“This isn’t good,” he said at last. “I thought that stupid prick Stuart Murphy had enough hold over his stupid feckin kids to control them. If he doesn’t, it’s not a problem we can solve by fightin’.”
“What d’you mean? Give me one fuckin’ good reason why I can’t just go round there and beat the shit out of him?”
“I’ll give you more than ten reasons boy, and a feckin clout round the ear if you speak to me like that again!”
I sat back in my seat a little sheepishly, but a little glad inside to see some of Danny’s fire come back.
“Sorry Danny,” I mumbled.
“Look, the reality of it is, we have too much to lose now to let fists fly like we used to. I turned a blind eye to you boys getting rough from time to time, because you only did it when it needed doing. Shite gets a whole lot more complicated when you get older. Con risks his title and his licence, Marie will always have medical problems so if Kier gets banged up for assault, who’s going to look after her and the baby? Liam and Albie want to adopt in the future, and they can kiss that idea goodbye with any stain on their record, plus there’s Albie’s teaching career to think about.”
“Adoption?” I said, surprised. I wasn’t surprised that Liam and Albie were thinking about it, but I was surprised they’d talked it over with Danny.
“Yeah, well, keep it to yourself. You know Liam. That boy likes to keep his cards close to his chest. Earnshaw is the only one who could probably fall in shit and get up smelling like roses.”
“Fat lot of good that does me. He doesn’t have a violent bone in his body,” I scoffed.
“Don’t be so sure. I heard he looked plenty violent when he thought you were boning his sister.”
“That was a long time ago, and for the record I never boned her. Flirted a little maybe, but I did that with everyone.”
“Point is, you all have something to lose. You especially. Beating the shit out of Murphy won’t fix this. He’s stupid, and there ain’t no amount of pounding that could beat any kind of sense into him. You’ve got your career to think about. I know that girl of yours from church too, and she’s a good girl. She’ll want a nice, quiet, safe life. Why she picked a loud mouthed fecker like you, I’ll never know. But you need to keep hold of her, and fightin’ ain’t the way to do that. You’ve got to be smart!” He said forcefully, pointing at his brain.
“I hear you Danny, but shit is black and white for me like it ain’t for the other lads. As long as there’s breath in my body, there ain’t ever gonna be a day when I won’t raise my fist to defend my family, no matter what the cost. You don’t want to me to fight, fine. But you’ve gotta give me a way to end this thing with the Murphys once and for all. I need to know what you have over Stuart Murphy and why it ain’t working to keep his boys in line.”
He sat back in his chair and thought long and hard before he spoke to me.
“I need your word that this stays between us,” he said.
“I promise,” I agreed.
“You know that I was married before?” I nodded in reply. He never mentioned his wife, but Ma had known her, and she talked about her from time to time.
“Her family never really approved of me, not that I gave a shite. We loved each other and there was no one who was going to stop me from making her my wife. Fortunately, her parents had enough bother with her cousin to worry too much about me. Stuart Murphy was a nasty fucker, even back then. His parents couldn’t handle him, and shipped him off to Lily’s parents when he was a teenager. He hung around with a bad crowd and was into all sorts of shite when I knew him. Still, Lily loved him and she was the only person I ever saw him good to. It was impossible not to love her though. She was the sweetest girl in the world and she never had a bad word to say about anyone.”
“Sounds a lot like Em,” I said, knowing he and Em were like father and daughter.
“She reminds me of her. I think if Lily and I ever had a daughter, she would’ve turned out just like Sunshine.” I swallowed hard at the pain in his voice. Now that I had Evelyn, I couldn’t imagine the pain of losing her, and Danny and I weren’t exactly the sort to share feelings and shit, so this was new territory for us both.
“Things were fine for the most part. Murphy and I stayed clear of each other and if he and Lily spent time together, it weren’t when I was around. One afternoon he turned up at our apartment.
“Turns out he and his gang had been involved in a load of armed robberies. I’d heard about ’em on the news, but I didn’t realise how shady Murphy actually was. Anyway, somethin’ went wrong that afternoon and he ended up shooting a security guard. Murphy panicked and ran to Lily. Begged her to hide the gun and give him an alibi. By the time I got home she was a feckin’ mess. I don’t know what he said or did to get her to help him but she was breakin’ her heart. She knew it was wrong to stand by him, but she’d given him her promise.
“If it were up to me, I’d have walked that gun down to the police station and shopped Murphy to the police in a fuckin’ heartbeat. But I had Lily to think about. Her cancer was pretty advanced by then and she was so feckin’ destroyed, I’d’ve promised her anything to get her to calm down. I took the gun from her and told her I’d take care of it. She assumed that meant I’d dump it somewhere and I didn’t correct her.
“Anyway, a few weeks later Stuart got sent down for six months on an unrelated assault charge. We buried Lily when he was in prison and when he got out, I heard he was going clean. Never really had anything to do with him or Lily’s parents after that. She was the only one linkin’ us together and without her, they meant nothin’ to me.”
“Holy shit! Does Liam know about this?”
“I told him a few years back when he started having trouble with his da. He knows he’s family to me. You all are. Don’t really matter how that came about.”
