Task Force Three and the Irish Jewel [The Men of Five-O #3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (3 page)

Looking around the room for some sort of weapon, she rolled toward the side of the bed and grabbed the brass urn. Lifting it above her head, she slowly walked toward the closet when the door creaked open. Just as she prepared to attack, she saw that it was Brennan, the butler and her father’s closest friend. Ava loved Brennan like a second father. She dropped the urn onto the bed and ran into Brennan’s open arms.

“Are you okay, dear? I was so worried about you,” he whispered as he squeezed her to him.

“I was so scared, Brennan. What are we going to do?” she asked as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

Brennan pulled a little bit away from her but held her hands.

“Your father would want you to be strong.”

Ava cried as she squeezed her eyes closed. She couldn’t believe that he was dead.

Brennan shook her. “Listen to me. Enough tears, Ava, this is important. Fenly cannot marry you and get his hands on this estate. He cannot mate with you and cross the bloodlines. There is more at stake here than I can get into with you right now.”

“What can I do? I’m being held prisoner in my own home. He secured the widows with bars. He said that we are to be married by morning. How did you get in here? Were you hiding in my closet?” She rambled on, asking questions, hearing the hysteria in her own voice.

“I will show you. As we walk I will explain a few things to you. It is very important that you follow my orders and do precisely like I tell you to do. If you are caught then Fenly will use you for what he needs then kill you. You are too important to the Order of—”

“Of what? What order? What are you talking about, Brennan?” she asked, feeling confused.

“Follow me. We are wasting too much time.”

“Wait, Brennan.” She stopped him by grabbing his arm. “They are not human. Fenly, Pete, and the other men can change into ferocious-looking beasts,” she whispered and the fear filled her body again.

“I know, Ava, and you must understand that there are many just like him out there hunting and hoping to get their hands on the Jewel of Ireland. You must fear them all. None of them can be trusted. Now let’s go.”

“Jewel of Ireland?” She had heard about the Jewel since she was a young child. She was beginning to think it was just a fable, a story made up to compete with American fairy tales about lost treasures and royalty.

“Now is not the time. Follow me.”

Ava glanced one last time at her beautiful bedroom. Decorated with ornate heirlooms from her ancestors, all her clothing and memories of childhood long gone were left to never be seen again. Her stunning solid-wood canopy bed, a family heirloom passed down from her great-great-grandparents. She swallowed hard and squeezed Brennan’s hand tighter as he unlocked a secret panel in the back of the closet. She never knew of its existence as Brennan began to explain about his plan for her escape and a world of werewolves, government agents, and secret orders, and of the Circle of Elders. By the time they reached the hidden tunnel deep underground and within the security of their estate, Ava felt numb and uncertain of her own capabilities of survival. With forged documents in hand, passports, clothing, and US bank accounts under an alias, Ava accepted one more hug from Brennan.

“I will miss you. Follow the instructions I gave you and put Ireland behind you. It is the only way I can keep you safe,” Brennan said as he helped her into the limo located a good distance from the castle and hidden by a large wooded area.

“Will I ever see you again?” she asked as the tears rolled down her cheeks and her vision blurred. Brennan was a handsome man and had been a loving second father whenever her own father was away on business.

“Only fate will tell, Ava. Be strong as all the O’Brians before you.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks as the limo pulled away from the darkness, and Brennan’s eyes glowed like that of a wolf.

* * * *

Fenly awoke early, ready to begin his new life with Ava and the O’Brian riches. It had been said that the estate was worth billions. He had personally interrogated the lawyer to the estate to find out an approximate value. It was more than he had anticipated or could have hoped for. With money and power anything could be accomplished. He had forged Patrick’s signature on numerous accounts already. They contained nearly a million alone that now belonged to him. Once he married Ava, the rest would be his as well.

Fenly walked down the hallway to Ava’s bedroom door. He took in the fine draperies, the custom woodwork and trim molding, as well as the assortment of fine art that decorated the hallway walls. Ava painted some of the paintings, and others were collector’s pieces. She was very talented, and he could recall the numerous times he would watch her painting down by the water or somewhere else on the property. She was quite special and precisely the type of woman he wanted to be his mate.

