In Too Deep

He shoved off his chair and walked away. Ronan waited patiently for Joe to continue.

Joe cocked his head to the side. “He’s right. I’ve got no proof of anything. Just more’n twenty-five years of working here.”

Ronan needed to pull the information from Joe, give the man a reason to confide. So he told the truth. “To be totally honest, Joe, the main reason I’ve been working for Cahill has been to get answers about my father. He was there one day, and then he was just gone. It never sat well with me. As a kid, the rumors about a mistress pissed me off, but as a man, I just want the truth.”

“There was no woman,” Joe said definitively. “I wasn’t friends with your dad, but all he did was talk about his family. He didn’t have a straying eye.”

“It would be easier if that was it.” Even though he spoke the words, Ronan couldn’t believe the relief he felt. A mistress would be a convenient reason, but then he’d have to come to terms with the fact that his father didn’t want them. Want him. But his gut had always been right.

Joe leaned forward again. “Look, I don’t know what all the other envelopes are about. It’s not on the up-an-up, not like a job. Back then, the senior Cahill was going all political, all kinds of back-alley deals. And Danny?” He turned away and spit. “He was a good for nothing piece of shit. Drugs and trouble. That’s all he was.”

Drugs? Ronan had never caught wind of that. He glanced over at Brendan and wondered if he knew. As FBI, he would know if Danny had a record.

“What does that have to do with my dad? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t know what happened to Michael. I just know he was taking a lot of extra envelopes and running errands most nights before he disappeared. No one’s running a night crew for construction, so it was something else. If I was you, I wouldn’t trust a damn thing any Cahill says.” He stood. “Now I’m ready for another beer.”

“One more thing.”

Joe looked down at him.

“Why stay? If you hate them and don’t trust them, why keep working for them?”

“Back then, because they had all the power. Got all the big jobs. Guaranteed work year-round. Then I got old. Nobody wants to hire an old man.” He patted Ronan’s shoulder. “Get out while you can.”

“Thanks, Joe. That was more than anyone has told me in years.”

“Keeping your mouth shut is the best way to keep your job. But again, I’m old and I just don’t give a fuck anymore.”

“You’ll have a job with me as long as you want one.”

He nodded and walked over to the cooler to grab a beer.

Ronan sat back in his chair to digest the information.

For another hour or two, he put thoughts of his father to the back of his head and enjoyed time with his guys. No, they weren’t friends, but they spent a lot of time together day in and day out. Maybe they could be friends if he gave them a chance.

By nine, the sun was gone and so was his crew. They all seemed to have a good time. If nothing else, they enjoyed free food and beer and the chance to give him a hard time about his house looking worse than any of their sites.

Brendan stayed and once the yard was clear of people, they worked together to clean up. Declan was in bed, where Nessa deposited him before heading home. Right now, Ronan was happy he’d gotten a mattress and tossed it on the living room floor for his brother. He was too old to be sleeping on the floor, and he might’ve felt guilty sticking his drunk ass brother on the floor.

“You have any luck with Mulroney?” Ronan asked.

“Some. How about you?”

“Oh yeah. As much as it bothers me that Cahill crashed the party, I think that was just the right amount of motivation for Joe to talk. Let’s get Mom’s chairs stacked in the garage and we can go over everything inside.”

When the yard was mostly put back together and the trash shoved in a can, Ronan and Brendan grabbed the remaining beer and filled the fridge. They both took one and sat at the card table to debrief.

“Before we get into what we got from the guys, what the hell was Cahill doing here?” Brendan asked.

“I’m not sure. He said he heard about the party and he liked the idea of crews bonding or some shit. He gave me cash to help defray the cost.”

“But?”

“My gut says he’s worried and came to snoop.”

“That’s what I think. They’re definitely hiding something. Mulroney agrees. He said that Alan Cahill was doing some shady shit back then. He didn’t have any proof, but it was almost an open secret that Cahill was looking to buy his political career, from alderman straight to mayor.”

“What could that possibly have to do with Dad? He had no political aspirations that I’ve ever heard of.” He took a long pull on his beer.

“What did you get from Joe and Nick?”

“Nick didn’t say much of anything, so I have no idea what he knows. But Joe was pissed that Cahill showed up. Like he doesn’t belong. Which he doesn’t because the man has never worked a hard day in his life that I know of. But he saw Cahill give me the envelope and he commented on that. He said that Dad was taking a lot of extra envelopes and running errands for Cahill when he disappeared.”

“Side jobs?”

Ronan shook his head. “No. These were different. He said the same thing about Cahill being political, but he also said that Danny was a piece of shit drug addict.”

“Well, now.” Brendan rocked back in his chair.