“What did you do with the gun?” I asked, quietly.
“I wrapped it up and put it someplace safe. Once Lily had passed I planned to hand it over to the police, but I couldn’t do it. I’d made her a promise and even in death, I couldn’t break it. So I kept it as an insurance policy. Made a deal with myself that as long as he stayed clean, I wouldn’t use it, but if he went back to his old ways all bets were off. Might have happened a long time ago, but his prints and the guard’s blood are on that weapon. If they still have the bullet, it will tie Murphy to the robberies as a cold case. Unlikely he’d live long enough to see the outside of prison if he got done for it.”
“That’s how you got him and his boys in line when they were ragging on Liam?” I asked, stunned that Danny had kept all of this to himself for so many years.
“Murphy isn’t stupid. He lives a safe comfortable life and he won’t risk going down so he can rag on Liam. I doubt very much the fucker’s told his wife what he did, let alone his kids. My mistake though was in thinking he could control his lads. Either they know and they don’t give enough of a shit to worry about keeping us happy, or they’re ready to call my bluff over the gun,” he replied.
I sat back in my chair, more than a little stunned.
“I get why you did what you did. Can’t say I wouldn’t’ve done the same thing in your situation. But everything’s different now. What you’ve got over Murphy won’t keep those boys of his in line. They’re out of control and if we don’t deal with them now, then it’s our families who’re gonna end up paying the price. Declan already tried to rape Evelyn. You wanna wait until it happens to Marie or Em before we do anythin’?”
“I never feckin’ said we weren’t gonna do nothin’, did I? I’m just sayin’ we need to be smart about it. I’ve no problem doin’ what needs to be done, but I ain’t gonna risk everything you’ve all built to do it,” he argued, getting pissy.
“So, what do you wanna do then?”
“Look, let’s go and have a word with Stuart Murphy and we’ll see what he has to say. If the deal is off, I’ll go to the police. Murphy is the one who secures all the contracts for that const
ruction company of theirs. If we can get Stuart arrested, it might buy us some time to deal with his shit stain of a son.”
“I ain’t heard shit from the other brothers,” I said. “Might be that Declan is the only one we need to worry about anyway.” He nodded, but I had the feelin’ he wasn’t really listening anymore. More likely he was thinking on what he needed to do next and how it might mean breaking a promise to his dead wife. In a way I regretted dragging Danny into this, but I knew if I hadn’t come to him first, he’d’ve skinned me alive when he found out.
We didn’t speak on the way to Murphy’s house and I knew the boys were gonna go apeshit that this was doing down without them. We were all ride or die like that. But I was taking my cues from Danny and I understood him wanting to shield the others from the fallout of this shite. If punches were thrown today, it wouldn’t look good for us to have gone round mob handed. Besides, I wasn’t afraid to do what needed to be done alone. Stuart Murphy was old, and fat as fuck, and his lard arse son wasn’t any better. I ached to shove my fist repeatedly into Declan’s gut and any part of his body that he’d pushed up against my girl. With every minute that passed, my rage became more uncontrollable and by the time we’d pulled up outside, I was ready for war.
Instead of jumping out the car to confront Murphy, Danny stayed in his seat after I switched off the engine.
“I can’t begin to know how you feel, lad. If someone had done to Lily what that boy did to your girl, I’d slit his throat. But I need you to trust me. I can feel the wrath coming off you in waves. It’s in your nature to mouth off and let your fists fly, but you need to keep yourself under control. Declan will get what’s coming to him, I promise you. But you have to keep yourself together. No violence. Not yet anyway. Can you do that?” I didn’t want to hear what he was saying, but I listened.
For Danny.
Gritting my teeth, I turned to look at him and nodded. It was as much as I was capable of. Following him as he climbed out of the car, we walked up the path to Murphy’s house and rang the bell. The tiny, nervous woman who answered the door was nothing like I thought Stuart’s wife would be.
“Hello,” Danny said, gentling his tone. “Is Stuart home please?”
“I’m afraid he and the boys are at work at the moment. Would you like me to pass on a message?”
“I’m afraid I need to speak with him quite urgently about a job we have coming up together soon. I need to give the supplier confirmation on a materials order by the end of the day, and Stuart’s not answering his phone. Do you know where I might be able to find him?” The lie rolled effortlessly off Danny’s tongue and she bought it. Her expression morphed into one of relief when she realised we weren’t there looking for trouble, and there was no reason she’d recognise either of us.
“He’s a nightmare for answering his phone when he’s on a job. As far as I know he’s working on a shop renovation down on Canberra Road all day, so you should be able to find him there.”
“Thank you very much. You have a nice day now.” Danny tipped his cap to her, and she smiled as she closed the door.
Fifteen minutes later, we walked through the door of Murphy’s latest building site. A couple of tool boxes were open and a radio was blaring but voices coming from the back room told us where we could find what we were looking for. Walking over to the nearest toolbox, Danny bent down and picked up a heavy lump hammer and swung it around a few times to get a feel for the handle.
“Jesus,” I muttered. “I thought you said no violence and we have to keep things under control.”