Pete stood outside of Ava’s bedroom door just as Fenly had left him last night. Pete was a young but experienced wolf. All his men were very large and completely loyal to his authority.

“How did it go?” Fenly asked.

“Not a sound, sir. There is only one way in and one way out of that bedroom. She didn’t make a sound all night.”

“Good job. I think I’ll personally wake my bride-to-be,” Fenly stated then unlocked the bedroom door. As soon as he opened the heavy mahogany door, his stomach clenched and his nostrils flared. The bed was still made, the curtains still wide open, and Ava was nowhere in sight.

“No!” His roar could be heard throughout the estate as his men began a search for Ava.

Two years later, New York City

Investigator William Declan scooted down lower in the driver’s side seat of the unmarked police van. Without taking his eyes off of the suspect he whispered to his brother, Mick, who remained hidden in the back of the van.

“Simon is headed this way. I think we’re sitting in front of the fucking meet-up spot, Mick.”

Mick chuckled in the back.

“That’s a great informant you had, Sean. He fucked up the building numbers,” Mick whispered even though it wasn’t necessary. William’s other brothers Sean, Pat, and Kyle were hiding out in different locations around the area, ready to charge at a moment’s notice. The fact that they were all werewolves and could speak to one another telepathically worked to their advantage. Seeing clearly through the darkness was a plus as well.

“Well it doesn’t matter now. Lay low and wait for my signal,” William stated softly as he kept an eye on Simon. Being the lead investigator for Task Force Three, which was basically William and his four brothers, he had to keep them in line and remind them that they had to maintain their human persona. They had been working for the antidrug task force for ten years now, while also working as government operatives, also known as Warriors of the Brothers of Were. This current arms dealer, Simon, was just a stepping stone to the larger cartel they were after. Recently, over the past sixteen months, there was a significant increase in automatic weapons reaching the streets of New York and the surrounding area. Kids and crooks were popping up dead, and the regular undercover human detectives needed some assistance.

“
Holy shit, look who just showed up
,” Pat stated through their link.

“Duggy Doolin, that piece of shit. Why would he be here? ” Mick asked.

William growled low.

“Okay, big brother, let’s try to remain calm here,” Mick stated as he leaned forward and tapped his brother’s shoulder. William released an angry breath. Duggy Doolin was a rogue wolf who was part of some Irish mob that had existed for a hundred years. No one knew his entire family history, and despite all Doolin’s illegal activity, the government and Circle of Elders didn’t give the order for his removal. It had been William who brought Doolin in after the piece of crap issued an order and did a drive-by shooting that killed two innocent kids and their grandmother after he entered the US on a temporary visa. The Irish gangster was nothing but trouble, and if he was involved with Simon, then this meant Simon was dealing in imports.

“I don’t like this one bit. With Doolin here, we can’t move in for a bust.”

“If that asshole is involved selling guns and drugs then I’ll lock him up in a flash. I don’t give a shit about waiting on an order from the Circle of Elders,” William exclaimed. His brothers laughed but agreed that they wouldn’t let Doolin get away if he was caught during the raid.

“Seeing Doolin reminds me of our stint in County Clare and the province of Munster. Man, was that a wild time,” Sean said, and the others moaned.

“How do you even remember that trip, Sean? You were hooking up with every wolf you could sink your teeth into,” William stated, and the others laughed, especially Mick.

“What about Mick? He was wasted most of the time and we had to put up with all those Irish tunes for months after we returned to the States,” Pat added. William chuckled.

“That was insane. If I ever hear another rendition of ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling,’ I’m going to strangle the singer,” Kyle remarked, and then Mick began to sing while trying to pull off an Irish brogue.

Just then, they saw some action on the street in front of them.

