Liar's Key by Carla Neggers Read Free Book Online

He tilted his head to one side, his green eyes narrowing on her. “And you, Mary? What are you contemplating on your ramble among the sheep, sea and ruins?”
    â€œI was just enjoying the scenery.” It wasn’t the entire truth, of course, but she wasn’t baring her soul to this man. “I leave for Dublin soon. I have an early flight to Boston tomorrow.”
    Oliver’s eyebrows went up. “Is that right?”
    Yet...he didn’t seem surprised. Mary couldn’t put her finger on why she thought that. She heard a bird twittering in the rushes and suddenly wished she wasn’t leaving for Dublin and America but could stay on here for a few days.
    â€œWill you be visiting your brother in Maine?”
    She nodded. “I want to see him before his year there is up. I’m staying with him at the rectory. He can’t take much time off, but I’ll be able to amuse myself.”
    â€œI’ve no doubt. Is this a sudden trip?”
    â€œThe priest he’s replacing is finishing his Irish sabbatical in a few weeks. If I don’t visit now, I’ll never have this chance again.”
    â€œYou hope, if it means he’ll be back in Ireland,” Oliver said.
    â€œMaybe so.”
    â€œDid you drive here from Killarney? Declan’s Cross is a bit out of the way if you’re on your way to Dublin Airport.”
    â€œI know, but I couldn’t resist. Have you been in touch with Finian lately?”
    â€œNot in a while, but he and I are great friends. You must say hello to him for me.”
    â€œI will,” Mary said.
    â€œDid he warn you about me?”
    She smiled. “ Everyone’s warned me about you.”
    â€œAh.” Oliver’s lively eyes sparked with humor. “Let me guess. I’m an eccentric, solitary Englishman steeped in the language of myth, legend and folklore.”
    â€œAlso that you’re a teller of tall tales and, like Fin, friends with dangerous types—such as the two FBI agents who were at the gathering here in February.”
    â€œEgad.” Oliver shuddered. “Agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan would throw me in irons if I referred to them as friends. That’s only the slightest exaggeration, mind you.” He kicked a clump of mud off the toe of his boot. “Does your work with Bracken Distillers put you in contact with many dangerous types?”
    â€œNot me personally, no, but we had a brush with smugglers last spring, just as Fin was moving to America. The smugglers used an abandoned section of the old distillery for their illicit activities. They were caught with help from Fin. I missed most of the excitement, or whatever you want to call it.”
    â€œSean Murphy was injured in the fracas.”
    For reasons to which Mary wasn’t privy, Sean didn’t approve of Oliver York. She didn’t know if his reasons were personal or professional, as an elite garda detective.
    She angled a look at the Englishman. “You seem to know a lot about us.”
    â€œI suspect Detective Garda Murphy and the FBI know far more about me than I do them. Shall we walk back to the village together, or do you want to ramble some more? I wasn’t joking about the mud up on the hill.”
    â€œI’ll walk back to Declan’s Cross with you.”
    The lane was the only route on the headland to the village. Oliver didn’t seem at all out of breath as he walked with her, the breeze picking up as they emerged from the protection of the wall and ruins. Mary found it curious if not suspicious that he’d shown up in Declan’s Cross as she was leaving for Maine to see her brother. She didn’t know if Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan would be there, but she expected they would be.
    Oliver slowed as they came to the Murphy farmhouse. Paddy, Sean’s uncle, had returned from the fields and was cleaning off the tractor in front of the barn. Sean owned the farm, but Paddy mostly