Cathal Chapter 1 #3
Sure, I thought it was admirable that Faolán wanted to move his entire family toward more legal means of making a living.
As one who had done it, I understood how difficult it was.
Those years when our fathers were making the moves, and later, when we were older, and they were still doing it, were among the riskiest of our lives.
One reason was that criminals worried that if one of their own went good, they’d narc out the other families’ secrets.
And no matter how many times we’d sworn we wouldn’t, and even proved we hadn’t, they remained scared.
Some had openly tried to take away our territory.
The Bragans had, but it was Faolán’s older brother who tried that stunt.
He had been a son of a bitch in more ways than one.
The day he died and his younger brother took over had been the best day for them.
The soft thud of footsteps made me glance up. It was Darragh coming toward me. I checked my watch. It was nine twenty-five at night.
“What’re you doing down here? Is everything okay? You should be home with your wife and son,” I gently admonished him.
“I should, but my wife ran me off. She’s having a chat with Siobhan. I was told to make myself scarce for a while, so I came down here.”
I would’ve left if my wife and sister wanted to talk, even before they asked me to. God knows what they were discussing. It was better not to know.
“Is everything alright with Siv?” I asked.
“As far as I know, it is. If it’s not, Ash will talk Siv into telling me.” As he sat, he stretched, letting out a loud groan. I heard joints and bones crack.
“Man, you’re snapping like an old man,” I teased.
He gave me a narrow-eyed look. “Don’t call me an old man. I’m only forty-three, and you’ll be thirty-eight this year, smartass. That’s only five years apart. Are you trying to tell me you don’t make cracking and popping sounds when you move?” Darragh asked. His tone dared me to lie.
I remained silent for the count of five before I chuckled and confessed. “You’re right. Shit aches more when it’s colder outside, or it’s gonna rain.”
He laughed as he muttered, “Tell me about it.”
We were commiserating about our aches and pains and how easy it had been when we were in our twenties when his phone rang. He sighed, then pulled his cell from his back jean pocket. He frowned when he saw who was calling.
“It’s Bragan. I wonder what he wants? I already told him what we could do.” He mumbled before taking a deep breath and answering the call.
“Hey, Faolán, good evening. What has got you up and working this late?” His tone was calm, but not overly warm or encouraging.
I wasn’t close enough to hear what was said, but whatever it was, Darragh wasn’t happy.
“What the hell!?” He said soon after Bragan began talking. After that, it was affirmative sounds or silence. After about three minutes, Darragh spoke actual, full sentences.
“Don’t worry. I’ll head over there. We’ll take care of it until you get things in order. I’ll keep you updated. Don’t stress about it. We’ve got this. I’ll talk to you in a couple of hours. Try to get some rest…You’re welcome.”
Dar was rising to his feet before he disconnected the call. I did the same.
“What’s wrong?”
“Bronagh was just run off the road in Tallahassee. She’s in the hospital.
Faolán is convinced it was intentional. He’s freaking out.
He wants her protected, but he has to get his people here to protect her.
They’re hours away. She’s always flown under the radar, so he hasn’t had bodyguards covering her for several years.
Apparently, she kept slipping away from them anyway.
He asked if I’d send a few of our people to stand guard just until he gets here with her own protection detail. I need to see who’s available.”
“It sounded as if you plan to go,” I stated.
“I am. I promised I’d lay eyes on Bronagh myself and give him a report. They called him as her emergency contact because she was unconscious when they brought her in. He said that the doctors are working on her and that she’s alive, but he’s worried. I don’t blame him.”
“I’ll go with you—no need to bother anyone else in the family. I’ll get Troi’s lazy ass out of bed. He’s got it too easy guarding me. Which of your guards are you gonna take with you? Any idea who we should take to leave with her?” I asked.
“I’ll call Finnigan, and he can choose a couple of others. You call Troi. It’s three hours to Tallahassee by car, but I’ll get Brett to get the helicopter ready. He’ll be able to fly us there in an hour.”
Within ten minutes, we’d made contact with everyone we needed to. Darragh went to let his wife know where we were headed. I went home to change into jeans since I was in sweats.
Half an hour after he hung up, we met at the helicopter pad on our property.
We took off with Troi, Finnegan, and Seamus as our bodyguards, but mostly to protect Dar.
Reggie, Vander, and Cashel were three foot soldiers who would remain behind to watch over Bronagh Bragan.
Even though it took an hour, we’d get there in half the time it would take to drive.
It was always wild to feel the difference between flying in a luxury plane and a helicopter.
Even though the one we were in was the big one that could hold up to nineteen people, it was noticeably different.
We had a smaller one, and then there were the various planes.
Brett had been an Air Force pilot who knew how to fly anything.
The family also employed a couple of other pilots who were excellent.
I watched the night sky filled with stars whip by the windows. Dar was on his phone or his laptop. I offered to assist, but he said he was mostly coordinating with Cody.
It took us fifty-five minutes of actual flying time to get to the hospital in Tallahassee, where she was.
Somehow, Brett had gotten permission to sit down on the hospital’s helipad long enough to let us disembark, then he lifted off and flew to the nearby airport, where he landed and waited to take us home.
It was no surprise that we drew attention as we walked through the emergency room doors.
We were dressed casually, but with bodyguards surrounding us, we drew attention.
And it wasn’t as if we weren’t recognized by many.
Our family was well known and photographed, infamous, really.
Darragh, as the head of the family, was the most recognizable.
The whispers began within seconds of our entry. We’d been recognized. We pretended not to notice and went straight to the check-in window. The woman behind it looked stunned, her mouth hanging open, when my cousin spoke.
“Hello, I’m Darragh O’Sheeran. I’m here to see Bronagh Bragan. Her father has sent us in his stead. We’re here to take care of things and watch over her.”
His tone was pleasant, but there was an underlying steel to it.
The kind that warned whoever listened not to piss him off.
Telling Darragh O’Sheeran that he couldn’t see someone being examined in the treatment area was the last thing you wanted to do.
Once she regained her ability to speak, the woman stammered.
“I-I’ll tell them y-you’re here, Mr. O’Sheeran. Someone will be with you very soon.”
“Thank you,” he said.
Then, we moved away to stand against the wall and wait.
I wondered how fast the staff would let us back there.
Our guards spread out, taking positions around the waiting room and putting the others on edge.
Hopefully, we’d be able to go back and check on her soon.
The quicker we got in and out, the better.
As we waited, I kept wondering how badly hurt she was. And who had done this to her?