Now You See Her Page 0,49
a way with her.”
“I’m sorry if I ask too many questions,” Marcy apologized. “It just gets a little lonely,” she added for good measure, “traveling by myself.”
“Oh, I know how you feel,” Shannon said, softening immediately and reaching for the other half of her cookie. “When I first moved to Dublin, I was so lonely. I didn’t know anyone. Even after I came to Cork, it was so hard at first. I had no one to talk to. I can’t tell you how many nights I cried myself to sleep.”
And then you met Audrey, Marcy wanted to say. Instead she said, “And then you got a job with the O’Connors.”
“Yes. And then I met Audrey,” Shannon volunteered on her own.
“And Jax.”
“And Jax,” Shannon agreed. “Not that I get to see them very often. Mrs. O’Connor keeps me pretty busy.”
“I’m sure she does.”
“Don’t get me wrong. She’s a lovely woman. Very fair and generous.”
“I’m sure she is.”
“I hope I haven’t given you the wrong impression.”
“I’m sure you haven’t.”
“I’m very lucky to have this job.” Shannon looked toward the tavern’s front door. “You fancy some more tea?” She waved toward the window.
“Sounds good.” More tea meant more time for questions.
The tavern’s front door opened. Footsteps approached their table.
“Could we have another pot of tea, please?” Shannon asked politely.
Marcy looked up and smiled, expecting to see Liam. Instead she saw Kelly.
“Well, hello, there,” the waitress said, recognizing Marcy immediately. “I see you found Shannon all right.”
The blush instantly drained from Shannon’s face. “What?”
“I’ll be right back with your tea,” Kelly said, spinning around on her heel and returning to the inside of the pub.
Shannon was already half out of her chair, the red in her cheeks having returned with a vengeance, spreading down her neck and disappearing into the top of her T-shirt. “What did she mean, ‘I see you found Shannon all right?’ Have you been asking about me?”
“No, of course not. She must be confusing me with someone else.”
“And you must be confusing me with an idiot. Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Please sit down. I can explain.”
“Asking all these questions about me and my friends! Did Mrs. O’Connor put you up to this?” Shannon demanded, tears filling her eyes.
“What?”
“She sent you, didn’t she? To check up on me. Find out who my friends are, who I see and what I do. You’re going to report back to her all the nasty things I said.…”
“You didn’t say anything—”
“I’ll lose my job.…”
“I have no intention of saying anything to Mrs. O’Connor.”
“What do you want then? Who are you?”
Marcy noted Shannon’s outrage was beginning to attract the attention of some of the other patrons and kept her voice purposefully low, hoping to encourage Shannon to do the same. “My name is Marcy—”
“It’s not Marilyn?” Shannon demanded in outrage, as if lying about her name was the worst of Marcy’s transgressions. “Give me the baby,” she ordered, a note of hysteria creeping into her voice. “Give her to me straightaway.”
A portly, middle-aged man got up from his seat at a nearby table. “Is there a problem here?”
“She won’t give me back my baby.”
As if on cue, Caitlin opened her eyes and started to whimper, the whimper quickly becoming a cry, the cry metastasizing into a howl.
“Give the girl back her baby, ma’am,” the man instructed, as others on the patio rose from their seats.
“Of course I’ll give her back the baby,” Marcy protested. “I’m not trying to steal her baby, for heaven’s sake.”
Caitlin’s screams filled the air as Shannon lunged toward Marcy and the crowd closed in. A brawl broke out between two would-be Sir Galahads. Punches were thrown. An errant fist connected with Marcy’s cheek.
In the next instant, all was chaos.
FOURTEEN
DO YOU WANT TO tell us what happened?” the police officer was asking.
“I’ve already told you.”
“Tell us again.”
Marcy lowered her head, the left side of her face still throbbing as she stared at the gray concrete floor. Could she really go through the whole sad story again? What more could she say? That it was all a huge mistake? That she was sorry? That they were wasting precious time? That Shannon had undoubtedly contacted Audrey by now, told her that some crazy woman named Marcy had been asking questions about her and was currently being detained at the Garda station along the South Mall? “I wasn’t trying to steal the baby,” she said instead, sure that Devon was packing her bags at this very minute and preparing to leave the city. She raised her