Ciarán: The O'Hanlon Family Trilogy Book One: Social Rejects Syndicate

by Theresa Sederholt

  Before he can continue, she takes a step forward. “So, I was a means to an end. Why didn’t you show up?”

  “Oh, you can thank Vinnie for that one. He’s been going behind your back ruining every relationship you’ve ever tried to have. He made sure I found out that your dad had plans for me. Big plans to give me some bullshit busy work. He would never hand any of his business over to a mutt like me. Those were his words, not mine.” I point an accusatory finger at Vinnie.

  She swings around so fast that Vinnie doesn’t see her fist connecting with his jaw. She hits him so hard, I can hear some of his bones crunching. “You fucking idiot! What would make you think I would ever want a relationship with you?”

  “All I wanted was a chance, Savanna, but you always thought you were better than everyone else. Well, I made sure everyone you went out with would know what it’s like to live in the crosshairs of Jason Aiello.”

  “When my father finds out what you’ve done, you won’t be alive to brag about it,” she promises.

  He begins to laugh, the most sinister laugh I’ve ever heard. “What makes you think he doesn’t know?”

  Savanna turns pale and her body begins to sway as his words actually sink in. I grab a hold of her to stop her from falling. Patrick grabs Vinnie and proceeds to throw him to the ground.

  “Thank you, Ciarán, I’m okay.” She pushes my hand aside and takes a few steps towards Dax.

  “Dax, so you’re making a fool of me was your way at getting back at my father. What makes you think you’ll see the dawn of another day before he has someone kill you?”

  “Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head, Savanna. I always have a backup plan, so I know I’ll be okay. Ciarán and Eevee gave me a great idea on how to finally deal with you.”

  She looks from me to Eevee, that’s when it hits me . . . the wedding.

  “What the hell are you talking about, Dax? What kind of plan did Ciarán and Eevee give you?”

  While all eyes are on Savanna, in one swift move, Dax steps behind Eevee and pulls her into his body. While he presses a switch blade to the side of her neck. I want to go between him and my sister but the baptismal is between us. Ronan, however, is next to her and tries to pull her away from Dax. It only causes Dax to press the blade in harder.

  “Ronan, stop! You’ll only make it worse.”

  “Listen to your brother, Ronan; for once, he’s right.”

  He let’s go and takes a step back. His face etched with such fear.

  “Savanna, you are going to marry Ciarán. Once you are married, your father’s focus will be on your new husband and off of me. You will stress to your father how happy you are, and the best wedding gift he can give you is to leave me alone. You want the past in the past, so you can create a new life with your husband. You need to put the humiliation of what happened behind you. Sounds wonderful to me. Ronan, let’s get started.” He nods his head at my brother as if that will make Ronan jump at his command. I honestly believe he’s lost his fucking mind.

  “What makes you think I would ever go along with your crazy ass scheme?” I ask.

  “If you don’t, Eevee’s blood will be on your hands.” With that, he presses the blade and I watch as a thin line of blood trickles down her neck. In that instant, Patrick pulls out his gun and points it right at Dax’s head.

  “Ciarán, I have a clear shot, let me take it.”

  “Oh, Patrick, how noble. However, what if I slice her throat before you can pull the trigger? Well, Ciarán, what’s it going to be? Are you willing to enter into a loveless marriage to save Eevee?”

  Savanna takes my hand. “Ciarán, I’ll do it. If it will save your sister, I will.”

  “Stand down, Patrick, I would never risk Eevee’s life. I’ll do it. Ronan, hurry up and get this over with.”

  As Ronan begins the service, my eyes are locked with Eevee’s. I feel like she is trying to tell me something but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what. Every one of my nerves are on edge, to the point where they feel like they are on fire. I look past Ronan as something behind one of the pillars catches my eye. Almost like a shadow of a man, but how can that be; the church was locked? It must be my mind and these lights playing tricks with my eyes.

  “Ciarán, are you even paying attention? After all, it’s your damn ceremony. It’s your turn, so you might want to answer the damn question.” Dax’s voice snaps me back to reality.

