In Too Deep

As much as Chloe wanted to stay and listen to Danny’s theory, she knew their food would be ready soon, and there were only so many tables she could wipe down in this section. On the way to the kitchen, she stopped in the hallway to text Brendan. Did you hear any of their conversation?

I just parked and set up. What’d I miss?

Danny is planning to run for office. He wants to follow in Alan’s footsteps.

Fuck.

Chloe didn’t know how to interpret that, so she went to check on the Cahills’ order. When she carried the plates back to the table, she immediately recognized that Alan was even angrier. She set the plates down and simply asked, “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you, Chloe,” Danny said stiffly.

Dismissed again, she busied herself with her actual job, even though her curiosity was getting the better of her.

Every time she checked on the Cahills, the tension at the table had increased, but their conversation dropped to angry mutters and whispers. Alan was bent out of shape at the thought of Danny running for office.

They finally finished their meal. Alan left first and Danny had another drink by himself.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

Danny stared at her with expectant eyes.

“Not to be nosy, but you said you were celebrating something. Your dad didn’t look too enthused.”

“No, he wasn’t. Don’t know why I thought he would be. He still sees me as his young son who can’t do anything right. He can’t see that people grow and change.”

Chloe nodded. She understood that a little too well. “Give him time and he might come around.” Even she didn’t believe that. “Let me know if I can get you anything else.”

“Thank you.” He downed the rest of his drink, tossed some bills on the table, and left.

As she cleared the table, she couldn’t help but hope that this new turn of events would help the Doyles find answers. Yeah, the Doyles, as if her mind wasn’t strictly on Ronan. She was still irritated with him and she didn’t know where they stood anymore.

Two daysand Ronan was still moping around. At least that’s what Declan had said when Ronan walked into the kitchen to help install the countertop.

“Brendan said you pissed Chloe off. What’d you do?”

Ronan huffed. “Fuck if I know. When I saw her last, she was falling down drunk bitching about how I can’t tell her what to do. Brendan thought she was pissed that I didn’t invite her to Nessa’s birthday party.”

“Why didn’t you?” his brother asked as he neatly leveled the counter.

“It’s going to be at Mom’s house and she’s not ready for her family to know about us.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“I didn’t get the chance. She was too busy telling me that she called Brendan because he lets her make her own choices.” Ronan itched to step in and make sure Declan was installing the counter properly, but he locked his knees. Declan had pulled through on the entire job.

“Shit. You should know better than to tell a woman what she can’t do. Have you met our sister?”

“She’s being reckless.”

“With what? What’re you trying to stop her from doing?”

Ronan paused. At some point, they’d have to come clean with their siblings. “Keep this between us for now.”

He waited until Declan paused work, rose, and turned to face him. “Sounds serious.”

“It is.” He inhaled deeply and offered an abridged version. “Brendan and I have been working to find out what happened to Dad. We think Alan Cahill was behind it, and Chloe has access to him because she works at the Black Rose.”

“Whoa.” Declan raised a hand, then said again, “Whoa. You’re doing what now?”

“It’s complicated and we don’t have all the info yet, but we know the Cahills are dirty. We’re just trying to figure out how dirty. And Chloe keeps taking risks that could cost her her job.” He reached into the fridge and grabbed a beer.

Declan sank to the floor. “Dad?”

Ronan passed him a beer.

“Brendan’s been pressuring Mom to have him declared dead for years. Where is this coming from? I thought Dad just took off.”

Ronan joined his brother on the floor. “I never for a minute believed he ran off—alone or with a woman.”

“I just thought you said that because you didn’t want to believe it.”

“He’s dead. I want to know the where and how.” He took a pull of his beer. “No. I need to know.”

Declan sat, stunned. “So Chloe knows, but you haven’t told the rest of us? That’s kind of shitty.” He drank. “Unless you told the rest and it’s just me you left out.”

“No one knows. We can’t afford word spreading. You know how that neighborhood is. Gossip is like water during a drought.”

“Then why tell me now?”

“You asked. And I think we’re getting close. To something, anyway. But don’t go blabbing to everyone else. Not yet.”

After another drink of beer, Ronan pushed up off the floor. “Come on. Let’s get this done.” He held out a hand to pull Declan to his feet.

“What do you think? I did better than you thought, right?”