Hard Irish

by Jennifer Saints

  “I did,” Mulligan said succinctly. “What are you going to do about it?”

  “Pummel your arse. Checkmate!”

  “What the hell?” Mulligan sounded outraged and bewildered.

  Rocky rounded the corner, expecting to see Mulligan and McNall at each other’s throat. Instead, they were at the chess table with Mulligan glaring at the chessboard, and McNall sitting back in his seat with a satisfied smile, as he twirled the edge of his handlebar mustache.

  “For real?” Jesse cried from behind her. “You did it? You nailed Mulligan?” He moved into the room, staring at the chessboard. “How?”

  “I’ll not be givin’ away me secrets.” McNall looked up and gasped as if he’d been hit between the eyes with a two by four. “As I live and breathe, I’m not believin’ me own eyes.” He stood and limped across the room, grumbling about gout under his breath. “Let me look at ye, lass. You’re the spittin’ image of your father.”

  Rocky blinked. She’d always been told that she favored her mother more, which is what she expected McNall to say, considering he’d come all the way from Ireland at the mention of her mother’s name. “You know Rory?”

  McNall stopped halfway and narrowed his gaze. He glanced at Jesse, and Mulligan, then sighed. “Perhaps, I should’ve asked a few more questions before I saw ye. Why don’t we sit, and I show ye a picture, and tell you a story.”

  Everyone settled in the sitting area. Jesse next to her on the couch. Mulligan to the right, in a burgundy wingchair, and McNall opposite, in the matching wingchair. The coffee table separated them in middle. A strange feeling clawed through Rocky that no amount of buttery-soft leather could ease, despite the day’s exhaustion and turmoil.

  McNall pulled out his wallet, flipped through a thick collection of photographs that nobody these days carried, and slipped a picture from its plastic sleeve. “Here’s me brother Finn about a year before Liam was murdered. Ye can say it paints a thousand words.”

  Rocky’s fingers trembled as she reached for the photo. It was frayed on the edges and a little worn from years of being carried, but the young man smiling from the picture had vibrant, clover green eyes and a dimple on his left cheek, just like her. He was in his teens still, but the shape of his strong nose and chin were a slightly masculine version of Rocky’s own. She exhaled as if sucker punched.

  Rocky had come to grips with the idea that her mother had been Anne O’Loughlin, but she hadn’t even questioned that Rory McKenna was her father. Now, she was seeing something that put everything into doubt.

  McNall started to speak, his lilt was quiet, gentle, and warming, like a low burning fire. “The murder of Liam and Shona in so brutal a way hit Finn and Anne hard. Up until then Anne had been a studious young girl and Finn had been well on his way to Football stardom. After the murders, they both became obsessed in seeing justice served. Whoever killed Liam and Shona had to pay. They fought hard, petitioned harder, and gathered numerous testimonies that pointed to the guilty soldiers. When General Pearson absolved his men of any wrong doing instead of punishing them, Anne and Finn ran away from home and went underground to get justice. Their grief brought them together and kept them together. I’m not justifying what they did. The Troubles were a horrible time for Belfast, for all of Ireland and for England. I didn’t hear from Finn for several years, but just before he was killed in December of ’82, he came to me with a story.”

  Rocky closed her eyes a moment, trying to gather the strength to hear what she knew was coming.

  When McNall didn’t speak, she opened her eyes. He had his gaze on her, his eyes sad. He sighed then continued his story. “I swore I’d go to me grave before breathing a word of it, but there’re some promises that can’t be kept. Just isn’t right. In early ’82 Finn and Anne connected up with the siblings of two of the other murdered students. Dougal O’Prey, Sean’s brother, and Riley Dunlavey, Alan’s older brother. The man had been with the Shankill Butchers, a notoriously brutal gang who used a political agenda as an excuse to kill. Anyway, Riley had the luck of the devil. He cut himself loose from the Shankills just before the authorities arrested and convicted them in ’79. At that time, nobody believed anything the press said about folks. Bloody Hell, back then every Irish man who fought against British rule was evil and a murderer. So Finn and Anne didn’t realize what they were getting into until it was too late.”

