Chapter Four
A few minutes later...
Liam looked over at Arthur and asked, “Do you think Arthur feels that same devil on his back?”
Finn shook his head. “Naw, he’s a man who knows his own worth.
What happened to him was terrible, then he dove headfirst into a bottle but he also climbed out of it.
You notice he chose iced tea from that cart?
He knows better. Some can’t even touch the stuff without going down the tubes.
Then he went after the ones that did the real deed, he found them then he watched them, found their rhythm then reported what they were doing to destroy others and turned it over to the cops.
He didn’t bring the pain himself, but he knew who could.
He let the law do its own job then he walked away.
Stayed on the streets and watched over others.
Even helped them. I think he might have found his calling. ”
Liam nodded. “Aye, you could be right about that.” He looked back at Arthur and said, “I just hope he doesn’t hurt Ciara. That poor girl doesn’t need no more hurt. I think she’s had enough pain for the rest of her life.”
Finn nodded. “You’d be right on that score, brother.
Seamus was talking to me earlier about what happened to that poor lassie but again, she stood up and fought against all odds to let Shay know what was what.
She gave him all she knew about Ford and Stuart and that helped Shay keep them two in jail.
Now she finds out who her da really is. What I’m wondering is why her ma kept it from her all these years? ”
“Maybe her ma knew what kind of man Ford was and she just wanted to protect her daughter?” Liam growled softly. “Her concern came too late but at least her daughter learned how to protect herself.”
“Aye, she did that for sure.” Finn nodded. “But what did it cost her in the end? Will she ever really trust anyone again?”
“I hope so, I really do. The O’Malley’s will keep her safe in the bosom of the family and Sean is a good lad.
He’ll be slow and earn her trust. Seamus will enforce that the best he can but I’m betting on Lizzie.
She’ll take this young woman under her wing and she’s not one to walk away.
Ciara will see her worth in Lizzie’s eyes and she’ll begin to trust again.
She will break down every single one of the walls Ciara has put around her heart and she’ll see to it that her sons and husband all respect that girl. Respect and protect her.”
Liam grinned. “She will and Lizzie will bring the roof down if they disrespect her even once. She ain’t got that blazing red hair for nothing.”
Seamus suddenly leaned closer to his uncles and said softly, “I agree with you as there is no better woman walking this earth than my Lizzie. And as far as Sean and Lizzie? You bet your sweet ass they will take care of that little girl. She will finally have a place to call home and you can bet your retirement that Sean will take care of her in every way he can.” He nodded.
“She’ll have a home in Boston and I’ll welcome her as part of my family.
Hells bells lads, my sons have each been caught up by a woman in this fight.
We’ll be having multiple weddings when we get this settled.
There will be so many and each one of my sons is different to a fault and not one of them is willing to compromise on what they want versus what they can get.
I’ll be broker than a joker when this is over but I’ll have more family to love.
Hell, maybe a few grandchildren too. That will make Lizzie and me very happy. ”
His two uncles were beaming at him.
Seamus sat back in his chair and got a dreamy smile on his face. “Aye, that would be worth all of this.”
The plane landed and drew up to the disbanding tunnel, away from the general public. It was a private area, set aside for officials with the government.
Shay left the plane first then everyone else disembarked. As they entered the general population, Arthur saw some men waiting in the corner. He smiled and tapped Seamus’s arm then pointed at the men.
The whole group turned and went over to them, Arthur grinned and held out his hand, “Timothy O’Rouke, it’s good to see you again.”
The man smiled and said with a soft Irish lilt to his voice, “Bobby Marsden, never thought I see your ugly face again. Did hard times finally hit?”
Robert nodded. “Yeah, I hit a low spot several years ago and decided to do something else.” Then he looked around at everyone in the group. “Guys, I need to introduce you all to these men here. We came to stop a bad woman and they need your help.”
Timmy snorted. “Oh yeah, we all know why they’re here.” He studied the group of Irishmen and nodded. “We work along the shoreline. We know your brother and we just hated what happened. Colin was always a good man and if you are his family then you are our family too. And family means a lot to us.”
Finn studied him then stated, “Aye, I didn’t know you’d be the same group Colin has spoken of many times. You’re the ones that help out at the docks. I’m pleased to finally meet you all.”
Timmy smiled. “And we are more than happy to help you with this mission. Colin is a good man. When he looks at us, he doesn’t see us as broken men.
He just looks at us like we’re men and that alone means a great deal to us.
He earned our loyalty not because he kicked dirt in our faces but because he learned our stories and liked us anyway.
Most of us haven’t had it easy since we got back, but he never looked down on us for that.
We usually sit back and watch what goes around.
We see more about what’s really happening here than people realize.
We know who to watch.” He shrugged. “But that’s just what we do. ”
The men all shook hands.
Timmy looked over at Shay. “We think we know where your bad woman is hidden and how many men are protecting her. We also here that she’s running on fumes and why.”
Shay studied the men for a moment then looked at Finn and Liam. Looking back at Timmy he asked, “And just what do you know?”
Timmy shook his head. “Not here and not now. We need to get to a safe place. Look, I know you have got to check in with Colin before you do anything else. But I sincerely hope you got more men than what is here, because you’re gonna need them.”
Finn nodded. “We do need to check on Colin and aye, we got more men coming. They should be here by morning. You tell us when and where and we’ll be there.
Give us that much time and we’ll be more than happy to listen to what you’ve got to say.
We really need to end this before she has a chance to end us. ”
Another of Timmy’s men grinned. “I have no doubt you can end this and I’ll even bet you do it with style.” He chuckled. “Colin always said his family had style and looking at you guys I have no doubt he was right about that.”
Liam narrowed his eyes and asked, “And who are you?”
“Judson Bean,” he told them. “Colin told us all about his brothers.” He looked at Seamus. “And all about you, Seamus O’Malley. He claimed it was time to let someone younger take over and he was comfortable with you being the one.”
Seamus shook his head. “My uncles are still in good shape. They all run their own breweries. I’m not looking to upset that harmony.
Besides all that...” Seamus grinned. “I did not need that headache as I have my own place to manage. I am sort of the CEO of the brand name but they run their own empires.”
Liam joined him. “We ain’t ready for rocking chairs yet, son.”
Finn snorted. “I don’t know. A slow day in a rocking chair on a sunny porch, whiskey in one hand and my wife’s hand in the other? Sounds grand to me!”
They all smiled at him.
“Just don’t be surprised if your ass doesn’t thank you for that,” Liam teased him.
They all laughed. Only the men from the plane laughed the loudest as they all thought of the ass jokes.