Smoked (The Invincibles 5)

“What do you know about my father?”

“I knew him all his life.”

I wrapped my arms around my body when I began to shake. Between the memory of my mother dying in her bed and meeting someone who knew not just me but my father too, who I didn’t recognize, it was all a bit much. Making it worse was how much I wished Smoke was here with me right now, that having him here would give me comfort.

* * *

Mr. O’Brien—Uncle Gene—walked with me back to the Tower Inn. When we stopped out front, he took a deep breath. “Something smells heavenly,” he murmured.

I took a deep breath too. “Smells like Irish Stew to me.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had stew that smelled as good as my Janie’s.”

“Would you like to join me for dinner?”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“No bother. I’d enjoy the company.”

A grin split his face. “Don’t have to ask me twice.”

* * *

Over a pint, Uncle Gene told me that he and “his Janie” never had children of their own, so they “adopted” the kids in the neighborhood. Kids like my mother, father, and me.

“This may sound terrible to you, but I don’t remember anything about my father.”

He rested his head in his hand, and his eyes hooded. “You wouldn’t, lass. You never knew him.”

“Why not?” I asked, my voice shaky and thick with the threat of tears.

“He died before you were born.”

“H-h-h-ow?”

“I told you earlier you’d followed in his footsteps.”

I nodded and brushed a tear from the corner of my eye.

“You’ve heard of Veronica Guerin?”

“The journalist murdered by John Gilligan’s drug gang.”

“That’s right. Your da was one of the men that tracked Traynor, Gilligan’s second-in-command as well as the one said to have ordered Guerin’s hit, to Portugal. He died in a gunfight with Traynor.”

I sat back in my chair, wondering if I’d known any of this. “What was his name?” I whispered.

“Brendan O’Connor.”

“My name is Gallagher.”

“Aye. Your mother’s name.”

“Were they married?”

“They’d planned to be. Everything changed after Guerin’s death. Not just in Dublin, in all of Ireland. The entire country became enraged by her killing. Then, after he died, your mother hid the fact you were his child for fear of Gilligan’s gang coming after her or you.”

“You knew, though.”