Craig nodded.
“Thank you. All of you,” Kieran said. “Are there...people out there on the street, or have I been worrying for nothing?”
“This is New York. Of course there are people on the street,” Kevin teased, but he sobered quickly. “Yeah, a few. One guy’s lounging against the building, smoking a cigarette, but I don’t think he really smokes.”
“How do you figure that?” Julie asked.
“He keeps coughing,” Craig said. “There’s a woman, too.”
“Is she coughing, too?” Kieran asked him.
“No. She’s holding a microphone and her news van is down the street,” he said. She winced, then looked at him hopefully, as if, he thought, she expected him to have an answer for her.
And, actually, he did.
“I tracked down the building superintendent. We can leave through the service entrance, then follow the alley out to the next street over. My car is on Park Avenue.”
“Thank you!” Kieran leaped up and grabbed her bag and coat. Suddenly she seemed to remember that she’d been working, so she quickly shut down her computer. “Ready,” she said.
The super was a nice guy. He had a heavy accent and had told Craig he was from the Ukraine. He was more than willing to help Kieran and kept bowing slightly toward her, making her flush and thank him over and over again.
They left through the delivery door, and as they made their way through the alley, out to the next block and then down to Park, Kieran kept her head low. He couldn’t help but think that with her height, especially in heels or shoe lifts, her head down and covered in a hoodie, she could be a match for one of the killers they’d caught on camera.
That was ridiculous. His heart—and the powerful sexual attraction he felt for her—fought against it.
She seemed in a lighter mood than she’d been in the previous evening. Maybe she was hoping that tonight would pass without a hostage situation or a subway mishap. And maybe she even felt a little warmer toward him; he had, after all, helped her make her escape.
“Where am I taking you?” he asked, once they were in the car. “Did you want to go straight home?”
She hesitated, then said, “Finnegan’s, please. It gets busy on Thursday nights.”
“You’re going to be in for it even if the press haven’t connected you to the bar yet,” Kevin warned her. “The city has a new motto, after all. ‘Any decent person would lend a hand.’ Funny how that’s taken precedence over the fact that you helped catch a gang of jewel thieves. Not to mention that, thanks to you, Miss Shirley Martin is now receiving offers from agents. I waited weeks to see some of those people, you know.”
“Don’t be bitter, Kevin. She did have a few seconds there when she was certain she was going to die,” Kieran said.
Kevin shook his head. “I’m not bitter. That’s the way the acting business works. Of course, if you decide to do another interview, you might want to make sure I’m with you so you can let the world know I’m the subway savior’s twin.”
Craig looked at Kieran, wondering how she would take her brother’s words.
“Will do,” she promised. She was sitting next to him in the front; Kevin was in the back. Craig saw their amused gazes meet in the rearview mirror.
Twins. He’d heard they could sometimes read one another’s minds.
He decided he should spend more time with Kevin. He was certain there was more going on here than he knew, and Kevin might be able to help him figure it out.
And if he was wrong, and Kieran was on the up-and-up?
Then Kevin might be able to offer some insights into the most fascinating woman he’d met in years.
He hadn’t been sure whether he was going to drop her off at the bar or accompany her inside, but when he saw the open parking spot right near the pub, he considered the decision made and slipped into it.
Kieran looked his way as he started to open his door.
“You’re coming in?” she asked.
“You may need a quick escape. Besides, I have a yen for fish-and-chips. And since I’m a horrible cook and your chef’s fish-and-chips are delicious...”
“And you have such a nice kitchen, too,” she said, quickly stepping out of the car.
Kevin grinned as he and Julie joined them on the sidewalk. “Come on in... The place will be hopping.”
Kevin wasn’t kidding, Craig thought as the sounds of energetic conversation, along with the strains of a lively jig for violin, flute and drum, wafted out the door. He noticed that the outside menu board mentioned that Thursday nights offered Irish music from five until ten. No wonder there was a crowd.
“Ah, by the saints and sinners, she’s arrived!” someone called as Kieran passed through the door. Craig was behind her, and he almost bumped into her when she stopped suddenly. He enjoyed the moment; the top of her head came to just beneath his chin, and the smell of her hair was pleasantly arousing.