Dani's POV:
"What happened to your hand, Mommy?" Isabella asked me from the backseat of the car. I was driving over to their friend Katy's house for a sleepover. Even though it was a school night for them, I was happy that my daughters made a new friend at the birthday party. A couple of weeks ago, when they started their kindergarten class, both of them seemed to stay closed off from their peers.
"I just cut it by accident. Your daddy fixed it for me." I briefly glanced at my bandaged hand that gripped the steering wheel as I drove down Katy's neighborhood.
"Mama, are you and Daddy gonna get married?" Delilah asked, momentarily glancing out her window.
"I…I don't know, baby. Why do you think we should?" I hoped that wasn't too difficult of a question for a smart five-year-old.
"Because I saw him kissing you last night. I woke up to go potty and I saw it." Dee giggled softly as Izzy smiled at her.
"Can I ask you girls a question? Do you like your daddy and Uncle Muffy?" We were coming closer to Katy's suburban house, making me feel secure that we were in a somewhat civilized area of Boston.
"I love 'em! Daddy's so nice and strong! And Uncle Muffy makes me laugh a lot!" Isabella chattered in an excited voice.
"Me, too. Daddy saved me last night. Did you see, Mama? I told you he was a super-hero." Dee pointed rather braggingly at her sister, showing her rare bold side.
"Katy loved the jump-wope we got for her birthday!" Izzy chirped up, changing the subject.
"I wish we didn't play with it the whole time at the party, Izzy." Dee folded her arms and pouted. "You made me jump it a hundred times!"
"Don't be a baby, Dee. If you don't like it, Katy and I will play with it later. You're the one who doesn't like MY special wope." I shook my head silently as I stared at the road and listened to their rant. Isabella had so much of her father in her…
After dropping the girls off inside Katy's house and having them promise me to be good for Katy's parents, I rushed out to my car and headed straight for the police station. Tonight would be the perfect night to help Eunice with the Saints' case since the girls were in a secure place where I knew they'd be safe.
As I drove through downtown, I couldn't ignore the feeling of guilt harboring in my chest for not informing Connor or Murphy about my working exclusively with the FBI as an insider.
Would Connor be furious with me? I knew he would be if he found out without me telling him about it myself. But, once he understood that I was working with Eunice to protect them and not rat them out, we could move on from there.
The question was, where would we go from there…? Throughout all last night, I could still feel the taste of his lips on mine, the gentleness of his hands as he wrapped mine in a healing bandage.
Finally, I pulled my mind out of my romantic thoughts and found myself in the parking lot of the Boston Police Department. Time to get to work…
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"What's this?" Eunice held up a tiny Ziploc baggy that contained a small red circle.
"Rosary bead. Found it pushed under the carpet near the victim. Father McKinney wasn't wearing a rosary, so its probably been there awhile." Greenly told her as he leaned forward and wrung his fingertips across his temples.
Duffy entered the conference room where we were all gathered around the table, exhausted from our evening. He held in his arms a huge stack of papers. Dolly sat slumped in his chair asleep, his feet propped up on the table. Duffy smiled and dropped the paper stack onto the table near Dolly's elbow, making him jolt awake.
"The results on all 864 prints found at the scene. All match churchgoers and clergy, but one. Partial on the priest's watch is still unidentified." Duffy informed us all. I sat next to Eunice, laying my head on my arms in exhaustion.
The redheaded cop leaned back in her chair and huffed out a sigh. "No, that's horseshit. Everybody gets printed nowadays. They're even inking up snot-gobblers in kindergarten now. No offense, Dani." She placed a hand on my shoulder.
"None taken." I fought back a yawn as I answered.
"It's a brick wall, anyway. We know Napoleon was wearing gloves. The lab got zilch on the lock and chain. Even the pennies came up clean." Dolly explained even further, making my head spin.
"I'm gonna go powder my nose." Eunice got up from her chair and exited the room, shutting the door behind her.
I sat up and thought hard about all the clues. Sure, I was no detective, but if I considered all the evidence, I could at least put some pieces of the puzzle together.
"Man, Daddy would knock that out like Mike fucking Tyson." Greenly remarked crudely. I rose out of my seat to give him a smack to the back of the head when the door opened again.
"Hey!" Eunice called out to all of us.
"What? I didn't say nothing." Greenly tried to hide as the woman nearly ran to the board that held all the pictures and newspaper clippings of the crime scene and possible suspects.