  “Ciarán, do you take Savanna to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part, according to God’s holy law?”

  “Yes.” This is the fucking short version, and it’s taking forever. While Savanna is saying her vows, I look toward Patrick, giving him a glance toward the pillar. I know I saw someone. I watch as his eyes glance toward the pillar, but then focus back toward Eevee. He never takes his aim off Dax. He’s ready to pull that trigger.

  “By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” At least he skips the kiss the bride part.

  “Okay, Dax, you got what you want, now let my sister go!” Just as I get the words out, Eevee’s hand comes up and I see the glint of a blade as she slams it into Dax’s leg. It takes only a second for him to realize what she just did. As he tries to push the blade into her throat, shots ring out. I push Savanna down to the ground and crawl toward Eevee. When I do I find Dax flat on his back with a gunshot wound right between his eyes. Eevee is lying on top of him. There is so much blood, but I can’t figure out where it is coming from. When I pull her off of Dax, I see he has a hole in his chest and Eevee has a hole in her back. It looks like bullet went through Dax and into Eevee. That’s two shots. I know that Patrick only fired one, the one between Dax’s eyes. “Patrick, second shooter!” I frantically yell out.

  “I know! Someone else is in this fucking church! Vinnie was also shot; he’s dead. How is Eevee? Ronan, are you okay?” he yells. Someone got the better of us.

  “I’m okay, but Patrick we need to get Eevee to the hospital now! Shooter or no shooter, I’m not waiting for the police or an ambulance. I can tell by the acoustics that the shot came from the side door behind me. Ciarán, I’ve got Eevee, you get Savanna. Patrick be ready to cover us as we head out the front door to your car!” He scoops up Eevee into his arms as I grab Savanna. We make a run for the front door, but for some reason there are no more shots. As we quickly get into Patrick’s car I look around and notice the car from earlier is gone. Was the shooter lying in wait for us all along? How did he know?

  Eevee

  I’ve experienced pain before but nothing like this. With every breath I take, my chest is burning. I’m wrapped up in Ronan’s arms and I feel safe. A different safe then I feel with my other brothers. Maybe because he has a direct line to God. I know I’m mad at God for what I went through, but I’m thankful to him for Brigid. Every time I close my eyes, Ciarán forces me to open them. He keeps yelling at me, Patrick, and basically anyone that is near him. I want to tell him it’s okay, but I can’t seem to get the words out. The car comes to a screeching halt. Ronan is out and running with me in his arms. Everyone is screaming for help. All I want to do is take a nap before I go see Brigid, my sweet Brigid. After all I went through, God gave me you.

  Ronan puts me on a gurney, but he doesn’t let go of my hand. I can hear the others running and yelling for me, but I can only see Ronan. We get to some double doors and slow down. I pull him closer to me, “Tell Ciarán, it’s okay, I saved the family. Make sure you all listen to Jian.” That’s it. They push me through the doors and Ronan is gone. I begin the cry and I don’t know why. Is this the end? Is my life already over?

  Ronan

  As I go in search of my brothers, Eevee’s words keep going around in my head. Who is Jian? What does she mean she saved the family? I find everyone in the waiting room. When they see me, they bombard me with questions, none of which I am prepared
to answer. The only thing I have for them are her last words as they were taking her away.

  “Ciarán, do you have any clue what she was talking about?” He’s not paying attention to me or anyone else for that matter.

  “All I know is that she was having a friend look into Dax’s doomsday launch. Maybe he was able to come through with a solution, but I’m not sure.” Ciaran answers. Savanna is sitting next to him, staring into nothingness. She rests her hand on his forearm. It’s a simple act of kindness that Ciarán doesn’t pull away from.

  As the minutes on the clock tick away into hours, none of us say a word. I know that there are many different ways to God. I want to believe no matter what they do or don’t believe, right now they are coming together to lift Eevee up in prayer. A nurse comes to us and asks us to go into a small private room off the waiting room and wait for the doctor to come in. After hours have passed, the doors finally open. I watch the doctors face as he heads towards us. I feel like I’m losing my faith. In my sister, my family and worst of all my God.

