Free Deadly Shamrocks: An Irish Tale of Love, Murder and Revenge by J. B. Reed

going home. She told me she had decided she was never going home again. She decided to write her folks a letter, telling them she had married and left the state. Joseph, if you knew this girl, the way she feels about her family, for her to sacrifice her family, to never see them again….I felt that I had to do something, Joseph. I knew I was too personally involved, I knew I should hire someone to take care of those bastards, but Joseph, a part of me knew I had to be the one to take care of this. I had to be the one to settle the score. I went to the Kitchen looking for Tommy Flannery. He’s the fuck that actually did the raping and beating. I could not find Tommy. I did find one of his crew that helped him that night. One, Shane Murphy. I asked him where Tommy was hiding out, but couldn’t get any information from him. So I gave him a message to deliver to Tommy.”
    “And that message was?”
    “I told him to tell Tommy I was coming after him, and the other guy that was there that night, Ryan Kelly. Then I blew out both of Shane’s kneecaps.”
    Joseph jumped to his feet, slamming his fist down on the desk.
    “Son of a bitch…….Michael. Where is your fucking head? It must be up your fucking ass, because it’s not where it should be.
    Joseph started swearing in Italian, waving his arms around, walking around from behind the desk to stand in front of Michael.
    “I told you, I warned you Michael, you get involved with a woman and you get fucked up. You lose your focus and you fuck up. You cannot be an assassin and be involved with anybody….especially a woman. Women are good for one thing, Michael. Fucking, that is it, Michael. Fuck em and forget em. Anything more than that is not for you. You chose this life for yourself. I took you under my wing, I taught you everything I know and made you what you are today. You are the best mechanic in the business Michael, but you fucked up. Now this cum wad Murphy knows who you are; he can make you, Michael. Shit.”
    Michael sat silently, waiting for Joseph to continue. He knew now was not the time to tell him that Vivie also knew that he worked for Joseph.
    “Well, that explains why they hit the old man. They are trying to flush the girl out. They know if the girl shows at the funeral, you will not be far away. The girl can’t know about her father.”
    “How can I keep that from her?”
    “I don’t give a fuck, how you keep it from her, Michael. Just make sure she doesn’t find out. Nothing she can do about it now anyway. We may want to relocate the rest of her family though. I will send a couple of the guys up there to pack em up, get em out of there. We’ll make sure they are far enough away that no one can find them.”
    “Joseph, the mother will be scared to death if you send the guys up there right now. Give her time to bury her husband at least.”
    “Lucky, please, give me some credit. I’m not a heartless prick. I have not gotten where I am without knowing how to handle people. And, Lucky, I don’t think you need to be telling me how I should be handling anything, do you?”
    “No, Joseph, I apologize.”
    “Okay, go on home. Stay there until I call you. Do not go anywhere, Lucky, and I mean anywhere. Do you understand me?”
    “I understand, and thank you.”
    Joseph walked over to the window of his office, standing with his back to Michael, puffing on his cigar, his hands behind his back. Michael closed the door as he left. As Michael started the engine of his car, he thought of how he would keep the news of the death of Vivie’s father from her. It would be in the newspapers in the morning. He would have to make sure Vivie did not have a chance to see it. She has been adamant about looking through advertisements for a job lately.
    When Vivie returned home, she found Michael’s note on the kitchen table. She was glad he was not home. That would give her a little time to gather her thoughts and decide on the best way to tell him her news.
    “I