"McKinney wore the watch on his left wrist. Where was this found, exactly?" Eunice held the little Ziploc in her hand as she stood in front of the crime billboard.
"Right here off his left elbow." Duffy pointed to the picture of the priest's dead corpse.
"It just occurred to me that priests wear the rosary when taking Confession." Eunice smiled at all of us as we all took in what she was saying. The next thing I knew, she pointing out a specific instruction for each of the detectives, speaking so fast I could barely absorb what she was ordering. When she finished and the men all scampered off to do their jobs, I stood next to her and stared at the photo pinned on the board that currently held her attention. "You took your gloves off, didn't you, cowboy? Now why would you go and do a damned fool thing like that?"
I knew she was referring to our suspect…and knew for a fact that tonight was going to be a hell of a wild ride…
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My cell phone rang as I sat in the passenger seat of Eunice's car. I answered, hoping that Greenly had some information for us. "Hey, David. Did you get anything new?"
"Yeah. We just dumped a text message from George's cell. Just two words: "Silver Peso". It's a Mexican joint down by the docks. Sent it to his enforcer, JoJo Rhama. Guess gangsters gotta eat too, huh?"
"I think Eunice and I'll crash their party, see if we can make things a bit more exciting for them." I gave Eunice a sly smile.
"You ladies need a bodyguard?" He asked me, a flirty note at the end of his question.
"No thank you, Mike Tyson. Bye, now." I had to hold back my laughter.
"Bye." He hung up, saying goodbye with a slight drawl. Men…
"Are you ready for this, Dani?" Eunice stopped the car and set it into park.
"Yeah, I'm ready." I opened my purse and took out my six-shooter. "Two women against the world." I grinned at her with confidence as we exited the car and waited outside the shady restaurant. To be honest, this place was creepy at night.
"We'll wait about five minutes, then you go in to distract them." She instructed me as we hid outside the entrance doors.
"Alright." I sighed in disappointment, but knew that it'd be an advantage because I didn't look like a person likely to pull a stunt on one of these idiots.
Then, I heard some of their voices inside. "Where's Gorgeous?" One of them asked. He was asking about George, the gangster we had interrogated yesterday afternoon. As I found myself wondering that, I heard a loud clanking noise.
I was tempted to peek inside and see what was going on, but part of me was afraid of being caught by one of them.
Then, I heard a familiar voice with the Irish lilt I found to be too distinguishable to my ears. "It's Irish fer 'You're fucked'."
Murphy's voice…! The boys were here! SHIT! Connor was going to kill me! Well, perhaps rather than kill me, he'd just drag me by the arm all the way back to my house and give me a profane earful about keeping another secret from him.
Suddenly, the sound of bullets, combined with silencers filled my ears, with the boys' Mexican comrade shouting out something in Spanish.
Eunice snapped her fingers at me and pointed to the double doors. She held her handgun tightly in her grip, finger poised near the trigger. "Change of plan. Let's see what the boys do, then we'll make our entrance." She explained.
I peeked through the window at the strangest sight. A pile of dead, bloody men lay near the bar while the Saints and their Hispanic friend stood before Gorgeous George. The gangster had a metal rolling table attached to his chest…and he had some Gaelic words painted on his back?
Before the phrase "what the fuck" could run itself through my mind I saw Connor approaching him, pulling a gun out of his holster. "Ya know what I think we should do? I think we should let God decide if he gets a second chance."
"No, no! Come on, man!" George begged the Irishman as he turned him around and pressed the barrel of the gun to the gangster's head.
Due to the fog on the glass, I couldn't clearly see George's face, but I could hear what was being said. What Connor said next made my 24-year-old heart pound so loudly I wouldn't have been surprised if Eunice heard it. "You had best be right with your Jesus, boy." He growled in a deep Southern drawl that nearly made my knees go weak.
"Oh, God." I took a deep breath, trying to slow down my heart rate.
"Relax there, cowgirl. You can lasso and ride your Irish bronco when we're done here." Eunice lightly hit my arm to get my attention.
She was right. Now wasn't the time to be acting like the dumb cheerleader drooling over the star quarterback. Focus, Dani.
We opened the double doors as quietly as we could and slipped inside, staying concealed in the dark entryway. The next thing I saw was George walking away toward the back of the restaurant to the kitchen, probably trying to slip out without being seen.
