Chapter 4 - The Trap Inside the Clinic
Hayes Veterinary Clinic reopened Monday morning.
The shattered door had been replaced.
The blood was gone.
The bullet hole in the wall wasn't.
Iris had deliberately left it.
At 9:30, she vaccinated a bulldog.
At 10:15, she removed stitches from a tabby.
At 11:40, Marco whispered through her earpiece.
“Gray sedan. Third pass.”
Iris continued examining a nervous golden retriever.
“Heart sounds good,” she told the owner.
Declan's voice entered her earpiece.
“That's the car.”
“You're supposed to be silent.”
“I dislike this plan.”
“You agreed to this plan.”
“I've reconsidered.”
Iris smiled politely at the dog's owner.
“Your dog needs to lose five pounds.”
Declan said, “Is that directed at me?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“You need to lose twenty pounds of attitude.”
Marco interrupted.
“Please stop flirting on tactical communications.”
Iris froze.
Declan said nothing.
Marco added quickly, “Gray sedan stopping.”
The clinic bell rang.
A man entered carrying a small dog.
Iris recognized him.
Not from the Costa attack.
From her father's funeral.
“Dr. Hayes.”
“Can I help you?”
“My dog is sick.”
The animal looked perfectly healthy.
Iris put it on the table.
“What seems wrong?”
“Won't eat.”
“Since when?”
“Yesterday.”
She examined the dog.
Healthy gums.
Normal temperature.
No abdominal tenderness.
Then the man whispered, “Your father left something.”
Iris kept her hands steady.
“My father left many things.”
“Something that doesn't belong to you.”
“Then whoever owns it should've asked him before killing him.”
The man's face changed.
That was enough.
Marco's voice whispered, “Confirmed.”
The man grabbed Iris's wrist.
Declan appeared from the rear hallway.
His voice was quiet.
“Take your hand off her.”
The man froze.
Declan didn't raise his voice.
He didn't need to.
“Rossi.”
“Remove your hand.”
The man released Iris.
Declan stepped closer.
“Tell Anthony Costa we have the ledger.”
The man's eyes widened.
Iris turned.
“That wasn't the plan.”
“I changed it.”
“You what?”
“We need Costa to move.”
“We agreed—”
A window exploded.
Declan grabbed Iris and pulled her down.
Chaos erupted outside.
Marco shouted through the earpiece.
“Back exit!”
Declan pushed Iris toward the kennel hallway.
“Go.”
“Not without you.”
“Iris.”
“You're bleeding again.”
“I am beginning to think that's your primary concern.”
“It becomes my concern when you keep destroying my work!”
Marco reached them.
“Move!”
They escaped through the rear.
Twenty minutes later, inside an armored SUV, Iris rounded on Declan.
“You changed the plan without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“You don't get to do that.”
“I saw an opportunity.”
“And decided my consent had an expiration date?”
Declan went silent.
Marco stared straight ahead.
Smart man.
Iris continued.
“You promised we decide together.”
“I was trying to end this.”
“By becoming exactly the man I told you I wouldn't follow.”
That hurt him.
She could see it.
Declan looked out the window.
“I've spent twenty years making decisions faster than everyone around me.”
“Congratulations.”
“People survive because I don't hesitate.”
“Then learn something new.”
His eyes returned to hers.
“What?”
“Trust.”
The word silenced the vehicle.
Iris leaned closer.
“If you want an employee, hire one. If you want a hostage, lock the door. If you want me beside you, then I get a voice.”
Declan looked at her for a long time.
Then he said, “You're right.”
Marco's eyebrows rose.
Iris blinked.
“What?”
“I said you're right.”
“I heard you. I'm just enjoying the historical significance.”
Declan almost smiled.
Then Marco's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found the leak.”
“Who?”
Marco hesitated.
“Your uncle.”
Declan went completely still.
“Patrick?”
“He gave Costa the safe-house address.”
“Why?”
“Costa has his son.”
Declan closed his eyes.
The war had just become more complicated.
Iris understood something then.
Declan Rossi wasn't feared because he felt nothing.
He was feared because he had spent years hiding everything he felt behind decisions nobody else was willing to make.
Iris touched his sleeve.
“What are you going to do?”
His eyes opened.
“The old version of me?”
“Yes.”
“Kill Patrick.”
“And the current version?”
Declan looked at her hand.
Then at her.
May you like
“Ask him why.”
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