  Jesse interrupted. “Riley Dunlavey? Is he the thread that connects Riley Scott to this? I sure as hell don’t believe in coincidence. My man Ian has been scouring Ireland for information on Alan Dunlavey’s family. This is the first we’ve heard.”

  “Won’t find much,” McNall said. “The Dunlavey’s weren’t from Belfast. Came from Edinburg. The father regularly beat the mother till she up and killed him and escaped back to Scotland. That wasn’t too long after Alan was murdered. Of course Riley had already joined the Shankill gang and the whole family had disowned him. How old is your Riley Scott?”

  “Was. How old was he.” Jesse said, his voice trembled with suppressed rage. “He kidnapped and tortured my brother today. But it’s not the same man. Riley Dunlavey would have to be in his fifties. This Riley was in his thirties at the most.”

  McNall grunted. “Sometimes mean is in the genes. I’ll see if I can have someone check into Dunlavey’s trail. An acorn doesn’t fall too far from the oak. Riley Scott could be the bastard’s son.”

  “Please,” Rocky whispered. “Go back to the story. I can’t believe my mother was part of the horror.”

  “Ye canna judge too harshly, lass. Back then we were all part of the sickness, both us Ulsters and the Brits. Anne and Finn were young and very bitter. The world they lived in had killed all of their dreams, and gave no justice, or mercy. Anne and Finn had left the underground group because the group had moved from writing and printing anti-British propaganda into violent demonstrations.”

  Rocky felt a wave of relief flood her. She must have exhaled or made a noise, because McNall stopped and nodded. “They hated the violence, lass. Violence had taken what they loved from them. They only wanted the violence to end and freedom for their country. When Anne and Finn met up with the siblings of the students murdered, they thought they were back into printing and distributing material encouraging all of Ireland to stand against British tyranny. I’ve no doubt that Anne and Finn loved each other and would have had a different life were it not for the violence.”

  McNall looked Rocky in the eye and continued the story. “Anne became pregnant in the summer of ’82 and Finn took on a local job. Neither of them had been hanging out regularly with the rest of the group for a few months, though Anne did babysit Dougal’s ten-year-old daughter often. One day in September, Finn walked into the men’s hangout before work to find Riley and Dougal with a man and a woman bound and gagged. The couple had been beaten, but were alive. Dougal handed Finn a club and told him he could take justice for Liam. It was then Finn realized the couple was General Pearson as his wife. As far as the news media and the world knew, the couple was supposed to be vacationing in Scotland.”

  Rocky closed her eyes and fisted her hands. She didn’t want to hear what happened next.

  McNall continued. “Finn says he held the club, his whole body shaking. He’d dreamed of revenge. He’d dreamed of justice, but as he looked at the bloodied and beaten couple, he became ill inside. He threw down the club and tried to run. Riley and Dougal came after him, beat him, and tied him to a chair. He told them, he didn’t want anything to do with this and that he and Anne would just go back underground. That’s when Riley laughed and told Finn it was too late. He and Anne were already involved. It was at that moment that Anne and Dougal’s daughter, Mary, were picking up the million in diamonds ransom. Anne thought she was picking up a package of new literature. She and Mary weren’t overly surprised when Scotland Yard followed them. Anti-British propaganda wasn’t legal, but when the constables started shooting, Anne became worried and suspicious. She and Mary somehow eluded captur
e. Anne called Dougal to say she had the package and that they’d been followed, but thought they were now safe. Dougal told them to go to Anne’s apartment and stay there. Anne became more suspicious. She opened the package. Amid stacks of paper, she found the diamonds and knew something was very wrong.”

  “She left Mary and the package at the apartment to go to Finn’s work only to find he hadn’t shown up for his shift. Returning to the apartment, she collected Mary and the package to go find Mary’s father, Dougal. Mary kept asking Anne if they could go shopping first. Anne told Mary they’d have to go later when they had money. Mary said they could use the diamonds and Anne explained that they couldn’t because the diamonds weren’t theirs. While this was happening, Dougal and Riley made Finn watch as they bludgeoned General Pearson and his wife to death.”