"Ya know, that was perhaps one of the finest examples o' spiritual guidance I've ever had the good fortune to witness." Murphy complimented his brother, crossing himself.
"It was wonderful, wasn't it? Mysterious ways, I tell ye." Connor had his back to us, looking at Murphy. Right then, I saw movement in the corner of the room. In the back window of the restaurant, I saw a man with what seemed like a shaved head looming closer through the side exit. From the intent look in his eye, I could tell he wasn't up to any good.
Before Eunice could say anything, I aimed my gun and stepped out into the light. The woman behind me did the same, shooting at the suspect while the three men ducked out of the way of our bullets. The strange man missed as his own bullets managed to avoid us. I got him in the arm while Eunice hit him right in the stomach. The man doubled over in pain for a brief moment and disappeared out of sight.
Connor, Murphy and their Mexican ally stood up and aimed at us. Or rather, the boys aimed at Eunice while the Mexican went to the side exit and made sure our short acquaintance was really gone. "Put it down, now!" Murphy shouted at Eunice.
I stepped in front of her, setting my gun down onto the bar and holding up my hands. "Easy, guys. And we're alone. She's with me." I told them both in a calm voice.
"He's gone." The Hispanic man came back from the side exit and joined us.
"Dani…what? Who the fuck is she?" Connor asked me, slowly lowering his weapon.
"My name is Eunice Bloom. And we're your guardian angels." She stepped out from behind me and placed her gun on the bar countertop next to mine. "The torch was passed to me by a mutual friend."
"Mutual friend? By the name of fuckin' who?" Murphy asked intently, ever the hothead.
"My uncle, Paul Maximilian Smecker." I shot back at my "brother" as he lowered his own weapon at my furious gaze.
"We heard. He was a good man." Murphy looked with softened eyes at both of us ladies.
"Aye, ye both have our condolences." Connor stepped closer to me, his own eyes filled with understanding toward Eunice and empathy at me.
"Thank you." I responded, imagining the questions filling his mind right this moment.
"Didn't I tell you guys this bitch would rat us out? She led a fucking cop right to us!" The Mexican man stepped closer to me, pointing accusingly in my direction.
"Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are to badmouth me when you haven't even spoken to me before?" I nearly yelled, wanting to hit him.
"Look, I already know about you and Connor, but who's to say you wouldn't rat them out just to get some fucking reward?" The weird man waved his own gun at me.
"Rome!" I heard Connor yell in anger.
"The real fact of this is that I'm here to save your asses from landing in a jail cell because these two men saved my life. If it wasn't for them, I most likely wouldn't be here. How's that for a goddamn reason?" I got right in his face despite that the top of my head came to about his shoulder.
"Well…what the fuck do these broads have to do with this? What the fuck is going on here?" Rome asked, pointing at both me and Eunice. Connor came closer as I stepped away from the Mexican and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Let's speed this up before your new sidekick's gotta dig any deeper into his impressive vocabulary." Eunice chimed up. "Like Danielle explained, I am an FBI Agent controlling this investigation from within in order to ensure that you gentlemen never see the inside of a prison cell. Now, I've conspired to work with three like-minded individuals who have aided you in the past. Though, Dani and I have yet to inform them of our agenda because…well…we girls gotta have our fun." She smiled and winked at me.
"Dolly, Duffy and Greenly?" Murphy asked, leaning against the bar.
"Hmm-mm. The very same." She answered in a soft voice.
"How are the lads doin'?" Connor asked her, folding his arm around my shoulders. I fought the urge to lean into his side.
"Two of them are scared. One's just horny." She removed her dark blue jacket and placed it onto a nearby chair.
"Bet I can tell ya which one." Murphy raised his eyebrows suggestively and smirked, making me laugh.
"Betcha can. Let's save it for group. Right now, we've got a big problem." Eunice folded her arms and walked toward me and Connor, who still kept his strong arm wrapped around my shoulders.
"What's that, then?" Connor asked her, ending his question with a hint of skepticism.
"This simply won't do." She pointed around at the pile of lifeless corpses. Immediately, I understood the chores that had to be done. Time for some readjusting of a crime scene…
After a couple hours of positioning dead bodies, squirting blood around and removal of DNA, the place was made into a completely different scenario of what happened at the Silver Peso. Basically, it was a gang spat gone awry.
