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

in frustration. This back and forth had gone on for so long now that I wasn’t really nervous anymore as much as annoyed. “Oh, well, I suppose if you really don’t care, I can just leave. I just thought it might interest you since it pertains to your boyfriend. Agent Chapman, right?”

My blood ran cold, and I groaned in frustration. He might just be bluffing, but I couldn’t take that risk. I glanced through the peephole again to check if he was armed. His hands were in his pockets, and his posture was relaxed. It didn’t look like he had any weapons, but I couldn’t be entirely sure from this perspective.

After making sure the chain lock was securely in place, I opened the door as far as it would go.

“Ah, there you--”

“What the hell do you want?” I snapped as I kept my gun just out of sight.

“You’re in a mood today,” Brennan sighed. “Alright, I’ll tell you since you were nice and opened the door. I just wanted to let you know we kept our side of the bargain. We assisted Agent Hills and Agent Chapman in their arrest of Liam O’Sullivan.”

My eyes widened as I listened to him speak. Of course, Junior had mentioned that someone from an opposing faction of the same mafia family had suddenly appeared and attempted to take O’Sullivan into custody. If he’d been sent by Brennan, it made sense that he appeared so suddenly.

“You’re the one who sent that man?” I asked for confirmation. “That’s what you meant when you said you’d offer your assistance?”

“Of course,” Brennan grinned. “I’m a man of my word.”

“Uh-huh, that’s a load of crap!” I yelled back. “Your man didn’t get there until after the fight was over. As far as I see it, you didn’t actually do anything to help.”

For a long moment, there was only silence. I smirked to myself. He probably hadn’t counted on me knowing exactly how things had gone down and thought he could trick me.

“If you could just open the door,” he called, suddenly sounding a lot less confident than he had just a moment earlier.

“Yeah, not happening,” I called back.

“Open the door!” he yelled. I jumped as he suddenly pounded on it forcefully.

“Who the hell are you?” a different voice screamed. As furious as it sounded, it immediately put me at ease.

“Miranda.” I grinned as I opened the door the rest of the way.

“Don’t move another inch!” she commanded as she moved briskly down the hallway, her gun held aloft toward the man.

“You got here fast,” I sighed with relief.

“I ran a couple of red lights,” she shrugged. “I’m probably going to get some tickets in the mail, but it looks like it was the right decision. You, back off. Now.”

She gestured at Brennan to move away from the door with her gun. He frowned for a moment before complying with a small chuckle.

“You always walk around pointing that thing at people?” he scoffed.

“No.” She shrugged. “But the way I see it, you’re a strange man pounding on a woman’s door and demanding to be let in. Seems like a crime in the making to me.”

“I could report you, you know,” Brennan sneered. “Feds shouldn’t draw their guns all willy nilly like that.”

“Then report me,” Miranda scoffed. “I wonder which one of us they’ll believe. The decorated ex-marine, or a mafioso who was caught trying to intimidate a woman.”

I sighed with relief as Miranda spoke, and Brennan looked angrier than before.

“Go to hell,” he sneered after a long beat of silence.

He shot a sour look at Miranda before stalking off down the hallway and into the elevator. I watched until he was out of sight and then scooped Beau up and walked back into the apartment.

“What was he talking about, Fiona?” Miranda asked darkly as she followed me inside and slammed the door shut. “What was he saying about a favor?”

I bit my lip as I placed Beau on the couch and turned around to face her.

“I kind of agreed to a deal with him,” I admitted sheepishly. “It all happened so fast. He was going on about how he wanted to help us and how MBLIS would owe him something for their assistance, and I just wanted him to leave, so I agreed, and I thought I’d deal with it later, but I didn’t realize later would be tonight. Then he showed up and started getting all sleazy and saying that I owed him.”

“Wait, that you owed him?” Miranda interrupted my ramble. “Not MBLIS, but you, specifically?”

“I guess?” I shrugged. “He came straight to my apartment to bother me about it. Now that I think about it, Nelson tried to talk to him, and he insisted on speaking with me only. But anyway, it doesn’t matter now. He didn’t actually help us. Junior told me that the battle was basically over by the time his goon arrived to ‘help.’ As far as I’m concerned, I don’t owe him anything now.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Miranda sighed. “Still, we should be careful for a while. Guys like that don’t usually give up easily. And maybe don’t go around making deals with freaking mafia members in the future!”

“Sorry.” I smiled sheepishly. “Anyway, you wanna help me with these cookies? You can taste test for me.”

“Hell yeah!” She grinned.

I smiled at her enthusiastic response. Regardless of what happened in the future, I knew she would have my back.

39

Charlie

I lifted my glass to my lips and took a long swig of beer. After the long and uncomfortable plane ride, unwinding at a bar with my friends was a welcome respite. I chuckled to myself as I realized how much I’d changed in the past year. The man I’d been when I first joined MBLIS would have never willingly spent an evening drinking with coworkers after a long and tiring mission.

“In hindsight,” Miranda slurred, her gaze slightly unfocused, “the whole thing was really stupid. I mean, who leaves evidence of their own crimes like