  Rocky groaned, ill to her stomach. Jesse clasped her hand. “Go on,” he told McNall. "Finish it.” There was a deadly edge to Jesse’s voice, as if he wanted to reach into the past and annihilate the evil.

  His anger helped to bolster her, Rocky opened her eyes and met McNall’s gaze. “Yes, please. I need to know what happened.”

  “Anne heard Finn’s cries for Dougal and Riley to stop before she reached the men’s hideout. She left Mary and the diamonds hidden while she crept up to see what was wrong. Got to love a smart woman. Anne went to the closest phone, called Dougal, and told him she and Mary needed help that they were running from Scotland Yard and gave him the name of a street about two miles away. While Riley and Dougal left Finn tied up and rushed to help, Anne went back and freed Finn.

  Finn knew they would all be executed for what happened. All he wanted to do was save Anne and the baby. They took Mary to a friend’s house and left her there with the package. Finn borrowed a car and took Anne to someone he knew was back in Ireland visiting family, who promised to smuggle Anne out of Ireland. Finn refused to tell me the name of that person. Said if I didn’t know, then it couldn’t be tortured from me.

  “Finn later found out that Mary had taken the diamonds from the package when Anne was out of the apartment, and had put them in Anne’s purse so they could go shopping. Finn didn’t come see me until three months after everything had happened. He was killed a week later, supposedly by British troops. Personally, I think Dougal and Riley had a tail on me and caught up to Finn because he came out of hiding to see me. It’ll haunt me for the rest of me days wonderin’ if that’s what happened.” McNall shook his head sadly. “By the time Finn told me about what happened, a fire, no doubt deliberately set, had burned down the entire block of where Finn said Pearson had been murdered. The General and his wife’s bodies have never been found. I had no evidence, but Finn’s story. The diamonds were gone. And be it right or wrong, I had to make a choice then. Report a crime there was no evidence of, and send a world-wide manhunt after a young, pregnant woman who’d been a pawn in a nasty game. As well as reveal to Pearson’s bereaved family, who’d already concluded their loved ones were dead, just how horrible those deaths had been. Or let it be. I let it be.”

  “But what about Dougal and Riley?” Rocky whispered. “They got away with—”

  “Ye’ve got to understand the times, lass. Dougal and Riley were already wanted men for other murders. The authorities were already after them. Back then a man could disappear in the IRA’s inner circle and nobody could get to them. I chose to protect you, Finn’s child, and I don’t have any regrets. Ye can go ahead and tell the world now, if ye think that’s best. I’ll face whatever consequences there are.”

  Rocky sat stunned. Part of her ached for what had happened to her mother and the father she never knew. It was tragic. Part of her raged at her mother and Rory, the man she thought was her father, for lying to her. At some point they’d come to love and care for each other, but dear God, she wasn’t who she thought she was. Even as all of her emotions were spinning violently like a tornado, there was another part of her that understood what they had done. What choices had they had? And above it all she loved them anyway. And the man across from her was family. Her uncle. By protecting her mother and her, the man had put himself on a chopping block. She didn’t quite know what to do with all that she’d learned. Except for one thing...stop the violence.

  “Let’s cross ‘the who or what to tell’ bridge later,” Jesse said. He squeezed Rocky’s hand, then released it to pace away from her as he spoke. “We need to focus on finding the shark beneath the surface of Rocky’s life. Now that Riley’s dead, that person is going to do one of two things. Get desperate or—”

  “Lay low,” Mulligan added. “I’d lay low. Reports on Mack, Alice, and Maggie came in while you were at the hospital. All three were not born in the US, but have been here for at least twenty years. Mack is from Australia, Alice from British Columbia, and Maggie from London. So far, no red flags have shown up in their history, and no connection to Riley Scott outside of work. But then, we’re having a difficult time chasing down what’s fact and what’s fiction on Riley’s reports. He had several aliases. Looks as if this situation could last a while.”