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Later into the night, we were all at the McGinty pub, planning to surprise Dolly, Duffy and Greenly with the boys' arrival. As we waited for Eunice to bring them along, Romeo finally came to apologize for acting so rashly toward me.
"Look, I know we kinda got off on the wrong foot but… it did freak the fuck outta me when I saw you pointing that gun. But, you did save our fucking lives, man." The bizarre Mexican grinned at me in a friendly way.
"I guess I'll forgive you for your own sake. If I don't, I'm sure Connor and Murphy will have something to say about it. I'm Danielle. Its nice to meet you." I held out my hand to him.
"Romeo. And believe me, there's a reason people call me that." He raised his brow in a flirty manner as he shook my hand in earnest.
"Thanks, I'm sure you're quite a catch, but… I think I've found the man meant for me." I smiled at him as he released my hand.
I backed away a few steps and bumped into a solid chest. Strong hands placed themselves onto my shoulders. Looking down at one of them, I saw the word Veritas inked along the finger. "Danielle, would ya mind of we talked…alone?"
"Okay. Sure, Connor. I've got lots of explaining to do." My voice went up an octave, picturing the anger in his eyes at another secret being revealed.
He led me out near the entrance of the pub, a secluded area where we could speak privately. I leaned against the wall and folded my arms, waiting for him to speak. Instead, he only stood at the wall opposite me, sighing out a deep huff of exasperation. His eyes held mine in an inescapable gaze.
"You can yell if you want." I whispered. "I won't mind. I know I should've told you, but…I was so confused thinking about having you back in my life and how…how the girls would take it…" I failed to notice that I was blabbering until I saw his shadow loom over me. His hands gently took hold of my face and I stopped talking when I looked into those blue eyes of his.
Then, his lips covered mine once again, only now it was something more than just a goodnight kiss. My arms wrapped around his neck as I stood on my tiptoes. I leaned back against the wall to balance myself while his arms moved to secure my waist. It made me feel strangely self-conscious since I had gained a few pounds after the girls were born.
At last, I was able to inhale oxygen as Connor traced his fingers across my lower back, tickling me slightly. Then he smiled widely with that grin I loved so much and laughed a deep, vibrating chuckle. "What the hell am I gonna do with ya, woman?"
I smiled at him, trying to hold back my giggles. Before I could answer him, I saw Murphy standing a few feet behind Connor, leaning against the wall and holding his hand to his mouth.
From what I could see, he was smiling and trying hard not to laugh out loud. "And we'll return to The Young & the Restless right after these messages." He laughed loudly as Connor turned to glare at him.
"Fuck you, Murph. There's nothin' wrong with a man kissin' the woman who just saved our lives." He turned to look at me again, keeping his hold on my waist.
"I know, Conn. She's indeed our guardian angel." He came closer to us as I walked out of Connor's embrace. "Lil' Dani, I don't know where we'd be without ya."
"For all I know…I have no idea either." I reached up and gave Murphy a well-deserved hug. "I am really happy to see you guys again." Before I knew it, he reached up and wiped a tiny tear off my cheek.
"I'm real happy to see you're healthy and well, lass. We are the wee ones tonight?" Murphy asked me, briefly glancing at Connor.
"They're at a sleepover with a friend of theirs from school." I looked at both of the boys as I answered. "Well, I figure Eunice should be here any minute with the detectives."
"Aye, let's go get ready to surprise the livin' hell outta them!" Murphy bent down and swung me up in his arms. I couldn't stop the squeal of laughter that rang out of me.
"Hey, get back 'ere with the mother o' me children, ya lil' bastard!" Connor yelled playfully as Murphy ran out of the room and back into the bar like an energetic little boy. He was careful not to drop me as he walked to the counter and sat me on top of it.
"Murph? Don't tell Connor this, but I did gain a few pounds over the years." I whispered as he sat next to me on a barstool, sticking a cigarette in his mouth.
The Irishman glanced at me as if I was crazy. "Dani, that doesn't mean shit to me brother. You're the loveliest lass he's laid eyes on." He gave me a side wink as he lit up, turning his head away from me.
Connor entered the room again and leaned against the wall of the entryway, just looking at me as I sat on top of the bar and stared back at him. In that moment, I knew that I fully accepted the boys back into my life and I wasn't going to let anything happen to them, especially where the girls were concerned.
However, little did I know that my prayers for permanent protection would go unanswered…