  “Eevee O’ Hanlon’s family?”

  We all jump up at once. “Yes, how is our sister?”

  “The bullet entered her through her back. It actually went through another person and entered into her back. It did a lot of damage to her right lung. We were able to get the bullet out and put a chest tube in, but she lost a lot of blood. We also pulled a few small fragments of the bullet the ricocheted to her heart. It is touch and go right now. The next twenty-four hours are critical. Right now, all we can do is wait and pray. Father O’Hanlon, would you like a set of scrubs to change into?” As he says this, his eyes are fixed on me. So much so, that it makes me uncomfortable. I look down and realize my cassock is covered in blood . . . Eevee’s blood. As I rub my fingers over it, my tears begin to fall. I failed her in so many ways. The doctor clears his throat to bring me back to the present.

  “Thank you for your kindness, but I’ll be fine. Can we see Eevee?”

  “She is in recovery now; it will be a while. Once they get her settled into a room, I will have someone bring you to her.” He leaves and now I feel an unexplainable void.

  Savanna pulls Ciarán aside. Honestly, I forgot she was even here. “Ciarán, I’m going to get some coffee, does anyone want anything?” she offers. Though none of this is her fault, I can’t look at her. She wanders off in search of coffee while we wait.

  Savanna

  After everything that went down, I finally let myself feel. As my body begins to tremble, I struggle to catch my breath. In less than twenty-four hours, I went from finding out why Dax left me at the altar to being in the middle of some sort of mob war! You would think it wouldn’t bother me as much as this did, but my father has very strict rules, one of which is I’m never to be part of his business. In his world, wives and children are usually kept in the dark. After all, I’m his daughter and, in his eyes, there is no one better.

  I finally find the coffee shop and place my order. While I’m waiting, I run the events over again like a movie reel in slow motion. The level of betrayal proved to me that the only one I can trust is myself. I decide it’s time to fill my dad in on what went down. The time difference works in his favor right now. When I call, he picks up on the first ring.

  “Savanna, are you okay?” Well, I guess I didn’t have to inform him, someone else beat me to it. The question is who?

  “I’m fine, but Vinnie and Dax are dead. Ciarán O’Hanlon’s sister, Eevee, is in critical condition. She will be lucky if she makes it through the night. Oh, and in a very strange turn of events, I’m now married to Ciarán.”

  “You married the Irish bum?! Why the fuck would you do that?”

  “I did it to try and save his sister’s life. Tell me the truth, Daddy, or I’m never coming home. What part did you play in all of this?”

  “Nothing! All I did was send Vinnie with you. He died and you’re alive. He must have given his life for you. He’s always loved you, Savanna.”

  “Cut the crap, Dad. Vinnie told me everything he did before he died. He sabotaged all my relationships with your blessing, of course. How could you?”

  “It’s not what you think. I was protecting you from the likes of all the Dax’s in the world.”

  “I’m better off on my own. Your brand of protection almost got me killed tonight.”

  “Savanna, please come home and we can work this all out. It’s really just a simple misunderstanding.”

  Misunderstanding! He doesn’t know me at all. “Thanks, Dad, I’ll be staying with my husband for now.” I quickly hang up, not giving him a chance to respond. I gather up my order and head back to Ciarán.

  I find Ciarán and he passes out the coffee. “Did you call your dad?”

  “Of course, I did. I needed to know what he knows. I know he knows something but he’s not letting go of it. I’ll figure it out, I always do. When I do, I promise to tell you.”

  The nurse comes out and leads us to Eevee’s room. Only one person every fifteen minutes. I don’t know Eevee, and I would never infringe upon their time with her. I take a seat outside and wait.

