug was only circulating here in Las Vegas. It’s not like there’s much else to do.”

Fiona smirked. “You’re a bad influence.”

I just shrugged in response.

“We came in early anyway,” I replied. “Besides, what else am I supposed to do? Wallace gave me the afternoon off, but I’d probably just end up spending it waiting around for you to get off work.”

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes. “But just this once. I can’t make a habit of playing hooky from work.”

I laughed and waited for her to gather her things before we headed out of the office together. If I really thought she was needed here, I wouldn’t have convinced her to duck out early. There really wasn’t much left for her to do, though, at least until Charlie and I headed out to Ireland and got more information. In any case, I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could before I headed out the next day. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all just a little too obvious and straightforward, like we were being led straight into a trap.

13

Charlie

I fished my phone out of my pocket as soon as I was in my truck and dialed Harry’s number. It wasn’t very late in the day yet, so I was hopeful that he’d be up to having me over for dinner despite the short notice.

He answered on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, Harry.” I smiled into the phone. “How are you?”

“I’m as healthy as a horse,” he answered confidently. He’d been taking it easy since he’d been shot a few months ago, so I was glad to hear that he was in good spirits. “What about you? Are you taking care of yourself?”

“Of course I am,” I replied. “Anyway, I was wondering if you’re free right now. I’m flying out for a mission tomorrow afternoon.”

“That soon?” Harry asked, sounding surprised. “Seems like kind of short notice. Is everything alright?”

I could hear the concern in his voice, and I internally debated whether I should tell him about what was going on.

“Not really,” I finally answered truthfully. The case was all over the news, so he was bound to hear about it eventually, anyway. “We’ve got a nasty case on our hands right now. Director Wallace wants us to head out ASAP.”

“I see,” Harry responded. “Well, that’s the nature of the job, I suppose. Come on up here, then. If you’re leaving that early, you don’t have much time to spare, right? Quit dilly-dallying. Oh, and pick up a couple of cases of beer on your way up, alright? I’m running low, and Eliza’s been on my case about leaving the house for unimportant stuff.”

“I’ll get some,” I chuckled. I could easily picture Eliza fussing over Harry and lecturing him for going out in the cold just to get some beer. He’d been shot in the lung and had been having breathing problems ever since, so it wasn’t good for him to do anything that would put a strain on his lungs.

“Good,” he replied. “I’ll see you here, then. I’ll get started whipping something up for us to eat when you get here.”

“Sounds great,” I responded before ending the call. A few months ago, the prospect of eating Harry’s