Straight From the Heart

by Sam Burns

  He looked so hopeful that even if Liam had wanted to lie to him, he couldn’t have. “Something like that,” he agreed.

  Alex seemed to relax into the floor.

  Patty snorted. “And that’s why you can help me, Kennedy. I won’t even kill you or your boyfriend here if you get the job done.”

  Liam doubted that very much, but it was a starting point. “What?” he snapped. “What the hell do you want from me?”

  “I want you to kill Brendan Quinn,” Patty answered.

  Liam’s mouth fell open, and he couldn’t seem to control his jaw to close it again. “Quinn?” he asked, voice coming out higher and squeakier than he’d intended. “You want me to murder my boss. Your boss. The man everyone says is your closest friend in the world.”

  O’Hanrahan seemed amused by Liam’s shock. He pushed off the desk and stood, only barely avoiding stepping on Alex. “Am I supposed to feel bad about that? We kill people, Kennedy. We sell drugs, run extortion rackets and illegal gambling, but you’re afraid of one death? You helped me kill two men yesterday. Three if you count poor stupid Donny.”

  He walked to stand between Liam and Alex, his sneer wider than ever.

  “You’re going to kill Brendan, and tell your little cop friends that he figured you out and you didn’t have a choice. Then you’ll ride off into the sunset with your boyfriend here, and never tell a soul what happened.”

  “You’re out of your damn mind,” Liam said, as though it was a counter-argument. “I can’t just waltz into Quinn’s home and shoot him. Even if I wanted to, he’s got a half dozen men in shouting distance all the time.”

  Without looking back, Patty motioned toward Alex, pointing his gun at someone for first time in the conversation.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to figure it out.” He deliberately swiped the safety off where Liam could see the motion, then pointed back in Alex’s direction. “Unless you’d like him perforated.”

  “Perforated?” Alex asked incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You sound like a bad stereotype. Or is that what you’re going for? Trying to get cast as lame gangster number three in a TV show?”

  Patty rolled his eyes and gave Liam a questioning look. “I could also find you a less mouthy one, if you like. I suppose you’re attached to this one, though. Shame. His father was a pain in my ass.”

  “Is that why you’re making him a part of this?” Liam asked. He didn’t expect a good answer, he was only trying to distract the man from waving the gun at Alex. He just hoped Alex would comply and keep his mouth shut.

  That seemed to amuse the man. He grinned at Liam. “No, that’s just a happy coincidence. His father’s the reason I realized Bren needed to go. Cutting off part of his cash flow just because some proddy lawyer wanted it? Too weak to be in business.”

  Behind Patty, Alex mouthed ‘proddy’ and gave him a confused look. Liam struggled to keep a straight face.

  It seemed that O’Hanrahan had made his one and only offer, though. He looked at Liam as he waited for an answer.

  Liam wasn’t nearly ready to give one. “Why me? Why not do it yourself? Why not use someone you trust? Why not just ask Quinn for more control? Everyone says you’re like brothers.”

  Patty gave a humorless laugh. “Sure, brothers. If he’s the older brother who never listens to a damned word I say. And you? You’re easy. You can do the job and then be the outsider for the family to point to. The snitch who murdered Bren. It solidifies loyalties, and lets me do what I have to without a war.”

  The worst part was that it made sense. It was twisted and sick, but it could work. Liam would either be killed by Quinn’s men, or get away with it because he was working with the police. All of Quinn’s supporters would rally behind his best friend, especially since Keegan and Owen weren’t interested in the family business, and O’Hanrahan would be a king.

  “This is sick,” Liam whispered.

  “Call it what you want,” Patty said, making a rolling motion with the barrel of the gun. “Just get on with it. Are you doing the job, or am I putting an extra set of holes in your boy here?”

  It was funny, Liam thought when he heard Mickey move behind him. Under other circumstances, he would have done the job. His old military training wanted to take the order and run with it, despite the stupidity of it. But with Alex and Mickey in the fray, it wasn’t nearly that simple.

  Beside the fact that he kind of liked Quinn and didn’t want to kill him, Mickey wouldn’t let him get away with it, and Alex probably wouldn’t ever be able to look him in the eye again. Liam also wasn’t stupid enough to believe that Patty would keep up his end. Why let Liam and Alex go at all, when he could kill them to ensure their silence and be the hero who killed Brendan Quinn’s killer at the same time?