  Ciarán

  I head into Eevee’s room and what I see nearly knocks me off my feet. She is surrounded by machines. She looks so small and pale. I know my sister is not going to make it, yet I keep praying. I bend down, place a gentle kiss on her forehead and slip my hand in hers. “I got your message. Who is Jian? What did you fix?” Nothing. I hope she can hear me. “I love you, Eevee. Even when you were gone for so long, never telling us where you went, I still loved you. I know you had your reasons, and I respected your privacy. Nothing that happened tonight was your fault. I turn my head and see Patrick and Ronan in the doorway. So much for rules. I haven’t met an O’Hanlon that ever followed them. I motion them to come to her bedside. Patrick steps up and takes her other hand.

  “Eevee, it’s Patty. You’ve got to fight hard for this. I promise you, once you get better, we can get through anything. I’ll help you. I love you.” Tears are rolling down his eyes. I want to hug him, all of them, but I know I can’t. Ronan begins administering the last rites. As he does, beeping from the machines go haywire and alarms sound. I watch the monitor that is going crazy. It shows her heart rate and blood pressure dropping till there’s just a flat line. Nurses run in and as CODE BLUE gets called over the intercom system with my sister’s room number. They throw us out as they try to save Eevee. We huddle together, waiting on the inevitable. After ten minutes or so, they come out and let us know she is gone. The nurse places her gentle hand on my shoulder and, for some reason, I find comfort in that. “You can take your time and say your goodbyes.” She says and then steps aside for us to enter.

  Ciarán

  It’s been three days since Eevee’s death. We learned that she had a bleeder from where they removed a shard of bullet. She bled out internally. We have spent the last couple of days making funeral arrangements. I don’t know Eevee’s friends. Hell, I don’t even know if she has any. Savanna has been trying to help anyway she can. I told her she didn’t have to stay, but she insisted that since we are married, her place is with me. I’ll have to deal with her later on. Right now, it’s all about Eevee and what we don’t know. Patrick placed an obituary online and in the local newspaper in Vegas. No one knows who Jian is; we are hoping he will see it. It’s been raining for days, but today the sun is shining for the service.

  We all deal with grief differently. Ronan has turned toward his fellow priests for guidance and healing. Patrick has gone silent, and I just keep running everything from that day over and over again in my head. I can’t get past the look in Eevee’s eyes. What was she trying to tell me? How did she save the family? Who is Jian? The knocking on the door snaps me out of it as Patrick comes in.

  “The car is here. We need to get to the cemetery.”

  My business doesn’t care that my sister is dead. I spent all night last night trying to figure out how to avoid the inevitable—Jail. I shut down my computer and
follow Patrick out.

  Ronan

  I’ve done these services a million times but never for one of my own. Every flower has a different meaning. Besides all the traditional ones you would find at a funeral, I insisted upon the pink carnation for us to place in Eevee’s casket. It means: I will never forget you. How fitting that the pink was her favorite color.

  I don’t think there will be very many people in attendance today. Eevee really didn’t know a lot of people here. I think Ciarán wanted this service to try and fish out Jian. It’s strange knowing my sister had someone in her life that none of us knew anything about. However, there are a lot of things about her that we didn’t know and that makes me sad. Father Grey is performing the service for us today. I knew I couldn’t. My brothers need me with them right now, and I need them. I kneel down next to the casket. My hand trembles when I reach out to touch it. I fist my rosary beads tighter as I bow my head in prayer. “Eevee, I’m sorry for all my short comings when it came to you. I knew you were harboring something, and I should have dug further to find out what it was, so I could help you. I can only pray that you have found peace. Until we meet again, I love you.” I hear whisperings and when I look back, I can see the area around us is filling up. I quickly get up and take a seat between Patrick, Savanna, and Ciarán. Farther Grey steps forward and begins the service. He reminds us of the fun times Eevee would have as a kid playing in the church gardens. That’s where she found an all-white kitten and named her snowball. It’s good to hear positive memories after everything that happened. When he finished, everyone picked up a pink carnation from the bunch I laid out and placed one on the casket. Everyone left except for one man I’ve never seen before. It’s the family’s choice if they want to see the casket lowered into the ground. I told Father Grey that I can’t watch that happening to my sister, it’s just too final. Finally, the man steps forward, takes a pink carnation but he slips it into his jacket pocket. I thought he was going to leave, instead he heads directly towards us.