In Too Deep

By the time afternoon hit,Chloe needed the break Johnny offered. Between prepping for the wake, fielding calls from the Byrnes, and making sure they’d have enough staff, on top of the secrets she was keeping was enough to drain her emotionally. She let Johnny know she was going home to change before the wake. While it was a break she desperately needed, she had also been raised to know that wearing her usual jeans and T-shirt were not appropriate attire for a wake. She pushed through the front door of her building, climbed the first three steps, and froze.

Danny Cahill was standing in front of her apartment. Her heart thumped. What the hell was he doing here? How did he know where she lived?

“Uh, hi, Mr. Cahill. Um, can I help you with something?” She made no move to get closer, knowing she could run out the door faster than he could get down the stairs.

“Hi, Chloe. I’m sorry to show up like this, but I needed to speak to you.”

“I just came from the Rose. Everything is set up for your dad’s memorial. I just came home to change.”

He waved a hand and came down a few steps. Leaning against the wall, he said, “It’s not about that. I’m sure you have it handled. This is about Ronan Doyle.”

She hoped it was confusion he saw on her face and not shock or fear. “Ronan? What about him?”

“He was there. At the Rose after my father collapsed.”

She blinked rapidly. She wasn’t prepared for this. Should she lie?

“I saw him, but it didn’t register at the moment, you know? I was so worried about my father.”

“Yes, he did come in right after all the commotion with the ambulance.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why was he at the Rose?”

“He, uh...came to ask me out.” It wasn’t a total lie. She shook her head and rolled with it. “He said he’d been thinking about me and wanted to go out on a date.”

“What did you say?”

“That it wasn’t a good time.”

The man came down a few more steps. Chloe backed down and held the bottom of the rail.

“He’s trouble, Chloe. I don’t know how well you might’ve known the Doyles growing up. I know you all came from the same block, but I’m not sure he can be trusted. You’re a good girl. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

Chloe paused, her heart and mind racing. Part of her wanted to believe that he was just giving her dating advice, but she knew it was more. It was a warning. A threat of some kind. She just didn’t know what it meant.

She gripped her keys in her hand, the pinch of metal in her palm reassuring her. “Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be fine.”

He nodded. “Make sure you know what you’re getting into.”

She held her ground as he stepped down to leave. She would not let him know the effect he had on her.

As he reached the door, she asked, “If he’s so much trouble, why did you hire him?”

Danny looked over his shoulder at her. “My father always said if someone is working under you, they can’t sneak up behind you.”

He opened the door and left.

Chloe shook with nerves. Brendan and Ronan had suspected he knew they were looking into him, but this was proof. She raced up the stairs and let herself into her apartment. She sat down and pulled out her phone. Her hands were shaking. What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn’t really afraid of Danny Cahill. Was she? What could he do to her?

But there was something so subtly dark about his visit. She wanted to call Ronan and tell him, but he would not react well. He would go after Danny and that would ruin the progress they’d made. But they had to know that he was onto them.

She called Brendan.

“Hey, what’s up? I thought you and my stupid brother made up.”

“We did.”

“Then why are you calling me?”

“Because if I tell him what just happened, he’ll do something he might regret.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I just came home from setting up the Rose for tonight and Danny Cahill was at my apartment.”

“What? Why? How did he know where you live?”

“I don’t know how he knew, but he came to ask why Ronan was at the Rose when his dad collapsed.”

“Fuck. What did you tell him?”

“I told him that Ronan came to ask me out. Then he warned me away from Ronan. Said the Doyles were trouble.”

“He ain’t wrong.”