  Rocky shook her head. Were Mack or Maggie or Alice involved? There had to be someone else she just wasn’t seeing yet. She wanted this to be over with. The thought of living for weeks like she’d been living for the past three days turned her inside out. “The diamonds,” she murmured. “My mother ended up with the diamonds. Let’s give the shark the diamonds.”

  All three men looked at her as if she sprouted horns.

  “You have them?” Jesse asked.

  “No, but the shark doesn’t know that. And if he thinks I’m getting ready to skip out on my life here with the goods, I bet you he’ll follow me.”

  “Perfect,” Mulligan said.

  Jesse shook his head. “No. Too much can go wrong, and not only would Jared kill me if anything happened to you, I’d shoot myself.”

  “I’ve a better idea,” McNall said. “I’m new on the scene. Whoever is behind this knows the history of the diamonds, and will connect me to Finn. I’ll pretend to be helping the lass, but then steal the diamonds from her.”

  Mulligan frowned. “Who says we can trust you?”

  McNall smiled. “You can’t.” He winked at Rocky. “But the lass can. I’ve waited a long time to meet my niece and I’m not about to lose her again.”

  “We have our who and how. Now we just have to decide where?”

  “The McKenna construction office.” Rocky said. “It’s the only property left that my mother spent time in and the only property my father fully owns. Da sold the house they shared a few years after she died and as far as I know there are no safety deposit boxes. Just the safe at the construction office.”

  “How do you know that diamonds aren’t there?” Jesse asked.

  “That’s just it,” Rocky told him. “I think they are. Where they might specifically be, I don’t know. In the bedtime story my mother told me, the princess returned the treasure to the Dragonlords to save her mother the queen. My mother painted pictures of a princess in the Rainbow Room. Maybe there is a clue in the murals.”

  “I’d say that’s a sure bet, and even if you are wrong, it sounds perfect,” Mulligan said. “There is no way our man will be able to resist acting on it. When?” he asked. “When do you want to put this plan into action?”

  “Tomorrow,” Jesse said. “Our biggest problem will be convincing the shark that Rocky escaped from me and Mulligan.”

  “Not a problem,” McNall said. “I can just shoot both of you and take the lass in broad daylight.”

  Jesse frowned at Mulligan. “I thought you said you trusted this guy.”

  Mulligan shrugged. “I never said that.”

  Rocky shifted her gaze between each of the men, not a hint of humor showed in their poker-smooth expressions, or their deadpan tones. She pressed her palms to her aching temples. “Can we play mental chicken later? James hasn’t called about Jared yet and I am worried.”

  Jesse winced. “Sorry. We’ve a morbid sense
of humor. Let’s go to the conference room and call.”

  “Please,” she said, standing.

  McNall stood as well. “You’re an answer to prayer, lass, and ye’ve a slew of relatives who’d be pleased to learn Finn left a part of himself behind, but there’s time for all that later. I’ll see you in the mornin’ for our shark hunt?”

  The burly man, whom had likely faced all manner of situations throughout his life, looked as unsteady and unsure as she felt. He didn’t have to tell her about the past. He could have pretended he didn’t know anything at all, and she would have been left wondering. She moved around the coffee table, and leaned in to give him a quick hug. “Yes. And I’ll look forward to hearing more about Finn and family.”

  Jesse waited for her at the door. She hurried to him. He touched her shoulder. “Try not to worry. If anything were seriously wrong with Jared. Someone would have called.”

  “I know,” she whispered then shrugged. “It’s just, knowing that someone will call and actually being there are worlds apart. She hadn’t expected to feel so unsettled about leaving Jared. Even as exhausted as she was, the idea of going up stairs and sleeping in the huge bed without him, left her aching inside.

  She followed Jesse to the conference room. He called James. “Jared awake yet?”

  “Yes and no,” James said.

  Jesse frowned. “Switch to video.” James’s face appeared on the large screen TV. He was clearly in a hospital room. “What does yes and no mean?” Jesse asked.

  “Well, he was still out-of-it-groggy from surgery when they brought him to his room, but was so determined to get up and find Rocky that they knocked him back out. Apparently, it’s essential that he stay calm and still for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Mom and I are with him.”

  “Take me back,” Rocky told Jesse.