  He shook his head. “It’s not nearly as simple as you think it is, Patty.”

  The barrel of Mickey’s gun came into his peripheral vision. For the first time since O’Hanrahan had started talking, Liam could take a deep breath. The gun, at least for the time being, wasn’t pointed at him.

  15

  Alex Is Not a Princess

  Alex wasn’t sure whether he was happy to see Mickey again or not. Sure, he had a gun trained on the bad guy, but he was also a gangster, and Liam had just admitted that he was working with the cops. That couldn’t be a good combination. Mickey’s presence also didn’t negate that O’Hanrahan had a gun. It wasn’t pointed at Alex anymore, but just knowing that the man had it and wasn’t the least bit afraid to shoot him was terrifying.

  “Now Mick,” O’Hanrahan said, pointing his gun back at the man. “There’s no reason we have to have it out like this.”

  “I disagree,” the man said calmly. “You just said you want Liam to kill Mr. Quinn. I think that’s a pretty damn good reason to have it out.”

  O’Hanrahan gave a small shrug. “Did you miss the part where Liam is informing to the cops? If Quinn dies, nothing changes for you but who’s in charge. Our Liam squeals to the cops, and we go to jail. Which seems more important to you?”

  Alex shivered at the logic. The man was right. Getting a different boss versus going to jail? It wasn’t hard to see where the average mobster’s loyalties might fall.

  Instead of taking the expected route, Mickey smiled at that. “You remember my ma, Patty?” Everyone in the room, including Alex and Liam, turned confused looks on him.

  “What?” O’Hanrahan asked. His tone said he neither remembered nor gave a damn about the woman in question.

  “My ma,” the man repeated, rolling his eyes. “Died of cancer ten years ago. Dad couldn’t afford the chemo and hospice. Guess who paid for it?”

  O’Hanrahan rolled his eyes. “You think we wouldn’t do that with someone else in charge?”

  “You’re talking about killing the boss for being weak. Seems to me that helping out a guy’s mother might be seen as pretty weak.” Mickey gave the man a twisted smile. “And I guess that’s more important to me than you are. It’s family, you know? And the boss is family. And Liam, he’s family.”

  “He’s about to get your stupid ass arrested!” O’Hanrahan shouted. “You don’t think you’re exempt, do you? He knows more about you than he knows about anyone else in the organization. You’ll be the first to go down.”

  Mickey’s smile didn’t even falter. “He’s still family. He’s not planning on killing me. Or Quinn. Not like you. Him and me, maybe we have words when this is done, but there’s only one bad guy here, Patty, and it ain’t Liam.”

  Alex could see where the conversation was going. He wasn’t stupid. O’Hanrahan was probably a little crazy when everything was going his way, but this time his life was being directly threatened. Unless someone did something, there was going to be a shootout.

  Given that, he decided of all the people in the room, he was in the best position to do something. Forcing his hands against the restraints as hard as he could, he pushed them down over his hips, then, with some difficulty, over his
legs as well. He’d never been so grateful for the months of yoga classes Jenna had dragged him to.

  In front of him, O’Hanrahan was chuckling. “Bad guy, Mickey? Are you hearing yourself? We sell drugs. You’ve been breaking kneecaps for Quinn since you were sixteen. There are no good guys here.”

  Alex knocked a shoe off in the process of getting the restraints under his feet. He looked up, worried that the sound would clue the madman in to what he was up to. Sensibly, though, O’Hanrahan’s eyes remained on the gun pointed at him.

  His hands finally in front of him, Alex stretched his shoulders to try to get the blood flowing again. It hurt like crazy, and he suspected his arms were going to be sore for days. The extra strain of getting his hands in front of him was worth it, though. Not dying was a little more important than avoiding a little pain. As quietly as possible, he stood up, careful not to lose his balance and get unwanted attention.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Mickey said. “We’re all monsters. But there are levels, man. There’s strangers, and there’s family. A man who kills his family can’t be trusted by anybody.”

  Alex thought about trying to get the zip tie off, but it seemed like an overly complicated thing to do when he didn’t have a lot of time. Instead, he decided to make the stupid thing work for him.