* * * *

Ava stood against the building and watched. She was trying not to be seen and wasn’t exactly dressed for undercover work. She snorted when she thought about leaving Kenny at the pub. She had prayed that he would ask her out soon. After all, he flirted with her relentlessly at the local coffee shop every Tuesday morning. When he finally asked her to hang out three days ago, she was so excited. But when she saw Duggy Doolin enter Lannigan’s Irish Pub and overheard him talking about meeting Simon, she had to dump the date and pursue him. Knowing Kenny, it would probably make him more interested in her. Plus, now she knew where to find Kenny. The fact that his family had owned the pub for three generations was interesting and kind of charming. His great-grandparents came from Ireland and started the business.

She watched Duggy as he exited the limo and began speaking with Simon. Duggy was one of Fenly’s associates. If he was here in the States then Fenly might be as well. Ava swallowed that slight feeling of anxiety she got whenever she thought about Fenly. But she wouldn’t be weak. She had been on the run now for two years, always looking over her shoulder, constantly wondering who was human and who was wolf. Friend or foe, she was suspicious of everyone. All Ava needed to do was get the information she needed to bring them down, or simply kill Fenly herself. That son of a bitch was sneaky and took major precautions to not be caught alone or off guard. He would screw up soon, and when he did, she would be there to get him. In the meantime she would do whatever she could to screw up his illegal activities. The O’Brian name was not going to be destroyed by Fenly’s obsession with money and power. Not if she had anything to say about it. Brennan would be upset with her if he knew what she was up to, but what choice did she have? She wanted to be free. She wanted to be back in Ireland in her castle with all her belongings. Ireland was her home.

She remained close to the wall, wondering why Doolin set up the explosives near the building. What was his plan? Why was Simon here, and who were the group of lowlives in the lowrider? She waited and watched.

* * * *

“What is that?” Sean asked Kyle as they leaned against the building adjacent to the set of Tudor-style houses along the avenue.

Sean inhaled, closing his eyes until Kyle softly growled.

“I’ve never smelled anything like it before. It calls to my wolf,” Kyle added, taking a step nearly out of the darkness. Sean grabbed his shoulder.

“Wait. We don’t want to be seen.”

But before they could begin to explore, a situation broke out between Duggy, Simon, and some other guys they were conversing with. The two groups of men made their way toward the small building. Sean spoke into his mouthpiece and contacted the others.

“Willy, we’ve got movement toward the adjacent building. What should we do?”

“Remain in position. Pat, Mick, and I will make our way around the opposite side.”

Sean looked at his brother, and he felt his eyes change and his wolf begin to push him to shift.

“What the fuck?” Sean exclaimed as Kyle grabbed his arm.

“Are you all right?”

“No. That scent is stronger. I don’t believe this. Why now? Why in the middle of a mission?”

“Hey. Look. Do you see that?” Kyle asked Sean as he pointed toward an area of darkness and what appeared to be movement away from the building that Simon and the others were headed to.

“Let’s go,” Sean replied.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Sean nodded then raised his weapon and prepared to move as Kyle led the way.

The closer they got to the shadow, the more intense the scent became. His whole body was aware solely of the shadow and who it might be.

“
I’ll go this way. You head straight for it,
” Kyle stated through their link. Sean nodded his head then took a deep breath. He felt his body temperature rise, and his groin tightened in anticipation. Whatever it was, his wolf wanted it and wanted it badly.

* * * *

Ava was watching, waiting to see if her luck had changed and at least some of these pieces of crap would die in the explosion. Why was Doolin leading Simon and his men there? He had to have been the one to set up the trap. Maybe it was for the other group of men wearing their colors and trying to act like big shots. They were just a group of street dealers. They probably were one of many that worked for Doolin.

She glanced around, debating about moving in closer to see what happened when she noticed a person in black moving through the darkness. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight. The one guy was heavily armed and not like some street dealer. Oh no, he was definitely military trained. Then she saw him make a signal with his hand, and she looked around, noticing the two other men in black. They were more heavily armed then Duggy and his men with AK-47s. The other spoke into his sleeve, and she realized just what they were.
Cops! This is gonna be good.