Chapter 4 - Blood Never Lies
By 5:36 a.m., Declan had twenty-four armed men moving toward Boston Harbor.
No police.
No sirens.
No hesitation.
Elias sat beside him in the back of an armored SUV.
“You know they’ll expect this.”
“Yes.”
“They specifically told you to come alone.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re bringing a small army.”
Declan checked his pistol.
“They already poisoned my child, shot at my people and kidnapped Sarah.”
He looked at Elias.
“I’m done respecting their preferences.”
Elias nodded.
“Fair.”
Ronan’s voice came through the secure earpiece.
“I’ve traced the video upload.”
“Location?”
“Container yard near Pier Six.”
“Any movement?”
“Thermal drone shows seven people.”
Declan frowned.
“Only seven?”
“Visible.”
“That means more.”
“Agreed.”
Declan looked through the windshield.
Dawn was beginning to lighten the sky.
“Sarah?”
“One heat signature appears seated inside warehouse C.”
Declan’s jaw tightened.
“Baby?”
Ronan sighed.
“I don’t have a drone that can read fetal heartbeats.”
“Get one.”
“After this.”
The convoy stopped three blocks away.
Declan got out.
Wind moved off the harbor.
Elias approached.
“Teams one and two go east. Marcus takes the roof. Ronan shuts down exits.”
Declan nodded.
“And me?”
“You stay behind me.”
Declan looked at him.
Elias sighed.
“Worth trying.”
They moved.
Warehouse C was silent.
Too silent.
Declan entered through a side door.
Shipping crates filled the interior.
At the center of the room sat a chair.
Sarah was tied to it.
Her mouth was taped.
Her eyes widened when she saw him.
Declan raised a hand.
“Sarah.”
She shook her head violently.
A warning.
Declan stopped.
A voice echoed from the shadows.
“I expected you to bring soldiers.”
Declan recognized it.
His uncle.
Patrick Hayes stepped into the light.
Declan stared at him.
Patrick was sixty-two, silver-haired and elegantly dressed despite the hour.
He smiled.
“Good morning, nephew.”
Declan’s weapon lifted.
“You.”
Patrick laughed softly.
“You sound disappointed.”
Sarah tried to speak through the tape.
Patrick walked behind her.
Declan’s voice dropped.
“Take your hands away from her.”
“I haven’t touched her.”
“You poisoned her.”
“No.”
Declan’s eyes narrowed.
Patrick continued.
“Daniel poisoned her.”
“On whose order?”
Patrick smiled.
“Mine.”
The warehouse seemed to shrink.
Declan took one step forward.
Patrick immediately raised a pistol toward Sarah.
Declan stopped.
“Careful.”
Declan stared at the gun.
Patrick said, “Your men are surrounding this warehouse.”
“Yes.”
“You were always predictable when angry.”
“And you were always stupid when confident.”
Patrick smiled.
“Still arrogant.”
Declan looked at Sarah.
She was pale.
Exhausted.
But alive.
“Why?”
Patrick’s smile disappeared.
“Because you changed the succession.”
“What succession?”
“The family.”
Declan almost laughed.
“There is no succession.”
“There is now.”
Patrick pointed toward Sarah’s stomach.
“That child gives you permanence.”
Declan understood.
Patrick had spent years expecting that one day Declan would die without children.
Then control of the Hayes organization would fracture.
Patrick planned to step into the vacuum.
A child destroyed that future.
Declan said, “You tried to kill a baby because you wanted my chair.”
Patrick shrugged.
“I tried to prevent a problem.”
Sarah made an angry sound behind the tape.
Patrick glanced down.
“She has spirit.”
Declan’s expression turned lethal.
“Don’t look at her.”
Patrick looked back at him.
“Do you know what surprised me most?”
Declan said nothing.
“You actually love her.”
Sarah looked at Declan.
Patrick laughed.
“Declan Hayes. The man who treated affection like disease.”
He leaned closer to Sarah.
“And then a secretary got pregnant.”
Declan’s finger tightened against the trigger.
Patrick noticed.
“Careful.”
“I can kill you before your finger moves.”
“Maybe.”
Patrick smiled.
“But can you guarantee it?”
Declan did not answer.
Patrick continued.
