The Mystery of the Claddagh Rings Read Free Page A

Fin’s appeal was simply the icing on this time bomb of a cake.
    “What have you got?”
    “Fiona’s arrived,” Ryan said, hearing the edge in his friend’s voice. Thomas sounded like he was climbing the freaking walls. “I gave her a hard time, pretended I didn’t recognize her, and tried to get rid of her. I struck out.”
    “Do you think she knows?” Thomas was CIA. He was also Fin’s biological father, although she knew nothing about him. Anyone connected to that long ago op believed Thomas was dead. Including Poppy, who hadn’t known who he really was when they’d spent the night together. “I don’t want anything to happen to her or her mother.”
    Ryan blew out a breath. “What she does or doesn’t know won’t save her now. She and Poppy are in danger until I secure those damn rings. Look what happened to Fin last night? Did you read the police report?”
    “I did. It’s my fault this happened, all of it.” Thomas paused for a beat. Ryan imagined him wanting to plow his fist through a wall. “Your dad and I were deep undercover with the IRA back then. I knew better than to take a woman back to my hotel room and sleep with her, especially one as unpredictable as Poppy.”
    “Come on, Thomas.” Ryan poured coffee from the thermos jug on the counter and took a hit. “You didn’t expect her to leave during the night with your jacket and the rings.”
    “I damn well should have. Poppy was lonely in Belfast and more than a little drunk after her final stage performance. I knew she was planning to leave, fly back to the U.S. early the next morning.”
    “Maybe, but you didn’t know she’d borrow your jacket and walk out on you without saying goodbye.”
    “True. But it hardly matters now, does it?” Ryan heard another voice in the background. Thomas came back on the line after a few seconds. “The rings have been missing for almost twenty-eight years. Now they’ve come to light again and the bastards will want them back. I’ve got people searching to see who’s involved, but so far we’ve got nothing.”
    “I know how it goes. They need the clues on the bands to find the money stash from IRA sympathizers.” Ryan leaned back in his chair, watching the monitors. “Too bad the genius who thought that up died the day the rings were engraved, after he’d already hidden the money.”
    “And how do you think he died?” Thomas said. “It’s how I got the rings in the first place.”
    “You were just doing your job, man. Don’t second guess yourself now.” Ryan gazed at a flat screen, watching Fin make her way down the drive to the guesthouse. “I have to go.”
    “Be careful, Ryan,” Thomas said. “A couple million dollars is enough incentive to get more people killed.”
    “I know, but it ends now. My father’s name still needs to be cleared, remember? The CIA thought he stole the money and his career ended in disgrace. Hell, my mother couldn’t even collect his pension after he died in the bombing in Belfast.” Ryan stepped over the threshold and locked the door behind him. He spoke in a low voice. “And you barely survived it.”
    “I’m alive, and I should be there to help you. If I didn’t think Poppy would recognize me—”
    “Exactly.” And it would be one hell of a way for Fin to find out about her father . Ryan followed her at a distance. She veered off the path, heading down toward the shore. “One thing at a time, Thomas. I’ll find the rings and the money. My father’s name will be cleared. Then you can reconnect with Poppy and meet your daughter…if that’s what you really want.”
    Disconnecting the call, Ryan pocketed the phone. Fin stood at the water’s edge with her back to him, her jacket collar turned up against the wind. She looked lonely somehow, and self-contained. He guessed her childhood hadn’t been an easy one, but then, neither had his. Not with his mother scrambling to make a living to support the family. Add that to the shame surrounding