  Liam’s voice was quiet when he added to Mickey’s pronouncement, “And a man who can’t be trusted can’t trust anyone, either. He’s got to live his life waiting for the betrayal he’d give if the situation was reversed.”

  “Like you betraying all of us?” Patty asked, looking away from Mickey’s gun long enough to sneer at Liam.

  Alex rolled his eyes at the man’s dramatics. He looked at Liam, who was studiously not looking at him, and Mickey, who didn’t even seem to be aware he was moving. He managed to catch Liam’s eye and made a ‘get down’ motion with his hands. Liam frowned, but gave a tiny nod.

  Closing his eyes, Alex took a quiet breath and counted to three. Then he brought his hands up and back down over O’Hanrahan’s head, using his zip-tied hands to cut off the man’s air supply.

  The man’s gun hand jerked upward and pulled the trigger reflexively, then he tried to turn against Alex without even dropping the gun.

  Liam had grabbed Mickey and pulled him down as Alex made the move, but the man had been paying more attention than Alex had given him credit for. He’d seemed unsurprised and let Liam drag him to his knees. After the gun went off and it became apparent that O’Hanrahan was distracted, both men surged forward.

  Mickey shoved his gun into a coat pocket and grabbed O’Hanrahan’s gun arm, twisting the weapon out of his grip.

  At the same time, Liam twisted the man’s left arm backward. It was impossible for him to relieve the pressure with Alex holding him by the throat, so O’Hanrahan just cried out in pain and squirmed like a fish caught in a net.

  With the man disarmed and restrained, Alex let his hands slip back over O’Hanrahan’s head, and allowed the other two to take over. Mickey pulled a zip tie out of his coat pocket—seriously, did gangsters just carry a supply of the things around with them all the time?—and tied him up.

  Liam let go and came to check on Alex. He pulled out a pocket knife and snapped the tie binding Alex’s hands.

  “Ow. Thanks.” Alex rubbed the gouges left in his wrists. He turned to look at Mickey. “You too. Thank you.”

  Mickey looked back at him and shrugged, looking guilty. “I shoulda figured out something was wrong earlier. It was weird enough that Patty pulled me in on a job when he doesn’t usually work with me much. He probably thought I’d be pissed at Liam and turn easy if he needed me to. Guess that was a stupid mistake.”

  “This isn’t going to end well for you, Mickey,” O’Hanrahan said, still struggling against him. “Either Liam turns on you, or Quinn kills you for helping him.”

  “Yeah, don’t think so,” Mickey told him. He turned back to Alex and Liam. “Sorry, but I’m not lying to the boss about any of this.”

  “There’s no need,” said a smooth voice from the doorway. It took Alex a moment to recognize his own boss, standing there in a heavy wool overcoat. Somehow he looked both relaxed and dangerous at the same time. “I’ve already talked to the old man.”

  Mickey looked shocked. “Key? You talked to the boss about business?” His face broke into a hopeful grin. “I’ve missed ya, man.”

  Keegan returned his hopeful smile, but it was sadder. “Don’t go getting your hopes up, Mick. I’m not coming back. Alex is my friend, and I’m here for him.”

  Alex didn’t know what to say to that. He knew how Keegan felt about the family business. “Thank you,” was all he could muster. Then he looked over at Liam. “You. I kind of want to do that movie cliché of kissing you and slapping you, but I don’t know which to do first.”

  Mickey chuckled. “I say slap him first. Everybody likes violence with a happy ending.”

  Liam looked so forlorn that Alex couldn’t bring himself to slap the man at all. “I’m sorry,” Liam said in a near-whisper. “I didn’t want to lie about everything, but I couldn’t tell you the truth. I just did what I wanted, and didn’t think about everyone else.”

  “Are you really talking to the cops?” Mickey asked. He looked dejected.

  Keegan quirked an eyebrow at Liam. “I take it Uncle Pat did know about what you were up to?”

  “He saw me at lunch with my partner today,” Liam said, scowling at O’Hanrahan. “Don’t know how the hell he followed me, but he must have.”

  Wait, partner? Alex looked up at Liam, confused. He had a partner? Hadn’t O’Hanrahan said Liam was having lunch with a female cop?

