“Who are these other people?” Curran asked, still suspicious. “Did you humiliate their relatives in public, too?”
Travis ignored the barb. “I thought one group was the FBI, but the FBI has never heard of them. I thought the other group was the mob, although the FBI assures me the mob has been cleaned out of Dallas. The paper trail leads to some corporation.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Join the club.”
Curran was silent for a moment. “Do you think these people who are after you could be the same people who attacked my sister?”
“I don’t know,” Travis said honestly. “Moroconi always claimed someone had framed him. At the least I think they know something about it.”
“Then I’m in.”
Travis blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me. I’m in. I’ll help.”
“Forget it. I’m not letting you anywhere near a weapon.”
“Wait a minute,” Cavanaugh said. “What exactly are you saying, Curran?”
“I’m saying I want to help you.”
“What do you think we’re going to do?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I listened in on part of your conversation with Mario after you hauled him out of the hot tub. You’re going after Moroconi.”
“So?”
“So, I’m coming along. If these people know who attacked my sister, then I have as much right to go after them as you do.”
“This isn’t just a vigilante mission,” Travis insisted. “They’ve kidnapped a little girl. I have to find her by midnight or they’ll kill her.”
“Then you’d better have me along.”
“He has a point, you know,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s far better trained for this sort of mission than either of us.” She eyed Curran carefully. “And you promise you won’t hurt Travis till we’re done?”
“I promise. Till we’re done.”
“Good. Travis, I think we should let him join the party.”
Travis threw up his hands. “Cavanaugh, he tried to kill me!”
“But he promised not to try again. Till we’re done.”
“Oh, well then. If the man who’s been stalking me for days promises, then fine. Here, Curran. Have a machete.”
“I think he’s okay,” Cavanaugh said. “Just a little headstrong.”
“Just a little—” Travis walked up to Curran and grabbed him by the lapel. “Look, Mr. Green Beret. How do I know you won’t kill me in some gruesome super-secret way the first opportunity you get?”
“I gave you my word.”
“I’d prefer a more tangible form of security.”
“Like what?”
Travis pushed him away. “Forget it. Come on, Cavanaugh. We don’t have time to mess around with him.”
“No!”
The sudden rise in Curran’s voice took them both by surprise. Curran’s face was transfixed by some new, unrecognizable emotion. He seated himself in an armchair and stared into the fireplace.
“Mary Ann is more than just my sister,” he said quietly. “She’s my twin.”
Of course. Travis had noticed the similarity in their features before.
“When we were growing up, we did everything together. We were the best of friends. She was always frail, timid. I was her protector. I was supposed to look out for her.
“I remember a time when we were in the fifth or sixth grade. I was supposed to walk her home, but I got sidetracked with some of my friends on the football team. Some bully hassled her on the way home. Actually, I think he had a crush on her but didn’t know how to show it. Anyway, he pushed her down and scraped up her knee. She ran home crying. She scared so easily. When I saw her, I put my arms around her and said, ‘I’m sorry, Mary Ann. I should have been with you. I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again.’ ”
Cavanaugh gently laid her hand on his shoulder. “Curran, you’re not to blame for what happened to your sister.”
“Oh?” His eyes burned into hers. “What do you know about it? I was visiting her when it happened. We had shared a pizza earlier that evening. I walked her back to her sorority house and heard her say she was going to that bar to find her roommate.” He pressed his fingers against his temples. “I could have gone with her. She invited me. But it was late, and I was tired. So I left her alone. Just when she needed me most.”
The three of them were quiet for several protracted moments. Only the crackling of wood in the fireplace disturbed their thoughts.
Travis walked out of the room and down the stairs. A few moments later he returned carrying Curran’s gun.
“Here,” he said, tossing it into Curran’s hands. “You can come.”
Curran’s eyes slowly rose to meet Travis’s. “You trust me with this?”
“You said you wouldn’t try to kill me. At least not for a while. Right?”
Curran nodded. “Right.”
Travis grabbed his own multistrike weapon and threw it over his shoulder. “Good enough for me.”
A tiny smile appeared on Curran’s face. “Maybe you’re not so bad after all, Byrne. For a lawyer.”
66
6:53 P.M.
KRAMER HAD BEEN SUSPICIOUS from the start. After all, less than twenty-four hours ago, Mario had fired him and said he was to have no further association with the family. Now Mario wanted him to come to his home immediately. Was this some kind of setup? In fifteen years of working for Mario, Kramer had never been invited to his home. He hadn’t even known where it was, and he suspected that his lack of knowledge was no accident. What the hell was going on?
To compound his suspicion, Kramer had seen a Jeep parked on the side of the private road leading to Mario’s home, about five hundred feet from the front gates. Odd parking place, and not a car he would expect Mario to be driving. As if that wasn’t enough, he found a green Hyundai parked not far from the Jeep. A quick call from his car phone told him the Hyundai was stolen.
Something unusual was happening at Mario’s house.
As he approached the front door Kramer heard voices. Two voices, maybe three. None of them was Mario’s. They were coming closer, approaching the front door.
Best to play it safe, Kramer decided. He’d fucked up too many times already; he wasn’t taking any more risks. He ducked behind some tall hedges lining the driveway and waited to see who came out the door.
“I’m familiar with that area,” Curran said as he, Travis, and Cavanaugh exited Mario’s house. “I’ll drive.”
“Wait a second,” Travis said. “I said you could come. I didn’t say you could take over.”
“I just thought it made sense, since I know my way around.”
“I’ve lived in Texas all my life.” Travis walked down the front steps and started across the large driveway fronting Mario’s home. “I also know what some of the people on my tail look like. I’ll drive.”
“Suit yourself. I was just—”
Curran’s voice suddenly faded away. Travis turned and saw that Curran had disappeared. One moment he was talking to Travis, and the next—
Cavanaugh pointed behind him. Travis whirled around just in time to see Curran dive over the hedge lining the driveway. What the hell did he think he was doing? Had he gone totally off the deep end?
A few seconds later Travis understood. Curran was rolling on the ground, wrestling with someone. Someone who must’ve been watching them.
Travis ran around the hedge. To his surprise, the man on the ground beneath Curran was not Moroconi. It was an older man, a tall man with a long, prominent scar on the side of his face. Travis had never seen him before.