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

O’Sullivan,” he replied with a nonchalant shrug. The guy looked utterly relaxed, as though he was having a chat in his own living room rather than being interrogated in a police station, and it was pissing me off. “I wasn’t certain at first, but things are beginning to click into place nicely now. If I’m right, then he’s also the one responsible for all that business with the drug-induced violent outbreaks currently plaguing Las Vegas.”

I tried to hide the shock I felt at his words, but I must have failed if the smirk that slipped onto his face was any indication.

“What makes you say that?” I asked. He knew way too many details for this to just be a bluff.

“It’s the only conclusion that makes sense,” he shrugged. “I didn’t get to this position by chance, you know. I’d be dead right now if I wasn’t capable of outsmarting my enemies.”

“What position is that?” I asked calmly.

“Really, do I have to spell it out?” he asked mockingly as he glanced over to Seamus, who’d been fuming silently beside me the entire time. “Fine, then. I’m the head of the Irish Mafia, although I’m sure you already knew that. I’m fairly certain that my former partner, Liam O’Sullivan, is attempting to overthrow me and going to great lengths to do it. It’s also highly likely that some of my own men have betrayed me. That’s probably how you found out where I’d be tonight. Am I wrong?”

I gritted my teeth in annoyance. This guy might have been a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid.

“Alright.” I nodded. “You’re right. So why are you just admitting to everything? Aren’t you concerned about admitting to being a member of the mafia right in front of the police?”

“I take betrayal very seriously,” he answered. “I need Liam to understand what happens to those who cross me. And I’m not really scared of the Garda. No offense to you, sir.”

He sneered at Seamus, who looked about ready to explode at his snarky remark.

“What happened between you and Liam?” I asked before Seamus could go off. “This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that you two didn’t get along.”

“We had a difference of opinion,” he replied easily, though there was a knowing glint in his eyes that unsettled me. “I’ll tell you what. Find him for me, and I’ll let you know what it is we fought about.”

I was about to tell him that I really didn’t care that much what their falling out was over, but something in his expression stopped me. It was almost as if he was enjoying some private joke at my expense.

“Fine,” I conceded flatly. “Where is he?”

“Well, if I knew that, do you think I’d be asking for some fed’s help?” he scoffed. “He’s most likely up in Northern Ireland somewhere, though. I’m assuming that’ll help you narrow down your search, right? Haven’t you got a lass that’s good with computers back home?”

I froze at his obvious reference to Fiona. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he had information on us, considering how powerful he evidently was, but it was still unnerving to be so plainly reminded.

“Yeah, we do,” I replied confidently.

“Well, that’s just perfect then,” Finnian grinned. “We’ll both get what we want. Isn’t it great when everyone wins?”

I glared at him hatefully before pushing back my chair and leaving the room. I couldn’t stand the sight of his stupid, cocky smile for even another second. The entire interview, I’d felt like I’d been yanked around by him. I slammed the door before falling into one of the seats in the viewing area beside Junior.

“We can’t let him get away with this,” he muttered angrily. “You know that’s what he’s thinking, right? That he’s so powerful and untouchable that he’ll be out of jail in no time. He’s probably right, too.”

“That won’t happen,” I insisted. “We’ll figure something out. Right now, we need to focus on finding O’Sullivan and forming a plan to go up to Northern Ireland.”

“You don’t think he was bluffing?” Junior asked.

“No,” I replied bitterly. “That’s what ticked me off so badly. He’s so confident that he really isn’t scared about admitting to everything. He thinks he can just confess to crimes and still get away with them.”

“That’s kind of how the mafia operates,” Junior scoffed. “They pay people off to look the other way, or blackmail them, or bribe them. They stay in power by making sure everyone keeps their mouths shut.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen this time,” I snarled as I glared through the two-way mirror into the room where Seamus was still questioning Finnian about which Garda officers were involved with the mafia.

“Come on,” Junior prompted as he got up. “It’s late. We should go get some sleep so we can head up to Northern Ireland early tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, suddenly feeling the weight of my fatigue hit me all at once at the mention of sleep.

As we were leaving, I shot one last look over my shoulder at Finnian, who was still sitting there with that cocky, self-assured grin. He might be used to getting his way, but I would make sure he didn’t slip away from justice this time.

31

Miranda

I thrust my hand into the colorful bowl of individually wrapped chocolates that Fiona had set on her desk, and the thin aluminum wrappers crinkled as they brushed against each other. I pulled out one of my favorites, a chocolate-coated truffle with caramel filling, and peeled the wrapper off with way more force than necessary before popping the entire thing into my mouth.

I was frustrated. Being turned away by that brute at the bar had been irritating enough, but then we’d been unable to secure a warrant to search the place. According to the judge, we didn’t have enough evidence, and we couldn’t exactly explain to him that Fiona had illegally hacked into the police database to get the information about the cases that had been covered up.

“Did that