  Keegan looked over at O’Hanrahan, who had been disturbingly quiet since he’d entered. “Dad already knew what you were up to, Uncle Pat. I wish he didn’t have to deal with it, and I’m glad I don’t have to tell him, but he didn’t get where he is by being stupid.” He looked at Liam. “And he had a pretty good idea about you being a cop, too. I didn’t tell him. He told me.”

  Not seeming put off by the idea at all, Liam grinned at Keegan. “No kidding?”

  “Wait,” Alex interrupted. “You’re not informing to the police. You’re a cop. An actual, on-the-police-payroll cop?”

  Liam bit his lip as he turned back to Alex. “Yes?” He looked like he was expecting that slap after all. “Alex, I—”

  “We’re not having this conversation in front of people,” Alex told him, holding up a hand when it looked like he wanted to argue. He looked at Keegan. “Is your dad going to try to kill Liam?”

  Everyone seemed keenly interested in that answer, necks craning to gauge Keegan’s expression.

  He gave Alex a smile, and shook his head. “No. Don’t get me wrong, Liam, your ass is fired, and you’re gonna want to steer clear of the business, but I told Dad you were after Uncle Pat and the guns. He’s never happy about cops, but he made an exception for this since it helps clean our house, too.”

  “And you asked him to,” Liam added, quite sure of himself.

  “And I asked him to,” Keegan agreed. Looking over at Alex, he added, “It seemed like the thing to do.”

  Alex returned the look with a small smile and nod. “Thank you, Keegan. If you thought you had a debt to my dad, I’d say this clears it. I mean, you’re helping the cops get guns off the street, right?”

  Keegan’s smile brightened, as if he hadn’t thought that part through.

  “Not to rain on this parade, ‘cause I gotta say I’m liking it a lot, but what do we do with Patty?” Mickey asked. To Alex, his expression looked like a man used to being the voice of reason—and one who didn’t like it very much.

  “Can he go to jail for the gun thing?” Alex asked.

  “I’ll sing like a bird about your daddy, Keegan. You know I will.” O’Hanrahan was smiling when he said it, and he seemed to think he had them at an impasse.

  The smile Keegan returned to him was cruel, and looked strange on his usually kind face. Alex worri
ed that he was just going to kill the guy. Instead, he spoke. “Will you, Uncle Pat? ‘Cause I don’t think you will. I think you’ll plead guilty to whatever charges Liam and his cop buddies throw at you, and you’ll go to prison for the rest of your life, head high, a Quinn.”

  The other men in the room seemed to agree, Mickey and Liam nodding like that wasn’t a surprising concept.

  “Why would he do that?” Alex asked. Agreeing to go to jail seemed entirely out of character for a man who had been ordering the death of his boss only minutes before.

  Keegan looked over at him, the creepy smile sliding off his lips as he did. “Because as the highest-ranking Quinn in prison, Uncle Pat will be a king in there. On the outside, as a witness against us? He’ll take a bullet to the head before he ever sees the inside of a court room. On the outside, trying to run from the cops and us? The cops won’t be the ones who find him first.” He looked back over at O’Hanrahan. “Dad’s willing to let you retire to prison, for old time’s sake. But if you run, we’ll find you.”

  “I thought you were out,” O’Hanrahan said. There was still a glare on his face, but he looked more nervous than angry.

  Keegan walked over and gripped the man’s chin with his right hand. “You tried to murder my father, Uncle Pat. I don’t need to be back in to be thinking about killing you.”

  “Um,” Alex said, with an eloquence his father probably wouldn’t have been proud of. “Maybe Liam and I should go? So you guys can like, work this thing out?” He looked at Liam hopefully.

  Liam pursed his lips, looking from Keegan, to Mickey, to O’Hanrahan. He took a deep breath, and Alex saw a look in his eyes that he recognized from himself over the previous day. Liam was trying to reconcile his own morals with those of people he liked. Maybe even loved, in some way. Mickey had called Liam family, after all.

  The air in the room seemed to vibrate, Keegan and Mickey watching Liam, and him watching back. When Liam looked away, toward the door, it was like someone had turned the oxygen back on. Everyone took a breath at the same time, and shoulders slumped all around.