“That’s the difference between us. You now have something to lose.”
Declan looked at Sarah again.
Then something unexpected happened.
Sarah kicked backward.
Her heel struck Patrick’s knee.
He shouted.
The gun moved away from her.
Declan fired.
One shot.
Patrick’s pistol flew from his hand.
Elias and three men stormed the warehouse.
Gunfire erupted from the catwalks.
Declan ran to Sarah.
He cut the tape from her mouth.
“Are you hurt?”
“Untie me!”
“I’m trying.”
“Faster!”
He cut the ropes.
Sarah stood.
Then doubled over.
Declan caught her.
“What?”
“Pain.”
His face changed.
“The baby?”
“I don’t know.”
Another shot cracked above them.
Elias returned fire.
“Declan, move!”
Declan lifted Sarah into his arms.
Patrick crawled toward his gun.
Sarah saw him.
“Declan!”
Declan turned.
Patrick raised the weapon.
A shot rang out.
Patrick froze.
Then collapsed.
Elias stood behind him with smoke drifting from his pistol.
“Problem solved.”
Declan looked once at his uncle.
Then away.
Sarah mattered more.
“Car. Now.”
Bell met them at the clinic entrance.
“What happened?”
“Cramping.”
“How long?”
“Ten minutes.”
Sarah grabbed Bell’s sleeve.
“The baby?”
“Let me examine you.”
Declan followed.
Bell turned.
“You wait outside.”
“No.”
“Declan.”
“No.”
Sarah looked between them.
“Let him stay.”
Bell sighed.
“Fine.”
Minutes later, the examination room filled with the sound of a heartbeat.
Fast.
Steady.
Alive.
Sarah cried.
Declan lowered his head.
Bell studied the monitor.
“No immediate sign of fetal distress.”
Sarah exhaled shakily.
“And the pain?”
“Stress. Dehydration. Possibly uterine irritation. You need rest.”
Declan looked at her.
Sarah pointed at him.
“Do not say it.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were.”
“I absolutely was.”
Bell interrupted.
“She also needs to avoid being kidnapped again.”
Sarah gave him a tired look.
“I’ll add it to my schedule.”
Declan almost smiled.
Then Elias entered.
His face was serious.
“We found Patrick’s phone.”
Declan turned.
“And?”
“He wasn’t working alone.”
Sarah went still.
Declan’s expression hardened again.
“Who?”
Elias placed the phone on the counter.
“One name keeps appearing in encrypted messages.”
Declan looked down.
Connor.
His younger brother.
Sarah whispered, “Your brother?”
Declan stared at the screen.
Connor Hayes.
Thirty-one years old.
Charming.
Reckless.
Family.
Declan had protected him since childhood.
Paid his debts.
Covered his mistakes.
Saved his life twice.
Elias said quietly, “Messages go back five months.”
Before Sarah became pregnant.
Declan looked at him.
“So this started before the baby.”
“Yes.”
“Then the pregnancy changed the plan.”
“Looks that way.”
Sarah asked, “Where is Connor?”
Elias hesitated.
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“He left Boston two hours ago.”
Declan’s face became cold.
“Where?”
“Private jet filed for Montreal.”
“Filed?”
“Never arrived.”
Declan looked at the clock.
His brother had disappeared.
Patrick was dead.
Daniel was in custody.
But the network was not finished.
Sarah reached for Declan’s hand.
He looked at her.
“We’re okay.”
His gaze dropped to her stomach.
“For now.”
Sarah squeezed his hand.
“Then find him.”
Declan looked back at Elias.
“Lock every account Connor has.”
“Done.”
“Ground every aircraft associated with us.”
“Working on it.”
“Search every property.”
“Yes.”
“And call the port captains.”
Elias nodded.
“You think he’ll leave by sea?”
Declan stared at the city outside the window.
“No.”
“Then why call the ports?”
“Because Connor knows I will think he’s running.”
Sarah watched him.
Declan’s eyes hardened.
“He isn’t running.”
“What is he doing?”
Declan turned toward her.
“He’s positioning himself.”
“For what?”
Declan looked again at Patrick’s phone.
May you like
“For the last move.”
And somewhere in Boston, his younger brother was preparing to make it.
