ChapterTwenty
Ronan hadn’t seen or heard anything from Danny or Alan Cahill, so he felt okay with having Brendan meet Jimmy O’Malley at his house. He had no idea what Brendan had said to him, but Jimmy agreed to gather all the information he could find and bring it to them. Chloe had also texted him to say her conversation with Mrs. Byrne had gone well, too. Things were falling into place and he was beginning to have hope that they would actually find some answers.
Thankfully, Brendan showed up first. It wasn’t that Ronan didn’t like Jimmy. It was more that they traveled in different packs, made decisions that led them to different places. Jimmy was a little too goody-two-shoes for Ronan. Which made sense knowing he became a cop like his old man. Jimmy never looked down on Ronan for getting into trouble over the years, but he did avoid him.
Brendan set a pizza on the table and leaned against the cabinets as he popped the top on a beer. “Are these gonna collapse?”
“Very funny. Declan did a really good job building and installing these cabinets.” Ronan grabbed a slice of pizza. Declan had surprised him with his work ethic. He was still working on the doors, as they required more skill than building the boxes, but it was a good start.
“You think Jimmy’s got something good?”
Brendan set his bottle down and helped himself to a slice. “He must have something. Not sure if it’s good. If he had nothing, he’d tell me so over the phone. The face to face makes me think he found something.”
“I’m going to meet Chloe later to hear what Mrs. Byrne said. The Byrnes have been friends with the Cahills forever. Someone’s gotta know something.”
“And time tends to loosen lips.” Brendan took another drink of beer. “Chloe doesn’t spend the night here? Still don’t want her around your family?”
Ronan huffed. “First, we’re not in a meet-the-family relationship. Second, would you bring any woman around Declan?”
Brendan smiled. “Got a point.”
The doorbell rang and Ronan went to let Jimmy in. They greeted each other with a nod and Ronan said, “Brendan’s in the kitchen. We have beer and pizza.”
“I already ate, but I’ll take a beer.”
He held a small folder at his side and Ronan couldn’t help but think it wasn’t much.
Jimmy and Brendan shook hands while Ronan grabbed a beer from the fridge. After handing the bottle to Jimmy, he moved the pizza box to balance on top of the cabinets where his counter should be. “Sorry for the mess. Redoing some stuff here.”
“No worries. I get it.” He set the folder on the table and they all took a seat. Jimmy sighed. “I wish I had something more concrete for you.”
Fuck. If he came up empty, why was he here?
Jimmy opened the folder. “I talked to the cops who ran the case. My dad was right, they’re all retired, but they were more than happy to talk to me. There’s nothing official, but they think Alan Cahill made your dad disappear.”
Whoa. That explained why Jimmy didn’t want to put that in a text.
Brendan leaned forward with his arms on the table. “Made him disappear how or why?”
“That’s the thing. No one had a solid answer. The things they did agree on are that your dad was loyal to Cahill, and Cahill trusted him. Your dad did a ton of off-book jobs, whatever Cahill needed. They also all agreed—again without any proof—that Cahill bought the election and your dad knew it. Maybe had some proof.”
“Our dad didn’t care about politics,” Ronan said. “I doubt it would matter to him if Cahill was a dirty politician.”
“I agree,” Jimmy said. “These cops also said that right after your dad went missing, Danny Cahill did, too. To rehab. His parents covered it up. Made it seem like he was on vacation. They looked at him to see if he was somehow involved, but they couldn’t get near him.”
Brendan stood. “Are you thinking that Danny and our dad got into something? Alan found out, killed our father, and shipped his son off to rehab?”
“No clue.” Jimmy shook his head. “But there’s something there.”
“Danny would be the weak link,” Ronan said.
“But there’s no pressuring Danny without Alan catching wind. The man already hates you,” Brendan pointed out.
“Unfortunately, there’s not enough here for anyone to spend man-hours on this cold case. If we had a new lead or trail to follow, I could run it up the ladder,” Jimmy said.
“So another dead end.” Ronan couldn’t keep the disappointment from his voice.
“No,” Brendan said. “Just another thread. We keep pulling at the strings and things will fall apart. Someone will talk.”
Jimmy tapped the folder. “I don’t know where to send you. Although it’s a different time around here, things haven’t changed that much. Alan still has a lot of friends.”
Brendan nodded. “That’s why I could never work here. Not for the city. It’s too dirty.” His eyes widened. “Obviously, not everyone.”
Jimmy held up a hand. “No offense taken. This city’s always been a mess. The old guard is still on the way out. It just takes time. And they’re not all bad. These guys were frustrated. They couldn’t tie Cahill to anything, and they tried. But he’s good.”
“He’s an old motherfucker who needs to come clean,” Ronan said.
“If he did what we suspect...there’s no statute of limitations. He’ll know and he won’t talk.”
Ronan stared at Jimmy. “You can say it. We think he killed our father.”