Page 9 of Cosmo

Chapter Three

Liam MacManus signed hisname on the release paperwork, taking his copies when the guard behind the glass slid them through the narrow opening at the bottom. “You’ll need to meet your parole officer within twenty-four hours, and when you meet him, you’ll give him your address, phone number, and the rest of the information listed here. Do you need me to read it to you?”

Liam shook his head. “I can read it.”

“Good luck, and don’t come back here,” he said, and Liam finally looked into the man’s dark eyes. He was older, with a white, trimmed beard clashing against his dark skin. In his eyes, he held a confusing mixture of hope and resignation.

“I…I’ll try.”

When he left the prison walls and he was on the outside at last, the openness of it was suffocating. Liam had heard about the fear of freedom from long-timers inside, but he didn’t think he’d be the one to feel it.

But there he was, the intense desire to run to the gate and beg to be let back in, and he swallowed it as best he could while glancing over his shoulder.

“Liam,” someone called, and he saw a man beside a car twenty feet from him. It was the guy that visited him, the one who’d helped get him parole.

Suddenly, he felt better. Not because the guy was some savior, but because he had the distinct feeling that he’d gone from one prison to another. He’d be obliged to the guy, like it or not, and he was sure if he didn’t do everything Connor Murphy wanted, he’d be back in prison pretty quickly.

After making it to Murphy, he was proffered a hand and shook it, ducking his head a little. “Thanks for getting me out.”

“You’re welcome. Let’s get you to your new place and get you settled. Then I’ll show you around the place and introduce you to the guys you’ll be working with.”

Nodding, he watched Murphy open the back door of the SUV he was driving and then he took Liam’s bag, setting it on the back seat.

The drive was pleasant. It was a cool fall day, and the air felt good on his face.

“Nice to be out, huh?”

“Sure, I guess.” Murphy didn’t ask what he meant, but when Liam looked over at him, he was smiling. “Is that funny?”

“Maybe not funny, so much as familiar. You’re not the first person I’ve picked up from prison, and likely won’t be the last.”

“What are you, some do-gooder, or what?”

“I try to do good things, but you will work for the good things you get, too, Liam, and no, not as a hooker. I’ll explain things to you now, and later, I’ll explain more, but I want to tell you again, you are under no obligation to stay. I have friends who need workers, who have places for you to stay. I wouldn’t want, andreally, if I’m honest, can’t afford to have people working for me that don’t want to be there.”

“Bartending?”

“Yes, Liam. That’s part of it, and for now, that’s all you need to worry about. Maybe that’s all you’ll ever have to worry about.”

The cryptic bullshit bothered him, but what could he do? “I, uh, have to see my PO.”

“I’m taking you there now. I have a phone for you back at the house, we’ve set up the number for you, so you’ll have a number to give him of your own. I have all the numbers to the pub, the landline at your place, and the addresses and such you’ll need. Might as well get it over with.”

Having all that set for him was nice, but he was too suspicious to be grateful yet. “Thanks,” he said half-heartedly.

Murphy chuckled. “I know all the things going through your head right now. You’re not the first to worry about what I want from you. I can’t ease all your worries right now. It’s just impossible. No matter what I say, you don’t trust me. I could be lying, right? So, I just have to show you, and eventually, hopefully, I’ll earn your trust, and you’ll earn mine. That’s all I can do right now besides the job and place to live.”

Liam felt bad, because, well, the guy got him out of prison, and he had a job and a home to go to. More than anyone else had ever done for him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be a prick.”

“It’s fine. You’ve just come out of a place where you learned to trust very few people and I’m sure even fewer people of authority, which you see me as. I’m your boss now, so I’m sure, to you, it feels like I’m the warden or a guard, but I assure you, you’ll have plenty of freedoms you never had inside. You’ll live your life as you wish, if it doesn’t cross me or my business.”

“Like…what do you mean by that?”

“Don’t steal from me, Liam. That’s what I mean by that. Don’t talk to people about me or anyone at the pub, except the thingsyou have to say to, well, your parole officer. Are we together on this?”

“I’m no snitch! That’s what got me put inside!”

Murphy nodded and glanced over at him. “I know. You will not have an issue with that again. I assure you of that, Liam.”

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