“I was talkin’ about you lad, and how much you have to lose. I didn’t say feck all about me. I haven’t had a cigarette or a whiskey in nearly a week. If that ain’t a good enough reason for a little old man with a big feckin’ hammer to lose his shit, I don’t know what is.” And with that, the hardest son of a bitch I’ve ever met, brought the rain.
Chapter Twenty-Six
EVELYN
“Hello Father,” I said, offering Father Pat what felt like a sad, pathetic smile. The church was beautiful at that time of the evening - dimly lit and partially illuminated by candle light. There was no mass that evening or confession, but he left the place unlocked for lost souls like me, looking for a measure of peace.
“My dear girl. What on earth has happened to you?” he said, settling himself on the pew next to me. I’d taken off my scarf when I sat down and shoved it in my bag, not thinking about the bruises on display.
“Father, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
I looked around to see who was listening. St Paul’s was my sanctuary. A place where I could always gather my thoughts and make sense of everything. But Declan Murphy had tainted even that. I relished the solitude when it was empty, but now I also feared what could be lurking in the dark corners, and he had done that. Had stripped me of surety that certain places were safe.
Likely sensing my unease, Father Pat tapped my hands and stood.
“Time for a cuppa I think. We have an hour or so before the bingo starts in the church hall next door. Let me lock up, and I’ll put the kettle on.” I felt relieved, that there would be a locked door between me and the rest of the world, then angry that Declan had invoked those feelings. All in all, I was a mess.
I knew where everything was, so leaving Father Pat to secure the place, I boiled the water, prepared the cups and hunted for biscuits in the sure and certain knowledge he’d have at least one packet hidden away somewhere.
“They’re in the coffee tin,” he explained, moving to pull out a chair as I finished making the tea.
“Why?”
“Because Danny Driscoll’s sweet tooth is worse than mine! I turned my back for five bloody seconds the other day and he’d scoffed half my packet of hobnobs. Chocolate ones they were too!” he replied, grumpily. Danny and Father Pat had been close for decades, and although I never saw Danny at mass, and didn’t imagine him to be overly religious, I knew the pair of them were more like brothers than friends.
“Did you hear Arthur was arrested the other day?”
“No!” Arthur was the sweetest, elderly man who never missed a Sunday service. He was probably about ninety if he was a day.
“He went to pay for his shopping, and the cashier said to him, “strip down facing me,” so he took off his trousers and started going at his shirt when security arrested him. Turns out she was talking about his store card.” We both laughed so hard, Father Pat was bent over and tears were running down my cheeks.
“You totally made that up,” I accused, when I could breathe again.
“I did,” he admitted, still laughing. “Well actually, Tommy told me when the boys came for confession before the last fight, and I’ve been waiting to tell someone else ever since.”
I couldn’t help but smile when he mentioned Tommy’s name.
“Ah, I know that look. You love him, don’t you?”
“I do,” I replied without hesitation.
“I’ve waited a long time to see that look on your face, Evelyn Danaher,” he said warmly. “So, tell me why you were sitting in my draughty church instead of having dinner with that reprobate of yours?”
“You’re not going to warn me that we’re a terrible match for each other?”
“You’re completely opposite in every way. But why should that be a bad thing? Love isn’t a matter of finding the person you should be with. It’s about figuring out who you can’t live without. If Tommy’s that person for you, I think you’re lucky to have found each other.” He smiled.
I bit my lip anxiously as I tried to find the words to explain the feelings weighing down on me.
“Unless you don’t think you’re right for one another, and you’re looking for someone to give you confirmation of that?” he questioned.
“No. It’s not that at all,” I said immediately. I knew how I felt about Tommy and I didn’t need anyone to validate my feelings. “My mother came to see me yesterday.”
“Ah!” he said,
knowingly. He was my friend as well as my parish priest, and over the years he’d seen as much of my mother’s behaviour first hand as he’d learned from me. It made the conversation easier, with him knowing exactly what she was like.
“Let me guess. She doesn’t approve of Tommy.”
“That would be the understatement of the century,” I scoffed. “She heard from Tommy’s mam that he proposed yesterday.”
Never, in all the years I’d known him, had I seen Father Pat lost for words. It was almost comical, the way he stopped, with his dunked biscuit suspended in mid-air, until it broke off and sank to the bottom of his mug.
“I was not expecting that Evelyn. I’m surprised your mother didn’t need oxygen when she found out.”
“She didn’t exactly go off the deep end. Though, to be honest, that would’ve been easier. She expressed her concern that if I rushed into marrying, I’d regret it later. Mam said that she and Dad married young, and after a few years they realised they had nothing in common and regretted doing it.”
“Well, she handled that better than I thought she would, and she makes a valid point. I caution many couples before I marry them about the same thing. Most people marry when life is good, but I ask them to really think about whether they would want to be together if life threw them a curve ball. If they lost all their money, if their health declined, in the event of a zombie apocalypse. That sort of thing. Anyone can love when the sun is shining. It’s the storm that tests what you’re made of.”
The Fire (Hurricane Book 4) Page 23